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So a bit of context:
My nan had to give up her car recently, she's currenty in hospital with a reasonable prognosis considering shes 94yo.
She's obviously hung up the car keys and essentially given her car to me, as i'm already on the insurance.
The problem is the tyres, they are pretty much brand new, but branded 'matador' something or other, and they are an absolute liability. I'm sure they are technically legal but I've never driven on such a bad tyre, so I'm thinking about getting rid of all four and buying something a bit safer.
The size is 175/60/15... and looking at the handbook, I might have to stick to that size, so I was thinking uniroyal rain-expert, but they are £100 each, which seems crazy for a 15".... Im pretty sure I paid aout £75 each for the Uniroyal rain sport 5, in 16" for the volvo a few years ago.
Aye, car tyres have increased in cost again.
£100 a corner isn't a surprise these days - even in 15" flavour.
They are a proper budget job but there's worse.
What's the age stamp on them?
I use uni royal or khumo mainly on mine though devanti which is oaks own brand from memory are very good vfm
Car tyre prices are mostly dictated by how popular that size is now, not when it was fitted... Hence many 18 or 19" tyres are now cheaper than 14 or 15" tyres with a lot less rubber in them! Sad, but true...
Just had a quick look and indeed, you're looking at the best part of £100 a corner fitted for anything decent in that size! Shocking but true...
FWIW, the Matador's aren't the worst by some stretch... B wet rated, and towards the higher end of what's available in that size. Also, you simply won't get many of the premium tyres you might want in that size, simply because the manufacturers won't deem it worthy making them because of a lack of demand.
What car is it? That's a pretty odd size these days... You might even find an upgrade to some alloys from a higher spec model in a larger size will bring with it much cheaper replacement tyres if you were that way inclined...
£100 a corner isn’t a surprise these days – even in 15″ flavour.
TBF though they look to be a pretty uncommon size, fewer than 20 hits on ATF, BC, Halfords Vs well over 100 for the popular 205/55/16 size. What I'd call a decent tyre starts at around £80 for a Hankook or Falken summer.
OP, are you sure that's your only tyre choice available for that run?
@mboy, and others, thanks, it's a 1.2L nissan micra, I don't know the power but I imagine it's about 80-90bhp.
I’d have a play around with the pressures before swapping them out.
Check what they are at the moment and go from there.
Really I'm asking as a lot of cars standard alloys can take a slightly fatter or slimmer profile and still be in manufacture spec.
You can change the tyre size, safest is to go for a size that is used on another variant of the car. Technically you should tell your insurance. You also need to match or exceed the weight rating, and the speed rating. Below, 195/55r15 looks like a viable alternative, just check you have clearance for an extra 10mm width on the inside of the tyre, and also on the outside before it protrudes from the outermost part of the wing. The percentage is the overall increase in tyre diameter)
Stolen from elsewhere:
175/65 R 15 (+3.0%)
175/55 R 15 (-3.0%)
185/60 R 15 (+2.0%)
195/55 R 15 +0.8%)
195/50 R 15 (-2.5%)
205/55 R 15 (+2.6%)
205/50 R 15 (-0.8%)
Matador tyres are 100% owned by Continental so nowhere near a cheap ditch-finder. Definitely try changing the tyre pressures first then give them a decent run to scrub them in a bit if the car has sat for a while, tyres that sit for a while after use can get a small film of hard rubber on the surface that wears off in a few miles. Provided the date code on them isn't earlier than 2015 or so they should be perfectly serviceable.
Micra tyres are an odd size. They where conti oe fitment from memory
When I was at Nissan there was only about 3 brands at the time.
We sold loads of firestone as they where 50%of the conti price wise
I can assure you that 'matador' tyres are complete shyte.. they shouldn't be road legal. but yet, they are.
EDIT: I'd happily buy conti's or rainsports... but these tyres are a travesty... they are frankly unsafe.
it’s a 1.2L nissan micra, I don’t know the power but I imagine it’s about 80-90bhp.
