Cheap nasty tyres spotted

[captain ash]

900T-R said:

Going 30 mph+ at the point where you'd have been at a standstill with decent tyres when braking from 70 mph in the wet doesn't seem too beneficial to your health under some circumstances.

^^This

Can't remember where I read it exactly, but I remember a tyre group test where certain budget brands stopping distances were ALOT further than the premium rivals. I've no quarrels with people who choose to run Linglongs or Triangles, but do so at your own risk!

[Pothole]

Pints said:

Pothole said:

nd yet you lived to tell the tale, you consumate driving hero, you!

Edited by Pothole on Tuesday 10th May 14:44

This is PH. We are all driving heroes.

true. forgot.

[jon-]

otolith said:

For the avoidance of doubt in the minds of those who have only ever bought one or the other, there are actually very many tyres with price and performance between the LingLongs and the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups.

Ironically from that analogy I'd rather be on the Linglongs if there was much standing water about

[otolith]

jon- said:

otolith said:

For the avoidance of doubt in the minds of those who have only ever bought one or the other, there are actually very many tyres with price and performance between the LingLongs and the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups.

Ironically from that analogy I'd rather be on the Linglongs if there was much standing water about

Quite so - perhaps one of those many mainstream mid-priced brands might be an acceptable compromise?

[soad]

LuS1fer said:

You would think that if they were saving money, they could pick up all those feckin' elastic bands they drop and recycle them into tyres. Litter louts.

True

[Key]

I just bought a car that had 4 tyres in very good condition but all 4 are budget crap.

I'm waiting til these are done before I put decent rubber on. I have been gingerly going round roundabouts since the rain came back this week.

I'm going to reduce my wheels from 18" too. Would reducing it to 17" make much difference in terms of comfort and stuff?

[V88Dicky]

Key said:

I just bought a car that had 4 tyres in very good condition but all 4 are budget crap.

I'm waiting til these are done before I put decent rubber on. I have been gingerly going round roundabouts since the rain came back this week.

I'm going to reduce my wheels from 18" too. Would reducing it to 17" make much difference in terms of comfort and stuff?

You'd probably find a small increase in comfort / less road noise if you went down to a 17" wheel and tyre with a higher profile.

What car BTW?

[Crow555]

Key said:

I'm going to reduce my wheels from 18" too. Would reducing it to 17" make much difference in terms of comfort and stuff?

Probably comfort and depending on the wheels you pick, handling too. That said, were the 18" ones standard to your specific model? Car setups can be dependent on a certain wheel size.

[mercfunder]

Audi TT 3.2 parked up next to me the other day with Triangle tyres on all 4 corners, maybe a bit more of a concern than the PO van

Tread pattern looked good, which is probably why they bought them.

[Strangely Brown]

Judging from the responses to this thread, it strikes me that,

a) a good many people on here have never seen a Royal Mail van being driven. If the local standard is any barometer for the rest of the country then I'd want the absolute best rubber possible on the vans.

b) there are a lot of people who have no concept of just how much a van full of "just paper" weighs.

and

c) there are a lot of people who would very quickly sing a different tune if a RM van lost control due to want of decent rubber and trashed their pride and joy (or worse).

IMHO, there is no excuse for skimping on rubber. It doesn't have to be the absolute best but, by the same token, it shouldn't be the absolute cheapest rubbish either.

[Key]

V88Dicky said:

You'd probably find a small increase in comfort / less road noise if you went down to a 17" wheel and tyre with a higher profile.

What car BTW?

E46 325CI.

I have got 18" MV alloys at the moment was thinking of buying a set of 17's for it when these tyres are shot. Not looked into it much yet tho.

[V88Dicky]

Key said:

E46 325CI.

I have got 18" MV alloys at the moment was thinking of buying a set of 17's for it when these tyres are shot. Not looked into it much yet tho.

If you are happy with the looks of the 17"s, you could 'upgrade' from the 18"s

Quite a popular mod for 5 series owners or those with runflats I believe, brings a nicer ride and cheaper to replace eventually.

[markcoznottz]

The Wookie said:

I would have thought that if RM vans had a higher than average accident rate they'd notice that insurance premiums were costing them more than half decent tyres, and QED they'd have half decent tyres

Guaranteed some of those RM vans will be crashing because of those cheap tyres. My combi came with ditch finders, they were lethal in wet conditions, the stopping distances were much longer in an emergency , well i say braking, more like a sickening slide , thats with them locked up, because they just dont grip the road surface when wet. Im surprised insurance companies havnet picked up on this.

[Diesel Fury]

otolith said:

It was more a response to "another tyre snobbery thread" than to this specific example, but I would suggest that the ability of other vehicles to stop in the wet becomes a problem when you are in front of them.

Or does it only hurt if you are hit by a decent vehicle?

I tend to treat every driver (including myself) as a potential disaster in the wet anyway

I take your point though.

[neiljohnson]

Odd as when i used to deal with Rm they always ran Michelins

[Key]

V88Dicky said:

If you are happy with the looks of the 17"s, you could 'upgrade' from the 18"s

Quite a popular mod for 5 series owners or those with runflats I believe, brings a nicer ride and cheaper to replace eventually.

I don't have runflats but although 18s look half decent I don't think 17s would look much different but would potentially handle better, be more comfortable and save money on tyres in the long run.

[bobr]

Cheap tyres are the least of their worries. Postie came about 3 months ago, strong smell of burning and the temp gauge was at the top, no coolant in the engine, and the stupid didn't even know where to fking put it

[Petrolhead_Rich]

LMC said:

I was in a double line of stationary traffic yesterday and there was a Royal Mail van stopped next to me. As I do, being a bit of a pedant, I had a glimpse at what tyres were on it. Does anyone else do this? Obviously I could only see the nearside, the front was a Triangle and the rear was a Passio

Whoever the buyer for the RM is, he certainly isn't looking for anything other than saving a few quid, but you'd think a modicum of safety would be one of the criteria.

I certainly wouldn't want to be in front of it when it attempted an emergency stop, going by some of the reviews I've just read...

I saw a RM van driving on the wrongside of the grass verge down a pavement between houses today, so I think choice of tyres is going to have little or no effect on safety.

I have heard stories from ex-RM employees that the old LDV vans didn't have oil filters because it saves £8 per service!

[ludicrous speed]

Driving around town at 30 mph isn't going to get the tyres working too hard, anything more than cheap stuff is a waste for a royal mail van.
The way some people go on it's like it's only a matter of time before you crash if you fit cheap tyres.

[anonymous-user]

markcoznottz said:

Guaranteed some of those RM vans will be crashing because of those cheap tyres. My combi came with ditch finders, they were lethal in wet conditions, the stopping distances were much longer in an emergency , well i say braking, more like a sickening slide , thats with them locked up, because they just dont grip the road surface when wet. Im surprised insurance companies havnet picked up on this.

I bought some wheels for my MX5 shod with Nexen Tyres. They were absolutely and I mean absolutely useless in the wet. I could spin the wheels in the wet in third gear just by accelerating to say they were scary to drive with is a gross understatement!

I tried my best to kill them, even after slipping round a track day all evening nothing they still refused to die.