So I did buy some LingLong Ditchfinders

[HustleRussell]

Jefferson Steelflex said:

I was just trying to think of the brand I found on the old E38 728i I bought a few years back....Wanli.

I was always a massive sceptic on tyres, until I found myself facing the wrong way on a busy roundabout and almost getting mashed by other road users. Maybe this would have happened in a decent set of tyres, and it was just bad luck

[r11co]

talksthetorque said:

When you say independant, are these in magazines that don't have tyre adverts in?

Also - how many people use their tyres "doing proper testing under controlled conditions".

VWs have excellent NOx emissions when "tested under controlled conditions"

And every year Auto Express/Auto Bild do their 'independent' group tyre testing at Continental's Tyre Testing facility.....

[Speed addicted]

I put premium tyres on both my cars, even the old Subaru has a set of Crosscontacts fitted.
I agree that there are some good budget tyres and some crap premium ones, I once fitted a set of Pirelli P6000s to my 5 series and spent quite a lot of time sliding about as they were made of something similar to bakelite.

However I think you generally get what you pay for and there are less duds further up the market. The premium brands do tend to consistently win group tests done by various sources, not just magazines with adverts in them.

My thinking is that I wouldn't try and save money on brakes or anything else that may stop me having an accident, so I certainly wouldn't try and save money on my only contact with the road.
It helps that I don't do a big milage in the car so that I'm not spending a fortune on tyres.

[otolith]

r11co said:

And every year Auto Express/Auto Bild do their 'independent' group tyre testing at Continental's Tyre Testing facility.....

Where Continental have invented special secret road surfaces which only work with their own tyres, obviously.

[Frankthered]

280E said:

Are any 'official' statistics available which confirm that a higher proportion of accidents are caused by 'ditchfinders' than 'premium' tyres?

Should insurance companies ask what tyres are fitted as part of their quotation process?

Edited by 280E on Sunday 26th February 09:25

No, of course there aren't.

I was amused by the comment that there is only "anecdotal" evidence that people successfully modify their driving style to accommodate reduced levels of grip (even in emergency situations).

Whereas you might think that the PH "fact" that cheap.crap tyres cause accidents would be based on hard statistics, but it's not. The only fact that supports this is that budget tyres generally have longer stopping distances than premium ones. There isn't really a lot of evidence to support the leap that this actor alone is that cause of many accidents, it's pretty much speculation and supposition.

Do tyres ever make the crucial difference? Probably, but how often is very questionable.

Do some people successfully modify their driving style to accommodate cheap tyres? It's quite possible, even for emergency stops.

[Trabi601]

I do often wonder, when I see cars stuck up embankments in the most unlikely places, if they're running Ting Tong Iddle I Po Ditchfinders.

[jon-]

r11co said:

talksthetorque said:

When you say independant, are these in magazines that don't have tyre adverts in?

Also - how many people use their tyres "doing proper testing under controlled conditions".

VWs have excellent NOx emissions when "tested under controlled conditions"

And every year Auto Express/Auto Bild do their 'independent' group tyre testing at Continental's Tyre Testing facility.....

I know Kim from AE well, there's absolutely no way any form of advertising deals has any impact in the results he puts out. The closest fix manufacturers can do is supply special tyres to test, which is why Kim and a lot of the Germans go to great lengths to buy their tyres on the open market rather than have the tyre companies supply them at cost.

Auto Express also cycle the host, it's not always tested at Continental. Continental are a very open company to help independant tests though which is why they get used a lot, and their facilities are in a good location, and probably the best in Europe.

Also I have to note the slight irony in the topic subject, LingLong now make a half decent tyre for the price point, they're certainly not ditch finders in the classic sense of the term.

[anonymous-user]

Up until last year on nokian admitted to providing special tyres.

http://www.reuters.com/article/nokian-tyres-tests-...

[SWoll]

The Spruce goose said:

Up until last year on nokian admitted to providing special tyres.

http://www.reuters.com/article/nokian-tyres-tests-...

Which is why any publication worth it's salt will source via a third party. Going straight to a manuafacturer for test products is a well known no-no in most industries as the tempation to supply 'special' examples is far too high for most to resist.

[anonymous-user]

SWoll said:

Which is why any publication worth it's salt will source via a third party. Going straight to a manuafacturer for test products is a well known no-no in most industries as the tempation to supply 'special' examples is far too high for most to resist.

it wouldn't be hard to find out where they buy them from as well.

