I thought Iwould put together a Database of tyres with members have some experience of and and would like to share their findings. It's not really a discussion, but somewhere where someone can refer to when choosing a tyre, so that an informed decision can be made.

Please could a PM be sent with a summary of any experience with any tyre, and I will add it. For anything more detailed, please post with perhaps a picture of the tyre.

Any tyres not listed with any experience of, pm me and I'll add it. More than one person can submit their experiences about any tyre.

Goodyear

Excellence- (Blazebro)A tyre capable of achieving high miles. Average dry grip, good wet grip, poor in greasy conditions. Soft sidewall, reasonably quiet. (£100 to replace).
(Gav) Mine came on the Excellence and I found it a complete mis-nomer. An appalling tyre in most conditions (wet and greasy roads were scary), susceptible to pinching and splitting VERY easily. I punctured sets before they wore out. Would not purchase again.

F1 Eagle's- (Asymetirc)(Malcolm)Well after 1500 miles and 20 laps of the Nurburgring here goes!

These tyres grip and grip. Much better than Conti 2's
They bite straight from initial turn in to a corner and hold their line, no twitchiness that I felt from Contis
This gives you much more confidence as they are more predictable. The GY's let you get on with cornering the car and explore the car's handling as opposed to testing the tyres potential grip.
Mid corner they always held their line with no sudden understeer. If you reached the limits of grip they would slide very progressively and at a much higher 'G' than the CS2's. I found that the GY Assy would always get you to the apex of a corner without having to lift off, this was not always the case with CS2.When lapping the 'Ring for the first time these GY Assy inspired confidence more so than CS2 which I have used round Silverstone. So called noise of a tyre has never been an issue for me, the GY's are no noisier or quieter than CS2 to my deafened ears!!
I also 'tested' them in the wet round the 'Ring. When slip did take place it was very progressive and controllable

Sorry if this seems a Conti bashing post but IMO the Goodyear Assymetrics are a much better tyre
These 2 tyres are the only ones I have driven on on a ST
Can not yet comment on wear, the outside shoulder on the fronts was only mildly scuffed after 20 laps of the 'Ring. Having the ESP on all the time probably helped

(Syedw)I put two of these on the front of the focus at Christmas and achieved about 11K miles on them but they have had to endure a track day so I would expect you would see at least 15K during normal use. Just got a fresh set of 4 put on the car the other day.

The grip level in the wet and dry is fantastic, noticeably better than the conti's. Plus it seems to shift standing water better than I first thought. The sidewalls are some of the strongest out there, so this has improved the turn-in response. They also look extremely low profile compared to the conti's and have far better rim protection (must be an extra 5mm at least of rubber protecting the edge of the alloy). (£89.95)



Toyo

T1R-(Mark 83)side walls too soft, my Impreza ate the rears at Silverstone. No intention to buy again. (£85-£93 to replace)
(Fishy)Lasted 13000 miles with a swap from front to rear at 6000. Really good tyre with excellent grip wet or dry! Again when they did let go they did it predictably! I did 38 laps of the Nurburgring on these including 4 really wet laps and they never gave me anything but confidence! Noise wise a bit louder than the Contis! I would still be using them but they are unavailable at the moment! Should be back in the shops soon though! I think they should run at around 35 psi!



PX4 Proxes-(Adam TFB)Im on the toyo proxes 4, had them on about 3k now, good in the dry due to being quite a soft tyre, but have a very soft side wall also making them slightly unpredictable, absolutelty shockingly bad in the wet and even at low speeds have traction issues around roundabouts and pulling away. Would not fit again and am trying to melt them off the rim so can replace them. (£88-94 to replace)

R888-(Test Driver Required)


Continental

Sport Contact 2-(Greg ST)Original fitment, good grip. Lasted 10k before the inside's were under the legal limit (£125 to replace)
(Gav) Swapped to the Conti2 from the Excellence. A huge improvement in terms of performance, especially in the wet. Car felt less fidgety and more stable at speed.
(Fishy)Lasted 9000 miles with a swap from front to back at 4500. Not a bad tyre but not great grip wet or dry! To be fair to them they always slid in a predictable way! I did 12 laps of the Nurburgring on them and they were fine if a little lacking in grip exiting the corners! I wouldnt have fancied them round there in the wet! Noise wise they were good and quiet! Ran these at 33 psi for their whole life!
(SMJohns)Original Tyres - Not a bad tyre and fairly quiet too, but grip levels start becoming noticably reduced after about 5000miles and you then notice much more understeer on sharp bends and roundabouts and wet confidence is greatly reduced. Front tyres lasted 11800 miles normal road (non-track) use and rears 28400 (with 5000 of those miles on front). Good rim protection on these.


