Which tyre - Kenda or Rapid. URGENT!!

flyingscotno1

grizzly1911 wrote: »

No not if wants to be sold here it has to meet the specifications laid down here.

I know a few people who worked in the motor industry in Europe, engineers and designers, not line assemblers, who are working in China and India who are working in state of the art plants. 20 years ago you may have been wholly right.

Gucci fakes don't need a safety specification.

Yes but rumour has it a lot of the cheaper tyres won't be permitted post Nov 2012 when the stiffer EU s Mark test is introduced. Pistonheads had a list at one point.

Lum

Annoyingly a lot of the new regs are about noise rather than safety, means some of the grippiest tyres have had to go, such as the Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3. I know they were replaced with the Eagle F1 Asymmetric, but when I tried those on my last car they didn't seem to handle as well.

Just glad my current car has 16" wheels and some GSD3s are still available in that size, got a full set just recently, should last me a few years.

rodenal

avantra wrote: »

Again, the same assumptions, can I please see the statistics showing a comparisons of accidents rates where said car involved had budget tyres vs cars having premuim brands boots?


The fact of the matter is you have no proof of such kind so your assumption is that - yours.

Like someone here said before, the way to the ditch is long and many reaons to it, tyre brand is probably the list of your worries.

I've said it before but I have owned quite a few rwd cars with a reasonable amount of power, usually pick then up with budget tyres on and replace these with proper tyres, the difference in breakaway speed and more importantly the way in which the car breaks away in the wet never ceases to amaze me.

You may not ever provoke your car into losing grp, but when you need to stop or need it to have that extra little bit of grip available you'll regret sticking nankang or the likes on any car, likelyhood is you'll never know, lets hope it stays that way.

I agree that if the rest of the car has been neglected particularly brakes or suspension the tyres may well be the least of your worries but lets face it anyone running around with pads down to the metal wont even replace tyres at the legal limit.

Like has been said already there is no point going over and over this, but take it from someone who has driven with quite a few different budget tyres there on different cars, there is a massive difference between a 39 quid 15/16 inch tyre and a 60 quid one. Its your choice but given the performance difference its a no brainer for me.

The most impressive bang for Buck tyre I've had on any car recently have been the fallen fk452 and hankook evo

avantra

Where can we find a list of who own/makes what in the Tyre industry?

I see that a lot of the premium brands have budget sub brands so there must be a way to tell who is who?!

From my own observation:

Falken is owned by Dunlop
Avon is owned by Cooper
GT is owned by Continental
Vredestein is owned by Apollo
Admiral owned by Kumho

That's the beauty of marketing, if you believe hard enough that the sound from one expensive stereo is better than another one cost half the price.. than it will.

Happy Xmas and please don't get to a situation where you need to provoke any excessive use of these expensive rubber circles, i.e use your head, it's far cheaper.

:T

mikey72

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Yes but rumour has it a lot of the cheaper tyres won't be permitted post Nov 2012 when the stiffer EU s Mark test is introduced. Pistonheads had a list at one point.

They'll just approve them to the new specs. They've been making european brands for years that'll have to pass, so it won't be hard for them.

mikey72

avantra wrote: »

Where can we find a list of who own/makes what in the Tyre industry?

I see that a lot of the premium brands have budget sub brands so there must be a way to tell who is who?!

From my own observation:

Falken is owned by Dunlop
Avon is owned by Cooper
GT is owned by Continental
Vredestein is owned by Apollo
Admiral owned by Kumho

That's the beauty of marketing, if you believe hard enough that the sound from one expensive stereo is better than another one cost half the price.. than it will.

Happy Xmas and please don't get to a situation where you need to provoke any excessive use of these expensive rubber circles, i.e use your head, it's far cheaper.

:T

Even Dunlop is now jointly owned by Goodyear and Sumitomo.
All Sumitomo tyres are branded Dunlop.

SHIPSHAPE

rodenal wrote: »

They absolutely are not fine , unfortunately some people will only find that out the hard way.

Stop scare mongering!

I drive 40k a year, and prior to this in another job I drove some 100k a year.

When I have needed to stop suddenly, I have stopped. When cornering, going around roundabouts, even in the wet, I have been able to do so without any concern.

I have almost always used budgets, I have never caused an accident in 25 yrs and some 1 million miles covered.

The times I have used 'premium' tyres I have noticed no difference in noise, handling or wear.

The only thing I did notice was the waste of money of two of the last 4 premiums I had when they were punctured within six weeks of each other.

You must be a crap driver to have to rely on tyres.

The driver is the most important factor with a car.

jase1

KTF wrote: »

In theory the difference between a Chinese ditch finder and a 'known' brand that is made in China is the engineering behind it. Just because it is made in the same place doesnt mean it contains the same stuff.

Not so sure I agree with this.

The main problem with *some* Chinese tyres is the EU-based importer. These factories are more than capable of making good, well-engineered product (and most of them do, day in day out). But the importers at the very low end demand the cheapest of everything. Result: you get tyres with compounds made for hot, dry environments (i.e. rock hard), with treads made for the rain/whatever is the "trendy" look at the time to sell units. Not really suited to Northern European roads and somewhat lacking in grip as a result.

Look at how badly the Chinese reverse engineered cars held up when they were crash tested a few years ago. They may look the same but are not the same.

Actually the 4x4 everyone points to was a direct, semi-licensed version of the Vauxhall Frontera/Isuzu Trooper from about 20 years ago, which was similarly horrific in a crash. The cars that are being geared up for the EU market now are managing to come in at 4*, which is respectable enough for a budget car and better than most 7-10 year old vehicles on the roads.

mikey72

Remember laughing at the Indian car manufacturers when they made all the old Austins and Morris?
Now they're well within the top 10 world manufacturers, and in the top five of exporters.
Most major brands have manufacturing in their country, and they are keen to snap up any marque we'll give them.

Wig

rodenal wrote: »

What utter nonsense and you know it too!

You talk nonsense,

Driviing for circa 25 years on remoulds and more lately on budgets (because the remoulds became unavailable).... 15 years no claims says it all really. Used to dive 60 - 80,000 miles a year now driving 12,000 a year.

I agree, the worse driver you are, the more difference it will make. If you drive sensibly and keep a safe distance you will be fine on budget brands.