Scirocco Register

I'm gonna treat the old girl to a full set of shoes. What are we recommending nowadays?

I'm thinking "Mid range" tyres are ok? How about the Yokohama Blu Earths? I have only one set of rims so figuring all seasons probably best. I only ever do about 80mph max.

I'm seeing Black circles do the Blu Earths for around 75 quid a pop. Do I need better tyres? Say Dunlop or Michelin?

Any tyre offers going at the moment on 4 tyres I should be aware of?

Haven't bought any tyres for ages, so not really up on what's good nowadays. Mine still has some Pirellis on it.

I hate to say but a couple of mine are quite old - around 15 years. Now, it passed the MOT but the inspector said to me if I wanted peace of mind, to get new tyres if I'm doing motorway driving due to the age, but they did pass the MOT due to no cracks etc. - is this correct? Does age matter? Or is it just condition?

Any advice appreciated. Thanks!

Sorry, forgot to mention - 1991 Scala DX Engine. Standard size snowflakes. Budget is around 300 for the set.

Pretty much any tyre should significantly improve handling and ride quality compared with 15 year old rubber, as well as grip. When I changed mine 4 years ago, I couldn't believe the massive difference it made, though admittedly I was on the original 28 year old Michelin MXV2 rubber before that.

I used to be very choosy about brand of tyre, but nowadays my philosophy is to go for the cheapest premium branded tyre available from Kwik-Fit online (yes I know people don't always rate them, but my local branch is very good). I have ploughed through official tyre tests in the past, but found them pretty inconsistent, varying from year to year, and very specific to tyre size. I suspect manufacturers play around with tyre compounds year on year, and factory by factory, so the differences between brands are quite small.

Anything from Michelin, Continental, Pirelli, Bridgestone and Goodyear, probably counts as premium, but Dunlop, Uniroyal, Yokohama, Hankook, Kumho, Firestone, Avon and Falken (and probably a few others) are also well respected.

For my Scirocco, I chose Semperit Comfort Life 2 (Austrian brand made by Continental), as I liked the more classic design features not too far removed from the original Michelin MXV2 tyres.

I used Michelin CrossClimate when replacing tyres on our family "fleet" for several years, and they provide very good grip, especially in winter. However, after several premature non-repairable punctures and cuts to the cord caused by stones, I concluded that the soft rubber compound needed for their winter tyre rating was not conducive to long life when used all-year round, so we're now back to driving cautiously in wintry conditions on summer tyres, with AutoSocks in the boot. If any of us did high mileage, I'd get a second set of wheels and tyres for winter

Thanks for your advice!

I have gone for Goodyear Vector 4 3rd gen (all seasons) where I got a deal from National Tyres for 15% off, so I got them for £278 for a set of four fully fitted.

I chose all seasons because I don't really hammer the car, even in the hot and dry (max 80 mph I do on the motorway - my boy racer days are over) but want to be safe in the wet and ice, and have only one set of rims. Also, I do an extremely low mileage in this car - circa 1000 a year.

I'll let you know whether I experience the same wear and tear on the soft rubber as you did. If so, I will consider in the future the summer tyres and driving carefully.

Trouble is, as you can see by my "Jacking and axle stands" newbie thread on the main mk2 sub, couldn't get them fitted due to pinch weld probs, so getting them fitted at the centre on a four point lift next week. Then have suddenly realised, it's in a ULEZ zone, but ok I'll just have to swallow the £12.50 (thanks for that one, Mr Khan).

Anyway, cheers for your reply! Appreciated.