Sport Contact 3-(Greg ST)The tyres i would buy again, improvment over the 2's due to better grip and seem to be lasting slightly longer. Strong sidewall (£112-120 to replace).
(Gav)Went to the Conti3 when the Conti2 became obsolete. Very good all-round, but with further improvements in wet grip over the 2. I've not felt the urge to change from this tyre and will fit again. Bigger rim protector over the 2 and does a MUCH better job. No pinches or punctures yet. Tough and durable.
(SMJohns)Better than the Contact 2's but I still had issues with grip tailing off noticably after about 6000 miles. These lasted 12100 miles. Good rim protection on these.

Vredestein

Ultrac Sessanta-(Razzleultra)Much improved wet & dry grip compared to Goodyear Excellence. No news on wear rate as yet. No noisier than GE.
(Blazebro)Strong side wall, nice & responsive, nice tread pattern, hard as iron rim protector. Grip levels appear very high. Difficult to get hold of (£90+ to replace)
(M9T_ST)They work the best in the wet and just as good in the dry the down fall are the price realy and that they wear a little quicker than normal.
(Dave 2912)These tyres are a marked improvement over the Continental Sport Contact 2’s that came with the car. They grip extremely well in the dry and I have noticed a significant reduction in understeer. Wet weather performance is yet to be tested.
Ride quality seems to have improved slightly, but road noise has marginally increased. There is a large rim protector, but the one on the Conti’s seemed a bit harder. The tread pattern is attractive and sets it apart from most other tyres.
I had no problems getting hold of these tyres as a local tyre fitter is a registered Vredestein supplier. (Tyrefair in Kinross had 7 in stock when I visited - £115 fitted inc nitrogen inflation.)
Overall, I would highly recommend these tyres.


Bridgestone

Potenza's-(Mug)Lot of traction compared to the Conti'2
Better grip both on wet and dry
I noticed a softer sidewall using the same pressure. I'm going to try different solutions.
Not yet tested on a racetrack (£130)


Pirelli

P-Zero's-(Greg ST) Not as Grippy as the Conti'2, sidewall softer. Lasted 8k (with slightly dodgy tracking for 6k) (£105 to replace)




Yokohama

Prada 2-(Monkey Nuts) Not as cheap as some tires like toyo which have soft side walls ,got about average 10k out of the fronts. Not bad in the wet, great in the dry wear rate 300 which is medium hard, great tread pattern over the years tried loads of tires and these are up with the best. (£96-£120 to replace)


A539-


Falken

FK452's(Fishy)Only had these on for about 750 miles so its early days! Once they scrubbed in a bit they have excellent grip in the dry and seem really good in the wet too! Ill give you a Nurburgring report after next weekend so that should be a better test! Noise wise they are louder again than the Toyos but not that loud to really notice it! Im running 36 psi at the moment! (£62 to replace)


Enduro

916(FocusJawa)Have to say not all that bad in the dry, but seem to give up the ghost without trying in the damp/wet, though not really pushed it as the cars still new ish to me! (£52 to replace)


Nankang

NS2(Paulted)Have been on for 3k but not impressed with them at all and have replaced them.They are still like new but wouldn't dream of selling them they are that bad. Never again will I go for the cheaper option, they aren't too bad in the dry but in the rain they are predictable as they will let got at every corner and roundabout at any speed.
It's a bit like driving a shopping trolley (£53 to replace)


Avon

ZZF(ST Black)Had these fitted to the front about 7000 miles ago, Overall i would rate these tyres as Very Good. Wet and dry perfomance is as good if not better than the Original fit Conti's. Wear rates i would say are about the same as the Conti's too. I got about 8000 miles out of the Conti's on the front and i've probably got 3.5 mm left on the Avon's after 7000 miles. I would definitely buy again but am probably gonna try the Falkens next. (£80)


