MG4 Standard tyres are seriously dangerous!

[Rolfe]

My car seems quieter and with a better ride in the Goodyears, so far so good.

 

[ozzrahog]

No will run the cross climates all year

 

[fnegroni]

Today the stock tyres behaved well even through standing water at 60-70 mph.
It was around 10C ambient temperature in Kent when I did.
No handling issues.

 

[stevegus]

I have the stock tyres. 8 months and 4500 miles.

No problems at all. Zilch.

 

[fnegroni]

I finally figured why in my opinion the stock tyres benefit from being slightly under inflated in terms of handling.
I keep mines at 35 psi cold at the front and 36 psi cold at the rear. which is 1 to 2 psi less than recommended.
I found the continental website for the Premium Contact C. It says it has a special rounded contact patch designed to enhance high speed smoothness and reducing rolling resistance at high speeds.
The Michelin cross climate 2 also has a more rounded contact patch profile probably for the same reason.
And both tyres benefit from a slight underinflation to give better handling.

 

[dave99]

I'm on stock tyres - 12 months, 8.5k miles but haven't actually checked what tyres they are, not had any problems so far. When it was in the dealers a couple of weeks back they did a health check and reported tread depths - lowest was rear left, does this seem right? Looks like this set will give about 12k miles which doesn't seem great? (other tyres were 4-4.5mm)

Rear Left
3.5 MM Tyre is Approx 70% Worn
3.5 mm
Pressure Checked
3.5mm inner tread depth
4.5mm middle tread depth
3.5mm outer tread depth

 

[NickHeynes]

I'm on stock tyres - 12 months, 8.5k miles but haven't actually checked what tyres they are, not had any problems so far. When it was in the dealers a couple of weeks back they did a health check and reported tread depths - lowest was rear left, does this seem right? Looks like this set will give about 12k miles which doesn't seem great? (other tyres were 4-4.5mm)

Rear Left
3.5 MM Tyre is Approx 70% Worn
3.5 mm
Pressure Checked
3.5mm inner tread depth
4.5mm middle tread depth
3.5mm outer tread depth

14 months and 18k with no problem with factory fitted tyres . I've got even wear across all tyres @ around 50% worn

 

[fnegroni]

I'm on stock tyres - 12 months, 8.5k miles but haven't actually checked what tyres they are, not had any problems so far. When it was in the dealers a couple of weeks back they did a health check and reported tread depths - lowest was rear left, does this seem right? Looks like this set will give about 12k miles which doesn't seem great? (other tyres were 4-4.5mm)

Rear Left
3.5 MM Tyre is Approx 70% Worn
3.5 mm
Pressure Checked
3.5mm inner tread depth
4.5mm middle tread depth
3.5mm outer tread depth

That might be due to running slightly under inflated and booting it on exit of right handers or roundabouts. Not completely unexpected. It is a soft compound with a tread depth as new of 6.5 mm apparently.

 

[siteguru]

Mine are 5mm all round (per the recent service) after 4.7k miles, so about 1.5mm used.

 

[fnegroni]

I decided to fit a new set of tyres to replace the stock PremiumContact C.
I chose Bridgestone Turanza 6, which should match the car better than the Contact C but we shall see once they are fitted in a couple weeks time and had a chance to wear them in a little.

Bridgestone Turanza 6 vs. Continental PremiumContact C

The reason I decided to change the stock tyres is their wet performance. I didn't mind them too much even in the cold while the roads were dry, and most times it was raining while I was driving at relatively low speeds.

But in the last couple months I've been noticing more and more that these tyres really under perform in the rain, are easily overwhelmed by the strong regen and feel way too imprecise at speeds above 60mph.

So I bit the bullet and decided that £500 it's worth the better handling and the greater safety in the wet. A bit of a bummer considering it's a lease car and I get free tyre replacements but I just couldn't live with the stock tyres.

Let's hope the Turanza 6 live up to expectations: vastly better in the wet, with a low enough rolling resistance.

 

[regnak23]

right two stock tyres lost traction and I started fish tailing on an onramp to a motorway at higher speeds while it was dry out. Scared me enough to replace with crossclimate 2's and no issues since and feels a lot happier in wet too. Only 5 months old. Tracking was off from the factory too!

 

[Rolfe]

Hmm. The only time my car has fishtailed was before I changed the tyres. I did a very similar manoeuvre yesterday and nothing happened, but then the circumstances weren't quite the same and I'm always wary at that point on the road after the fishtailing experience.

 

[Martinonline]

Last July I returned from the East Coast, over 200 miles, in the pouring rain on stock tyres. I had no problems with the car but was more concerned with the other drivers who seemed to ignore the limited visibility and torrential conditions on the A roads. As soon as I was in an area I knew I switched to the B roads.

