18" tyre buying advice

[Steve McF]

I noticed the Contisports on the back of the Aero are getting a bit low, so may need doing before the MOT in August.

The previous owner paid something like £130 each for these sorts of tyres, so I was keen to know if there are any good and cheaper alternatives you boys use on your cars?

I have read on here about Nokians and some others. I don't want bottom budget tyres, but I don't want to spend massive amounts per tyre either.

I'm also contemplating getting a standard set of Aero alloys 17" to put on the car for when I take the 18"s off for refurb. Would the buying advice be the same for 17" as 18"?

[aerojon]

what size are they,load index and speed rating.

[phoenix]

Uniroyal Rainsport 3 are well regarded and quite good on price.

[Max Headroom]

I liked my Contisports a lot and was always glad to get them back on the car after the winter tyres; they just felt better.
Mine are still for sale for £200. There are four of them altogether, and two have loads of tread.

And of course they come attached to some nice wheels 

[sgould]

Are they 18 inch?

I've just bought another set of Nokian zLine.  Reading the small print on the sidewall it says "Made in Russia"!!   The tread pattern is very similar to the Contis.

The Nokian winter tyres are made in Finland...

But I was very impressed with the last lot of zLine.  Very grippy.  And some people who have compared them with the Rainsports, prefer the Nokians.  But I have no personal experience of the Uniroyals.

i have been running the Hankook Ventus Evo V120 for the last three years and there were no dramas.

[Steve McF]

They are 18"

Need to look at them in daylight tomorrow and report back

Max, your are 18" too?

I am after a set 17" Aero alloys to have as an alternative to these 18" Speedlines I have, so I can swap them on when I  get the Speedlines refurbed

[Max Headroom]

I've got them advertised in our forum: HERE  ...But they are R17 

[Steve McF]

Remembered to check what I have - they are:
225/45 R18 Y XL
95 Y 'Extra load'

[David]

Always fitted Avon ZZ5 and have been pleased with the level of grip and wear.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Avon/ZZ5.htm

[sgould]

The standard 18 inch on the 9-3SS is 225/40 18 92Y XL.  225/45 is a bit oversize and will affect the speedometr a tiny bit.

[aerojon]

225/45 R18 speedo is reading to slow..you're going faster than what the speedo is saying..as the stock tyre for the aero is 225/45 R17..when you increase wheel dia you reduce the side wall profile thus 225/40 R18

[Tregar]

If you want to check tyre sizes and the difference between them, a good comparison site is

https://tiresize.com/comparison/

American but lets you see the difference at each speed.

Terry

[Steve McF]

Hi all - remembered to have a look in the handbook, because I was sure the tyres I have are equivalent to tyres specified for Saab 18" alloys. Sure enough, manual says 225/45.

[Audax]

Hi all - remembered to have a look in the handbook, because I was sure the tyres I have are equivalent to tyres specified for Saab 18" alloys. Sure enough, manual says 225/45.

The speedo will be calibrated to whatever tyre size and wheel combination the car was supplied with unless someone has changed this with Tech-II.

[Steve McF]

Ah ok, got you now

These wheels have been on the car for years. Is it a question of hooking up Tech2 to identify the speedo cal and resetting if necessary?