Michelin

Pilot Sport 2(dave619)Ive had these on for a few months now and have to say, in comparison to the contis that i had to begin with, these are far superior in every way. Fantastic grip in the dry and wet (as proved in the pouring rain at the nurburgring when i cocked a back wheel in a tight bend without any noticable loss of traction!)
The wear rate is good aswell (if you keep the tracking sorted!). Well worth the extra few pounds in my opinion! (£128 each)
(SMJohns)Fantastic tyre. A little noisyer than they Continentals but grip levels in all weather conditions is just fantastic. Fronts have done 7600miles and rears are on 12153 and both are looking and feeling great. Whilst they are a little more expensive, if these continue to perform as they have for the next few months then it will be money well spent. (I will send an update when these tyres are replaced).

Hold fire for now, I feel the need.......the need for a DEAL.....!!

** Coming soon, watch this space... **

Fitted some Eibach front springs this afternoon - so i thought id do a quick 'how to'


[attachment=16400:spring1_002.jpg]
Remove 15mm bottom shock bolt and push out rubber brake hose from clip

[attachment=16401:spring1_003.jpg]


[attachment=16402:spring1_005.jpg]
Undo top anti-roll bar nut - 15mm

[attachment=16403:spring1_006.jpg]
un-plug ABS sensor

[attachment=16404:spring1_008.jpg]
[attachment=16405:spring1_011.jpg]
using a long bar put pressure under the shock and then give it some!!! - as per picture

[attachment=16406:spring1_012.jpg]
after some 'light' force, the shock will pop out

[attachment=16407:spring1_013.jpg]
open bonnet and remove small metal clips that hold the plastic cover on and un-do both small screws(1 each end)

[attachment=16408:spring1_015.jpg]
you can then access the 3 bolts which hold the shock on - the one at the back is easy to get to - just lift the plastic up to gain access

[attachment=16409:spring1_016.jpg]
shock removed

[attachment=16410:spring1_017.jpg]
chalk a line down the shock - so when re-fitted you know the orginal postion

Now remove the top nut - 15mm, for anyone who's fitted shocks before its very strange but you dont need spring compressors to clamp the spring

[attachment=16412:spring1_018.jpg]
use a screw driver and prise up the rubber boot - then remove the old spring

[attachment=16413:spring1_019.jpg]
fit the new spring, line up the chalk marks and secure the 15mm top nut

re-fit the shock to the car(top first) secure the three 13mm bolts

[attachment=16414:spring1_020.jpg]
place a jack under the bottom ball joint and re-fit shock into the suspension leg - proberly the hardest part is getting the shock back into the leg - keep taping with a hammer and jacking slowly keeping pressure on - the shock will slowly go back in

[attachment=16424:spring1_026.jpg]
not a great picture, but two things to keep an eye on - make sure small metal locacating clip on back of the shock stays central and once shock is in, make sure its fully upto its metal stop


once your happy its fully in re-fit bottom bolt, re-fit anti roll bar and push brake hose back in

now do the other side!!

[attachment=16425:spring1_027.jpg]
picture of the tools i used

As part of my mission to pay the least I can for stuff, I've done some digging around on prices for the Eibach lowering springs. Ferdi's group buy was able to get a unit price of £158 inc VAT and delivery, but Alan @ Pumabuild said he could do better than that and is able to offer these springs to us for £140 including VAT and delivery! I could not find these cheaper anywhere else at the moment. If anyone can, please let us know!

We need twelve people minimum to get this price. Once I have a list of at least twelve DEFINITE buyers, I'll contact Alan and let him know. I'll then ask you to contact him to make payment and the lowering kit will be despatched to you immediately as they are in stock and ready to roll. You'll have to find a tame wrench-monkey to fit them for you if you're inept like me.

This is a great deal; during my hunt, I've found out that the price on these has increased pretty much across the board, and not only that but they're quite expensive to courier (they're not exactly light!).

Please quote this list and add your name in your reply, and please only put your name down if you have the money and are ready to roll.

Edited to add: As this is a group buy and not just a straight discount, it's open to all.

Eibach Lowering Springs for Focus Mk2 ST (2006+)

Lowers 20mm front & 25mm rear

* 20mm drop at front & 25mm drop at rear (approximately)
* Engineered and tested for optimum handling
* Designed to work with standard shock absorbers
* Progressive rate sports spring
* Little loss in ride quality
* Eibach's lifetime warranty

1. Gav
2. reg148cdo
3. Sigo85
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.

ok the group buy is here and I now have all the infomation.

