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

So having researched various websites there's tonnes of generic information on the topic of budget vs premium tyres and invariably someone comes along and says something like 'you're putting your life in the hands of 4 small contact points, buy the best you can afford'. I think this is a valid point but also from someone who isn't looking into individual circumstances.

So to start with, tyres ratings. I'm looking at budget tyres rated C and C for efficiency and wet grip but I can also find premium tyres rated C and C also. So if these ratings are correct which I'd hope they are regulated then both tyres should perform equally well. My assumption is that the budget tyre will wear out perhaps twice as fast. Sound reasonable?

From there, I'm thinking about my annual mileage which is less than 5000 miles a year. If a premium tyre can last an average of 30,000 miles or more then the budget should go 15,000 miles. So 3 years for the budget or 6+ for the premium.

Now I'm thinking about tyre degradation, all tyres will degrade and crack over time, so if I spent twice as much on premium tyres, I may have to replace them with good tread left because they're cracking and perhaps out of shape over time. The current tyres on my car are middle of the range, 4 years old and need replacing soon due to degradation. Therefore for my circumstances and limited mileage I'm thinking I'd be better off buying cheaper more often.

Of course there's also the fact of punctures and damage, replacing a new or fairly new premium tyre due to damage would hurt the wallet considerably.

I guess I'm just looking for other's opinion on my logic. Am I understanding the C and C ratings correctly?

Does a budget tyre have the same grip as a premium tyre if they're both rated C? 127 votes

Yes
17%
gingerdadfacadeAndy_Ldevizes18193[Deleted User]Jonesyapatman99vaio[Deleted User]tonycarewstrawberries1william88Higgy1k6chrisJoe_Hornerowen_moneyOli.sTyler119MrRipleyBlueblood 22 votes
No
33%
mr_accountantmoneysaverriteshGabbaGabbaHeyiltismanolivettimotorguyffacoffipawbmarkj113fatbellysavemoneymovilogoukmikethescouselanderb33rClive_WoodyMobeerjonathonsheslookinhotbreadfish 42 votes
Not sure
17%
theatretonyThe_BiffMidasLucy_LasticadonisGunJackQuickbloodThomas_CrownroddydogsWiltmikeeboy[Deleted User]Jimmy_BoyfromdusktilldawnEctophileGrabs39Mgman1965Chucky1234newatcTheBipper 22 votes
It's more complicated than that
32%
hollie.weimeranericExemplarcolin79666gardner1v40volfunguymclaren32DannyBoygilbert_and_sullivansimonineastonloskiecrispy_chrisDonnySaverMoney_Grabber13579wheeldealkev_mindnkforumsC_Mababejiveteachmech 41 votes
«1345678

Comments

  • No
    MattyDee wrote: »
    So having researched various websites there's tonnes of generic information on the topic of budget vs premium tyres and invariably someone comes along and says something like 'you're putting your life in the hands of 4 small contact points, buy the best you can afford'. I think this is a valid point but also from someone who isn't looking into individual circumstances.

    So to start with, tyres ratings. I'm looking at budget tyres rated C and C for efficiency and wet grip but I can also find premium tyres rated C and C also. So if these ratings are correct which I'd hope they are regulated then both tyres should perform equally well. My assumption is that the budget tyre will wear out perhaps twice as fast. Sound reasonable?

    From there, I'm thinking about my annual mileage which is less than 5000 miles a year. If a premium tyre can last an average of 30,000 miles or more then the budget should go 15,000 miles. So 3 years for the budget or 6+ for the premium.

    Now I'm thinking about tyre degradation, all tyres will degrade and crack over time, so if I spent twice as much on premium tyres, I may have to replace them with good tread left because they're cracking and perhaps out of shape over time. The current tyres on my car are middle of the range, 4 years old and need replacing soon due to degradation. Therefore for my circumstances and limited mileage I'm thinking I'd be better off buying cheaper more often.

    Of course there's also the fact of punctures and damage, replacing a new or fairly new premium tyre due to damage would hurt the wallet considerably.

    I guess I'm just looking for other's opinion on my logic. Am I understanding the C and C ratings correctly?



    Well firstly the "C" for wet grip only refers to that tyres performance in the wet grip test which even if the test was 100% carried out independanly on each tyre (Which i dont think it is) its not really that useful.
    There are so many different aspects that the tests don't cover that it makes simply comparing the stickers give you a false sense of what tyres are good.


