What Tyre For 18" Wheels?

[kapetanikolas]

Dear all,

 

my wife's Delta (1.4 MA) that we bought second hand has the 18" alloys.  The first owner wanted to make the car look as sporty as possible (he had even  painted  mat black all the chrome elements, thankfully I managed to restore them with acetone). The car has Bridgestone Potenza tyres (225/40/18) that look gorgeous but are really really hard on the road. Thy feel like they are made of wood every time the car has to pass over a small bump. At the same time, as explained in another thread, the car has an issue with fuel consumption and these tyres are rated "E" in this respect.

 

I am looking into other tyre options to make the car ride more comfortable  (we have a baby...). I have seen in this forum the recommendation to use Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance or Assymetric F3. On old publicity pictures I have seen the Delta "S" with Pirelli P Zero tyres, and the current version of the Cinturato P7 (P7 "blue") has A rating for fuel economy and A rating for wet grip.

 

Would anyone have advice/experience on what tyre to put on the 18 inch wheels that will make the ride more comfortable and if possibly more fuel efficient?

 

Thanks for your help

Niko

[alfaspud]

I have Vredestein Ultrac Satin on mine - they are A rated for grip and C for economy

Not sure how they compare to the others for comfort but I find them good overall

[Nello]

I've always had Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance on mine but I am on 17"............. Can we see some photos of your car!

 

The MK.3 Delta follows in the tradition of FCA C segment cars IMO being stiffly sprung - probably because of the extended wheelbase.

 

I would not have imagined Wheel/Tyre size would have made that much noticeable difference in economy ............ but ride yes. 

 

We sacrificed that with my wifes 500X being on 18" wheels but smaller sized alloys ride far better but do not look as good - its the price you pay.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Nello

[ForzaLancia]

I have the double whammy of 18in wheels and lowered springs, so I feel your pain. I went from Avons up front and Chinese cheapies at the back to Pirelli P7 Cint all round and just that swap make the ride much better. And the Pirellis aren't supposed to be too good for comfort looking at reviews! In hindsight I perhaps should have gone up a tyre size to get a bit more depth to the sidewall,  the car is a little low, and those extra few mm would help the ride.

[kapetanikolas]

Hi there, you asked for photos, so here they are, the first picture shows the car exactly as it was when we bought it, please note the chrome details that have been painted with black mat paint (which was very professionally done , I must admit), even the borders of the front and back lights. And the second one shows the car today. The wheels are 18" in dark gray/anthracite colour. I think they are aftermarket as they had no 'Lancia' logo in the middle (I added it afterwards). Does anyone know anything about these wheels (i.e. did this colour exist as original option?). Thanks a lot, Niko

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/58780736@N08/49047934676/in/dateposted-public/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/58780736@N08/49048148222/in/dateposted-public/

 

[ForzaLancia]

the wheels are the 18 inch option that were fitted to some cars, not aftermarket, there are the same as on my car only mine are silver. I do not know if anthracite was an option or not. These 18in explains why the ride is so hard though.

[ForzaLancia]

the wheels are the 18 inch factory option that were fitted to some cars, not aftermarket, there are the same as on my car only mine are silver. I do not know if anthracite was an option or not. These 18in explains why the ride is so hard though.

[Nello]

Yes those Alloys were the Factory option on the Limited cars in the UK but you could get that as an optional extra on the SR at cost. As far as I know they were only available new in Silver so someone must have had them painted.

[kapetanikolas]

Thanks Nello,exactly my thoughts, you have confirmed that they only existed in silver, therefore previous owner must have had them painted to match the 'hard black' look. 

 

On this site you can see replica alloys for the Delta, although I don't see any in 18" size 

https://www.auto-look-perfect.fr/jantes-alu/toutes-nos-jantes/lancia/delta-a-partir-de-05-2008/

[ForzaLancia]

 

The Hard Black edition wheel is very similar

 

 

[Nello]

Good find re: that wheel store. And yes I had forgotten about the Hard Black edition although I think I am right in saying that was not available to the UK

[kapetanikolas]

I have the double whammy of 18in wheels and lowered springs, so I feel your pain. I went from Avons up front and Chinese cheapies at the back to Pirelli P7 Cint all round and just that swap make the ride much better. And the Pirellis aren't supposed to be too good for comfort looking at reviews! In hindsight I perhaps should have gone up a tyre size to get a bit more depth to the sidewall,  the car is a little low, and those extra few mm would help the ride.

