tyre recommendation for 03 corolla levin?

[Cougs]

Hi, I'm looking for a set of tyres for my corolla Levin 2003 model

So far, I have been recommened the bf goodrich g-force sport for $600, including 4 tyres and a 4 wheel alignment

Any other recommendations?

Thanks

[E-Gene]

That's a really good price for BF Goodrich tyres. I'm using Sumitomo's and they are pretty good.

[Buddha]

I'm looking to update my tyres shortly (same size as the Levin, 195/60R15) and I'm going with Yokohama A539's. I had a set on my last car (a 98 Starlet) and they transformed the car (it had no other handling mods). These will cost me about the same as you've been quoted for the BF Goodrich's.

But I do find tyres to be a very personal thing, most people seem to have their pet brand and wouldn't change to another brand for love nor money.

[Azza]

I graced my 2000 Levin with Falken ZE326's for about $130 each I think, and they were pretty cool

Just don't use the dodgy Bridgestones that the Sportivo got standard...

[Zr240]

I have a 02 Levin wagon.

I used to have a pair of Yokohama ES100's on the front, which made a huge difference in "feel" and "noise" with the added bonus of better grip.

Compared to the stock michellin energy's, the sidewalls are much stiffer, city driving traction loss noise is stealthlike and well yes there is more grip both in wet and dry. They also have a bit more tyre noise when driving around normally.

I cant remember the price , but they were quite reasonable. Roughly $130-40 per tyre fitted.

On the track, they only last two laps in the heat before they start melting away at a very quick rate.

I got maybe a total of 25000 km(including two track days and a few farmyard excursions) out of them which is pretty miserable.

I now have a set of yokohama A539's on the front. Officially, these are meant to be just below the ES100's, but my experience seems to differ.

The dry and wet grip is noticeably improved over the ES100's.

They do lose out a touch on sidewall stiffness and definitely aren't as quiet when going enthusiastically around roundabouts.

On the track, they last a bit longer but still get munched up if you step over the mark for too long. Ive gone down to wakefield twice on these tyres, and it looks like they will only last maybe 25000km again.

Price wise, they are the same if not cheaper than the ES100's.

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So would i go with these tyres again?

Probably not. Whilst they are relatively cheap 'sporty' tyres,Im not that impressed with the level of grip and wear rate.

p.s. my stock michellin energy's are still on my back end, and they barely look worn at all! lol.

I graced my 2000 Levin with Falken ZE326's for about $130 each I think, and they were pretty cool

Just don't use the dodgy Bridgestones that the Sportivo got standard...

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[Buddha]

I've not yet had the opportunity to do any track work yet, but I've heard that it can be pretty hard on road tyres, probably most of the reason why I haven't!

My Starlet was driven to within an inch of its life most of the time I had it, but at the A539's 20,000k rotate and balance, the tyre guys reckoned they weren't quite half worn, so I would have expected 45-50,000 out of them with continued use.

Part of that may be a factor of weight ... the Starlet was just over 800kg as opposed to almost 1200kg for the wagon, plus the wagon will take a further payload much greater than the little hatch. Having said that, 50,000 is my minimum requirement for tyres so if my next set of A539's don't stand up, they'll be turfed!

[Zr240]

Ive driven on the track with a bunch of other tyres before, and none of them really experienced wear like the a539's and es100's. [pirelli p5000 drago, falken azenis, dunlop fm901]

I put this down to a combination of a few things.

1. They overheat very quickly, and if you keep pushing them once they get past this limit.. .then its like melting pork fat on a hotrock.

2. The stock wheel alignment on my corolla is not very perfomance orientated. Being a 60 series tyre also doesnt help matters, and there is a whole bunch of sidewall flex when you push it right to the edge. As a result the outside of the tyres take a beating.

I've not yet had the opportunity to do any track work yet, but I've heard that it can be pretty hard on road tyres, probably most of the reason why I haven't!

My Starlet was driven to within an inch of its life most of the time I had it, but at the A539's 20,000k rotate and balance, the tyre guys reckoned they weren't quite half worn, so I would have expected 45-50,000 out of them with continued use.

Part of that may be a factor of weight ... the Starlet was just over 800kg as opposed to almost 1200kg for the wagon, plus the wagon will take a further payload much greater than the little hatch.  Having said that, 50,000 is my minimum requirement for tyres so if my next set of A539's don't stand up, they'll be turfed!

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[Buddha]

Ive driven on the track with a bunch of other tyres before, and none of them really experienced wear like the a539's and es100's. [pirelli p5000 drago, falken azenis, dunlop fm901]

I put this down to a combination of a few things.

1. They overheat very quickly, and if you keep pushing them once they get past this limit.. .then its like melting pork fat on a hotrock.

2. The stock wheel alignment on my corolla is not very perfomance orientated. Being a 60 series tyre also doesnt help matters, and there is a whole bunch of sidewall flex when you push it right to the edge. As a result the outside of the tyres take a beating.

I'd say you're probably right on the overheating, given you got the racetrack experience ... even when you're driving hard on the street, unless you're impervious to police, you generally push to say, 80% of the car's capability up to the speed limit or a little over and then the tyres get to cruise and relax until the next opportunity.

On the track, I guess you're pushing to 95% or more of what the car can do, and that's constant, there's no let up, then sidewall flex and less-than-perfect geometry only serves to exasperate the whole thing. That's gotta expose any weaknesses a tyre may have.

I've attached a graph Yokohama has showing the relative positioning of its tyres, from economy to premium and from comfort to sport ... as you can see, the A539 is sitting inside the premium/sport part of the graph, but only just, as you can also see, the ES100 is positioned higher on both counts. Pretty much sums up your experience, really!

One tyre they don't have there is the new C-Drive, directional with different tread patterns across the tyre, available in our size ... I wonder if that one might handle track work a little better?

Edited January 21, 2005 by Buddha