80bhp I believe... And no worries... 👍🏻
Just had a very quick look on ebay, there's plenty of OEM 16" alloys for sale on there with 185 or 195 wide tyres of an appropriately lower profile. A quick google suggests 17's with 205/40's will fit too, albeit will ruin the ride with such a low profile.
Up to you, but if the stock wheels have 175's on as OEM fitment, then they're not likely to take anything wider, especially if they're steelies. I'd suggest at over a ton with such narrow tyres fitted, some of what you're experiencing re lack of grip is to do with the narrow section of the tyre, not just the make.
Personally, if it was me, bearing in mind tyres are my job... I'd just be thankful of some free transport and drive it cautiously for now (road conditions aren't great right now) and be grateful, whilst keeping my eye out for some good priced OEM fitment alloys on ebay with half decent tyres.
I can assure you that ‘matador’ tyres are complete shyte.. they shouldn’t be road legal. but yet, they are.
EDIT: I’d happily buy conti’s or rainsports… but these tyres are a travesty… they are frankly unsafe.
You'll find that, better as either of those tyres are, that in a 175 wide fitment on a car that weighs the wrong side of a ton, they'll be quite underwhelming too...
It's weird. I've always bought the cheapest so called 'ditch finders' on all of my cars.
Could never really afford the Maxxis of the car world.
Yet Weirdly, I've not yet found myself unintentionally parked in any ditches.
I wonder if there's any specific reason that people do end up in ditches on these apparently dangerous tyres and if there's perhaps any way this could be avoided? 🤔😉
thanks all I might just bang 4x uniroyal rain expert on then, seems I can do that for £400, and it's a much better tyre.
Well for starters, my 'road legal' matador tyre can accidentally wheelspin on a 1.2 micra, on a dry road. That is how shyte these tyres are.
Agree with the others who say it’s a weird tyre size so costs more and less options.
My girlfriend’s 206 uses a slightly different size of 175/65/R14 and there’s loads of premium options under £80 fitted on black circles.
Often a wheel can take a slightly wider / narrower tyre. If you can get specs for the exact wheel size for your car then check online or at a tyre garage to see if you can tweak the width and profile a bit to get a more popular size.
Use the following website to compare tyre sizes and see what alternative sizes are not far off your current diameter and won’t throw off the speedo too much.
https://tiresize.com/tyre-size-calculator/
Up to you, but if the stock wheels have 175’s on as OEM fitment, then they’re not likely to take anything wider, especially if they’re steelies. I’d suggest at over a ton with such narrow tyres fitted, some of what you’re experiencing re lack of grip is to do with the narrow section of the tyre, not just the make.
Something else is at play. I've a 108 on 165/60/r15s and it holds the road just fine on Goodyear vectors. There's really no need to go putting wider tires/bigger wheels on.
With 80 horses Id have to be doing something quite stupid to get it to break traction. Even in the recent snow it's been surefooted and minimal wheel spins
Weird that you are experiencing poor performance with Matador tyres.
As said above they are a budget brand of Continental.
Years ago I had some or on my 1.9 TDi Ibiza (for ref, 130bhp & 310Nm torque) at a tyre place close to where I worked at the time.
They were Hectorra MP44s. The bloke insisted they were better than I would expect and to be fair, they were much better.
Good grip, good life, reasonably quiet, no hit to economy.
I used them for a few years. The model changes and last ones I had on were mp46 I think.
Maybe some of their other tyres are shit, but the ones I've run were fine.
Weird that you are experiencing poor performance with Matador tyres.
Nothing weird, they are just shit bargain basement tyres.
Weird that you are experiencing poor performance with Matador tyres.
As said above they are a budget brand of Continental.
They'll be made to a lower spec with cheaper materials and less money put into R&D. If they performed like Continentals they'd be sold as Continentals and priced accordingly.
