Best Tyres for the Vauxhall Vectra cdti (120)

Have had these Nokians fitted for 15k miles and time to swap them out. Initially I was impressed by them, relatively quiet, handling good in dry and great in wet. Sidewall is too soft to throw the car into corners but balance of the car was ok, no snap under or oversteer. However the biggest problem with these tyres (and Nokian powerproof which I replaced the fronts with last year) is that only after a year, there are cracks all over the tyre, in between tread blocks. I also run a little more than usual camber in the rear and you’d expect the inside shoulder to wear more, which it has, but not just wear, it’s RIPPED the rubber and caused deep cuts to it. I’m swapping them out for a pair of Goodyear efficient grip performance 2’s. I’m not risking my life with the Nokians. I’ll never touch Nokian again. Initially I rated them highly as a daily tyre. Now, stay away.

Truly dreadful tyres, stay clear of this brand at all costs. Ended up having a crash thanks to these useless tyres in the rain. Not speeding, knew the road well and just turned it as usual, back end instantly came around and spun the car into a 90 degree angle straight into a lamp post, sending the car into a 180. Car was a total loss and needed a new bumper, headlamp, wing, bonnet, crash bar, foglamp, wheel, washer bottle, suspension arm and wiring loom as it chopped through every single wire on the front end. Got written off and paid out, car was repaired and the tyres were thrown straight into the tip. Wasn't the end of the story though, bought another car to replace the old one and changed the wheels for some new ones we got, didn't realise they had autogrip tyres on and as you can guess, two went straight in the bin (rears) and were replaced with Michelin pilot sport 4 tyres on the rear and never had a problem with grip. Front tyres were kept as they had 6mm tread on them and we thought they'd wear out soon enough but almost 10,000 miles later, they still have 4mm left on them so the only good thing I will say is these tyres last ages and refuse to wear. Wouldn't buy any Autogrip tyres ever again, better tyres are out there for less money. If you have them on your car already, make sure you're very careful in wet conditions as they love to make the car aquaplane.

I have had altogether 8 of these tyres on 2 cars (215/55R16 on a Vectra and 205/55R16 on a Kia Ceed 1st gen) and, together with my wife, have done more than 22000 miles on them.
So, good points first. These tyres wear well - a set of them lasted for 14000 miles in the front of my diesel Vectra, and would have lasted about 15500 miles if I didn't have to change them before a very long driving holiday abroad. This is good for the front axle of a Vectra with the heavy 1.9 litre lump, especially after my previous Uniroyals. I also managed to buy them quite cheap, up to a point.
The grip in the dry is not bad, provided the road is in a decent condition. For some reason on the Vectra they behave much better than on the Kia - goes on to say that the tyre characteristics have to match the suspension. They also lose the grip progressively and tell you they do so, again on a decent road.
Now to the bad points:
They aren't very good in the wet, which in British climate is not ideal... Not much grip altogether, but the worst point is their tendency to aquaplanning. In my driving life I have used some better and worse tyres but when it comes to aquaplanning, these come as one of the worst. Any water deeper than 2mm, any speed greater than 50mph, and bang! goes the grip and handling, and you start feeling more like a passenger than a driver. Which, in British climate and with knackered roads full of ruts and tracks, is very bad. So Avon is a British company, right? One would think they'd have made a tyre suitable for downpours... But maybe I'm spoiled after these previous Uniroyals.
Three more things: they are quite noisy, especially after a while, they have subjectively a rather high rolling resistance, and they don't like worn, tired roads, especially grater-like wear of the surface (lots of small bumps with different asphalts coming from wear and repairs). Which again, in today's Britain... ;)
I had 8 of them in 2 cars, mostly because they were attractively priced. However, with their price going up fast, I can't recommend them any more. Either be honest to yourself, do a research, pay £20 less and buy something budget that fares similarly in the tests (yes, some are around), or cough up around £15-25 more and get something that is premium, not only aspires to be.

Had these fitted last week and drove about 600 miles on various different road conditions. They do their job as long as you don't drive fast. Around town they're very nice and confortable, grip well around roundabouts and even when the speed is higher, they still grip for a bit, however, they are quite predictable and you can almost pinpoint the milisecond they're about to give out. Braking, they're not very grippy, in fact, they feel quite "greasy" and bouncy. On the motorway they reveal themselves as a cheap tyre. They're noisy. Very noisy. In fact, these are probably the noisiest tyres i've ever had fitted to my car. All in all, for the £50 fitted i paid for them, they're decent enough and if it wasn't for the unconfortable noise above 60mph, i would consider them very good. Still, i will see if they can do the 15k miles i normally do a year,