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

jase1

Ezmondino wrote: »

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.

The EU tyre ratings are applied by the manufacturer, and are only relevant when comparing tyres from the same manufacturer.

Some cheap 'ditchfinder' brands issue a B rating for wet grip....

Ultrasonic

jase1 wrote: »

The EU tyre ratings are applied by the manufacturer, and are only relevant when comparing tyres from the same manufacturer.

Some cheap 'ditchfinder' brands issue a B rating for wet grip....

Why don't all tyre manufacturers claim AA ratings for all tyres then?

(I believe you are right that tyre manufacturers themselves provide the ratings but there must at least be some expectation of some check on the accuracy of the ratings, either by competitors or some other body?)

jase1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4190707

Ezmondino

jase1 wrote: »

The EU tyre ratings are applied by the manufacturer, and are only relevant when comparing tyres from the same manufacturer.

Some cheap 'ditchfinder' brands issue a B rating for wet grip....

Thanks for that. Very revealing, so the ratings are essentially worthless then if they can decide their own.

teabelly

Read the ADAC and Autocar tests. They're independent.

DKLS

Ever since I drove to York on a very wet and windy day, and saw two cars in front of me aquaplane off the dual carriage way and two behind me spun off, yet I just cruised on, I am very grateful to my investment in decent rubber.

I did have a MX5 for a summer that was fitted with ditch finders which made it hilarious to drive and taught me a lot about RWD handling, that thing would go sideways on a roundabout at 15mph. Whenever I look for a new car now, one of the first things I check for is the tyres, if they are cheap and nasty or mismatched I walk away as if the owner has scrimped on rubber what else have they scrimped on.

Prothet_of_Doom

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Just to put a little context on the "ditchfiinder" label, in nearly 30 years of driving now I've just used the tyres that are on a car whe I get it and any replacements have been the cheapest I can get at the time - whether that be part-worn, Chinese budgets or even remoulds.

I've averaged around 15k miles a year overall and have been known to hit triple leptons when appropriate. I drive a lot of rural roads with mud, oil and assorted crap on them as well as fairly regular DC / motorway and I'm certainly not afraid to reach the speed limits.

In that time I've never fallen off the side of a corner or failed to stop for a procession of nuns. I've also managed to either stop or steer round every single mistake that other drivers have thrown my way. Maybe I'm just lucky or a true Driving God, but I'm honestly not conceited enough to believe that, which leaves the conclusion that cheap tyres are fine unless you're one of the idiots who pass me occasionally doing 90+ in the 60 limit across the sand dunes round here

Leptons? He's come from Pistonheads.com I think :T;)

For 15 years of my motoring career, I just bought the cheapest and suffered with average wear, and compromised wet weather performance, and then I bought a set of Yokohama's for a mk2 Cavalier Sri (which cost more than the car at £200 for 4), and the handling wet and dry improved so much that it was a reverlation. I've since been a bit more disserning with my tyres. There was a summer sale on Mitchelins at cost co a couple of years back, just as my car got 2 advisories on the MOT, for 2 of the tyres being just on legal. I replaced all 4 for £270, 205/55R16 IIRC on an accord. And 25K later, having swapped them around a couple of times the fronts are about 1000 miles away from needing replacements. I'm thinking the expense was well worth it.
At the same time, a mate, sold me some MX5 wheels and tyres for £60 with brand new Pirelli P6000's, but they are just too hard for a light car. In the rain, they 'Ditch Find'. And after 10K they show NO wear at all. It may be they will last forever. But the car will swap ends if you dare to put your foot down in the rain.

AdrianC

Prothet_of_Doom wrote: »

t the same time, a mate, sold me some MX5 wheels and tyres for £60 with brand new Pirelli P6000's, but they are just too hard for a light car. In the rain, they 'Ditch Find'. And after 10K they show NO wear at all. It may be they will last forever. But the car will swap ends if you dare to put your foot down in the rain.

P6000s are the classic example of why there's so much more to choosing decent tyres than going with a brand name blindly...

Ultrasonic

AdrianC wrote: »

P6000s are the classic example of why there's so much more to choosing decent tyres than going with a brand name blindly...

As it happens I never used to pay any attention to tyres. When I bought my current car it had P6000s on the rear which changed all that. Scary tyres.

Ultrasonic

Ezmondino wrote: »

Thanks for that. Very revealing, so the ratings are essentially worthless then if they can decide their own.

I don't believe so. Yes, definitely look at independent tests as well, but when you do you'll find there is a pretty good correlation between these test results and the EU tyre label ratings.

Here is the best place to look for objective tyre test results (ignore the user reviews, apart from what they tell you about wear):

https://www.tyrereviews.co.uk