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

Iceweasel

Just thought I'd have a check for what new tyres are currently available in my size - 225/45 17 and discovered there are 152 different tyres to choose from - plus another 38 in run-flat format.

Prices range from £127.80 to £40.50

What a bewildering choice.

Looking at the new tyre rating labels the £40 'ditchfinder' has a wet grip rating of E and the £127 tyre has a wet grip rating of B.

Surprisingly they both have a fuel efficiency rating of G

The tyres I would choose cost £106 and have a wet grip rating of B and fuel efficiency rating of F

Why anyone would buy the £40 I just don't understand. I wouldn't fit them on a wheelbarrow.

Maybe some folks choose to stay at home on rainy days.

AdrianC

Iceweasel wrote: »

Just thought I'd have a check for what new tyres are currently available in my size - 225/45 17 and discovered there are 152 different tyres to choose from - plus another 38 in run-flat format.

Prices range from £127.80 to £40.50

What a bewildering choice.

Load rating's a good way to filter a big chunk out instantly. If you need the 94XL rating, then that rules out all the 91s. If you don't, then the XLs will be harsher riding.

http://www.camskill.co.uk/m54b0s16p0/

Out of that lot, my choice would be the £67 Avons, if cost was a major factor, the £75 Vredesteins, or the £95 Michelins. I'd expect cost-per-mile on all of those to be about equal.

Joe_Horner

AdrianC wrote: »

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

Absolutely. And, if you've fitted those slicks then you'd better make it a big one!

I have a friend (cough) who suffered complete brake failure on the M6 just south of Birmingham and continued his journey to Colchester (via the A14 and M11) using his handbrake alone. That's far worse braking that you'll get from even the worst of tyres, yet he made it without incident.

He tells me that the concentration required was enormous to strat with but, as he got used to the "new" conditions it actually made the drive easier than normal. It added about 40 minutes to his normal time overall, so he wasn't crawling aling the shoulder! He also achieved an extra 10mpg compared to his normal for the trip, which gives an idea of how much fuel we waste in braking.

Obviously, there's no way I'd condone his completely irresponsible actions but the fact is he didn't kill any nuns, children or kittens.

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.

Of course, others do make mistakes including some very silly things. But, if your gap is appropriate, it really is no problem to avoid them.

The simple fact is that two cars can only ever hit each other by getting too close together, because making contact is, by definition, too close. By extension, if you're involved in an accident, then at some point you were too close to the car you hit. Which means that what you thought was a safe gap, wasn't. If you have to brake hard to avoid a collision then your gap was very close to unsafe, so learn for next time and leave a bigger one..

All the excuses about people filling gaps in front of you etc are just that - excuses. If someone passes you and fills your safe gap, they're going faster than you (to have passed in the first place) so easing up by just a couple of miles an hour will open the gap again in a few seconds. At which point you resume your old speed and continue in safety.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Talking tyres i've been scouting for some for the Outback, today i found another online supplier i haven't used before, beat the usually excellent Camskill Mytyres Oponeo by a good margin (£7 each less than Mytyres, Camskil seldom if ever list Nokian) for the size and type i wanted.

Found good reviews on the company in various forums and a review site so taken the plunge while the price was right, will confirm if all good if anyone's interested.
http://www.tyreleader.co.uk/

Just out of interest i went for Nokian Z G2.

Lum

The problem with the "appropriate gap" discussion is half the time if you actually leave such a gap, it will be filled up in no short order by a BMW, Audi and a white van.

In the case of the OP, since the car is going away soon, and we're heading into spring/summer, I would probably disregard tyre life and snow/ice ratings when choosing a tyre. I'm getting the impression that this is an end of lease type deal, so what brand ends up on there is less important compared to a p/x.

Also depends a lot on how long is left before the car goes away, if it was like 4 days away then yeah, just put ditchfinders on it and don't drive it!

mike_the_bike_2

Until relatively recently I only used to fit Michelin, Pirelli, Dunlop etc to my cars..

A couple of years ago my local independent garage recommended Maxxis tyres (I'm sure there are others) and I have found them absolutely fine for my purposes

jase1

The difference between premium and budget tyres is overstated to a large degree.

It is true that there are a few very cheap tyres that have significantly less grip than the premium rubber but once you take these out of the equation, most 'cheaper' tyres are within a few percent of the best on the market.

I have cheap Admiral tyres (a Hankook budget brand) on the front of my second car and have had no cause for alarm from them. OK they are a bit twitchy near the limit but the grip is more than adequate for everyday driving.

Ezmondino

I have some very cheap tyres with a wet grip rating of E (they came on the new wheels I brought). Obviously fine in the dry but I do have to be careful in the wet, more so than you normally would. I wouldn't go below wet grip rating of C tbh.

rexmedorum

I had some cheap Arrowspeed tires on my polo from Halfords. They were really cheap at the time. Compared to what was on it before it was very similar in the dry.

In the wet though it was a different story. Any standing water and the tires would be very noising and lose grip quite quickly and star to slide. When the tires were worn out I reverted back to dunlops (from e-tyres they were still affodable) and the difference in the wet is amazing especially with any standing water!

rexmedorum

Lum wrote: »

The problem with the "appropriate gap" discussion is half the time if you actually leave such a gap, it will be filled up in no short order by a BMW, Audi and a white van.

In the case of the OP, since the car is going away soon, and we're heading into spring/summer, I would probably disregard tyre life and snow/ice ratings when choosing a tyre. I'm getting the impression that this is an end of lease type deal, so what brand ends up on there is less important compared to a p/x.

Also depends a lot on how long is left before the car goes away, if it was like 4 days away then yeah, just put ditchfinders on it and don't drive it!

yes this really annoys the *&^ out of me actually and if you then slow down to increase the gap you end up going slower and slower creating a danger that way