[E36Ross]

Just seen some Luckyland tyres for sale!

I'v also had a Black Horse-II 65 tyre. (Remould spare in a 2005 Fiesta)


Some of the names are just bonkers!

[jon-]

E36Ross said:

Just seen some Luckyland tyres for sale!

I'v also had a Black Horse-II 65 tyre. (Remould spare in a 2005 Fiesta)


Some of the names are just bonkers!

Landsail are the best. It literally means aquaplaning.

[briang9]

alex290568 said:

I'm sorry in advance for this post but I've done 170,000 miles in my E class 320 on budget tyres over the last 4 years.
I've never had an accident, never lost control never killed anyone and I am far from a slow driver.

I've never felt the need to by tyres at £120 a corner when £50 a corner is adequate. I drive to conditions of the road and am forever backing off when in the fast lane and someone fills the stopping distance gap.

I know this goes against the grain of Pisonheads but it's what I've done. Someone not wanting to buy my car because it has budget tyres on can jog on and buy someone elses car. Mine has had a fully synthetic 5w 40 fully synthetic oil change every 10,000 miles, gearbox oil, from suspension refresh and drives like new. Oh but the oil wasn't Mobil 1 either, so that
L be another reason to steer clear.........

well said

[Trabi601]

briang9 said:

alex290568 said:

I'm sorry in advance for this post but I've done 170,000 miles in my E class 320 on budget tyres over the last 4 years.
I've never had an accident, never lost control never killed anyone and I am far from a slow driver.

I've never felt the need to by tyres at £120 a corner when £50 a corner is adequate. I drive to conditions of the road and am forever backing off when in the fast lane and someone fills the stopping distance gap.

I know this goes against the grain of Pisonheads but it's what I've done. Someone not wanting to buy my car because it has budget tyres on can jog on and buy someone elses car. Mine has had a fully synthetic 5w 40 fully synthetic oil change every 10,000 miles, gearbox oil, from suspension refresh and drives like new. Oh but the oil wasn't Mobil 1 either, so that
L be another reason to steer clear.........

well said

There's always someone who'll post this argument. Or one similar.

But you only find out that you should have spent a bit more on tyres under extreme conditions - most people will never find out that the extra stopping distance was the difference between hitting that pedestrian or stopping in time - but I'd prefer not to put this one to the test myself.

It would be very interesting if accident investigators produced some simple statistics regarding tyres.

[hairyben]

I think some car/tyre combos are worse than others, the 330ci on cheapos when I picked it, the dealer was practically scared of it and made a big thing about it being a rwd car that needed respect, and tbf it squirmed all over the place on just a wet road. Decent tyres transformed it.

Even if you can't feel or don't care for the difference though, theres an insurance aspect to my mind, you pay to insure your house every year not because you need it all the time but because the one day you might will make it worth it.

The leccy board I did my apprentiship with had the original eco tyres, the michelin energy fitted to all vans... they also couldnt understand why they needed a van permanently assigned to the local body shop as a courtesy vehicle, such was the rate at which they quietly slid off the road and into things. Still wont buy anything with michelin written on it!

[aww999]

I've just ordered a set of Nankangs for my supercharged Exige. I fully expect them to be terrible in the wet

[RicksAlfas]

Rovnumpty said:

Would never fit a pirelli tyre again.
Not keen on goodyear either.
Used to run michelin all the time but was seriously unimpressed with a couple of sets about 15 years, so stayed clear since.
nexens were surprisingly good, and the toyos on it just now have been ok so far.

hairyben said:

Still wont buy anything with michelin written on it!

These kind of posts make no sense. Manufacturers make a vast range of tyres for different uses and at different price points. To write off a whole manufacturer on the basis of one type of tyre used 15 years ago is bonkers!

[Mr2Mike]

r11co said:

And every year Auto Express/Auto Bild do their 'independent' group tyre testing at Continental's Tyre Testing facility.....

And this is why the stopping distances of budget tyres that aren't even direct competitors to Continental are so much longer? Makes no sense to me, but maybe your tinfoil hat is more effective.

[fivepointnine]

aww999 said:

I've just ordered a set of Nankangs for my supercharged Exige. I fully expect them to be terrible in the wet

Its not a Michelin PS3, you will destroy your car in a fireball if you pay attention to the post's on here lol.

[anonymous-user]

I've heard Davanti tyres are the best tyre bar none. they would win every competition entered but the Illuminati stop them entering. why pay for a branded tyre, when you can pay for a Chinese branded tyre.