205/40 R16 Tyres

The following tyres have been reviewed in 205/40 R16.

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Tyre Reviewed Dry Grip Wet Grip Feedback Handling Wear Comfort
BFGoodrich gForce Profiler 2 (24) 92% 85% 87% 84% 89% 85%
Uniroyal RainSport 2 (226) 85% 91% 78% 76% 76% 80%
Petlas Velox Sport PT741 (40) 83% 76% 76% 77% 85% 70%
Yokohama Parada Spec 2 (118) 92% 59% 80% 80% 69% 71%
Pirelli P Zero (161) 84% 68% 75% 72% 58% 64%

205/40 16 Tyre Review Highlights

Petlas Velox Sport PT741 rated 83% while driving a Ford Fiesta mk8 140HP
Driving on a combination of roads for 1000 spirited miles
These tires are the whole 10mm wider than the size indicates. The sidewall is ca. 5mm lower than the size indicates (and it is very stiff). The ride is comfortable but the road-holding is stiff and great. A dry/wet grip is great, too. These tires seem slightly better than Hankooks S1 evo 215/35R16 (as the closest size counterpart I had) in almost all areas while having a higher load index. The only drawback is slightly lower feedback in straight-line driving. Overall recommend!
tyre reviewed on 2023-07-05 14:43:47
Yokohama Parada Spec 2 rated 57% while driving a Toyota Yaris
Driving on a combination of roads for 3000 spirited miles
The original tyres were 185/55 so moving to 205/40 meant that the ride suffered but turn in was a lot better. The low profile means more torque steer though. Obviously a lot more grip in the dry.

Now in the wet. Originally I put these on the front and had the original 185/55 on the back so it still was ok, slid at the front but nice and progressive in the wet. Then I bought some Michelin PS3 for the front and moved these to the back. Now the Michelin although a summer tyre have a really good wet compound, the Parada's do not, so I now have a very oversteery car which is good fun in a scary "when will it bite me" sort of way. I'm not talking a dab of oppo either, it is a couple of quick armfuls!

Which goes to show how you need to match tyres. I will see how they go in the dry, the Parada's have a dry tread pattern but the PS3's are slightly softer in compound. If it is still oversteery will have to buy 2 more PS3's, it is ok in the wet going slowly but oversteer in a crappy old Yaris at speed is not something to wish for.
tyre reviewed on 2012-04-20 03:59:03
Pirelli P Zero rated 60% while driving a Peugeot 206 GTi 137
Driving on mostly motorways for 900 spirited miles
Very good grip in dry handled very well on a couple track days but i dont know if id pay the 80 quid as they wear out so quickly done 9000 and need replacing
tyre reviewed on 2011-03-12 21:35:09
Uniroyal RainSport 2 rated 100% while driving a Volkswagen GTI 16v Anniversary
Driving on a combination of roads for 15 spirited miles
Great set of tyres! Been through many brands, these being far the best! Falkens were rubbish, needed changing every 6 months, not good grip at all!!!
Goodyear Eagle f1's were decent, but tracking wa out and tyres had to be replaced!
Toyo Proxes were the best on my MK3 16v GTI, until i got my hands on these! which are amazing for the price! Try them out, you wont be disappointed!
tyre reviewed on 2010-05-27 06:14:23
BFGoodrich gForce Profiler 2 rated 87% while driving a Vauxhall Calibra Turbo
Driving on a combination of roads for 100 spirited miles
I've had BFG Profilers on just about everything me and my wife have owned in the last 8 years. From a 340bhp Calibra Turbo, to two Mercedes Cosworths, to a 328i Coupe, to a 1.4 6n Polo! I've logged the Cal-T as the car for this review, as I did about 100,000 miles in it with BFG tyres. The 328i saw 70K with BFGs. Other cars much less.

My current car, Alpina B3, has Michelin Pilot Sport 2 - these are matched to the car, and must be fitted - so comparisons are drawn against them. I've also compared them against Yokohama AO24R as fitted to my 200sx Touring.

Compared with the two premium sports tyres listed above the BFGs are very good indeed - they grip well, they have decent breakaway characteristics, reasonably solid sidewalls, seem to dissipate heat well, and are good in the wet. Aquaplaning characteristics are especially worthy of a mention - I've never had a BFG Profiler shod car aquaplane.

They also last forever.

I had a set on my Calibra Turbo, with about 20K already on them. Running at 250bhp+ at the time, they survived 70 laps of Goodwood with only minor peeling, and gave another 4K after that.

Don't laugh at the Calibra on a track bit - it was actually a good test bed for stuff like this. The dim-witted chassis belies a massive amount of mechanical grip and at somewhere open like Gooders, you can lean on the 4wd to a shocking extent. In the dry, it was lapping at similar times to a Grp N Cossie. In the wet I was about 10 seconds faster.

In the Mercedes Cosworth the dry grip was such that they would roll onto the sidewall before actually losing grip.

Compared with the MPS2 on the Alpina, which are very noisy, and last about 20K miles a set, and the Yokos, which are hopeless in the wet, and last about 6K miles on a 200sx, the BFGs are amazing value for money.

Finally, my Brother runs a tyre outlet, and without fail, he will fit BFG Profilers to his cars (and he's got a lot of cars!). He's also put them on mates cars - 450bhp Sierra Cosworth included. I've yet to find any of my mates complain about BFGs - no matter what they've been fitted to.

Approximate wear rates;

Vauxhall Calibra Turbo 4x4 @ 340bhp over 100,000miles = 30K per set (inc track work)

BMW 328i Coupe Auto @ stock over 70,000 miles = 25K per rears, 50K+ on the front

VW Polo 1.4 8v 6n @ stock over 24,000 miles = no visible wear!

Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 @ stock over 10,000 miles = no visible wear!

I highly recommend these tyres.

Do I get a prize now then?
tyre reviewed on 2007-10-12 06:32:49
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