Front tyres

[diggerman]

Hi everyone
Im a newbie on here, just got a 1.9 Z3 and wondering what is the current tyre of choice for fronts. Have noticed a lot of Falken mentions of old, are they still the choice and if so 452 or 912 on fronts. Have noticed the tramlining effect with worn Bridge stones at the moment

Cheers

[Zed Carer]

Hi and welcome.

There have been quite a few posts re: the use of directional (452's and others) and non-directional (912's and others) tyres. I had only a small amount of tramlining with Goodyear Eagle F1's (directional) on my original 16" wheels that has disappeared with 912's on my 17" wheels.

We do like to see some piccies of new members cars - should get some good ones today in the snow

This is a LINK to one of the previous posts.

[wonderloaf]

Another vote for the 912's here as well, more or less cured the tramlining on my zed as well. Mine has the 17" staggered set up.

Don't know what they're like in the snow though, just looking out my window at the white stuff and wondering whether I should risk it or not

[Mike123]

I can't comment on the 912s, but love the 452s, but not in snow and ice

I've fitted Kumho winter tyres for the second year, which are great, including an exciting but safe drive back from a rural restaurant in yesterday's heavy snow. If I still had the 452s fitted we wouldn't have been able to leave the car park!

[wonderloaf]

I bought some snow socks earlier in the year but looks like the snow is now melting so probably won't get to try them out. Don't know whether to be disappointed or not...

[diggerman]

Thanks everyone

Set of Falken 912,s on the zed today, and much improved along with the tracking.

[Devon Z]

I can't comment on the 912s, but love the 452s, but not in snow and ice

I've fitted Kumho winter tyres for the second year, which are great, including an exciting but safe drive back from a rural restaurant in yesterday's heavy snow. If I still had the 452s fitted we wouldn't have been able to leave the car park!

I'm originally from Leamington Spa and if it's one thing I don't miss it's the winter weather

[Mike123]

I can't comment on the 912s, but love the 452s, but not in snow and ice

I've fitted Kumho winter tyres for the second year, which are great, including an exciting but safe drive back from a rural restaurant in yesterday's heavy snow. If I still had the 452s fitted we wouldn't have been able to leave the car park!

I'm originally from Leamington Spa and if it's one thing I don't miss it's the winter weather

................Ah!...but did you have 321BHP, no traction control, and winter tyres when you lived here?

You might have stayed!

[Devon Z]

I can't comment on the 912s, but love the 452s, but not in snow and ice

I've fitted Kumho winter tyres for the second year, which are great, including an exciting but safe drive back from a rural restaurant in yesterday's heavy snow. If I still had the 452s fitted we wouldn't have been able to leave the car park!

I'm originally from Leamington Spa and if it's one thing I don't miss it's the winter weather

................Ah!...but did you have 321BHP, no traction control, and winter tyres when you lived here?

You might have stayed!

Ahh you M boys never miss an opportunity to tell everybody how much power you have.....bless

[Mike Fishwick]

Yes - I too get a little tired of M Owners telling us all how much power they think they have! If the rear end breaks away it is seldom caused by an excess of power, but a deficiency of judgement and too heavy a right foot, neither of which are anything to boast about . . .

Remember - maximum power is only developed at peak rpm, on full throttle, under conditions where the car will not go any faster, and precious few owners have ever done that.

Anyway - while 321 bhp may have been developed by the best development engine, that does not mean that a tired, run of the mill S52 32 engine does so. Most have now been hacked to death around town for most of their lives, and on modern UK fuel will develop nowhere near their rated power - in addition to several other reasons.

Let's have a little realism shall we?

[TitanTim]

Yes - I too get a little tired of M Owners telling us all how much power they think they have! If the rear end breaks away it is seldom caused by an excess of power, but a deficiency of judgement and too heavy a right foot, neither of which are anything to boast about . . .

Remember - maximum power is only developed at peak rpm, on full throttle, under conditions where the car will not go any faster, and precious few owners have ever done that.

Anyway - while 321 bhp may have been developed by the best development engine, that does not mean that a tired, run of the mill S52 32 engine does so. Most have now been hacked to death around town for most of their lives, and on modern UK fuel will develop nowhere near their rated power - in addition to several other reasons.

Let's have a little realism shall we?

Is that the Gauntlet thrown down for all all M owners too expose their dyno graphs?

Tim.

[Mike123]

Yes - I too get a little tired of M Owners telling us all how much power they think they have! If the rear end breaks away it is seldom caused by an excess of power, but a deficiency of judgement and too heavy a right foot, neither of which are anything to boast about . . .

