Help! Branded or unbranded tyres?

zagfles

GeckoGirl1985 wrote: »

Hi everyone,

So, I've had my first car for a little over a year now - an S reg 1.2 corsa with 17k on the clock (it belonged to a little old granny before I got it and she hardly used it). As my drive to work is only about 10 mins into the next village I've only done about 2k in the last year with it.

It passed its MOT with flying colours but the the mechanic did say that the tyres are looking a bit old, not enough to be an advisory but he did point out a few small cracks where they are starting to perish a bit even though the tread is fine. I have no idea how old the tyres actually are.

You can tell the age of the tyres from the markings, there'll be date code in a oval, such as 2805 which would mean week 28 (ie about July) 2005. See http://www.puretyre.co.uk/tyre-information/tyre-definitions/tyre-date-code/

If they're over 6 years old, best get them replaced regardless of tread. Personally I wouldn't fit budget tyres, I'm tight-fisted about most things but a slightly better tyre could save your life. Also will probably last longer. Look at the reviews for stopping distance, durability etc.

thefishdude

allways check reviews for the tyres is my advice just because its branded does not mean its any good plenty of branded tyres are no better than cheap ones. i have some pirellies on my fiat punto once and they were frankly bloody awfull tyres could not wait to get them off replaced i done my research and replaced them with nexen n2000 and the punto suddenly had the grip of a mountain goat even in snowy weather.

i would deff replace all 4 and to be fair 45 each is a good price you wont be able to save much more on that for a decent tyre.

GeckoGirl1985

Zagfles, thanks for the tip - that's really useful to know! I will have a look in the morning but it wouldn't surprise me if the tyres are as old as the car! :eek:

Does anybody have experience with Goodyear tyres? Its the Duragrip I'm looking at specifically? Are Goodyear generally good?

spacey2012

Cheap tyres save lots of money !
With the saved money you can buy a tyre inflater and spend half an hour pumping them up every day.
Only draw back with cheap Chinese / Indian tyres is they dont stay up very well.
But as you stand in the rain pumping them up, you can smugly grin how you saved £30

lesalanos

skivenov wrote: »

I'd agree with the poster who said the tyres are probably well out of date, so it's a good idea to change all 4.

Personally, I always spend the extra to get good tyres. Most of the time, you won't notice the difference, but when you need them to perform (emergency braking, aquaplaning, swerving), they justify their extra price.

On an older Corsa, the tyres are likely to be a common size, and not compartively expensive.



Speaking as a qualified tyre fitter, I can't agree with that.

On a front wheel drive vehicle, your front wheels are doing far more than your back wheels, as they're gripping, steering, driving and providing at least half of the braking under normal circumstances, and most of it (generally 70%+ due to weight transfer) in emergency braking situations.

Based on this, it makes sense to have the best tyres doing the hardest job.

As a qualified fitter then you must know from your training that the best/newest tyres go on the rear

Gilbert2

spacey2012 wrote: »

Cheap tyres save lots of money !
With the saved money you can buy a tyre inflater and spend half an hour pumping them up every day.
Only draw back with cheap Chinese / Indian tyres is they dont stay up very well.
But as you stand in the rain pumping them up, you can smugly grin how you saved £30

Huh?

When was this ever a problem?

I've just quickly looked out the window and my budgets are, erm, inflated and have been since I last done my check about a week ago!

Gilbert2

lesalanos wrote: »

As a qualified fitter then you must know from your training that the best/newest tyres go on the rear

Why does my user manual for my car say otherwise?

GeckoGirl1985

lesalanos wrote: »

As a qualified fitter then you must know from your training that the best/newest tyres go on the rear

Not trying to cause an argument or dispute what's been said, but I can't understand why it would be better to put the better tyres on the back? Surely as Skivenov has said, if the tyres at the front are the ones bearing the load of the engine, doing the steering and powering the drive of the car, then surely you would want the more reliable tyres to go here as they are doing the most work?

Bearing in mind I'm a humble female with very little knowledge of car mechanics, but this makes most sense to me? Please explain if I am wrong - I'm only interested to learn.

ian103

i'd go for a brand if they can be brought at a sensible cost - i made a mistake buying some avons (they were cheap) on an mx5 i had, they were carp and always regretted getting them fitted.

had khumos put on my avensis as main stream brand tyres were too expensive - very impressive.
http://www.blackcircles.com/tyres/brands/goodyear/duragrip

lil.smartie

Kumho, Falken, Toyo were all budget brands when introduced to the UK all are now acceptable mid-range tyres IMO Kumho are a factory fit for the Smarts now! Nexens seem OK and the Nankang aren't a bad choice either look for wet grip (we live in the UK!) Fuel economy will be a minor factor considering the weight of the car & low mileage per year.

Kate