What tires for all seasons

[redyaris13]

I have a 2008 Yaris YR (Australian Model). When I bought it, the dealer had fitted a nice set of Advanti 15" alloys to it, but had compromised with second hand tyres. Simex front and Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 rear. The front were very worn and they eventually replaced all four with Hero Milanza HZ1s.

I am finding these tyres' wet weather traction is not very good, particularly from a standing start. I get wheel spin almost every time. They also slip a bit on cornering. This seems a bit strange in a 1.3L car being driven quite conservatively. I wonder if the car is too light for a tyre of this type.

I am now looking at trying to do a change over, even though I have done less than 500km on the tyres.

What tyres should I consider?

I have had Goodyear Assurance recommended (we only have one model in Australia, not sure what it is equivalent to in US models).

I have had Bridgestones in the past and have been very happy with them.

I really want something that will give me good wet weather grip without compromising dry grip too much. Low noise if possible and reasonable wear.

Any advice would be very helpful.

[WolfWings]

The Australian Goodyear Assurance is marketed as the 'Assurance ComforTred' elsewhere. It's one of the best all-seasons out there still, and does live up to it's name for being quiet, but it's kinda 'meh' for raw wet traction. Honestly, if you want dry and wet traction, and don't live where ice or snow is a concern, get the F1 GS-D3's, they're bar-none one of of the best 'summer' tires available for day-to-day use.

[redyaris13]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Yes, I would have been happier if they'd just replaced the fronts with Eagles to match the rears. Are they noisy when fitted all round? When you say the Assurance are "kinda 'meh' for raw wet traction" what exactly do you mean? Are they not good at cornering, take-off or what?

Any other suggestions?

BTW I have 195/50/15s fitted.

[thebarber]

how cold does it get where you are?

[redyaris13]

it can get cold. Today got down to about 7C. During Winter it gets down to 0. Summer gets up to 40c or more.

[thebarber]

ya, i guess all seasons are good enough for your application...

i was originally going to say that all seasons = no seasons, but it doesnt sound like your winters are particularly harsh. (where i am temps range from -20C to +35C, typically)

that being said, all seasons really lose their grip below 8c....

[redyaris13]

Took the car in today to the local distributor of the tyres. They took one look and said they were over inflated. The people who fitted them had 34psi in them (which is also what they had told me to inflate them to). The distributor took the fronts down to 28 and rears to 30. This is more like what I have had in small cars in the past and also close to what toyota recommend.

Basically I was driving on only the centre section of the tread. The channelling that would normally pump the water away was barely making contact with the road, particularly when accelerating and turning at the same time.

I immediately noticed a huge improvement. Virtually no spin on take off, unless on a steep incline and pushing it a bit hard. Same with cornering. Decided to stick with the Hero's. Dry weather performance was very good anyway, so now that wet is good as well, I'm happy.

I had forgotten just how much difference tyre pressure makes.

Thanks for the replies.