Tyre Question

fitzgese

Hi, just wondering is is worth paying extra for a premium tyre? My tyre size is 185/65R14. Looking at eiretyres, I'd pay roughly twice as much for a premium tyre as I would for a cheap one. Is it worth it, or should I go for a good mid-range tyre? Can anyone recommend any type in particular?
Thanks

r0nn13

Hi, I bought 4 of the cheapest tyres possible when my car needed them first time round, and man i have never been so disappointed in my life. The car would skid more easily under heavy braking and would not hold the road as much, and slide across the road more often.

Sounds like I am a fast driver, well i stick to all the speed limits as best as the next joe bloggs, so i would say i am an average driver. Get me to work and home and i am happy.

So 2nd time round I bought Continental Eco Contact Tyres and my mate had the same tyres but the Sport contact (more expensive) and our cars are as good in braking and cornering as each other (both MK1 Ford Focus by the way). I feel safer braking now...

After that i would never buy cheap tyres or even medium tyres again. You get what you pay for, especially considering these 4 rubber yokes are the only thing that touches the road from your car (apart from your brakes remember your suspension can also affect braking quite drastically).

Braking efficiency is way more important than anything else in tyres and the Continentals and Michelans (so i am told) are some of the best for braking...

Don't go cheap is my advice...

Check out http://www.blackcircles.com as they have reviews of tyres when you enter your tyre details...

Fey!

IMO, go for a quality tyre. Cheap can mean a severe lack of grip. €20 per tyre can make a world of difference; it may seem like a big difference in price to some, but it could be the difference between staying on the road and landing in a ditch.

~~SKYHIGH~~

As long as the tyre meets road traffic act regulations I dont really give a
crap. I got 4 new tyres for my 5 series last week and even the cheapest ones were not cheap. I bought them anyways and they hold grand so not complaining. Their firestone all weather tyres with little or no road noise.

VeVeX

~~SKYHIGH~~ wrote:

As long as the tyre meets road traffic act regulations I dont really give a
crap. I got 4 new tyres for my 5 series last week and even the cheapest ones were not cheap. I bought them anyways and they hold grand so not complaining. Their firestone all weather tyres with little or no road noise.

As long as a tyre has 1.6mm thread it passes any current regulations. There is a huge need for education in relation to the importance of have decent tyres on your car.

Alot of cheap tyres come from china and the vast majority if not all tyres from china are rubbish. Wanli, Sunny, Ling Long etc may well pass the thread depth analysis but that does not negate the fact that they are hazardous when road conditions are poor. How anyone could buy a tyre called LingLong and think their making the right decision is beyond me but they do.

In my opinion anybody who puts these kind of tyres on their car needs their heads examined. I think its just down to being tight. I have no sympathy for these cheapskates in the event they loose control, its the other road users that they come into contact with I fell sorry for.

macnab

I have a set of Hankooks on my Merc E270Cdi which I bought from eiretyres for €102 each. Much cheaper than the perellis I had on my last car (BMW523i) but just as good in any driving conditions. I would class myself as a fast driver. I have a set of Nankangs on the wifes car which cost €47 each, I think they are an excellent tyre. I wouldnt chance buying any of the unknown chineese tyres though, Wanli etc.

jayok

The 4 tyres are the only point of contact between you and the road. You can never have enough grip when you want to stop. I'd strongly recommend a very good tyre for this alone. There's no need to go overboard on the cost of the tyre by say €40 remoulds are going to be much use.

Personally, I've michelin Pilot Sports allround - they ain't cheap (€300 per corner) but give good grip in all conditions.

sundodger5

a wanli with tread beats the hell out of a bald michelin...... but you should put on the best tyres you can afford. as posted above the tyres are the only contact between you and the road and it is only a small contact point. it would be around the size of your clenched fist. go for the good uns.

dak

As far as I know a lot of the Drivers on the Circuit of Ireland rally use Hankooks so they can't be that bad! I certainly know of one North Midlands rally last year where this was the case

2stageturbo

Fey! wrote:

IMO, go for a quality tyre. Cheap can mean a severe lack of grip. €20 per tyre can make a world of difference; it may seem like a big difference in price to some, but it could be the difference between staying on the road and landing in a ditch.

All the advice you need.Good tyre's make a massive difference.

Biro

Can't understand how people have money to buy the car that they think is cool, or classy, and lash out on extras for it, and all that, then skimp on tyres. If you can't afford to put good tyres on your car then you can't afford the car you have. Tyres are the most under-rated safety device around.
If you have no brakes and good tyres, then at least you can steer some way out of trouble... however if you have sh!t tyres and excellent brakes then you can neither stop nor steer properly.
Pay as much as you can afford on them, they only have to save your life once to make it worth while.

stratos

Someone said buy the best tyre you can afford good advice. A lot depends on the type of driving you do. most normal driving wouldn't even push a tyre near its limit in the dry. The wet is a slightly different story and a difference will be seen there, however unless you drive quite fast in the wet again its not going to make too much difference.

I have tried a good many different tyres over the years as my budget dictated, for most tyres in the dry there is little difference, wet performance ie aquaplaning does change with budget. In my honest opinion Avon tyres are the best value for money you can buy if you like to push the g,s don't sell 'em over here funny that !

wingnut

I skimped last time and the tyres didn't even make 8K before the edges were worn (not a problem with the car, had it thouroughly checked). Got bridgestones much better in the wet and hopefully longer life.

fitzgese

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll get the best tyre I can afford. The person who had the car before me had a set of budget (Kingstar) tyres on it, they seemed ok but this is my first car so I've never driven it with any other tyres on it. To be honest, I don't really mind if I don't notice a difference with better tyres at all while driving normally, I'd just rather have them in case I ever need that extra bit of grip in an emergency.

bambam

I'd recommend Dave McCann tyres in Blanchardstown. Similiar prices to eiretyres but without the hassle of organising fitting.

search boards for more details about Dave. I think his number is 01-8202221

fitzgese

Yeah, thanks, Dave McCann sounds good, I think I'll give him a call.

dak

I rang around last year for Pirelli tyres and got them from Dave McCann who was the cheapest ! There was a Porshe in getting new tyres before me at 1200 a corner. I asked did anybody with expensive cars buy cheap tyres. He told me that he did have one guy in who had a really expensive AMG Merc and bought the cheapest tyres on the market! What a skin flint !