I think I'll just bang 4x uniroyal rains on, seems to be the best bang for buck at 100 each. I just dont't trust the matadors, they are too twitchy and squirmy.
wheelspin on a 1.2 micra, on a dry road. That is how shyte these tyres are.
Or your clutch control...
stumpy01
Full MemberWeird that you are experiencing poor performance with Matador tyres.
As said above they are a budget brand of Continental.
Continental have a few stealth brands that they sell crap under. Can't remember the one they use for wheel bearings off the top of my head but they're proper crap too, I fell for "they're continental so they'll be good" and then replaced them after about 10000 miles.
As someone else said, if they were good they'd be branded continental- Matador exists so they can sell stuff that would ruin their brand.
It’s weird. I’ve always bought the cheapest so called ‘ditch finders’ on all of my cars.
Could never really afford the Maxxis of the car world.
Yet Weirdly, I’ve not yet found myself unintentionally parked in any ditches.
Until recently I'd have agreed with you. I've had all sorts of crap on work vehicles and they've been ok. Worn quickly, but ok.
Tyres do go off. I had a set of Bridgestone SO2, I think go off due to aging, they went from ace to terrible. They were pretty old though and no ABS or traction control.
The cheap Sunshine or whatever tyres on the front of our slow elderly Astra, that struggles to get out of its own way, went from acceptable to utterly terrible very quickly and started cracking. They rapidly got replaced.
I think I’ll just bang 4x uniroyal rains on, seems to be the best bang for buck at 100 each.
I just took Uniroyal Rainsport 5's off my MX5 cos they squirmed badly and lacked in feedback... That was in 205/45/17 size. Replaced with the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 6's (which aren't available in your size to be fair), and they made the world of difference!
I've had rainsport 2's and 3's on cars before, been impressed in general, less so with the 5's, in fact really uninspiring tyre.
Toyo CF2's @ a little over £50 apiece delivered (my local friendly tyre fitter will do for £15 a tyre fitted if I supply or all 4 for £50) would be where my money went in that size... https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/Toyo/Proxes-CF2.htm
Can’t remember the one they use for wheel bearings
That'll be because tyres have nothing to do with bearings. 😉
Replaced with the latest Goodyear Eagle F1 Assymetric 6’s (which aren’t available in your size to be fair), and they made the world of difference
That's half the problem, I can't seem to buy premium tyres in this size unless I go for a michelin ££££
Or your clutch control…
I've been driving a long time, I know how to drop the clutch, and how to 'make progress' and also how to drive sensibly. This post is purely about how bad the tyre choice is in this particular size, £100 per tyre (for anything half decent), fitting and balancing is ludicrous for a 15"
My first experience of Vredestein was similar to yours, OP. They took a few hundred km to really sort themselves out, but they did.
The very cold temperatures might also not be helping with this. Perhaps once the temperature increases and they’ve had some time, they’ll be okay.
I can also support what another poster said above about finding similar, but not identical size tyres. Our Panda 100hp needed 195/45/15 tyres which were £100+ each and only available from Goodyear, but 195/50/15 were £60 each and available from Conti, Dunlop AND Goodyear.
Wider tyres aren't likely to help either wet or snow performance. Just stick some new tyres on there suited to the majority of your seasonal needs
Date codes?
They may be very very old...
Was semprit the other Goodyear brand? Can't remember who made them.
Also checked your tyre pressures?
Matador exists so they can sell stuff that would ruin their brand.
seems odd then that the Continental link is one of the first things you see on the Matador website
This post is purely about how bad the tyre choice is in this particular size, £100 per tyre (for anything half decent), fitting and balancing is ludicrous for a 15″
That's the price of tyres now! Just put two fronts on my car (Conti's in 195/55/15, a very common size) and they were just under £97 each after a small discount. Inflation and import costs have really hit tyre prices hard.