 

Is it possible to go up from 225/40/18 to  225/45/18 without any modification to the car? The car manual does not mention this tyre size as possible. That indeed would solve some of the issues with comfort...

[ForzaLancia]

I guess it is possible but do not know for certain. The tyre side wall would increase by 22mm and therefore the ride height too, which would offset any lowered springs but raise up a standard car.The speedo would be out by 3%, you would be going faster than indicated. Also some insurance companies do not like tyres that are not specified in the handbook, at least here in the UK. So it is a possibility but not clear cut.

Hope this helps.

[kapetanikolas]

Update: Thank you all for your contributions. In the end I went for the GoodYear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 to replace the Bridgestone Potenzas at the front, and I have to say the Goodyears have transformed the car, not only much better grip but also spectacular change in the steering precision, very increased comfort level and softness on road irregularities, but also very quiet. The car feels much more solid and I am really very satisfied with these tyres and I can recommend them without any hesitation to fellow Delta owners, at least for the 18" wheel size. Looking forward to replace also the ones at the rear after the winter.

 

[MikeyRules]

 

Update: Thank you all for your contributions. In the end I went for the GoodYear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 to replace the Bridgestone Potenzas at the front, and I have to say the Goodyears have transformed the car, not only much better grip but also spectacular change in the steering precision, very increased comfort level and softness on road irregularities, but also very quiet. The car feels much more solid and I am really very satisfied with these tyres and I can recommend them without any hesitation to fellow Delta owners, at least for the 18" wheel size. Looking forward to replace also the ones at the rear after the winter.

 

 

I ran those on my Delta and found them great, although I found the wear rate a little too quick for my liking! Plus they do get noisy when the tread gets low. But when new probably one of the best tyres for the Delta....

[Nello]

Yes as per the other thread I had Goodyears although like Mike says they were a bit noisy. Well pleased with my new Pirelli's though I am on 17" wheels.........

[PaulG65]

In my experience the 18" wheels no matter what tyres are fitted although looking good are poorly designed with exposed edges that are prone to kerbing. Even the tyres that claim to have edge protectors eg Good Year efficiency have failed to prevent rim damage- something my wife is very good at (don't tell her I said that). I'd be interested to know if there are any tyres out there that do actually provide protection to this as I don't want to get the wheels refurbished only for them to become damaged first time out.

Paul.

[Andrewgrale]

In my experience the 18" wheels no matter what tyres are fitted although looking good are poorly designed with exposed edges that are prone to kerbing. Even the tyres that claim to have edge protectors eg Good Year efficiency have failed to prevent rim damage- something my wife is very good at (don't tell her I said that). I'd be interested to know if there are any tyres out there that do actually provide protection to this as I don't want to get the wheels refurbished only for them to become damaged first time out.

Paul.

2 things from your post..

1, I call my wife "the dentless paint removal system"!!

2, I use Pirelli P7 as they have rim protection ridges which work on my 17 inch rims, fitted to my Tipo

[kapetanikolas]

I saw a BMW with Dunlops the other day  in my neighborhood that had the largest rim protection ridges that I have seen. I think the model is Sport Maxx.

Bridgestone Potenza is not bad either in this respect, however they are really hard on the road and I believe they do not fit the  Delta (my wife's car had them and I changed them)

Contenental Contisport Contact also have very large protection ridges.

On my Alfa GT I have Uniroyal Rainsport 3, very good and comfortable but the protective ridges on the 18" rims look really basic.

 

But nothing works better than keeping away from pavements when you park the car. The Delta has actually very good rear view mirrors with large field of view that allow you to actually see whether your rear wheel is going to touch the pavement while you go backwards.