High Price vs Low Price Tyres, what's the difference?

AdrianC

To take a slightly different interpretation of the original question - "What's the difference?"...

The main difference will be the rubber compound used. This is probably the single most important factor in the way the tyre behaves. There's five basic directions in which manufacturers decide on the compound to use...

- Low rolling resistance (and thereby fuel economy).
- Ultimate grip.
- Tread life.
- Cold weather/winter grip.
- Tyre price.

Obviously, increasing the bias in favour of any one of those can have negative impacts on the others. And, yes, the final price is also affected by marketing positioning and budget...

The tread pattern is one thing that many people look at and figure is a big difference - sure, it helps a lot, particularly with cold weather grip and in clearing water away from between tyre and road surface, but ultimately it's surprisingly minor - much more of a cosmetic/marketing thing.

teabelly

Some budget brands are large manufacturer lines with older designs. Those are the ones to go for if you need cheaper tyres.

Some of the Chinese and similar brands take much longer to stop in the wet. It makes the difference between stopping or whacking someone up the backside at speed.

All tyres are rated now so you can compare them for performance and choose accordingly.

If you are getting rid of the car then getting the cheapest nastiest tyre could be a false economy. For the sake of £40-£80 you do not want to right the car off or damage it so you can't get the best price for a trade in. Also if you turn up to a dealer with nasty tyres on they're going to assume you are cheap and haven't looked after the car and will lower the p/ex.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Who tests tyres and awards scores, officially thats is, who for example decides that tyre X has a wet grip B yet tyre Y has a wet grip E?

AdrianC

G&S - they're self-certified by the manufacturers, but to a standardised test procedure.
http://www.blackcircles.com/general/tyre-labelling/tyre-testing

gilbert_and_sullivan

AdrianC wrote: »

G&S - they're self-certified by the manufacturers, but to a standardised test procedure.
http://www.blackcircles.com/general/tyre-labelling/tyre-testing

Thanks, so a bit like the standard fuel economy tests for new cars then, insofar as should maybe be taken with a healthy pinch of salt.

AdrianC

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Thanks, so a bit like the standard fuel economy tests for new cars then, insofar as should maybe be taken with a healthy pinch of salt.

Very similar, in that there's a standardised test which has to be conformed to.

As with the fuel economy/emissions tests, how much that test can possibly relate to real-world conditions is another question. Likewise, how much the product can be "tuned" for the conditions in the test... But, probably, the tyre testing is more representative.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/fcb/the-fuel-consumption-testing-scheme.asp

I don't think that the manufacturers of either will actively _cheat_, and either come up with a set of fictional or massaged results, or test to a different procedure - it's not worth the publicity if/when caught...

retired2011

At 70mph on a wet motorway your tyres are the only contact with the road.

Same as when the car is sitting at the side of the road motionless. :rotfl:

Joe_Horner

scotsbob wrote: »

At 70mph on a wet motorway your tyres are the only contact with the road.

And, if you've left an appropriate gap, those slicks you fitted for a giggle will stop you in plenty of time even under those conditions!

Especially on motorways, braking performance of tyres is only an excuse for driving too close. There may be an argument for it mattering on some other roads, where the unexpected can happen, but on motorways you have plenty of forward visibility, no sharp corners, and no hidden side roads for people to appear from. #

There is no excuse for needing anything but very gentle braking under those condition!

Ultrasonic

DBGage wrote: »

Safety wise I would assume that all tires need to be of a certain standard to be sold by a main dealer anyway.

Whatever you do don't buy tyres from a main dealer, I'd be astonished if you couldn't find the same tyres cheaper elsewhere. As a starting point I'd try https://www.blackcircles.com and http://www.f1autocentres.co.uk/car-tyres.php

AdrianC

Joe_Horner wrote: »

And, if you've left an appropriate gap, those slicks you fitted for a giggle will stop you in plenty of time even under those conditions!

The "appropriate gap", of course, will vary wildly according to the capability of the tyres.

but on motorways you have plenty of forward visibility, no sharp corners, and no hidden side roads for people to appear from.

And, of course, nobody else on a motorway ever does anything unexpectedly silly, do they? Nobody's ever suddenly changed lane without indicating. Nobody else has ever had their own collision leaving you drastically short of space to avoid becoming part of it.

Ultrasonic wrote: »

Whatever you do don't buy tyres from a main dealer

Not least because a main dealer may very well fit off-brand teflon/concrete blend rubbish without telling you, as they did to my mother - who blindly expected them to fit equivalent to OE.