We need 5 people including myself to get this deal.

The group buy cost is £1599 with free free fitting by Code:Red .

The RRP of this set £1,749.00 without fitting so it a good deal if you ask me.

If you want them put you name down below

1. madmatt
2. nightshot
3.
4.
5.


could admin make this a sticky plz

HI all Im about to order some new wheels for the ST, but need to no the wheel offset and the stud distance between the 5 nuts that hold the wheel onto the car as the wheels manufanturer require this as the wheels are to be made for me by Team Dynamics. Many thanks Paul.

I had some wheels refurbished but I'd alread bought them with appropriate centre caps.

Getting the other 2 done now the same colour but said I'd need to get appropriate caps from ford as otherwise I'd lose the logo - not that I care!

Are these available like this from ford or has anyone got suggestions of how they are made up:

Hi
Last month I had my two front tyres replaced with Goodyear Eagle Asymmetric 225/40 R18 Y. This was the first change to the original tyres (The original Continentals still remain on the rear). I also had the tracking adjusted as it was out.

Ever since the change I have noticed two things:

1) The handling is screwed (traction control does not seem to be doing such a good job anymore) and I'm sliding all over the place when cornering.

2) When i lock the steerring hard right (when turning out of my driveway) I hear/feel a grinding/rumbling from the front near side (maybe also form left, I don't know.)

I realise that perhaps I should have replaced all 4 tyres at same time....but is this really necessary?

Anybody experienced similar to above? I will get in touch with the fitting garage, but thought I'd seek any knowledge from here first...

Thanks!

Anyone know where and how much I cant get decent wheel alignment done for my ST in Surrey, preferably near Guildford

Hi all, does anyone know how much the GT-R alloys are to buy and if they would be the right screw alignment for the focus. I've got to admit I think they look the mutts and would set my FW off to a tee.

Hoping to look forward to the answer.

As the topic header says im buying new wheels for the ST next week and was wondering just how much i should advertise my standard alloys for??

ive seen them advertised for silly prices from 800 and downwards, i was thinkin about the £400 mark as two of the tyres are gubbed but the other two are brand new!

any advice would be good!
cheers!

There are quite a few of us now with non standard wheels or painted wheels etc etc

So lets put them all in one place and have a nice little image gallery of different wheels types, so come on, dont be shy, post up them pics

and to start heres mine

Edit:
Staff, if we get enough images can we have this topic pinned as a reference for other owners wanting different wheels

Hi all, well its time for those new front tyres.They have only been on there 8 months so my wife blames me for there wear.whats new there then.can anyone out there give me any idea what i should put on there now.should i stay with the same or get something different.i really dont know.some would say better the devil you know.???????thanks all

just a quick warning to all members i would if i wer you get rid of the standard locking wheel nuts as they are utter rubbish ,went to have new tyres fitted yesterday and the locking nuts head snapped straight off and despite three diferent peoples attempts and suggestions from other members we have been unable to remove the locking nut so im now haveing to have the wheel cut off "luckily i have a spare one "just a word of warning realy as you dont want to find yourself in this position .
Fords have flately refused to be of any help whatsoever as the cars waranty only covers these items for one year so for the sake of a new DECENT set costing minimal amounts id go get some and put them on .
i shall be contactin MC GARD... MC !! "i think thats them" and takeing it up with them as my car has only coverd 12300 miles and is just haveing its first set of replacement tyres ,if anyone has a good spare wheel rim and i do mean good please pm me as id be interested in buying it from you .
cheers all .
rgds.
glenn

Probably a stupid question but Ive come accross a couple of different ride height springs and was wondering which one was best?

20f - 25b = £200

20f - 30b = £130

and i'm sure im seen

25f - 25b somewhere. Which ones best and why such a price difference, as there isnt much in the ride height really?

Plus I think ive read somewhere that Eibachs dont waver warrenty?????

Morning all,

My car is coming upto to about 9.5k now and the front end has been losing traction for the last few weeks under hard acceleration and in general fells a bit 'light '?

