Tyres. Budget or Premium brands?

Paradigm

After just replacing my front Avon ZV5's with another pair of the same after just 9000 miles I'm beginning to think about some lesser known makes.

Barum & Falken seem to get good reviews & are considerably cheaper.

Do you insist on a premium, well known brand or are you happy with whatever the cheap option is at your local dealer?

Shimrod

Have a look on here http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/ - the review includes a rating for tyre wear - at 60% it looks low for the Avons.

I always go for a well known brand - my previous car had was Bridgestone or Dunlop (the Dunlops lasted longer hence the change). The current car has Continentals on the front and Pirellis on the rear. The Continentals give much better grip that the Pirelli.

At 9000 miles for a set of tyres, I'm guessing you're on either 18" or 19" wheels. You will find that the compounds for these tyres tend to be softer and will wear quicker.

globalds

I just bought some from Blackcircles.com

Buy on-line and get them fitted at a place near to you ..I get them fitted tomorrow ..but a very good price for the tyre I chose.

wobblegobble

I've had Barum tyres on both of our cars for the last 8-9 years and can't recommend them highly enough. Part of the Continental group and they last for ages. They do well in tyre tests too. I know a lot of people say stick to the premium brands but in my opinion Barum (and some of the other budget brands) are as good if not better.

Hope this helps.

MrsE_2

Shimrod wrote: »

At 9000 miles for a set of tyres, I'm guessing you're on either 18" or 19" wheels. You will find that the compounds for these tyres tend to be softer and will wear quicker.

Whats the average you're susposed to get from tyres?

Mine are big (4x4) tyres, do they last any longer.

A._Badger

I did both. I needed two sets of tyres recently and went for Toyo on both vehicles. It's a leading Japanese brand (no Chinese-made ditchfinders, thank you) very well established in the USA and other countries but because it is not so well known here, its excellent tyres are comparatively cheap.

Better than Blackcircles (by a long way) was buying them from Camskills and having them fitted by my local independent. They are at www.camskill.co.uk

Just a satisfied customer - no connection with them!

EdGasket

Only problem is if you do it piecemeal, i.e. buy tyres from one place and get them fitted somewhere else, if there is a problem, the fitters will blame the tyres and the tyre suppliers will blame the fitters. But I guess most of the time it works. I used Blackcirlcles last time and saved £44 on a pair of Toyo tyres.

EdGasket

Oh yeah Barum seem OK mine lasted for ages but it was on the back.

Viper_7

MrsE wrote: »

Whats the average you're susposed to get from tyres?

Mine are big (4x4) tyres, do they last any longer.

Driving on mud/snow or Asphalt?

Viper_7

I use 17inch Pirelli 6000. Good all round performance.
Around £95 per corner.

Get around 10k on the fronts, and 20-25K on the rears. - big heavy diesel lump over the front and lots of country roads.

Have tried lesser known brands but find their performance degrades quickly. I want a tire that performs just as good as when new, to when it needs replacing.

As they say, only a few square inches between you and the road surface, it doesn't pay to go cheap, but sure there are bargains to be found, usually by buying direct.

EssexHebridean

My '57 plate Clio recently had a full set - with 16" alloys it was never going to be cheap but I went for Dunlops as being a brand I felt confidence in. I'm light on tyres anyway - the first set had been on from new and covered 37k miles.