 

[Tig170]

For ourselves (20,000 miles), are fine, albeit a little bit tail happy. The key thing is though, is aquaplaning - our last car had, I treated it to cross climates - perfect in the snow / ice (and very 'grippy') with the soft compound - what wasn't as good was in heavy rain (V shaped grove) - it would aquaplane under moderate rainfall. At least the MG4 (to date) hasn't shifted me into a barrier from rainfall (LKA is another matter, but fortuantly my LKA defaults to off) (Interms of wear the rears are lower than the front - so will rotate - and should get 40k miles from all 4 when i will replace - no tracking issues to date.)

 

[SimonMGEV]

I've done 13k in my trophy now, had CrossClimate 2's on since 6k as I thought the same and it's transformed the car, even with the warmer weather recently there much better than the OEM tyres & in the snow I was seriously impressed by their traction.

i haven't really noticed any negative effect on range however these new versions have a much better rolling resistance than the original Crossclimate's as I was slightly worried about that so did abit of research.

Imo all seasons should be sold on any new car in the uk now, it's not like the old days when winters were crap in summer etc. Tyre design & compounds are much more advanced.

CrossClimate 2's fitted to mine as well!!! Totally agree with you as they are so much better than the original OEM tyres.

 

[MSvirus]

CrossClimate tyres and their likes should be banned from road use. They are lousy in real winter conditions (actual snow and ice), to the point of being dangerous. All tyres are a compromise, and as they are way worse than a real winter tyre, they are not good in winter, and as they are not a good summer tire, they are not good in summer either. CC tyres and their likes work optimal some few weeks in the spring and fall, that's it. People who loves these CC tyres have probably never tried a real winter tyre. One of my previous cars came with these Michelin tyres, so have first hand experience with them. And as a racing driver the last 20 years, I know and can feel what tyres can/can't do, as they are the most important component in racing.

 

[fnegroni]

CrossClimate tyres and their likes should be banned from road use. They are lousy in real winter conditions (actual snow and ice), to the point of being dangerous. All tyres are a compromise, and as they are way worse than a real winter tyre, they are not good in winter, and as they are not a good summer tire, they are not good in summer either. CC tyres and their likes work optimal some few weeks in the spring and fall, that's it. People who loves these CC tyres have probably never tried a real winter tyre. One of my previous cars came with these Michelin tyres, so have first hand experience with them. And as a racing driver the last 20 years, I know and can feel what tyres can/can't do, as they are the most important component in racing.

I’m really surprised by your findings.
I’m not a racing driver although I did try to become one for a few years and had several instructors commending my mechanical affinity to the car.

I have no experience of CC or CC+, but I did fit CC2’s on my other car (a Kia Stonic) and they handle pretty well, very predictable in all weather conditions.

I had winter tyres (Conti WinterContact) on my previous car (a Mazda 6) for 8 years, and due to the relatively low use during the warmer months I was using them both in winter and in summer.
Although my bike which I used for commuting most the time even in winter had studded tyres fitted in case of ice ?

Yes the winter tyres had more grip in some places but when it came to snow in the UK I didn’t notice that big a difference between CC2s and WinterContact (I think TS830)

The set I have is wearing well and has done now 25k miles and I’m sure it could do another 10k more. Fuel consumption is also still very good for a petrol engine car, the Stonic consistently returning 52mpg on a mix of motorway, A, B roads, matching the official consumption figures (it’s a mild hybrid)

It might be that different sizes of tyres behave differently: the Stonic has relatively small tyres 205/55R17, and it only weighs 1,250 kg, it is front wheel drive, only has 120 bhp and not a sports car but a practical and decently handling mini suv.

I am fitting Turanza 6 on the MG4 instead of the cross climate 2 due to the fact I tend to use the mg4 even less in the winter, and the Turanza 6 are cheaper and should handle well in the wet and still return better fuel economy, while the CC2 might be a little too much of a compromise in terms of energy consumption on the MG4.

I was thinking about other all season tyres but considering I was ok with the stock premium contact C this past winter, I think the Turanza 6 will do the job. Obviously won’t know until they are fitted so these are my expectations but we shall see.

 

[Rolfe]

I've had real winter tyres on my Golf since 2010. I bought the car in the autumn of 2009 and it was like Bambi on an ice rink in the bad winter of 2009-10. Winter tyres were impossible to get that year but I got in quick the following autumn.

The difference was jaw-dropping. The car behaved like a Land Rover. I've tried all-seasons on the MG4 to see how I get on, and they seem absolutely fine, but really, there hasn't been enough snow to really test them this year.

 

[stevegus]

I have had zero issues with the standard tyres after 11 months and 8,300 miles

 

[stevegus]

CrossClimates worked great on my Toyota GT86 which was driven in a spirited fashion on a 40 mile country road journey 3 days a week. All year.