91%
- Peugeot 308 1.6 e HDI
- 225/45 R17
- 6,000 miles
- A Combination of Roads
- Spirited
I got the tyres fitted to my car as soon as they arrived at my local tyre store as I was really fed up with the tyres the gallery had fitted onto my car. From the first drive out I must admit the first thing I noticed was the comfort. In comparison with Pirelli P7s I had on the car from the gallery, the difference was instantly noticeable. The car runs quieter on these and glides over the bumps far better. I am a very spirited driver and I enjoy taking the corners at the speed I'd like to go in the straights as well, with lots of lateral acceleration included for the tighter corners. The tyres also impressed on this front very quickly. In fact the very first time I had them on after rolling out of the store it was pouring with rain and the tyres obviously still had the polishing finish on them. Even at that worst case scenario they were as good as the Pirellis I had out.
At first:
In the dry: The tyres are very comfortable and particularly tough feeling (you know, a lower frequency hit rather than a louder - higher pitch shake) over the bumps. In the corners, the grip is there at any speed you want, both in the medium and high speed corners they are very good. I have the 45% ratio, 17" version of these and I can assure you even with the rather big side wall size that I have got, there is absolutely no tyre caused understeer in the dry. My car, being a French hatchback tuned at around 160hp / 350nm torque has a mid-strength oversteer tendency in off-camber corners as the car electronics try to stabilize the front grip, not sure how they managed that but anyway; in these situations, the tyres deliver excellent road feedback and you can easily locate where they are, where they are pointing, and the gradual loss of grip as you oversteer. So I would rate their road feedback as 10/10 - really - it is perfect.
In the wet: You don't really feel you are in the wet as much as you would with other tyres. GoodYear has always had wet grip as one of their strengths and it really shows in these. You can drive over even standing or flowing water without much extra caution in appropriate speeds, and in the corners the speeds in which you can take the corners is not effected much at all, over dry. No issues here really, however I must admit in the past 6-7 months or so that I had these I didn't get the chance to do much spirited driving in the wet as the traffic instantly worsens as soon as it rains.
After about 8k kilometers:
The tyres are down about 1.5mm to around 6-6.2, I know I drive on their limit quite often - and nearly every day at some favorite corners on my commute route - but this does not bode as well as I hoped for their life span. I don't think I can run these to 30k+ kilometers or 3+ years but we shall see. However, despite that I feel the sharp road feedback and perfect responsiveness are still there, I feel as if the tyres have started to take a bit longer to warm up. Lastly, the off-camber corner performance has improved somewhat.
Final verdict: I was on the fence between these and a set of Pilot Sport 4 tyres when I bought them, but I am glad I chose these as it has been a great experience. I have used the same car with the PS4 tyres and they feel more comfortable, yet not as sharp - so I think it is a further point for the Asymmetric 5 as I prefer sharpness. The tyres still feel as good as they did on the first day, however - as I said - I am becoming concerned about how much I push them looking at the quick wear.
At first:
In the dry: The tyres are very comfortable and particularly tough feeling (you know, a lower frequency hit rather than a louder - higher pitch shake) over the bumps. In the corners, the grip is there at any speed you want, both in the medium and high speed corners they are very good. I have the 45% ratio, 17" version of these and I can assure you even with the rather big side wall size that I have got, there is absolutely no tyre caused understeer in the dry. My car, being a French hatchback tuned at around 160hp / 350nm torque has a mid-strength oversteer tendency in off-camber corners as the car electronics try to stabilize the front grip, not sure how they managed that but anyway; in these situations, the tyres deliver excellent road feedback and you can easily locate where they are, where they are pointing, and the gradual loss of grip as you oversteer. So I would rate their road feedback as 10/10 - really - it is perfect.
In the wet: You don't really feel you are in the wet as much as you would with other tyres. GoodYear has always had wet grip as one of their strengths and it really shows in these. You can drive over even standing or flowing water without much extra caution in appropriate speeds, and in the corners the speeds in which you can take the corners is not effected much at all, over dry. No issues here really, however I must admit in the past 6-7 months or so that I had these I didn't get the chance to do much spirited driving in the wet as the traffic instantly worsens as soon as it rains.
After about 8k kilometers:
The tyres are down about 1.5mm to around 6-6.2, I know I drive on their limit quite often - and nearly every day at some favorite corners on my commute route - but this does not bode as well as I hoped for their life span. I don't think I can run these to 30k+ kilometers or 3+ years but we shall see. However, despite that I feel the sharp road feedback and perfect responsiveness are still there, I feel as if the tyres have started to take a bit longer to warm up. Lastly, the off-camber corner performance has improved somewhat.
Final verdict: I was on the fence between these and a set of Pilot Sport 4 tyres when I bought them, but I am glad I chose these as it has been a great experience. I have used the same car with the PS4 tyres and they feel more comfortable, yet not as sharp - so I think it is a further point for the Asymmetric 5 as I prefer sharpness. The tyres still feel as good as they did on the first day, however - as I said - I am becoming concerned about how much I push them looking at the quick wear.