    Also how many miles a tyre can do all comes down to the compound the tyre is made of. A high performance expensive tyre may only do 10,000 miles but a cheap hard compound budget tyre may do 25,000 miles.
  • Ebe_Scrooge
    Ebe_Scrooge Posts: 7,320
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    Also how many miles a tyre can do all comes down to the compound the tyre is made of. A high performance expensive tyre may only do 10,000 miles but a cheap hard compound budget tyre may do 25,000 miles.


    I think this is a particularly important consideration. Taken to the extreme, think of motor racing - in dry conditions, teams always have to make the compromise between a softer compound ( allows for faster cornering, but more pit stops as it'll wear out ), or a harder compound ( not so much grip, but less pit stops as it'll last longer ). Of course, for your average driver in the real world the difference is not so pronounced, but it's still a valid consideration - a tyre that has better dry grip will generally be softer, so not last as long.


    Balanced against that, we live in the UK - arguably wet grip is a more important consideration ?


    There are so many variables, not least being the type of car, your driving style, types of road you drive on .....
  • No
    Bearing in mind the tyre manufacturers self-certify the ratings, I'd not bank on a LingLong C even being in the same alphabet as a Michelin C.
  • kmb500
    kmb500 Posts: 656
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    It's more complicated than that
    those ratings are only based on a specific test, hardly representative of the real world.
  • It's more complicated than that
    Make sure you factor regular oil changes in your budget.
  • Bearing in mind the tyre manufacturers self-certify the ratings, I'd not bank on a LingLong C even being in the same alphabet as a Michelin C.


    Oh, I wasn't aware that the rating is self certified! That would make it completed pointless if there was no regulation about it...
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    It's more complicated than that
    MattyDee wrote: »
    So to start with, tyres ratings. I'm looking at budget tyres rated C and C for efficiency and wet grip but I can also find premium tyres rated C and C also. So if these ratings are correct which I'd hope they are regulated then both tyres should perform equally well.

    Theoretically...

    As has been said, they're self-certified. Now, what do you reckon the chances are of the pick-your-own-brand-name, by-the-container-via-alibaba.com suppliers playing fair on that?
    Now I'm thinking about tyre degradation, all tyres will degrade and crack over time, so if I spent twice as much on premium tyres, I may have to replace them with good tread left because they're cracking and perhaps out of shape over time. The current tyres on my car are middle of the range, 4 years old and need replacing soon due to degradation. Therefore for my circumstances and limited mileage I'm thinking I'd be better off buying cheaper more often.

    Four years is very short for degradation of that type. A decade is more typically the age-related-replacement cut-off point. I'd be taking that as an "avoid" for that brand in the future.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189
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    It's more complicated than that
    MattyDee wrote: »
    Oh, I wasn't aware that the rating is self certified! That would make it completed pointless if there was no regulation about it...
    There is regulation, and the certification should be done to repeatable and documented standards. The question is how much actual checking of the regulation there is...
  • reeac
    reeac Posts: 1,430
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    I have a 1958 MGA roadster that I restored between 1981 and 1983. The first set of tyres (Michelins) lasted until around 2003 i.e. 20 years at which point I thought it best to change them due to fine sidewall cracking. It wasn't horrendous and the tyres had retained their shape. The car is, however, always garaged so it doesn't see much UV. I haven't bothered to check the present tyres for sidewall cracking for several years now. I suspect that the expensive manufacturers use higher quality materials which are more resistant to such deterioration. Probably all that this demonstrates is that age related deterioration is dependant on the environment in which the car is kept but it isn't necessarily a rapid process.
  • Joe_Horner
    Joe_Horner Posts: 4,895
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    Yes
    AdrianC wrote: »
    Theoretically...

    As has been said, they're self-certified. Now, what do you reckon the chances are of the pick-your-own-brand-name, by-the-container-via-alibaba.com suppliers playing fair on that?

    Except that, in the case of pick-your-own-brand-name, by-the-container-via-alibaba.com tyres it's the importer who's responsible for certifying the tests were done according to the set procedures. Only the results are self certified; the testing methods are set by regulations, and the test forms part of the type approval for the tyre. So cheating the tests would invalidate (required) type approval.

    Selling container loads of non type-approved tyres just ain't worth the risk for the sake of a rating letter - especially one that your typical target customer @ the bargain end of the market won't care about anyway!
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