Tyres - Budget or known brand?

lincroft1710

Took a friend's 07 Fiesta for 1st 12K service and was told front 2 tyres (Continentals) would need to be replaced shortly. A few weeks previously due to puncture damage one of rear tyres was replaced - B F Goodrich (made by Michelin) as Continentals were unavailable for about 6/8 wks. Although £2 dearer got it for same price as Contl. I've only ever put budgets on my own 15 yr old Rover 214 - all wheels have different makes of tyres on them - but on newer or faster car would go for branded. Fiesta has unusual tyre size (apparently) so you may be limied to choice of brand, but if it is fairly new it really should have a decent set of branded tyres.

Conor_3

Wig wrote: »

I no longer do enough miles to be able to say what they do. I don't drive fast so grip is no problem.

:rolleyes:

Grip is still a bit of an issue because it also affects your stopping distance, not just how fast you can go round bends before skidding.

Takes longer to stop on "teflon tyres" than it does with decent ones.

tomstickland

It usually makes the most difference in the wet. When I drove a cheap Jetta GTi we bought I found that it would skid at the first opportunity, even under moderate braking. It was a world of difference from Eagle F1s that would grip in the wet as well as some other tyres in the dry.

Wig

Conor wrote: »

:rolleyes:
Takes longer to stop on "teflon tyres" than it does with decent ones.

Luckily I don't drive too close, am aware of my speed and hazards ahead and the braking efficincy of my vehicle and have not had any problem with any incident of stopping for donkeys years.

tomstickland

yes, but no one plans to crash.

Wig

I choose tyres based on my experience of diving on cheap tyres and not having any problems for 20 years. To buy tyres that cost 2 - 3 times as much makes no sense to me.

maxheadroom

Dont ever buy budgets even on an older car as above its not about going fast its about stopping fast and in control.

The did a feature a while back think it was on fifth gear and ths difference in stopping distance between budgets, retreads, partworns and premium was astounding- from what i recall all were better than the budgets.

I also replace min whn they get to 3mm and after this stopping distances start to get really big. - look at the videos on you tube.

I always get my tryes from a local family owned place that i have been going to for years are always as cheap as -etyres/blackcircle etc. also have done me a few no charge favours swapping tyre of corroded rim rebalancing for free.

A while back got a bargain set of nearly new premiums (Avons) off ebay for a car to get it an MOT before selling it guy seling them was selling them as he had got some new alloys for his car and the old tyre no longer fitted paid about £25 in total and said locla place fitted the lot for not much more.

tomstickland

In my case I can buy performance tyres for around £45 fitted and cheapo tyres for around £40 fitted.
There's no universal law that says cheap tyres won't grip well, but generally they're not as good as performance tyres, and the ones that last long will not grip as well.

jackieb

It's the only thing between you and the road. Personally, I wouldn't buy cheap ones.

LandyAndy

I buy cheap ones for my everyday car because it's old and high mileage and could fail terminally at any time.

I buy expensive (£160 ea) OE ones for my wife's 18 mth old sports car because it's driven 'as the manufacturer intended':rolleyes: .

Many cheap tyres are actually based on older premium makes so if you have an older car they are a sensible choice.