If they were good enough for a 94-year old driver surely they're good enough for someone who:
I’ve been driving a long time, I know how to drop the clutch, and how to ‘make progress’ and also how to drive sensibly.
😉
New tyres often feel vague initially, especially if they're old stock so it's worth persisting and using your skills to adapt your driving. If you've been driving a long time just go back to how you used to drive on 145/82 14, or perhaps not, they were fun.
I'd keep them and use the Micra as intended.
If not Michelin Cross Climates. 😉
Rain expert ~£73 here
That’s the price of tyres now! Just put two fronts on my car (Conti’s in 195/55/15, a very common size) and they were just under £97 each after a small discount. Inflation and import costs have really hit tyre prices hard.
Prices are all over the place, that's true but if you can look over a couple of weeks you can still find a decent deal. I paid £93 each buying a set of Goodyear Vector G3 in the very common 225/45 r17 about a month ago. They went up a fair bit, now they're £103.99 but with 15% off a set of 4 so about £88!
The very cold temperatures might also not be helping with this. Perhaps once the temperature increases and they’ve had some time, they’ll be okay.
+1 for this. I used to run Goodyear Eagle F1s, which were great tyres in mild to warm conditions, but felt horrible at anything under 5˚C or so, I once almost went straight over a deceptive backroad junction when they locked up big time under firm, but not panic, braking in cold conditions.
I'm sure Matadors aren't the best thing out there, but assuming they're a summer tyre, they won't be working remotely well in winter conditions. Can you maybe fit an all season tyre for a similar price to a premium summer option?
4 CrossClimates fitted to my wife’s Q2 this morning. Car is coming up 2 yrs old and the OEM Michelin somethings were really poor last winter, so bit the bullet. £580 fitted, with KwikFit offering best local deal. (215/55/17). Originals still had about 4mm front and a bit more on rear, after 14k miles. CrossClimates do seem to last well, my Q5 has done about 24k on a set and still has 4mm plus all round.
Have you checked the shocks out to make sure they aren’t knackered? Poor shocks will give horrible traction and be very squirmy and give many of the issues you mentioned. Also have the bushes checked.
Even ditch finders should be fine unless provoked or at the limit in an emergency.
I once almost went straight over a deceptive backroad junction when they locked up big time under firm, but not panic, braking in cold conditions
The last time I locked up under those conditions was pre ABS, what car is that?
The last time I locked up under those conditions was pre ABS, what car is that?
It was a Mk2 Golf GTi, it most certainly did not have ABS 🙂
at the limit in an emergency
If only we knew when that was going to be...
If only we knew when that was going to be…
Exactly, which is why I always fit decent tyres. However, a ditch finder with good tread is arguably better than a worn (but still legal) premium tyre. Whatever the tyre, one needs to drive within its limits. Unfortunately, far too many don’t and then blame the equipment!
Shocked at how much tyres for my berlingo with 15 inch wheels were. Wanted another set of michelin climate+ tyrs and they were 125 quid each!!! Even really budget/shit options were coming in at 80-90 quid.
I also had a Micra 1.2 for a spell last year, it came with two mostly knackered front tyres. The handling was quite alarming IMO so one of the first things I did was replace the fronts with a “well reviewed” mid range tyre (quite a lot cheaper than £100, but after checking, they’ve crept up in the last year) expecting the difference was going to be night and day…
…it wasn’t!! I had the alignment checked twice because I thought something was seriously wrong, but the front axle of that car is frightening:0) zero feel, super light, then a really sudden “fold” as the car understeers cheerfully into oblivion! The old tyres were feathered on the outside edges (possibly not helped by an astonishingly tight turning circle) but worn evenly otherwise to near the limit.
Obviously I’m also a driving god, so had to have a go at spirited driving on quiet roads to see how the car reacted, but it was a short experiment that revealed that it’s definitely ideally suited to cat food runs ;0)
Economy is brilliant, space, great for a small car, radio/Bluetooth was quite good and mine made me £500 in 6 months, so a great car!!
