Tyre woes

[Generallee]

Bought some Accelera PHI-r tyres for my '99 V70. They are dreadful in the wet, done around 400 miles on them, car understeers at 15mph in the wet, breaks traction on acceleration and fires the ABS under braking - dangerous ditch finders, but here is the funny bit, I bought a Mustang with 17" Accelera tyres, and it was great in the wet, I upgraded to 18" wheels and again fitted Accelera PHI-r tyres - absolutely fine, handles 300+bhp in the wet, corners and stops fine too... so why are the 205/50/15's so bad on my V70??? Company want to send them back to the manufacturer to test before a refund can be finalized... Paypal are looking at the transaction. Would you send themback for the manufacturer to test? If they find nothing wrong with them, I will get my refund reversed and the tyres returned... :-(

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Generallee

Bought some Accelera PHI-r tyres for my '99 V70. They are dreadful in the wet, done around 400 miles on them, car understeers at 15mph in the wet, breaks traction on acceleration and fires the ABS under braking - dangerous ditch finders, but here is the funny bit, I bought a Mustang with 17" Accelera tyres, and it was great in the wet, I upgraded to 18" wheels and again fitted Accelera PHI-r tyres - absolutely fine, handles 300+bhp in the wet, corners and stops fine too... so why are the 205/50/15's so bad on my V70??? Company want to send them back to the manufacturer to test before a refund can be finalized... Paypal are looking at the transaction. Would you send themback for the manufacturer to test? If they find nothing wrong with them, I will get my refund reversed and the tyres returned... :-(

send them off , get some premium tyres and hope for the best ...

[Generallee]

Yeah, I put some Khumo's on, car is great again.... what I did notice though was that the longitudinal grooves on the 18" are 10mm wide, but on the 15" on my volvo, they are only 5 mm wide, like they have just scaled down the pattern, so smaller tyres will have less width between the tread blocks and so displace less water in wet conditions...

[DaveNP]

I would have been deeply suspicious of Accelera tyres from the start, a case of once bitten.., I had some cheap tyres on a VW many years back, they were OK in the dry and lasted for ages but the slightest bit of wet on the road and even 'normal' driving got scary never mind anything 'spirited'. One of the problems with tyre comparison is also the specific model, the car mags may review the low profile big rim tyres, but as you've found out, how does that relate to a 'normal' profile tyre?
It looks like you've taken them off of the V70 so why not send them back? You've taken the hit of buying more tyres so nothing to loose and who knows you may get your money back on the Accelera's.
I have noticed how some cars react differently to the same tyres, my V70, the wife's Kia Cee'd and my son's Pug 307 are all on Avon ZV7's (local indy does a good deal on them), but her Almera didn't do so well on them and had Michelins which were a significant improvement.

[Generallee]

I would have been suspicious if I hadn't got a set on the Mustang, which is fine in the wet. Khumos are fine now... yeah, I suppose I best return them.

[XC90Mk1]

I really don’t understand why people don’t just buy Michelin, good year, continental etc. They cost an extra 20 quid and last thousands and thousands of miles

[xco]

Originally Posted by Generallee

Yeah, I put some Khumo's on, car is great again.... what I did notice though was that the longitudinal grooves on the 18" are 10mm wide, but on the 15" on my volvo, they are only 5 mm wide, like they have just scaled down the pattern, so smaller tyres will have less width between the tread blocks and so displace less water in wet conditions...

I found when I owned my v70 and s60 before that that they both liked a vee pattern tyre.

I would suggest you go to www.camskill.co.uk and check out the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons.

They are a really superb tyre and at the moment can be had for £79.00 a corner delivered to your favourite indi tyre fitter who will probably fit them for you for a tenner per corner.

I should look towards an XL side wall preferably as these are good at ironing out potholes and bumpy roads and the vee pattern will be very much appreciated by your V70.
Very accurate and goes where you put it.

The beauty of All Season tyres is ...just that!!!

They are all season so you put 'em on and forget about them.

When the weather turns you have no worries they just do their job.
Good in the ice and snow,very sure footed in the wet and no problems in summer.

IMOP well worth a few extra pennies.

We have 4 all round on my wifes C30 D5 se lux Geartronic which goes like a bomb,they have been on for 4 years now and are only just starting to show signs of wear.....Highly recommended in view of the longevity they give.

Hope this helps

[Generallee]

Very interesting replies - thank you. Sadly, I'm not one of those 'brand name' kind of people... so prefer to buy from test results or even better my own experience, obviously this is fine if you can use the Consumer Act and get your money back if things aren't fit for purpose. Some of these name brands have changed hands and are part of different companies now, like Cooper own Avon etc. I also believe Michelin don't actually have any real rubber in their tyres anymore, all synthetic - they are good tyres though. The Khumos do what they do best and the Acceleras are fine on the Mustang - I just couldn't believe the difference when on the V70. I'm not sure there is any way to test them for wet grip out of a lab, but I do have photos that show the front tyres have been scrubbed understeering, where the rears are fine....they will probably blame the tracking, but that is fine. No, I don't think they will give me my money back if I send them back to test so I think I will wait for paypal to give me my money back as they are not fit for purpose. I've done probably 130K miles in my 850/V70 and it does get the beans ;-)

[XC90Mk1]

Originally Posted by Generallee

Very interesting replies - thank you. Sadly, I'm not one of those 'brand name' kind of people... so prefer to buy from test results or even better my own experience, obviously this is fine if you can use the Consumer Act and get your money back if things aren't fit for purpose. Some of these name brands have changed hands and are part of different companies now, like Cooper own Avon etc. I also believe Michelin don't actually have any real rubber in their tyres anymore, all synthetic - they are good tyres though. The Khumos do what they do best and the Acceleras are fine on the Mustang - I just couldn't believe the difference when on the V70. I'm not sure there is any way to test them for wet grip out of a lab, but I do have photos that show the front tyres have been scrubbed understeering, where the rears are fine....they will probably blame the tracking, but that is fine. No, I don't think they will give me my money back if I send them back to test so I think I will wait for paypal to give me my money back as they are not fit for purpose. I've done probably 130K miles in my 850/V70 and it does get the beans ;-)

So do I. Michelin and Goodyear are regular champs. I have really gotten on with Goodyear. My ford has just had 20k out of the front set and the tears are half left (not a small light car).

The el cheapos that you refer to I will go out on a limb and guess have never had a group test winner tag? Just buy good tyres and don’t scrimp. Mocking on half a million miles I have never had a blow out, defect, bulge etc etc but I only buy good stuff.

[volvoid]

or simply buy them from your local indi, they have to match kwitfat prices or beat them to stay in business