Remember - maximum power is only developed at peak rpm, on full throttle, under conditions where the car will not go any faster, and precious few owners have ever done that.

Anyway - while 321 bhp may have been developed by the best development engine, that does not mean that a tired, run of the mill S52 32 engine does so. Most have now been hacked to death around town for most of their lives, and on modern UK fuel will develop nowhere near their rated power - in addition to several other reasons.

Let's have a little realism shall we?

Well..............................

........................................I seem to have touched a nerve.

.........................................................Sooooo Sorry.

[Mike Fishwick]

No - I really do not care if M owners think that have 321 bhp or more, but would like to see them stop trying to ram their fabled power rating down our collective throats at any opportunity!

Anyway, power does NOT give an M Roadster its performance - that is a function of torque, a difference which most people seem to miss. There is no point in paying the penalty for excess power which is never used - for example, it is very unusual that I use anwhere near the rated 193 bhp of my 2.8 engine, but I don't try to convince people that it is there all the time.

Dyno graphs are nothing to get excited about - I remember an MR owner 'modestly' telling us about his 325 bhp at the wheels, but when you looked at the graph, it was based on a transmisison loss of about 50 bhp!

We never hear from those whose dyno graphs do not agree with their fantasies - and there are plenty of them! At a RR day held by the BMWCC a few years ago two MRs developed less power that any of the 3 litre engines attending, which when one considers the various limiting factors is not surprising.

As I remarked, it does not matter how much power your engine MAY deliver under optimum conditions - precious few owners ever get anywhere near to using it. Just because you have run your enigne to its peak power rpm does not mean that it is developing that peak rated power.

Sorry if I have annoyed anyone . . .

[Mike123]

OK, but seriously...................

I've owned the Z3M for nearly 8 years, driving year round in all conditions, and have found it to be almost perfect for me. The combination of performance and handling, with just enough 'edge', is exactly what I want in a car.

I don't want to discuss power output, it has very little to do with driver satisfaction. I fondly remember great drives many years ago in my Frog-Eye Sprite - 80mph downhill with the wind behind, and a calendar rather than a stopwatch for the 0-60 time.

The serious point I obviously failed miserably to make is that the last couple of years on winter tyres have provided some fascinating driving challenges and great fun, at the right time and in the right place, of course.

The Falken 452s provide so much grip in summer driving that they can't safely match the same levels of excitement (but I wouldn't be without them).

[Robert T]

I fondly remember great drives many years ago in my Frog-Eye Sprite - 80mph downhill with the wind behind, and a calendar rather than a stopwatch for the 0-60 time.

Your's evidently didn't have a 1275 engine in it then.

Cheers R.

[Mike123]

No, but the sense of speed was greatly enhanced by the view of the road rushing by through the holes in the floor, and the bald remoulds meant an instant course in the art of staying alive!

(I was a penniless student at the time).

Loved the car! Yours looks great!

[Mike Fishwick]

Yes - the FK 452 is an excellent all-rounder, as its tread is suitable for use on snow - lots of sideways grooves - unlike the Eagle F1 Assymetrical, which like most modern tyres is optimised for clearing rain at motorway speeds, with broad circumferental grooves.

This is one of the reasons the UK grinds to halt when it snows, as so many of the cars are newish, and fitted with these pattern of tyre in the name of reduced noise and low rolling resistance.

The other is the almost universal fitting of traction control, which - if drivers could only read the manual - should be turned off in such condiitons. Unfortunately it is touted around as a safety device, which people think will save them from their own mistakes.

[c_w]

F1 Asymmetric will probably outlast an Falken at almost 2:1 though and provide better dry and wet grip. I was very impressed with my 5 year old F1 Asymmetrics at Oulton Park a couple of weeks ago; it was a bone dry track (it was -4 at the start of the day!!) so thought it too cold to run my R888s and thought I'd be disappointed [due to be used to the semi slicks] but they were fantastic with impressive dry grip. They are so much better than the old V-groove GSD3 and probably the best road tyre I've used on my car (bar perhaps Bridgestone S02). The GSD3 F1 don't suit heavier cars, great on a light hot hatch though.

Falken do get a good rep because you cant argue with the price:performance (and most tyres seem to be going up atm), I got four 912s for my parents Rover 75 and it drives fine. Treadwear is 320 but doesn't mean much, my brother has worn his ZE912s pretty quickly on his A4 TDi.