But they are cheap, fugly little cars with very limited front grip (just nipping out of a junction could easily spin the wheels if it was slightly damp or the day had a “Y” in it) very difficult to find fault with, but not an easy car to like ;0)
Shocked at how much tyres for my berlingo with 15 inch wheels were. Wanted another set of michelin climate+ tyrs and they were 125 quid each!!! Even really budget/shit options were coming in at 80-90 quid.
Where you looking ? I see continentals / Goodyear's /vredestiens in all season flavours for 75-85 quid.
Cross climate 2 coming in at 100 a corner.
We have Goodyear ultragrip winters on our Berlingo.
New tires on the summer alloys stung a bit. Think we hankook or kumhos on them. Wasn't change from 450 quid - they are 16s anything premium branded was frankly mental money for a tire that's useful 4 months of the year.
Michelin are generally very good tyres
Why not look at “tyrepros” fir what could fit.
Blackcircles too (although they end up sending you to a local dealer where they reluctantly fit.
So, I check blackcircles first look at reviews etc then buy from tyrepros.
Hope it helps.
Your size starts at £60 on tyrepros site fir a budget tyre. Tyres do certainly differ in grip, noise, economy, wear but I’d imagine even budget must be safe?
With 80 horses Id have to be doing something quite stupid to get it to break traction.
Like an emergency stop? That kind of stupid crazy manoeuvre?
Like an emergency stop? That kind of stupid crazy manoeuvre?
Is that something your car struggles with ? Mine stops just fine thanks.....I actually thought the abs was broken when I first got it as I was actively trying to make it function and it was quite hard work getting it to break traction even on wet surfaces.
And that's with drums out back ...somefolk would have you believe I should be dead by now with such inferior technology
Is that something your car struggles with ? Mine stops just fine thanks
One is on decent tyres, so the ABS doesn't come on; the other is on crappy OEM versions of Michelin and it will skid if you brake.
Not sure your point - are you saying that no tyre, no matter how rubbish, will lock up during an emergency stop? Because I don't think that's the case.
No I'm saying I have direct experience of a comparable of vehicle(both weight and power) on quality tires suited to the climate it's in and it handles just fine without fitting bigger wheels or wider tires even when I'm purposefully trying to brake traction underhard breaking
I'm not theorising about some whatiffery.
On the flip side I had conti van contacts on a 3 ton van that sound pretty much like the ops Micra. Couldn't trust it to go round a corner without them forgetting what their job was.
No I’m saying I have direct experience of a comparable of vehicle(both weight and power) on quality tires suited to the climate it’s in and it handles just fine without fitting bigger wheels or wider tires even when I’m purposefully trying to brake traction underhard breaking
Right, and the OP has the same car on poor tyres and it skids. So we can conclude that poor tyres are poor.
My point from my comment was that you don't need to be driving fast in order to need decent tyres.
Not driven this generation of Micra, but that's what I suspected the issue would be... I've driven many cars that no amount of expensive rubber could fix!
are you saying that no tyre, no matter how rubbish, will lock up during an emergency stop?
with ABS it won't lock. It might patter and scub but it won't lock as in wheels stop rotating. Try it on a clear national speed limit road with nothing else on the road in any conditions except snow or ice. On very low grip surfaces the engine stalling can result in locked wheels if you don't dip the clutch.
I tried just about everything possible when ABS first came out on a car it was possible to disable the ABS and had an adjustable limiter for the back brakes. I came to the conclusion the system was more consistent than me except on snow and ice.
What will happen how ever is the stopping distance on shit tire will be increased as the abs detects lock and releases more often.
But I did exactly as edukator did to a. Test my abs and b. Know how my new to me car reacts under hard braking....a habit from driving 1980s cars which had a habit of wanting to locking up and wanting to swing round on you unless you were heavy loaded.