New tyres 156 - recommendations

[Alfa Sam]

I am fed up with my noisy tyres and looking to get a new set. I have a 2003 156 V6. Any recommendations? Suggestions so far are Pirelli P7's, Michelin Pilot Sprot 3 and Continental Premium Contact 2. Thanks.

[bix]

Goodyear EfficientGrip is supposed to be Goodyear's quietest model.
Kmart has an offer of free fitting and $100 free fuel voucher at the moment.

[hammer]

I run Yokohama C-Drives on my 156 Ti and they've been great. Plenty of grip in wet and dry conditions and they've worn really well. They've been on the car approximately 2 years, with somewhere between 25 and 27,000 km and still have plenty of life in them.

I previously ran the C-Drives on a 75 twinspark and also bought a set for my mum's Camry. Good all-rounders.

Cheers,

Brent

[colcol]

I have Bridgestone Adrenilins on the 2002 JTS, have done 15,000 ks, they seem not to be wearing out too quickly, they are not too noisy and grip ok in the wet and dry and most importantly they balanced up ok and have not gone out of balance, i usually only buy tyres from manufactuers that support motorsport as they tend to make better tyres for us spirited Alfa drivers and not chase the Toyota market whos only concern is how long do they last, Colin.

[Roger Smith]

I can highly recommend Hankook. I currently run these on my 156 JTS and 159 2.4 Sportswagon. The 156 was experiencing balance problems (Michelin) and the 159 tyre noise(Pirelli - which were better than previously tried Bridgestone). The 156 balance problems were mainly due to damaged Simmons rims. The Hankooks have dealt satisfactorily with the both problems and appear to be wearing well in both instances. I have been a bit of a tyre snob in the past - but am happy with the Hankooks. They may not grip quite as well as the others at the margin, but provide good all-round performance. I have just installed Continentals on my Berlina, but it is too early to judge how they are going.

[shiny_car]

Is 'noise' the top priority? As opposed to cost, grip/braking, wear, etc?
What size are you after?

I think a lot of 'economy family car' tyres are designed to be pretty quiet. Probably hard-wearing too.

My personal experiences of late:
*Bridgestone RE001 Adrenalin 205/40R17: great grip, reasonably quiet; stiff sidewalls make for relatively harsh ride; reasonable wear
*Continental DW Extreme 215/40R17: great grip, as quiet; not quite as harsh riding
*Toyo Proxes4 225/35R19: very good grip; bit noisy; comfortable ride; good wear
*Continental ContiSportContact3 235/40R19: great grip and quiet and comfortable; nice allround tyre; wears relatively faster; expensive
*Bridgestone RE050 225/45/17: great grip, quiet; stiff and harsh ride

Of that lot, if they're available in your size, I recommend the Conti CSC3.

[Davidm1600]

I have a '03 JTS Sportwagon and I needed to replace the original Michelin Pilots about a year ago.  I went with the Pirelli P7s.  I couldn't be happier, fantastic grip levels in the wet, quiet, low wear levels and at a price I was happy with (from memory $900).  I got them from Bob Janes.

[MOERO]

stay away from "Firenze" tyres, I have them on mine and they are terribly noisy and bad in the wet. Can't wait for them to wear out (supprisingly good wear 20'000+kms and still no where near tread wear indicator  )

But I will keep my eye on this post when it comes time to change them

Currently have standard issue pirelli on the rears.

[pep105]

I know were talking Alfas but.....

Ive had experience with Continental Conti Sport Contact 3 on my sisters CLK I regularly drive and can confirm what
shiny-car says. Great all round grip quiet, comfortable, compliments the sports suspension set up on the Merc quite well.
Good all round performance tyre. Expensive and for some reason prone to punctures which has
resulted in them being replaced far to early. Not sure if its the tyres though or her stupid tyre pressure monitor.

Researching tyres is fun but can cause brain fade especially when ringing tyre outlets.

Ive found this tyre review website quite useful, it's UK/Euro based but provides good info with european tyre tests and owner
reviews and ratings.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk

Let us know how you go, what size tyres are you running on the 156 ?  

[alfagtv58]

Like Pep, I know we are talking Alfa's, but.....

I recently put a set of the Bridgestone Adrenalins on my WRX.  Great tyre, really happy with it.  Loads of grip.

[len105]

I agree with David1750 - I replaced some noisy, gripless Firestones 10 months ago with Pirelli P7's - and couldn't be happier !!

Lotsa grip, wet & dry - no noise & reasonably priced......

I asked the same question you are before I purchased - and whilst everyone has slightly different expectations & recommendations, in my view, for Alfa 156's, Pirelli P7's should be high on the list....

Good luck......

[Alfa Sam]

Thanks for the comments and advice.

I agree with Pep that researching tyres can make u go into brain fade. And Pep I had reviewed the UK site u recommended and cant see how i can go past the Michelin Pilot Sport 3 (PS3s) which were give very high ratings on just about everything.

So I've booked her in and she's getting new shoes on Saturday. They will be standard size which is 205/55/16. By the way the PS3's seem to be on special at the moment at 209 at the Jaxs, well under the 250+ they have been going for.

Ill keep u posted as to how they go. (Unless someone on here talks me out of them before Saturday)

[pep105]

Good Stuff Alfa Sam,

I think you've made the right choice, Im in the the process of getting new tyres for my Alfa too so
I know the info overload to well. PS3 is a new release and did get good reviews as did the PS2

Let us know the verdict especially once you've covered a few kays.

Cheers
Pep

[pep105]

Coincidently just received the latest copy of wheels and they have conducted a tyre test.

Winner was the Michelin Pilot Sport 3

Tyre size was 225/45 R18

Final Postions were

1. Michelin Pilot Sport 3
2. Continental Sport Contact 2
3. Khumo Ecsta Le Sport KU39
4. Bridgestone Potenza RE001
5. Sumitomo HTR Z III
6. Dunlop SP Sport 01
7. Nexen CP643A

[Tas156]

I too have the P7's on my Facelift JTS Sportwagon and find them to be great. I have used Michelin pretty well exclusively in the past on Peugeot but have found these P7's to be great on the 156!

Good Luck
Ben