Are PR4s amazingly good or is my car amazingly shit?

[talkToTheHat]

So for 6 years of riding i've held the belief that cars brake harder and can sustain higher cornering forces than a bike. Especially in the wet and cold. Two years now of the Bandit, most of on Michelin Pilot Road 4s. They were reassuringly good through last winter. There's been the odd moment when I've had to brake pretty hard when i've felt them squirm and thought to myself after that I'd have binned it on cheap tyres. On cold and slippery days the chances are I'm over cautious and find myself holding someone up.

I've got a '04 Polo. 55bhp and as slow as fuck. But it moves things a bike can't. Last few days have been cold and damp. I've noticed the front start to wander on corner entry and felt the ABS kick in really easily. On roads that i know well where I'd usually be going a bit quicker on the bike. In particular there's been a few times I've been over the same road in the middle of the day on the bike and then over in the car within an hour. 60ish on the bike, no problem. I've heard claims of 120 in the same place in good conditions on an R1. Doing 45 in the polo because traffic and I feel it go.Not badly. Didn't end up more than a metre off line, but it caught me by surprise and my (ex biker, control freak and irritatingly nervous) passenger noticed.

So I've had maybe 4 months of actually owning a car, but I'm pretty sure that's well below the performance I should expect. I don't like it and it's really thrown my confidence in using the car in wintery conditions where I'd quite happily be on the bike. Am I expecting too much? Should I bin the (likely cheapest available) austones on the front and throw michelins at it? Or is this indicative of something majorly wrong with the suspention?
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Bandit. does. everything.

[chris-red]

A change to decent branded tyres from cheap crap will make a big difference if thats is what you are asking.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
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[haroman666]

I can corner faster on my bike in the wet than I can in my car.

But the rear tyre on my bike is the ~same width as the tyres on my car, so you can imagine what sort of grip levels we're talking in the car here.
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The mistresses: 2000 Honda CBR600f, 2000 Honda VTR1000

[owl]

[NJD]

Isn't the issue here over familiarity with the one and lack of experience with the other?

I struggle, without being educated that will likely be impending, how the two -- car and bike -- are comparable when they're two different kettle of fish.
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[arry]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Have you checked your tyre pressure? And as above - how shit are your tyres? Goodyear EfficientGrip are decent - dear and soft compound too. But decent.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Hong Kong Phooey]

My car benefits from a longer wider wheelbase than a vw polio, and has decent tyres, currently winters, also much heavier and wider tyres too.

Bike has PR4's but there's no way I'd push the bike in current weather conditions.

Fwd cars let go progressively, release accelerator pedal and/or let tcs do its thing and you're maybe 1-2 meters off line as it tucks back in. If your rears have decent tread then it shouldn't snap into lift off oversteer.

RWD bike without safety electronics will high/lowside you for lulz if you take the piss, you ain't got stabilisers like on a car so the consequences are likely much worse.

If there's not much tread in any tyre it's not going to perform well in the wet regardless of brand.

Aside, 55bhp you will be relying on high average cornerspeed to travel at a brisk pace, the bike will feel a lot quicker on the exit as you stand it up again, but you may have been averaging the same for most of the corner.
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'81 CG125, '97 FZS600 : '99 CBR600F4, '09 KTM RC8

[grr666]

Fit a rear anti roll bar. I had a car on the same 9N chassis (Skoda Fabia vRS) and it transformed the cars front
heavy understeery nature. Not terribly hard to provoke lift off over steer either with one of those fitted. I opted for the
Whiteline bar but there are stiffer ones available. The Whiteline has three settings although mine was on stiffest from
day one as I'd already fitted a stiffer spring and shock set on mine prior to the bar and did the odd trackday from time to time..
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Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
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[JAMSXR]

When I first started driving I had a Polo with budget tyres, it was like driving on plastic tyres...

It’s breaking where 4 wheels are significantly better, when it comes to apex speed bikes and cars are fairly evenly matched.
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Honda SFX50 > Aprilia SR125 > Aprilia RS125 > Honda RFV400 > K4 GSXR600 > KTM Duke > C1H 636 > K3 GSXR1000 > Aprilia RSV-R > Triumph Street Triple R > Ducati 899 Panigale > Aprilia Tuono 1100 > Triumph Daytona 675R > KTM SuperDuke 1290 2.0

[stevo as b4]

I had Dunlop budget tyres on my Suzuki Alto, and as said above I used to drive at 55mph max most of the time, but would even in winter throw the car into bends on a closed throttle as quickly as possible to preserve momentum. Not a safe point and squirt way to drive, but who wants to be accelerating and braking in a 47bhp car?

It gripped very well for a basic car, but it was silly light 640kg so that would have helped too.

I don't think on a little VW Polo that your only using as a road hack that you need to start fitting new suspension springs, dampers or anti roll bars, as your not pushing a shopping hatchback to limits handling on public roads.

