Given
74%
while driving a
Skoda Octavia estate
(195/65 R15 H) on
a combination of roads
for 2,200
easy going miles
Purchased a full set of these tyres in February 2019 from Euro*aster who were doing a good deal on the Yokohama ES32. At 34,570 miles I finally fitted them onto my 2012 Skoda Octavia TSi Combi as I use winter tyres from mid November to mid April.
During the summer I toured the Belgian coast and Northern France beside the usual chores that a car has to do. ( I usually cycle to work, hence the low annual mileage of less than 7000! ).
Dry grip is very good, giving confidence around tight corners and braking in an emergency. As good as the original Continental Ecocontact 3's that were fitted when new and the replacement Goodyear Efficient Grip Performance too.
Wet grip is also very good. I cannot understand how some folk say these Yokohama tyres are very poor in the wet. IMHO they are a match for the original Continental's and far better in the wet than the Goodyear's I had fitted previously.
Road Feedback is good, comparable with the Conti's and far better than the vague feeling of the Goodyear's.
Handling is very good. I am not an aggressive driver but on a quite twisty road I like to enjoy myself. The Goodyear's were OK on such roads while the Conti's were very good.
Wear is sadly the only down side to my report. The beginning of October 2019 my Skoda had a full service and MOT at 36,752 miles. After 2200 miles the front tyres were down to 6.4mm at the front and rear's at 6.8mm! The Goodyear's did over 10,000 before reaching such wear levels and the Conti's were also very good.
If I were an aggressive 'press-on' sort at the wheel I could understand such wear levels but I am more of a 'Captain Slow' type of driver as my other cars are a Trabant 601S and a Karmann Ghia Semi-Automatic Coupe!!
Comfort is superb. Far better than the Conti's and ahead of the Goodyear's too.
As for buying again? Well if they were on offer as my original purchase then maybe I would but looking on the Yokohama UK website it would appear that Russian made Skoda Octavia's are fitted with Yokohama BluEarth-A AE-50 tyres so perhaps that's the next choice.
To surmise, Yokohama tyres have come along way since the 1970's when my old gaffer from my engineering apprentice days had a set fitted to his Vauxhall Magnum 2300 Estate. He did 20,000 a year and said the were the work tyres EVER. I am quite happy with Yokohama tyres and would certainly purchase again, even with the wear issue. Besides which the BlueEarth ES32 is recommended by Yokohama for Compact and small family cars. Is the Skoda Octavia Combi such a car?
Perhaps the Yokohama BluEarth-A AE-50 is the one to go for after all.