Tyres - What is the Truth?

mikey72

SueC wrote: »

I have no problem with any of that, I was purely passing comment on this statement:



Which makes it sound like the basics are completely straightforward and we're all imbeciles for not understanding them, when in fact the contents of this thread demonstrate how very far from straightforward the basics are!

Even the 'experts' can't agree, so how the hell should poor little ol' me understand the sodding basics??????

If you want to test the basics, ask about rolling resistance and eco tyres, I think maybe one in a hundred answers on here are in the right ballpark.

gilbert_and_sullivan

I doubt anyone posting on this thread has claimed to be a tyre expert, however some of us have made it our business to learn from our own experiences and more lately via the net from others' too, and combined and compared our experiences with test results conducted by experts....always to be considered carefully as some publications might have 'favourites' or 'inducements' to consider, such as prominent advertisers..;)

We've not picked this up in 5 minutes, much like any aspect of knowledge it takes many years to accumulate, sift and make reasonable judgements from all that info, same as anything worth learning.

There is no definitive answer to the OP's question, one persons vehicle requirements are not another's, that's why our opinions differ, one person drives fairly spiritidly or enjoys exploring their car's handling potential and quite possibly they can tell the difference between good and bad tyres.

For others the car is nothing more than a motorised shopping trolley and they drive gently, and some are obviously terrified of the car they drive, some wouldn't know if the car had puncturers in all 4 wheels till they dropped to the rims and the car simply ground to a halt.

Somewhere between the two are the rest of us.

If you want cheap buy cheap, just don't be surprised should all the traffic in front comes to a sudden stop that you don't.
If you want the most expensive buy it, just don't expect it to be automatically better than everything else.
Somewhere in between is probably the common sense choice.

Two choices, ask somewhere like this and risk different opinions, or research your own information.

jase1

OP: I think the bottom line is this.

As with most things in this world, you get cheap crap, value for money, premium and frankly overpriced.

Most people would turn their noses up at the crap, and most aren't enthusiastic enough about the subject to be taken in by the promise of 1% better performance.

So it comes down to what brands give good value for money for everyday use. Which don't cost the earth, but I'd be happy to send my granny out in.

Toyo, Avon, Cooper, BFGoodrich, Nankang, Hankook, Nexen, Khumo, Falken, Uniroyal. There's a bunch for you to start with. Take your pick -- the cheapest of that bracket, most likely.

mikey72

Made in china, south Korea, Taiwan, Czech Republic to name but a few.

broxiebear1

i think this topic has went on to far ,op asked which tyres to go for cheap budget or brand tyres . its simple really i work in tyre game and i am always honest with custoners a few questions are asked
1. most important how much can you afford to pay .
2.how many miles on average do you drive a year and how much motorway driving do you do, less than 17000 a year and hardley any motorway driving buy budget tyres more than that mid range to premium whichever you can afford.
3. then there is the know alls that want a certain brand they think this brand is better than the other .
motto is customer is always right .end of day its your choice

mikey72

I always look on
http://www.tyretest.com/

usually there's reviews of most tyres I've looked at.

Lum

SueC wrote: »

No, it was ATS. And all the time the guy was trying to get me to buy something I didn't need he was busy slagging off Kwick Fit (or !!!!!! Fit as he was calling them)...!

Well at least he was honest about something when dealing with you?

bigjl wrote: »

Also if you own an AWD Subaru they advise keeping the tread depth the same front to back, hence why rotation of tyres is common on Subarus , never having owner any other AWD car I can't answer for things like Evos, but agian this is only a consideration in cars with permanent AWD not those where driver is sent to the all wheels when traction is lost and otherwise the car is a FWD or RWD vehicle.

Subaru advise it in on their non-variable 50/50 AWD systems in order to reduce wear on the centre transfer. It's also necessary to do this on older Vauxhall systems such as the AWD Cavalier.

On AWD systems where the AWD is part time or variable, such as Nissan's ATESSA system it is not necessary to do this. Indeed my AWD Nissan wears out it's rear tyres faster than the front!

bigjl wrote: »

Interestingly when you fit snow socks they advice putting them on the front only of a FWD vehicle.

Snow socks are just there for getting you out of a hole, sometimes literally. i.e. you fit them when you're stuck and your wheels are spinning.

They need to be on the driven wheels because otherwise you'd still be stuck with your wheels spinning!.

mikey72

Other way around, they are all owned by the Ruia Group of Kolkata, India.
(Although Dunlop Europe also has ties with Goodyear)

bigjl

The point I was getting at LUM was Snowsock themselves advise only fitting them to the driven wheels. And have no concerns that improved grip at the front is dangerous or would cause any handling issues.

In the same way as winters only on the front to give better traction.

Obviously a matched set of four winters is best, but at least winters on the front keeps you going.

D ross, I have driveen MK 1 and MK2 Zafiras on GoodYear and Michelin for several years, and a couple of months on Continentals on a MK 2.

The Goodyears were fine but the Michelin Primacy was better, the Continental which I think was a Sport Contact was on par with the Primacy tyre.

We have some mk1 and mk2's fitted with Energy tyres and they are quiet but about the same as the GoodYear for wet grip.

I think the most common goodyear was the nct tyre and a couple of the older Astras had Excellence, which suited the Astra the best.

No Astra was fitted with Primacy tyres only Energy as they are only used for running about now. But the Energy tyre does squeal a but in the dry.

Wet weather grip is a little bit less than the GoodYears previously fitted, this could be down to wear and tear, they have been run as runabouts for nearly 5 yrs now.

Though we did loan 5 or 6 Astras to East of England Ambulance service for a couple of years and they used them.to respond!

The one I use was one of these, still drives ok, though has Energys tyres on the front and two differnt goodyears on the back. An Excellence and an NCT 3 i think.

sunshinetours

jase1 wrote: »

Some very cheap tyres are of poor quality. This is beyond question.

However just because this is true, don't assume that all "premium"-brand tyres are premium. For example, Michelin Energy tyres don't grip any better than a lot of value tyres. Pirelli P6000s are actually worse than many budget efforts. And Continentals don't last any longer than most budget tyres. Some "budget" tyres are manufactured by very credible Japanese and Korean manufacturers (Toyo, Falken, Hankook and Khumo), and despite being cheaper than the big 5 will outperform them at the same price range.

In other words, it pays to do your homework.

I agree with this in part. Tyres like the Conti Sportcontacts may not last better than cheaper brands but they certainly perform during their life hugely better in all conditions than the cheap end models. Depends hwo one defines "value" I guess!

I do agree some of the mid range far eastern stuff is good overall value and performs well in tests