Got the Yokohama A539's on the car now... they have been on for about 200 k's. Fronts are scrubbed in nicely, rears are a fair way behind though, with still a little of the moulding left overs attached. Overall, I'm rather impressed. The car is a fair bit quieter, especially across coarse chip bitumen. Steering feel is not reduced, but it's a little hard to tell as the P6000's got *VERY* chatty as they neared the end of their life. Steering effort seems a tad higher, nothing extreme, just more meaty. Obviously Pirelli used a very hard compound for the last few millimetres, and as a result the tires were extrememly harsh for the last few thousand k's. The A539's seem very controllable and predictable, but I haven't given them a real good squirt yet. They seem to "chirp" a little more easily though. Hard to describe... it's not high pitched at all, and it's nowhere near a squeal, but they certainly talk back some when you push harder. For some this might be an issue, for me it's not.

Was quite impressed with them in the little bit of rain that Melbourne had today. I'm expecting them to be far better in the rain than the P6000's, but then that wouldn't be all that hard. Nice chunky tread on them too. The tread does seem very deep, so I'll let you all know if squirm becomes an issue at all when punting along. Not expecting any change in fuel economy or anything, but will keep you informed if there is a change. They fill the arches a bit more nicely due to the increase in size too. I chose to go with a 195/55, same profile, but slightly larger tire wall. Flex doesn't seem to be an issue. I think you'd be able to get a 205/50 in there, but it doesn't bother me too much, the chassis has that much grip as it is, and with the way some Melbourne roads are there'd be a very pronounced increase in tramlining.

Will be checking pressures again tomorrow and setting them to 36 front and 35 rear... I found this worked best in the P6000's for me, so will start there for 539's too. On the topic of toe-in, which Chris raised, the alignment for mine said that recommended is -0.7mm on each side... the left of mine was at -3.1 before alignment... not sure if someone hit a curb or if the factory stuffed it, but it certainly didn't seem to affect tire life as the left and right seem to have worn the same. Both are now at -0.7. MMC... not sure if upping them to one would make a huge amount of difference, but you might like the feel of the 539's if you're after a bit more weight... if you're in Melbourne any time soon then you can try mine and see how you like it... or I might find my way to Adelaide... depends on work.

Anyway, I'll be at the Melbourne drive on the 3rd, anyone who is interested can check them out there.

Overall I'm quite impressed, especially considering the price I paid for them...

There's drivin' to be done!

Ben.

Prologue

We've had quite a bit of rain lately, and the 539's are suberb in the wet. The car behaves very predictably and cornering speeds are still very high, even in heavy rain. When accelerating in the wet the tires grip very well, whereas the P6000's would sit there and spin all day if you wanted, the 539's do make good forward progress.

Had a passenger in the car the other day and during hard right hand turns the tires scrap against something. It sounds like it's just a piece of plastic, rather than guard or anything, but it's still something to be aware of. My car has Eibach front springs which lower it 32ish mm, and this with the slightly larger tire (195/55R15 vs. 185/55R15) means that the front left rubs with a passenger in the car. Strangely enough though, I've never noticed this problem on the right hand side of the car during left turns. Something to consider if your car is lowered and you're thinking about fitting a larger tire.

ben_lyall@mail.com