Understeer issues with 195 width tyres

[matth76 1]

I've currently got 195/50/15 tyres on my front wheels. They are new tyres. I went to the 195 width instead of 205 because the Goodyear F1's only came in that size. I have the original old 205 width tyres at the back. I have noticed I get a fair bit of understeer going round a roundabout at normal speeds... to the extent I have to go fairly slowly. I have on a couple of occasions had the backend step out on me if I go a bit faster when its a bit damp. A bog standard astra could go round quicker than I could tonight round a roundabout.

I didn't get this problem on my old tyres which were 205 widths.

I'm definitely going to be putting 205 widths on the front when they need replacing.

Has anyone else had this problem?

[gav_113 0]

i got 215's on mine and get loads of under steer in the wet, quite scary!

[Eat this 2]

i have 195/50/15 t1 s and get mild understeer but its easy enough to turn it into lift off oversteer

if your front tyres are brand new they take a little while to settle in and it could be down to mixing diffrent types front and rear its a bad idea imho as diffrent tyres behave diffrently in diffrent conditions ie u may get understeer at low speed but they may turn into oversteer badly at higher speeds you never know

[Russ_vr6 12]

iv driven golfs on 195's and im my own opinion i think that the 195 is just lil too thin for the golf,not nough tyre on the road for the weight

[Eat this 2]

i did my 14.6 1/4 mile on 195s hehe

[andy 0]

Not had this problem but it sounds fairly obvious. You've put narrower than standard tyres on the front (steering wheels) and you're understeering. I wouldn't expect anything else tbh.

[poultonjoe 0]

You can get Eagle F1's in 205 section width, they just cost a little more and have to be ordered.

[purple highline monster 0]

just put 205 dunlop 9000 or toyos on there much cheaper than F1`s and probably as good if not better! all round tyres, dry or wet use

[matth76 1]

You can get Eagle F1's in 205 section width' date=' they just cost a little more and have to be ordered.

[/quote']

Thanks guys for your replies.

Goodyear have stopped doing the F1's in 205 width unfortunately. My local tyre fitter orders all theirs in and they said they were no longer available. Bit of a pity. However I did find they wore down far too quickly.

I've been thinking about getting the BF Goodrich G-force Profiler tyres. They are used in 5 out of the 6 rally teams and are very successful apparently. Good enough promotion for me. They're about the same price as Toyo T1-R's, and have very similar tread pattern to the F1's.

I assume 205 is the max width you can go on the standard 15 inch wheels?

[purple highline monster 0]

BF goodrich? way off the mark mate, compound is rock hard which means zero grip till hot, toyo ti-s or r or the Dunlop 9000 and the new yoko parada is a superb piece of kit, up to you but no rally team ever inspired me what tyres to buy! besides rallying and road driving are as different as men and women! but you takes your choice!

[adam_christie 0]

I've currently got 195/50/15 tyres on my front wheels. They are new tyres. I went to the 195 width instead of 205 because the Goodyear F1's only came in that size. I have the original old 205 width tyres at the back. I have noticed I get a fair bit of understeer going round a roundabout at normal speeds... to the extent I have to go fairly slowly. I have on a couple of occasions had the backend step out on me if I go a bit faster when its a bit damp. A bog standard astra could go round quicker than I could tonight round a roundabout.

I didn't get this problem on my old tyres which were 205 widths.

I'm definitely going to be putting 205 widths on the front when they need replacing.

Has anyone else had this problem?

What do you mean when you say the back end has stepped out on you? Oversteer would cause this to happen surely?

[Russ_vr6 12]

unless ur lettin off the throttle,ie lift off oversteer

[matth76 1]

Starts of as understeer where the front wheels lose traction and I just go forward instead of continuing round the bend, and then the back end swivels out, so yes a bit of oversteer.

[matth76 1]

BF goodrich? way off the mark mate' date=' compound is rock hard which means zero grip till hot, toyo ti-s or r or the Dunlop 9000 and the new yoko parada is a superb piece of kit, up to you but no rally team ever inspired me what tyres to buy! besides rallying and road driving are as different as men and women! but you takes your choice!

[/quote']

BF Goodrich come higher in this tyre review site than a lot of other tyres:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+T%2FA+KDW+2

(these are just some of the range of BF G)

People on here and other forums have recommended them as good in wet and dry and with good wear. So bit of a compromise..may not be quite as good in the dry as F1's but last a lot longer. My F1's didn't last more than 4 months, had very good grip in the dry to start with but useless (and scary) in the wet when only 2/3 - 3/4 worn. Won't be going with them again.

My choice so far is either the BF Goodrich G-Force Profilers, Toyo T1-R's or whether to stick with Uniroyal Rainsports, which are currently on my front wheels (and coincidentally are the same as the "General Exclaim UHP" which are at the top of the list!...the USA markets Uniroyal as General Exclaim), or any other recommended ones. The Parada ones look pretty good too.

This link shows a good survey (which a HUGE amount of miles covered on each tyre) to compare each.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=UHP

It is an american site but has a good comparisson of a lot of the manufacturers.

[purple highline monster 0]

BF goodrich? way off the mark mate' date=' compound is rock hard which means zero grip till hot, toyo ti-s or r or the Dunlop 9000 and the new yoko parada is a superb piece of kit, up to you but no rally team ever inspired me what tyres to buy! besides rallying and road driving are as different as men and women! but you takes your choice!

[/quote']

It is an american site but has a good comparisson of a lot of the manufacturers.

Say no more! Americans bigging up their own products?????????????? surely not, if i had a monster truck or SUV it would be BF goodrich all the way for me buddy! but on a fast German car? the man from del monte he say NO (yn)

[Russ_vr6 12]

well im goin for bf again mate,they were good from cold and amazing when hot

[matth76 1]

Thanks guys for all your help. Russ, what was the wear like on the BF Goodrich G-Force Profilers? How long (or approx how many miles) did they last, compare to other tyres?

Cheers