Car Tyres - Premium vs Budget, but the part no where seems to address.

Joe_Horner

Yes

Apodemus wrote: »

Luck and environment! Around here, deer running across the road are a constant hazard that gets the heart racing much more than your “old guy with a folder”!

We get sheep and cows Probably not as often because they're generally meant to be fenced in but that's never guaranteed!

We also get LOTS of pheasants and rabbits which, while not so serious to hit, I avoid if possible and have only had one confirmed kill in those 30 years :beer:

AdrianC

It's more complicated than that

Dandytf wrote: »

I replaced 2 of 4 tyres with ‘premium tyres’ a few years ago.
What a mistake from my then 2nd hand 5 year car.
Accident a few months later-ambulance driver mentioned ‘2 good tyres’
Think I shouldn’t have replaced tyres like for like.

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you're meaning.

You had four budget tyres, replaced two with premiums, had an accident - which you're blaming on the premiums, and thinking you should have put two budgets on instead...?

Apodemus

It's more complicated than that

Joe_Horner wrote: »

We get sheep and cows Probably not as often because they're generally meant to be fenced in but that's never guaranteed!

We also get LOTS of pheasants and rabbits which, while not so serious to hit, I avoid if possible and have only had one confirmed kill in those 30 years :beer:

When I first went to live and work overseas, I was given the very good advice that the easiest way to tell a sheep from a goat was that if you hit one on the road, it was a sheep, because the goats are faster!

I do a lot of late night driving on Highland roads and so far have only actually killed a fox and a roe deer (unless you also want to count the frogs & toads). But I’ve had a lot of really close calls with stags, including one where I was so busy watching for them coming out of the ditch, that I didn’t see one standing rear-on in my lane...too late to brake, I had to overtake it instead! On other occasions, I’ve had to get out to shoo them off the road as they just didn’t want to move aside to let me pass!

Dandytf

It's more complicated than that

AdrianC wrote: »

Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you're meaning.

You had four budget tyres, replaced two with premiums, had an accident - which you're blaming on the premiums, and thinking you should have put two budgets on instead...?

I was given the advised tyres should be replaced budget for budget or replace all 4 with premium i,e. Not 2

AdrianC

It's more complicated than that

Dandytf wrote: »

I was given the advised tyres should be replaced budget for budget or replace all 4 with premium i,e. Not 2

That's some deeply strange advice.

wgl2014

No

Advice by an Ambulance driver? Part time job at Kwik Fit?

Mgman1965

Not sure

On our Micra which is purely a town runabout and shopping trolley which isn't driven hard or at speed I see no point in putting expensive branded tyres on and runs happily on budgets.

My MG ZT which is big and powerful, and driven at (legal) high speed and occasionally spiritedly, and long distances I wouldn't run on anything less than a good mid-range tyre.

hareng

No

Problem is after the last couple of years many of these tyre places are now selling what was then called Mid Range as Premium ie Nankang.
Difference between the two not worth contemplating maybe £20 if that a corner to Premium brands.

Caught me off guard one morning had a blow out with a Continental, nothing any where for two days+ and wouldnt fork out £270 a corner plus getting car there.
For the first time ever in 39 yrs had two of the cheapest could find any where, cheaper than going direct through Blackcircles by £8 each. Budget tyres fitted by a mobile callout £65 a corner and not bad must say for the trip to the shops. Whether they wear quicker who knows theyre just about run in but side walls already flexing and is disconcerting trying to keep in a straight line. Not heavy braked yet.

Small car tyres i cant see the problem, so negligable between cheapest and a good all rounder of Premium quality. Last car cheapest £56 a corner to Avons at £90, T1R's and F1's come down to around £120.

jase1

Frozen_up_north wrote: »

There was a TV program a few years ago where they compared the wet stopping distance of a Continental vs a copy brand that appeared the same, ie same tread pattern, etc.

Where the Continental came to a stop from 70 mph they placed polystyrene blocks... The same car with the copy brand hit the blocks at 30 mph.

Having had to hit the anchors in pouring rain due to an idiot joining a dual carriageway without looking, I was glad of my Continentals and wouldn't consider budget tyres.

The local tyre company I use says nearly all their customers buy the cheapest budget tyres with few opting for premium brands, I guess they aren't concerned about their safety or that of others.

I remember this video as well. What you have to bear in mind is that it was carefully staged to maximise the impact on behalf of Continental, the sponsor of the demonstration.

Not all 'premium' tyres are as good as the very best, and not all 'budget' tyres are as bad as the very worst. Indeed there is a sizeable overlap between the weakest premium models and the strongest budget ones, as can regularly be seen in the multi-tyre round up tests done by the big German testing organisations.

TBH I have never had serious issues with lack of grip with budget tyres. Only a proportion of them are of the rock-hard type, and you just have to avoid these.

EdGasketTheSecond

Anyone know if Formula1 Autocentre's budget tyres are any good? They are about £28 for my car and the nearest branded is more like £50.