[Gebbly]

Hi All,
Up until now I have kept the puma stock with no modifications. I need to replace the tyres due to wear and over the years trying different tyres the ones I was happiest with were Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s so I am quite keen to fit these once more. Currently I have Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2s and have found them quite disappointing. There have been a lot more wheel spins when pulling away and absolutely no grip in snowy conditions, unlike other tyres I have tried.

However I cant seem to find any GSD3s anywhere in the standard puma size of 195/50/R15. They are available in 195/50/R16, 195/45/R15 and various sizes for other wheel sizes.

So I'm after suggestions for my dilemma. A few ideas that I havent thought through yet :

1. Can you fit a slightly different profile to a wheel? For example what affect would there be fitting the 195/45/R15 tyres to the standard 15" alloys?

2. There seem a lot more sizes available for 16" wheels. If I replaced the wheels with 16" wheels and fitted the 195/50/R16s would there need to be other modifications to get them to fit the arches and brakes?

3. Did Goodyear replace the GSD3s with some similar model that people have had good experience with?

Has anyone got any other suggestions for places to get GSD3s, good alternatives to GSD3s other sizes I could fit or any other sage advice please?

thanks
Gebbly

[happy-kat]

Hi
I can only say with 1. this might affect your car insurance, though from memory you are in Russia?

With 2. you will need to check but I think the tyre profile will need to change if you fitted 16s.
The ride would get a little harder with less tyre profle.
Your insurance might increase.
No certainty that there would be no rubbing but fitting the right ET offset helps.

3. I would have suggested Exaltos but they are a summer tyre so would not expect them to perform in snowy conditions if not be a bit lethal. I have not had need to research suitable proper winter tyres for my Puma so cannot offer alternatives. but if you have real snow for length of time each winter I would be running a different set of wheels with proper winter tyres on.

[Gebbly]

Thanks for the reply Happy-kat. I live in Surrey England so the only serious snow is usually for about 1 week each year it gets a bit slushy. I'd like to resist modifications such as those needed for option 2 so I think I'll scratch that. I'll do some more research on tyre options and see if I can find another tyre with the correct dimensions. I would prefer a set of tyres I can use throughout the year.

I think there are various discussions on these forums about tyre choices so I'll see what people fell works for the puma.

[happy-kat]

I got the location a bit wrong sorry about that