Tyres - whats in a price and a name?

mike65

Just got a replacement tyre for me car 15 x 6.5 with 205mm x 60 profile. The chap at the outlet said he had 5 brands in stock most expensive was €110 (Bridgestone and Michellin) the cheapest was €65, I bought the cheap one on the basis my average commute is 22 miles a day at an average speed of 30 mph. I checked the brand (KOMET) and get this back from a tyre test page click here for results. Why pay more?

Mike.

Volvoboy

got two for the front of my car there two weeks back after my little adventure with a kerb, same as meself really went for the cheap tyre's 55 each as i only do an average of 150mls a week i'm not doing massive miles in every terrain possible.


-VB-

Andrewf20

Because when in an emergency situation, good tyres can make a big difference, especially in the wet. In general you get what you pay for. Thing is, good tyres dont have to be mad money. My bridgestone Potenza RE720's cost 85 euro a corner. (205/60 R15s).

I know a guy with an E30 325i, and had cheap tyres on the back. On a wet roundabout, the back stepped out, and he ended up doing a 180 on it.

MAYPOP

I don't read into those reviews a whole lot tbh, they don't tell you anything about the car, tyre size, conditions, etc., and they only drove 13.490km which to me wouldn't be a good indication as to a tyre's performance.

mike65

Andrewf20 wrote:

I know a guy with an E30 325i, and had cheap tyres on the back. On a wet roundabout, the back stepped out, and he ended up doing a 180 on it.

Drivers doing spins in an e30 used to be an everyday occurance - they were famous for it in the damp. Saw a young woman do just that it Tramore a month back.

Mike.

mike65

and they only drove 13.490km

Thats thousands of kilometres (on le continent they use a . not a , to indicate 000s).

Mike.

Captain Trips

mike65 wrote:

Just got a replacement tyre for me car 15 x 6.5 with 205mm x 60 profile. The chap at the outlet said he had 5 brands in stock most expensive was €110 (Bridgestone and Michellin) the cheapest was €65, I bought the cheap one on the basis my average commute is 22 miles a day at an average speed of 30 mph. I checked the brand (KOMET) and get this back from a tyre test page click here for results. Why pay more?

Mike.

Because you saved €45 on the tiny five square inches of road contact that are between you, the car and a nasty accident.

You pay for quality, and seeing as the tyre is one of the most if not the most important part of driving besides petrol and brakes, you get what you pay for.

peasant

Captain Trips wrote:

you get what you pay for.

T'would be nice if that was true.

THE OEM Bridgestones for my Jimny are the most expensive regular tyres for that size ....and the worst, especially in the wet.

I'm on my third set of cheaper tyres now and they have all been better.

I didn't buy really cheapo ones, though.

Andrewf20

I nearly had a nasty suprise myself with 2 Goodyear Eagle F1s on the front & 2 Toyo Proxes T1Rs on the back. Back stepped out on me going thru a roundabout in the wet in a big way. Was shocked at the difference in grip levels, especially since the car is normally balanced with the same tyres on all corners. I swapped the tyres around the following day. (Not an E30)

My brother had Nangkang NS1's on the back of a cavalier when he bought it and better tyres on the front, and had a major scare as well on a roundabout.

Biro

Captain Trips wrote:

Because you saved €45 on the tiny five square inches of road contact that are between you, the car and a nasty accident.

You pay for quality, and seeing as the tyre is one of the most if not the most important part of driving besides petrol and brakes, you get what you pay for.

I'd agree with this. Also... consider this... if you have crap tyres in the wet but good brakes, you can't stop or steer out of the way of an accident...
If you have good tyres and no brakes, you still could steer out of the way! Brakes are no good with out friction to hold the car!

Andrewf20

mike65 wrote:

Drivers doing spins in an e30 used to be an everyday occurance - they were famous for it in the damp. Saw a young woman do just that it Tramore a month back.

Mike.

Yep, thats certainly true. The E30 could suffer from lift off oversteer allright. Then theres the risk of too much power being layed on as well.

maidhc

Andrewf20 wrote:

I nearly had a nasty suprise myself with 2 Goodyear Eagle F1s on the front & 2 Toyo Proxes T1Rs on the back. Back stepped out on me going thru a roundabout in the wet in a big way. Was shocked at the difference in grip levels, especially since the car is normally balanced with the same tyres on all corners. I swapped the tyres around the following day. (Not an E30)

My brother had Nangkang NS1's on the back of a cavalier when he bought it and better tyres on the front, and had a major scare as well on a roundabout.

What the nameajazus do ye be doing on the roundabouts?

JHMEG

Bought a car once with a set of brand new Debicas on it. Two weeks later ended up skating on a roundabout into the back of another car (burst my own front bumper but the car in front was a POS, so the damage I did wasn't noticeable). The first tyre place I passed I junked the Debicas and got a set of Goodyear Eagle Venturas. Best tyres I ever had -- many a stray dog's life was saved by them, even in the wet. And 25,000 miles later when I sold the car there was ~50% tread left on the front and ~70% in the rears.

Andrewf20

maidhc wrote:

What the nameajazus do ye be doing on the roundabouts?

I hit a suprisingly greasy section.

oleras

mike65 wrote:

Just got a replacement tyre for me car 15 x 6.5 with 205mm x 60 profile. The chap at the outlet said he had 5 brands in stock most expensive was €110 (Bridgestone and Michellin) the cheapest was €65, I bought the cheap one on the basis my average commute is 22 miles a day at an average speed of 30 mph. I checked the brand (KOMET) and get this back from a tyre test page click here for results. Why pay more?

