Cheap Tyres or Expensive Tyres ???

harryhound

Young_Pretender wrote: »

T
If the wear is uneven then it points to a geometry problem, and £15 on a tracking check or £80-£100 on a full geometry check and adjustment could be money well spent. Likewise altering your driving style could save £££'s in wear and tear across all your components, not just tyres.

In France they won't sell you a single tyre - as I understand it out there they expect you to have at least a matching pair on a given "axle".

I had uneven wear on my front tyres a few years ago - had all the dimensions checked etc. so I can only put it down the the mixed tyres (Got a puncture but the spare was a branded virtually new tyre, so I repaired the tyre and stuck it in the boot, and continued to run on the "spare" - it developed a sort of feathering effect on some parts of its outer circumference ). Has not happened since.

BTW If you go into your local Library, it may well have access to the "Which?" on-line test results - brobably not a good idea to buy the "don't buy" brands.

Kilty_2

My local tire place does Kumho Ecsta KU31 tyres for about £15 a corner more than their no-name ditchfinders. £63 for 205/55/16 which is about £2.50 more than the price at Blackcircles/etc.

flang

I fit Kuhmo Ecsta Ku31s on my 3 series and find them great value for money.

Paranoid

If you are looking to buy quality tyres (?) Check out COSTCO.

They only deal in Michelins. With full fitting Service

Incidentally - Similarly only Bosch batteries.

david39

Two points here :

harryhound : Feathering is usually caused by the tyre not being balanced properly.

Secondly - another consideration not mentioned so far is miles per gallon (sorry - kms per litre). I had Michelins on my car when new and was achieving 40-42 miles per gallon. I've now replaced them with another lesser-known make and can't get more than 38 mpg. I haven't worked it out but, 2-4 less mpg at current fuel prices probably equates to more than the cost-saving I made on the tyres.

There seems to be some element in truth to the current Michelin tv advert - but they have always claimed that their tyres give improved fuel consumption, though the same argument will probably apply to any good brand of premium quality tyre.

Cameron1983

When I bought expensive tyres I thought they would last longer as they were expensive. The opposite is true. Expensive tyres lay down more rubber on the road Im told, hence functioning better and providing more grip, and therefore last shorter. Cheaper tyres probably last longer, but perform less well. I remember having expensive and cheap tyres on my car. There was an improvement in wet/suboptimal conditions, but little difference on motorways etc.

neilmcl

harryhound wrote: »

In France they won't sell you a single tyre - as I understand it out there they expect you to have at least a matching pair on a given "axle".

I always buy tyres in pairs,

jammin_2

Tyres are the only thing between you and the tarmac. Don't be cheap rubbish from China.

Buy a good brand, roughly same age / wear per axle.

Paul_the_Painter

The thing is not to lump all "expensive" tyres into 1 catagory, that's simply not the case.

When I had an Impreza I was buying expensive tyres £150 each, these were barely lasting 10,000 miles at best, but I was delighted, they were very grippy. of course in the dry grip is down in part to softness of the rubber, these were very soft. A cheaper set that came with a set of wheels I bought from someone upgrading to larger ones, lasted twice as long, but gripped significantly less. In fact for a brief period (3 days) I was running the grippy tyres on the front and the hard wearing ones on the back, and spun on the roundabout outside my house - embarrasing!

Now I have a van (Fiat Doblo)and due to the pressures in the tyres (50psi) commercial tyres are needed these are about £80 each, but last forever.

It's all down to the rubber compound they use.

The question as originally posed was a bit like "What's better an expensive or a cheap car"

If you want to get 4 kids and loads of kit to a football match, a cheap people carrier is better than an expensive convertable. OTOH if you want to impress the ladies a cheap classic convertable is better than an expensive people carrier.

The question should perhaps be phrased as

"Any reccomendations for a hard wearing tyre"

The actual brand is less important than the model of tyre - Michelin make hard wearing tyres and soft grippy tyres that don't last as long. Just like toyota will sell you a sports car or a people carrier.

esuhl

movilogo wrote: »

Never skimp on tyres. You will not know the difference between bad and good tyres unless it is too late already

If you don't know the difference between good and bad tyres till it's too late... How do you know which ones to buy? From what you're saying, some tyres are good, some tyres are bad, so you might as well just go for the cheapest you can find.