Tyre Performance ratings - reliable?

EdGasket

eTyres show A-G ratings for economy and wet grip. According to this a tyre called Three-A P306 appears to be better performance than many more expensive tyres having B wet grip performance:

http://www.etyres.co.uk/car-tyres-uk/detaillabel?productId=26737

Are these ratings standardised, reliable and meaningful or are they just Mickey-Mouse? I've tried to find reviews of Three-A tyres but can't find anything much about them; I don't want to buy some ditchfinders.

AdrianC

This has been done to death in the last few days in a couple of other threads here, not least https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4940549

Three-A tyres :- http://www.shengtaigroup.com.cn/
What do YOU think the likelihood of them outperforming major-league Western brands is? Really...?

jase1

P306 is a standard model of Chinese tyre, also released under the 'Pace', 'Sagitar' and 'Rapid' names, among others I'm sure.

Not had any experience of them but when the same tyre is released under a dozen different labels, alarm bells should be ringing.

I am sure they're adequate for most people's needs... I can't remember seeing anything specifically bad said about the above brands, but I wouldn't expect them to be the last word in wet grip.

EdGasket

Adrian C. - None of that answers my questions if you care to read my post properly.
I have had budget tyres before e.g. Infinity 040's that have outperformed Toyo's in my opinion. Price and Western does not necessarily equate to best and good value.

AdrianC

EdGasket wrote: »

Adrian C. - None of that answers my questions if you care to read my post properly.

Well, yes, it does. You asked how the tests are done, who by and whether the results can be trusted. That's answered - and discussed - in that thread.

Post 15 in that thread included this link :- http://www.blackcircles.com/general/tyre-labelling/tyre-testing - which explains the test and certification process. Later posts discussed whether the results could be trusted or not.

Infinity aren't one of the identikit AliBaba.com-by-the-container Chinese brands - they're from the UAE and fairly big across the Middle East.

jase1

AdrianC wrote: »

Infinity aren't one of the identikit AliBaba.com-by-the-container Chinese brands - they're from the UAE and fairly big across the Middle East.

True, although they are only a design/branding company -- the tyres themselves are manufactured under contract in China, usually by WanLi.

EdGasket

My apologies, I hadn't read far enough into the thread.

So basically the ratings are assigned by the manufacturers themselves and have little meaning when comparing different manufacturers; is that a fair conclusion?

jase1

EdGasket wrote: »

So basically the ratings are assigned by the manufacturers themselves and have little meaning when comparing different manufacturers; is that a fair conclusion?

That is my assessment, yes.

AdrianC

EdGasket wrote: »

So basically the ratings are assigned by the manufacturers themselves and have little meaning when comparing different manufacturers; is that a fair conclusion?

The ratings should be assigned through a standardised test process, so should be reproducible by anybody else, so should be independent.
They're as trustworthy as you think the manufacturer's reputation makes them.

EdGasket

It would be good if an independent 'body' would take a sample of tyres from each manufacturer and independently confirm/discredit the ratings on the tyres so we could have a bit more faith in them. Sounds like a task for some Euro-jobsworths.

AdrianC

jase1 wrote: »

True, although they are only a design/branding company -- the tyres themselves are manufactured under contract in China, usually by WanLi.

I'm unconvinced that there's an inherent problem in contract manufacturing. If the design spec's drawn up properly and the quality control is done properly, then it doesn't matter who owns the factory or where it is. It's good enough for Apple et al, after all.