Mike.

Why pay more ? because in a worst case scenario, if i had to brake hard and still hit that child, at least i had the best set of tyres on the car, all for the sake of €45.

And Mike, if you dont like the answer, you should not have asked the question.

maidhc

oleras wrote:

Why pay more ? because in a worst case scenario, if i had to brake hard and still hit that child, at least i had the best set of tyres on the car, all for the sake of €45.

If you hit the child it wouldn't really matter because there is about a 99% chace you will be found to be negligent anyway, irrespective of the siatuation.

oleras

maidhc wrote:

If you hit the child it wouldn't really matter because there is about a 99% chace you will be found to be negligent anyway, irrespective of the siatuation.

We are coming at this from 2 different sides, my argument was could i live with the guilt knowing i bought cheap tyres. You are coming at it from a legal point of view. seperate issues, for another thread i think, dont want to hijack this one.

mike65

oleras wrote:

Why pay more ? because in a worst case scenario, if i had to brake hard and still hit that child, at least i had the best set of tyres on the car, all for the sake of €45.

And Mike, if you dont like the answer, you should not have asked the question.

That is a silly answer, there are about 100 reasons why you might hit a child the leading one being not being observant and many others following, if the tyres have passed EU approval then frankly thats good enough for me.

I could have a set of €150 per corner big name rubber bands but they might also be worn or one might have a damaged steel belt quite invisible to the eye.

Mike.

oleras

mike65 wrote:

That is a silly answer

No its not, IMO.

maidhc

oleras wrote:

We are coming at this from 2 different sides, my argument was could i live with the guilt knowing i bought cheap tyres. You are coming at it from a legal point of view. seperate issues, for another thread i think, dont want to hijack this one.

I think they are the same issue. As Mike said, the tyre meets the EU type approval regs, it IS safe. If you did hit the child, AND if you were observant and doing an appropriate speed (something which is highly unlikely if a child was hit), the lack of expensive tyres isn't going to be what puts you in jail, and likewise isn't something you should get too caught up about.

In fact the chances of the stopping difference of the tyre being directly attributable to death is practically nil.

oleras

Just what i would do, try and put medium to best on for piece of mind.Each to their own.

mike65 wrote:

Just got a replacement tyre for me car .

And Mike, you got just one, was it a spare by any chance because as far as i was aware and what is advised is tyres should be changed in pairs.....

gyppo

Although grip is the most important characteristic of a tyre, there are other factors that need to be mentioned.
Ride comfort and noise would be important to me - the current kumho tyres on my car were newly fitted before I bought it, and they're absolute s**te.
They are noisy, harsh, and after several attempts to solve a pull to the left, it was discovered the tyres were at fault. Swapping the fronts to the rear sorted the problem.
I'm going to change them very soon for a set of Bridgestones, which were on the previous car, and to hell with the cost.

mloc123

Andrewf20 wrote:

I know a guy with an E30 325i, and had cheap tyres on the back. On a wet roundabout, the back stepped out, and he ended up doing a 180 on it.

Isn't that why people buy e30 325i these days

wildswan

Andrewf20 wrote:

I know a guy with an E30 325i, and had cheap tyres on the back. On a wet roundabout, the back stepped out, and he ended up doing a 180 on it.

That's RWD for you! Good rear tyres are indeed your friend

goldenbrown

oleras wrote:

Why pay more ? because in a worst case scenario, if i had to brake hard and still hit that child, at least i had the best set of tyres on the car, all for the sake of €45.

And Mike, if you dont like the answer, you should not have asked the question.

...forget the tyres, drive under a speed that means you will not stop with a four year old screaming under your chassis and the parent whose hand they slipped out of screaming....

al gores six year old slipped out oh his dad's grip and was in a coma 12 seconds later after the car hit him, the only way a small child comprehends the consequences of being rolled over by a young driver in their first car is when they are looking up at you as life drains away from their eyes...slow down, slow down...especially when near where small people live, slow down..;)

MercMad

I have a rule as far as tyres go, dont buy the cheapest and dont buy the dearest !

Generally I look around at what the manufacturer supplies from new and what other similar cars are wearing !

I have found that two similar tyres from leading brands can behave quite differently on the same car !

Also tyres that behave well on a light car may not do so on a heavy car and vice versa !

IMO Michelins last longest, are quiet but are expensive !

Continentals are a good choice as an all round tyre.

I haven't had good experiences with Pirelli tyres on any car !

siralfalot

I find it so funny that people spend thousands on cars to buy and keep them in shape, only to then buy shyte tyres, it doesn't make any sence, surely the most important part of the car is that which is actually in contact with the road?? cheap tyres are cheap for a reason

Cyrus

id never buy cheap tyres, most are fine in the dry but in the wet where it matters the difference in stopping distances can be measured in metres

no thanks

cjt156

goldenbrown wrote:

...forget the tyres, drive under a speed .....

That's right, don't use an active safety feature just drive slowly.
By that logic we should abandon seat belts, brakes, airbags, child restraints and traffic lights & crawl around at 5mph. :rolleyes:

Its not speed that causes accidents, its the inability to stop in time. Even the most cautious driver can be put (through no fault of his own) in a situation where his choice of tyres could make the difference between a close shave or a catastrophy.

sundodger5

mike65 wrote:

if the tyres have passed EU approval then frankly thats good enough for me.

the assumption is that all tyres sold in this country are approved. they are not.
you can buy none E marked tyres and many tyres that are grey import.
they come from brazil and other "exotic" locations.
the rubber compound is different for these markets. they look the same but try to stop on plastic tyres in the wet.
good luck....