Weak wet grip dominates feedback on the Achilles ATR Sport, criticised in 29 of 57 reviews, with an average score of 49.3%. Dry grip is divided almost evenly between praise and criticism, while seven comments praise value. Noise draws nine complaints against four positive comments, and nine reviews criticise wet handling. Some mid-life and end-of-life accounts describe long tread life, but others report wear problems, so durability is mixed. A few later accounts describe grip worsening with use, while the sole repeat reviewer remained dissatisfied rather than showing a wider ageing pattern.
What owners mention most counted across 56 reviews
Bought these tires as a uni student on a tight budget. Would I buy again? No. Have had these tires for over 3yrs and after time it has just lost grip in both wet and dry scenarios. Sharp turns at roundabouts really push it and can feel tires barely holding steering line. Add moisture to this and you'd think i was DK in a FWD car, again at slight inclines, accidental wheel spins draw undue attention. Definitely not needed. You can really see all the research gone into tire R+D especially when tires aren't stopping in time.
Wet weather? No. I have a 2008 Sti making about 250whp. In the rain it drives like it's rwd. It loses traction like no tomorrow. Now dry weather handling is quite surprising considering they at as cheap as they are. Probably would by again if I was in a money crunch and couldn't afford good high performance tires.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
Absolutely terrifying in the rain and appear allergic to damp weather. The very mention of rain sets them off in the opposite direction of intended travel. Came equipped on my 550i and quite frankly must be the choice of a maniac. Will be replaced as soon as possible as a preventative measure of premature death.
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Have these on the rear on my 220hp FWD. Absolutely terrible. I've lost traction countless times in the rain, understeering, and almost completely killed myself with these. Rubbish.
They are getting noisey in a car without much sound deadening plus they are directional. There is a pulling problem in one which limits my rotating. I will not buy directional tires again.
46%
Member
Mazda
195/45 R16 R
6,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Average
Im not one to right reviews, i thought i had to about these tires 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 tires, 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.
Overall it's an alright tire 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 tires 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 tires on the car before, and somehow these are worse for noise than the other tires put together.
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?
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 tires 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 tires 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 tire material - JUST PLAIN AVOID if you want to live to see another day.
Seriously even the legendary quattro system couldnt make these tires work predictably.
The worst tires 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 tires?
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 tire, 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.
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 tires today - Achilles on rear! Shit! How could I not have known. Straight into the bin asap. Get rid of these dangerous tires.
Came with the car. Best thing I did was to take them off and throw them away. If you see someone else with these tires on their car stay a long distance away from them.
