Review on Matador MP 47 Hectorra 3 185/65 R14 86T summer by Dorota Pietrak ᠌

Name: Matador MP 47 Hectorra 3 185/65 R14 86T summer
Item: Matador MP 47 Hectorra 3 185/65 R14 86T summer
Rating: 4

June 20, 2023

The right product for me, the price suited me.

I bought for Kalina in the amount of 185/60 R14 to replace the worn-out Barum Brilliantis 2 in the same dimension. Chose between Matador and Kumho/Marshal. I chose Matador because of the lower weight, tread pattern (the Koreans are already completely asphalt), and the affinity of the Matador and Barum (both brands belong to the Continental concern). I had no complaints about Barum, and I thought that Matador would be the same, only under a different name. On the very first meters after the tire fitting, I realized that I was mistaken. Yes, the new tires are much quieter, but why the hell does the steering wheel not want to return to zero? I pumped up the tires to 2.4 atm. - nothing much has changed. The first trip along the highway upset me even more - 70 kilometers in one direction just exhausted me - I had to taxi all the time, looking for a straight line. Returning home, I decided that I would rearrange the wheels - the new ones back, and the good old Barum - forward. But, as always, there was not enough time for this, and I continued to ride. And during the next trip along the highway, I suddenly caught myself thinking that I was just driving, and not catching the car. After driving about 500 km, the tires somehow rolled in, and the behavior of the car improved markedly. But I stopped paying attention to the quality of the road surface. Even the most patched-patched asphalt and gravel road allow you not to slow down and absolutely do not disturb you with any noise or shaking.
The conclusions are - tires are good for calm drivers and not too smooth roads. It is advisable to download them at 0.2-0.3 atm. higher than recommended - you won’t lose in comfort, but it will be a little better to steer, and it’s less likely to break through the sidewall.

Pros

1. Soft - you ride like an air cushion. 2. Quiet - does not sound rough asphalt, and even on the noise strips the rumble is barely audible. 3. The tread pattern allows you to move off the asphalt. 4. Lightweight - which means good acceleration and fuel efficiency.

Cons

1. Low directional stability - a fuzzy zero on the steering wheel, you have to taxi. 2. Wadded handling - the reverse side of the hovercraft ride. The steering wheel is too light, what happens under the wheels one can only guess, the reactions to turning the steering wheel are slow. 3. The tread pattern is asymmetric, but looks like a directional one - as a result, the left wheels seem to be standing backwards. Perhaps because of this: 4. At speeds above 90 km / h, a hum appears on the gas discharge, disappears at lower speeds. 5. Runs Small: Tires are clearly smaller in width than competitors in the same dimension. 6. Due to smaller dimensions and weight than competitors, there may be a smaller resource (but this is not certain).