New Rubber, all change

[jonathan_dyane]

I rate Vredestein tyres highly, although have no experience of them on a XM. They're a reasonable price, have tenacious grip and seem to last well.

[robert_e_smart]

I have Michelin Primacys on my 2.1 TD XM, and I don't rate them at all. But they are old, so I have to bear that in mind. Grip in wet corners is awful, just ploughs on! I have Michelin Energys on the 2.0 XM, and they are fine, but it's hard to compare the 2 since the diesel car will be a lot nose heavier than the petrol, and running on older rubber.

[Jan-hendrik]

Is it just me or have Mitchelin stopped making the Primacys in 205/65/15?

Primacy LC tyres in 'our' size (205/65 R15) are available in the Asian market. They are an upgrade of the MXV8 range.

[hobblerian]

Dean does have a limited amount of road length without using a ferry though so it is quite understandable that looks come before use

I do far to many miles in mine to manage to keep it clean or looking nice. Every time I park in a supermarket I seem to get another dent as well I would like to know what is causing the white spots on my roof though. It looks like the lacquer is separating from the other layers of paint. There is a definite pattern to it though, as though something is causing it.

The laquer has started to peel slightly at the edges and around my arial on the roof of my emeralde green 97, Need my front right wing resprayed, so gonna try and seal up the edges before it speads with the left over laquer from that job.

With tyres I've kept to original spec MXV2's energy 15"

[rowanmoor]

I had to have 2 new tyres the other day, and what a difference it has made.

To set the scene, I do drive quite hard, and have a number of roundabouts on a dual carriageway on my daily commute, so I test the cornering of the car quite well.

I always used to have Mitchelin Primacies all round. I was always very happy with them. I rarely found a car able to keep up with me on the roundabouts and understeer was always gradual and predictable in both wet and dry.

Last time I needed 2 new tyres the Primacies were discontinued though I didn't know it at the time and wondered why the tyre place had got Energies instead. The 2 new ones went on the front, leaving 2 Primacies about half worn on the back. I immediately noticed that I wasn't as happy with them. They would understeer at much lower speeds and they squealed very badly on the roundabouts.

As they wore I found the squeal and understeer getting worse and worse. It got to the point that they would squeal in a right turn round a roundabout at 15 mph. I would find that the van/old lady/robin reliant in front was racing off into the distance while I was squealing and understeering round the roundabout behind them feeling rather embarrassed about it. I was sure that a droplink must be going (it is slightly as I get an occasional clunk on big bumps) and causing the lack of handling.

However, I had a slow puncture on the back and the tread was nearing 2mm, so I had to get a new tyre. Whilst checking them before doing so I noticed some scaring/cuts on one of the fronts (now at about 5mm tread) - the tyre place felt it was too bad to get away without replacing, so I needed 2 new tyres.

I asked them what options I had, and they said that the only Mitchelin is the Energies and they agreed that they are rubbish compared to the Primacies. So I decided on Perelli P6000's - they are still about, Dean, at least in 205/65/15. The tyre place reckoned they are at least as good as the Energies if not better, and they are about £10 cheeper.

Both new tyres are on the front, leaving one Primacy and one Energy on the back. I am in the 'new on the front' camp for me driving an XM. However, I would probably be in the 'new on the back' camp for many other cars with different handling characteristics.

So far I have only had a day and a half of dry driving, but I am back to doing 35-40 round the roundabouts with no squeal and minimal/predictable understeer again. And I have not looked at the droplinks yet, so they have nothing to do with it. Though I am a bit worried that with one of the energies on the back it is probably not as well footed as it should be, but I have yet to feel any problem from there.

I have yet so see how they behave in the wet or how they ware, but I am much, much happier with them than the Energies. They are certainly an equivalent to the old Primacies. I don't know if I had a bad batch of Energies or something, but I won't be getting any more to find out!

As an aside I was talking to my Indy about the tyres, and he said that they are all going for emmission/economy. Citroen (rightly) are focusing on emmissions and getting inside the lower tax bands. Apparently, some of the current Citroens only meet their emmisions levels if they have the original type of tyre - probably Energies - on them!

[Dean]

Hi Rowan

I was always happy with P6000's they are a good tyre, the thing is a cant compare them with the nero zero's because they were on different sized wheels but i was always very happy with them.
I think tyres designed to give minimal rolling resistance and economy do so at the expense of grip and feel, i dont think i would get any such tyre again.

D

[Dieselman]

My personal experience of Pirelli P6000's is that they are a poor tyre, average grip, noisy once wearing, wear quite rapidly and unevenly, eventually one tread started to delaminate. I changed to Michelin Pilot Primacy from Costco and haven't looked back since.
Primacy are still available but have now upgraded to Primacy HP. I bought 4 about a month ago on offer, though they are 16", but will wait until mine are worn out before having them fitted.

Looking, it would appear that the 15" primacy's have been stopped. Presumably due to demand dropping off.

http://www.michelin.co.uk/michelinuk/en ... 54050.html

[robert_e_smart]

Are the Primacys much better than the Energys?

I have 2 Energys on the Petrol XM, and they seem sot be fine, but have Primacys on the diesel XM, granted they are old, but don't like them.

I'll make do with them until October, when I'll put my winter tyres back on and buy a new set next spring.

[Dean]

I think your right dieselman, the p6000's did have a habit of losing their shoulders when i had them on a saab if pushed very hard all the time, they were fine on the xm but i still found them to be good middle of the range rubber that coped well in the wet and dry, isnt it strange how opinions differ on this sort of thing................ its one of those threaads that could go on forever

[rowanmoor]

It could almost be that we are all being given 2 options of tyre (call them A and B) and some of us get A branded as Primacy and B branded as P6000, others get A branded as P6000 and B branded as Energy other A branded as Energy and B branded as Primacy etc

I have to say I found Primacies and Energies ware unevenly and fairly quickly. Mainly on the outside edge of the front passenger side - but I think that has something to do with how I tackle roundabouts I didn't find the Energys lasting any longer than the Primacies used to - probably less well.

I will certainly be interested to see how the P6000's ware in comparison.

Is it that different driving styles bring out the best/worst in different tyres, perhaps?

Is it that on any given tyre it is a lottery as to wether you get a good one from one factory or a bad one from a different factory? I would certainly hope that wasn't the case on a premium brand/cost like Mitchelin or Perelli.

Given that the Primacy is no longer available on 15" it looks like that is now out of the question for most XM owners. Anyone had anything else on 15" that they have liked?