Achilles ATR Sport Reviews - Page 3

Given 46% while driving a Mazda (195/45 R16 R) on a combination of roads for 6,000 average miles
Im not one to right reviews, i thought i had to about these tyres as when it comes to driving in the wet, you might aswell have a set of slicks on as the grip is just non existent. Ive had these on the front of my car since last December, ive only put up with them in an attempt to get my £££ worth out of them and didnt fancy taking them off and selling them on as part worn as i would probably end up feeling responsible for someone's death. Come to any sort of wet corner its just constant understeer, would struggle to keep up with a bus going round a roundabout. ABSOLUTE LETHAL TYRES. I now know why there are so many car crash compilation vids out there on the net, its all cars running with these tyres, get rid of these tryes and the world would be a safer place. The only plus side is dry grip is "ok", so if you live somewhere where it dont rain, then these wouldnt be bad, but living in the UK, a big no no. Would i buy again, not if the dealer was the only one on the planet and this is all they had in stock. I will stick with what i know best from now on, had Falken ZE914's on before and have just ordered another pair so these will be coming off next week.
Helpful 14 - tyre reviewed on October 17, 2015
Given 54% while driving a BMW E36 320i (225/35 R19 W) on mostly town for 10,000 spirited miles
Overall it's an alright tyre considering the price I paid (got a free alignment too!) Have never really had issues with grip in the dry or wet, but I don't push the car when its wet as the roads are terrible here. In terms of feedback, you can feel the tyres take a second to catch up after going over some bumps, apart from it not a lot. They've still got a bit of tread on them at the moment, will see how long they last. But worst thing overall is the noise. I had crappier tyres on the car before, and somehow these are worse for noise than the other tyres put together.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on September 25, 2015
Given 84% while driving a Volkswagen golf mk4 gti 1.8T (205/55 R16) on a combination of roads for 35,000 average miles
These tires came brand new on my MK4 Golf GTI when I bought it 3 years ago. They have been excellent. Not the most powerful car in the world but have only just replaced the front tires after 46,000kms. Have replaced them with the same. I have never had cause to complain about road noise or grip (We have lots of chip seal roads in NZ). I like to drive and have never had them lose grip (maybe I didn't try hard enough?). I'm about to buy a 2009 Legacy GT which will need new tires and I won't hesitate to put the new Achilles Sport 2 tire on that. For the cost they are excellent. I think you'd have to double your money or more to get a similar performing tire from the big manufacturers. I will continue to buy these tires and highly reccomend them. I don't know what other reviewers are doing to get such poor grip in dry or wet?
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on September 15, 2015
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Given 33% while driving a Audi 2008 b8 3.2 quattro (245/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 1,000 average miles
NO NO NO NO NO - is what I shouted at the car as the car spun sideways on a slightly damp roundabout today luckily ESP intervened as my opposite lock was having no effect on correcting the snap oversteer that these tyres had induced.

The previous owner must have hated all the good traction that a quattro a4 has to offer by making the rear of the car TOTALLY UNPREDICTABLE in the wet.

If you like to slide around unpredictably in the wet then these tyres are for you - in fact you can have mine as I am removing them and replacing with goodyear assy2's


Terrible, awful, made of some abomination of a tyre material - JUST PLAIN AVOID if you want to live to see another day.

Seriously even the legendary quattro system couldnt make these tyres work predictably.
Helpful 11 - tyre reviewed on September 1, 2015
Given 17% while driving a Fiat Bravo (225/45 R17) on mostly motorways for 20,000 spirited miles
**WARNING: DO NOT BUY THESE TYRES**

The worst tyres i've ever had. They were fitted new to the car by the previous owner before he sold the car to me. It was out of goodwill, but now i'm thinking this gentleman wanted to kill me :)

They grip below average in the dry. Progressiveness isn't there: they just let go. Grip gets way less on smoother asphalt. We have very smooth asphalt in general here in Holland. On smooth asphalt they make a sort of
high pitched buzzing noise, they make a grinding noise on older asphalt.'
You can't really feel the position of the front wheels in correlation to the car. I have driven other Bravos, with Conti Sportcontact and Hankook Ventus: They drove very nice.

In the wet they're an absolute deathtrap. The ESP is working overtime. Motorway junctions and roundabouts are outright dangerous. Even going in a straight line is. Starting from a standstill is always a joy.
I'm even annoying other motorists because if have to be very careful and slow, even when conditions are damp. I got into a torrential rainstorm in Belgium and those were some of the most frightening moments in my motoring life.

If you're still reading, you'd probably ask yourself: Why wouldn't this guy just toss them and get better tyres?
I thought i'd keep them for around 10000 miles/15000 KM, to see how they would do. I also thought it to be a waste, because they were brand new.

But there's a problem: they do not wear. I'm quite a sporty/agressive driver and the fronts have 5mm left after 35000KM! Rears have 7mm left.
They're now starting to disintegrate: little chunks are coming off, they also make a terrible noise on the motorway and they vibrate terribly.
I was under the impression that one of the wheel bearings had failed, but no. The tires are now a little over one year old.

If anyone would tell me these are made out of plastic, I would believe them.