Anyway I thought the fronts might need changing so I took the car to kwik fit to get the free tyre check and I have 3mm on the fronts and over 5mm on the rear. Surely these fronts still have a good couple of thousand miles left, why do they feel so bad???

I don't really want to take a gamble with grip as the weather has turned for the worse and I had the car Mountuned last week which has made grip under acceleration even worse.

So my question is, do I just buy a set of part worn excellence with 6mm ish to tide me over or do you guys think these tyres aren't so great in which case i'll invest in a new set of better tyres? (was thinking maybe F1 assymmetrics or Vred Ultrac Sessantas which were superb on my previous car) and anyone had a similar experience with the Goodyear Excellence being poor for the last few thousand miles?

Thanks for any replies

Karl.

Afternoon all.
As per title realy as just been down to elites to have new tyres fitted and SNAP sodding locking wheel nut has broke leaving just the colar as the "head" has come completely off ,anyone got an idea as to how to remove whats left ??
Thanks all.
Rgds.
Glenn

Im based around the Newcastle/Sunderland area, and need them fitting to my ST.

Anyone know anyone decent?

Thanks

I got a slow puncture the screw was still in the tyre but instead fo blowing the tyre back up i got a tempary repair from the AA who said that any tyre perair center would repair it in the morning.

NO they wont the repair the the AA did nakerd the tyre i have taken it to 4 differant tyre repairs and all said the same cant repair the tyre due to the repair that AA did the punture was in the centre of the tread with only 2500 miles on the clock.

I thought I'd PM'd this to ST Tommo (Matt) but cant find it in my sent items......here goes - probably better to a wider audience....

I had been having a brake judder problem when braking from speed. I noticed some marks on the left front disc and concluded that the pads were well worn and I might have warped a disc. I decided to change the pads and whilst about it, change the discs since both are wear items and not covered under warranty. (I opted for EBC drilled and grooved disc and red stuff pads).

When I removed the front left disc, I noticed some unusual wear. If you consider the disc to be two plates sandwiching the vents, then the outside plate (i.e the one nearest to the wheel that is contacted by the none piston pad) had worn by about 2mm more than the inside one. The pad on this plate was also more worn (almost down to the metal). The right hand front disc was evenly worn as were the pads. There was no evidence of the sliding elements of the caliper being seized (Icleaned it all up any way and copper slipped it).

Has anyone experienced this? I can only think the caliper was sticking. Any other possible explanations?

Damian

ST Tommo - I'll be booking it in at EH soon. The original discs / pads are in the boot!

Think about these for the car think they would look the nuts.....

Comments on which ones preffered or maybe some suggestions welcome....
Looking for something with red in..... Or a Silver Black combo..... Dont wanna go JUST black or Anthracite..... something a little more flashy lol......

Wheel 1
wheel 2
wheel 3
wheel 4 I Really like these ones....


Dave

Hi guys,

My has started pulling off to the right when im driving along. I drive along normally holding the sterring wheel level and it slowly drifts right.

I checkeed my tyres for any uneven wear that you would associate with the tracking being out, but the tyres are fine.

there is a place in Stevenage that does laser wheel alignment, will this solve the problem or could it be somthing more serious?

Any advice you guys can offer would be great

Thanks and Merry Christmas
AJ

I read somewhere, possibly evo, that ST in fact is quite a brute and that is it quite substantially heavier then the stated 1392kg. Well, today was the moment of truth for my ST. It has been officially corner weighted at Torque Developments International (www.tdi-plc.com). Here is the result:

NSF = 439kg OSF = 457kg

NSR = 256kg OSR = 265.5kg

Total weight is 1417.5kg.

The car had about half tank of petrol, which is about 30L = 22kg

Weight without petrol 1395kg.

Weight distribution F/R =63/37 %

I also spent well over an hour chatting to Sam about suspension, car dynamics and human physiology to do with car control. This, without a shadow of a doubt, was the best course I have ever been too! And it was free!

They also have hub dyno, which i shall be doing next

Hi all, i am thinking of having the car lowered very soon, i was just wondering if any one else has there car lowered with around 22k miles on the clock? Is there any known problems with EG: drive shafts or any thing else known?

I am on my second set of tyres and dont feel I thrash the car. There was no unusual wear patterns and tyres had done 8000 miles - is this normal?

Can anyone provide the best tyre pressures to use?

Thanks