Tyres - which brand

vikingaero

thescouselander wrote: »

There was a good article in Autocar a few months back where they compared branded tyres against some cheaper makes, unfortunately I cant find a link to the full story but a summary is here:

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/237396/


The most interesting bit

Auto Express had a similar story a few years ago. One of the cheap tyre makes was Debica and it had a similar stopping distance. Kwik-Fit sold these as 4 tyres for £80-£100 back then.

We bought some for our Honda Accord family runaround (used by 8 people) and everyone commented on how awful the tyres were in the dry and lethal in the wet.

mutley74

wow lots of discussion here guys!
I was going to order some Pirelli P600s for £57 each. But read here they are terrible for the wet
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/

The chap at the garage said he will ring around he see if he can get a good price on Uniroyals or Good year. He did recommend Continental Contacts at £68 but a different tyre dealer said dont touch Continentals!
He did offer me Firestone Tz300 at £52 which seem reasonable for a branded tyre.

ailuro2

len.sharples wrote: »

Hi ther im a trye fitter by trade ther are a number of tyres you can get that are midrange and made by wellknown tyre manufacto
the ones I swear by and been selling and fitting for 7 years
barum which is a 2 line conti
Kelba which is a 2 line michalen
uniroyal rain sport very good tyre,
vederstine

I think you mean Kleber... though you might see this spelling on a daily basis if you're fitting them:p Kleber are made by Michelin.

OP, If you're doing high mileage go for Michelin energy savers, you'll save around 5% on fuel if you've 4 corners with Michelin, can pay for a tyre with that kind of saving. ATS are currently offering 25% off 4 tyres.;)

thescouselander

mutley74 wrote: »

wow lots of discussion here guys!
I was going to order some Pirelli P600s for £57 each. But read here they are terrible for the wet
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/

The chap at the garage said he will ring around he see if he can get a good price on Uniroyals or Good year. He did recommend Continental Contacts at £68 but a different tyre dealer said dont touch Continentals!
He did offer me Firestone Tz300 at £52 which seem reasonable for a branded tyre.

My OH has Uniroyal Rainsports on her car and I'd recommend them - they worked really well in the snowy conditions we had earlier in the year and they don't do too badly the rest of the year round either.

Kilty_2

Someone mentioned Kumho KH15s - I fitted them to my last car which had similar sized wheels to the OP's and they were perfectly fine whether dry or wet and around £37 per corner.

mikey72

alastairq wrote: »

If you have to rely on the tyres 'gripping'', then the driver is doing something wrong.

'grip' can be had from the cheapest remoulds.......often because the remould manufacturer uses a softer compound...which provides more grip.

However, if a driver has every intention of pushing their car to it's limits and beyond, then yes, perhaps that driver needs to spend a small fortune on tyre technology, to keep out of the ditches.

But for normal, everyday, lawful usage, is the extra expense [which wont be fully utilised] be justifiable?

And if it's driving far too close to your back end in the rain, would you rather I'd paid extra for grippy tyres, or not?
(Mind you, if yours were rubbish as well, you couldn't stop faster than me, so it wouldn't matter)

alastairq

thescouselander wrote: »

Your attitude stinks. You seem to think your driving is so good therefore you are invincible and can skimp on safety critical equipment. The unexpected can and does happen. For example, large vehicles can penetrate the central barrier on the motorway encroaching on the the opposite carriage way - I have seen this first hand. These sort of incidents can happen to anyone no matter how good their driving is.

My attitude is that of a competent, careful driver. Simple.

Nothing to do with 'invincibility', and I have certainly not suggested anything to do with 'skimping'....on anything ''safety-critical''.....correct, regular and frequent servicing is what is needed, and is what I advocated...simple.


Regarding the particular, and rare, type of accident you mention, I have witnessed first hand several....and have managed to avoid any direct involvement without drama.
Driving is all about awareness......people are not anything like as aware as they need to be.
Neither do people give themselves anything like as much time as they need, to deal with these events.

alastairq

Alistair you really need to take stock.

Spending £100 more for a set of decent tyres instead of risking a set of Chinese ditchfinders is common sense.

This is an extreme example.

No-one is suggesting buying tyres which are not fit for purpose.

But equally, the cheaper or budget brands are fit for purpose.....just as much as the top-of-the-range tyres.

The finding of ditches is down to the driver...

alastairq

And if it's driving far too close to your back end in the rain, would you rather I'd paid extra for grippy tyres, or not?
(Mind you, if yours were rubbish as well, you couldn't stop faster than me, so it wouldn't matter)

Not really too fussed......even if the vehicle behind was on the finest tyres available, the vehicle in front [ie,my vehicle] will always be able to 'stop' quicker.

Think about it.....the rear driver doesn't have a clue as to when the driver in front is going to brake...... or, how hard. By the time they've realised , they've covered a considerable distance closing the gap...without doing anything at all.

Consider brake lights? They tell everybody, the driver is using the brakes....tis all.

How hard those brakes are being used, will be ascertained by the closing distance between the two vehicles. This may vary depending on...for example..whether the front driver has perhaps started braking gently..ie lighting up the brake lights......then proceed to brake hard.....still the same brake lights.


Nobody so far [apart from taffy056] has given any consideration to what happens if a vehicle is equipped with part-worn, or even, barely legal tyres...as far as performances on the road are concerned.

So whether that car behind is going to be able to avoid my rear air-bag deployer is a moot point.......consideration of which I have answers, but they're way off topic!

alastairq

The chap at the garage said he will ring around he see if he can get a good price on Uniroyals or Good year. He did recommend Continental Contacts at £68 but a different tyre dealer said dont touch Continentals!
He did offer me Firestone Tz300 at £52 which seem reasonable for a branded tyre.

all of which goes to show there isn't even a consensus amongst those who work in the auto trade.

Not that I have anything but respect for trades' peoples' opinions........however, it must be remembered that those opinions are often based upon their own experiences........perhaps they, too, wonder what all the fuss is about?



Chinese ditchfinders [is that a literal translation?] may well have kept thousands of ordinary, law-abiding motorists away from ditches for years.

But like anything...with driving, if one pushes one's luck, then expect a disappointing let-down...somewhere along the line.

Even on the most costly of Pirellis.