I would like to urge everybody to look on for better tires: In the long run they would only cost you more money because you'll probably end up in a ditch. Let me rephrase: They would cost your family money, if you don't have a proper life insurance policy.

For 15 pounds or euros more per tyre, you can buy something like Falken, Hankook or Nexen, which are good value for money. Or better yet, save up for Goodyears, Conti or Michelin.
Helpful 11 - tyre reviewed on July 26, 2015
Given 41% while driving a Porsche Boxter S (225/45 R17) on mostly country roads for 40,000 spirited miles
I bought a Boxter S with newish Goodyears on the front, and assumed the rears were the same. My mistake as last night I nearly wrote the car off after coming off a slip road, wet surface, rear end went sideways front end straight into barrier, car uncontrollable. Ended up facing the wrong way down a hill.

Checked the tyres today - Achilles on rear! Shit! How could I not have known. Straight into the bin asap. Get rid of these dangerous tyres.

Helpful 11 - tyre reviewed on May 16, 2015
Given 29% while driving a BMW 530d F11 (245/40 R19) on a combination of roads for 1,500 spirited miles
Came with the car. Best thing I did was to take them off and throw them away. If you see someone else with these tyres on their car stay a long distance away from them.
Helpful 9 - tyre reviewed on April 18, 2015
Given 37% while driving a Vauxhall Vectra (215/50 R17) on a combination of roads for 20,000 spirited miles
OK - some people have said that these tyres might be ok on a FWD car with limited power. Well basically no, just don't do it. With a mighty 140 bhp and weighting 1.5 tonnes these tyres spin in second whilst rolling in the wet. How can that be, a 1.8 Vectra is no supercar?! Lethal pulling away in the wet, and braking and cornering. They switch to massive understeer with no warning. And they crack along the tread lines. How I have kept using them for 20000 miles i have no idea, an i must change them before i die. If anything the older they are the worse they have gotten.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on February 10, 2015
Given 41% while driving a Audi TT S (245/35 R19 W) on a combination of roads for 500 spirited miles
A new set of these was on the car when I purchased it. They are hands down the worst tyres I have ever experienced. Ever.

Dry grip was ok but when pushed they had a tendency to understeer quite badly and without warning. At other times they were simply unpredictable, which is the last thing you want in a tyre.

Wet grip was simply non-existant. Just forget it. How these tyres are legal to put on cars I cannot fathom. They are downright dangerous. As another reviewer pointed out, perhaps these would be acceptable in an FWD with less than 100hp, but don't try them in a performance car. Its like trying to race a marathon in clogs.

They lasted ~500 miles before I pulled them off and replaced them with Bridgestone S001s. A good set of tyres will transform your car - as will a bad set.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on January 8, 2015
Given 14% while driving a Ford FG Falcon XR6 Turbo (245/35 R19 W) on a combination of roads for 6,000 spirited miles
Utterly Dreadful!!! Dry performance very substandard. Wet performance, non existent. Not sure if I got lemons, and I have read about bad batches but these tyres trully are appalling. I had these on the fronts when I bought the car at about 80-90% tread and Nexen's 6000's on the back and well, I thought the Nexen's were bad. Once they were chewed the Achillies went on the back and after a few thousand k's these are gone to. My car has kicked sidways changing into 4th gear at 100+ km/h in the wet, seriously should these tyres even be legal? All appropriate wheel ailments done and as my ride is stock at the moment (about 360hp),with a lot more hp to come, these things are a death wish. A FWD with less horses under the bonnet you may be ok but if your serious about driveing steer well clear of these suckers. Sorry for the long winded review just felt I had worn others and believe me, in the wet, this review may save your ride and hell, maybe even your life!
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on December 7, 2014
Given 80% while driving a Mitsubishi Proton Persona 1.6 (225/45 R17) on mostly town for 200 spirited miles
In Malaysia*

Went to a very spirited drive in the mountain roads in this set of cheap sporty tyres.
Mild tyre melting with superbbb grip although my car is just 118hp but 1300kg.
RM165 is damn good price. Even at 195/60R15, 32psi works wonders.
Being the only sport tyre in this size, 100% will buy another set.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on December 1, 2014
Given 32% while driving a Toyota MK2 MR2 Turbo (225/50 R16 W) on mostly town for 0 average miles
These were fitted to the rear of my 310bhp 1995 MR2 turbo when I bought it at the end of August - I'd intended to change them relatively soon but as many of us do, we put it off..

Wish I hadn't, as I wrote the car off last week thanks to a combination of wet roads, applying too much power and these useless tyres.. Driving in a straight line - put my foot down in second, the back end flicked out, I counter-steered and then of course the back end overtook the front as MR2's are known to do!

Probably fantastic for a little econobox hatchback, but I emplore you - please don't risk your pride and joy sports/performance car by fitting these. The back end even came out a few times in the dry previous to me crashing, completely without warning and driving nowhere near the limits of the car! They're not progressive at all and offer very little in terms of communicating with the driver.

I've bought a set of Yokohama AD08R's now to fit on my MR2, as repairing a car is a hassle I could do without.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on November 24, 2014