[mrbox]

[adam277]

I drive a BMW 325 R reg.
I only got the thing because it doesn't grip in the wet and snow.
Loads of fun round corners. Would weld the diff to make it even more fun but it would make the car unbearable when it comes to parking and slow maneuvers.

Anyway to answer a question.
Its a 13 year old car just slow down a bit at corners if your not comfortable with it. The car is not worth throwing money at; I presume the purpose of a car like that is to save money.
I sure as fuck don't put Michelin pro contact super all weather superduper tyres on my car.
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Bikes: Previous Bikes: Piaggio x8 125: 2012/2013, YBR 125: 2013/2013 BMW R1150GS 2013/2017, Honda CBR600RR 2017/2017, Honda CB500 2018/2018, Suzuiki Address 110cc 2019/2020, BMW R1200GS 2021-2023
Current Bike: Honda CBF 125: current

[c_dug]

Don't forget that you can really straighten out bends on the bike by using the width of the lanes, so a not very twisty road on the bike, becomes much twistier in the car.

I've been driving a a year on the 16th, I'm in a 2 litre Clio mk3 (non sport) and it feels to me like I can judge the limit much easier than on the bike. Also, in my car at least, there is a noticeable difference between gradually applying throttle, and stamping your foot to the floor. The gradual throttle seems to ultimately grip much more (I guess it loads up the tyre for better grip) as opposed to stamping the throttle down and understeering miles off line.

Driving a car has actually proven to be far more fun than I ever expected it to be!
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[grr666]

[stevo as b4]

Just fit 4 new same brand budget tyres, but a known brand and get the tracking and wheel alignment checked and set up as necessary. Front wheel alignment gets knocked out easily by careless owners bumping up curbs and parking bashes etc. Will make a huge difference correcting malaligned tracking.

Obviously check tyre pressures are all the same on a regular basis too.

[arry]

[bacon]

Buy a decent brand eco tyre, it will last bloody ages and be far better than a standard Jinyu, for an extra £30 a corner or so.

My Audi A6 has Michelin Primacy 3 tyres all round. First set of fronts I changed at 25k miles and only because my misses borrowed it and had a blow out on a front tyre, so I changed the pair slightly earlier than I would have gotten away with, and the rears will need replacing soon at currently 40k miles. A point to consider is that this car is a 1.9 diesel estate, so it's heavy to start and stop, not the most powerful etc, but your polo should have them last ages and ages, being light and small engined.

I don't drive my car like a bell end though, I've long accepted the fact it's a bus with a purpose and drive it accordingly most of the time. I have never had a slip or slide on these tyres, I'm not saying you'll be cornering at bike speeds on them with a Polo but hey, give yourself half a fighting chance.

TL:Dr ditch the shit boots

[arry]

[andyscooter]

always use cheapys on my fiesta but it grips more then the bike
really handles well

wifes car has cheapys but is horrible only thing I can say that is good is I can wheelspin from second to third gear in it
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gilera runner vxr200 (chavped)
if its spelt wrong its my fat fingers and daft auto correct on my tablet

[BTTD]

Car heavy. Bike light.

Good tyre grippy. Poo tyre slippy.

[talkToTheHat]

I think the time has come to spring for some michelins. Got a choice of the Energy saver+ or the Crossclimate. So bite the bullet for some crossclimates I think.

Tracking was out when I got the car, it's been sorted and it doesn't feel like a tracking issue as such.

Tyre pressures are ok (29psi cold as per sticker inside fuel cap cover), but I'm maybe getting 1psi increase after half an hour of driving in the cold. I think it's closer to 4psi on a warm day.

I know I was quite lucky as a teen to have sampled some fairly capable cars, semi-competent instruction and some opportunity to explore fast and sideways. Half my life ago now. Mostly I'm trying to work out if my expectations are vastly unreasonable and just how stupid the inevitable tailgater when I'm being sensible in shit conditions is. I don't have to go far from home to find a clio in a ditch.

In other news, the Road 5 is coming soon.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[rpsmith79]

You don't need to go full on Premium brand tyres to get decent levels of grip, there are plenty of decent mid-range tyres

I usually check reviews out on here, as they are reviewed my the folk using them

https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/

I generally go for Avon, Falken or Uniroyal

My current favourite are Avon ZZ5's, half the price (for my car tyre size) of the Premium brands, but with (sometimes) better reviews
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Current Bike: Honda CG125 ES4 // Honda CB600FS Hornet // Triumph Street Triple R

[pompousporcup...]

my 04 seat ibiza used to have the same thing in the wet with the ABS getting ahead of itself if braking mid corner.. that was with decent'ish (ie, not the cheapest) tyres.

A Polo is always going to be a Polo. Don't overspend on tyres if you don't need to. Reset your expectations of such a small light car.. my Ibiza never handled as well as the full size Ford Focus we have now.. granted not back to back comparisons but its something i noticed

I put my Seat Ibiza 2p because they're pretty much the same car

[haroman666]