Discussion
So as per title..
What makes them so s
t?
normal pottering about is fine in the dry, push it and they get to there limit very quickly. in the wet they are beyond terrible.
so why?
is it compound? tread pattern? cheap rubber (?) too hard? Bad water dispersion? (sp)
most of the 'sports' ditchfinder tyres look like highend items so why is it they are worlds apart??
What makes them so s
t?normal pottering about is fine in the dry, push it and they get to there limit very quickly. in the wet they are beyond terrible.
so why?
is it compound? tread pattern? cheap rubber (?) too hard? Bad water dispersion? (sp)
most of the 'sports' ditchfinder tyres look like highend items so why is it they are worlds apart??
this is sort of why i ask, i run a van with alloys and stty tyres all round. now i know the reactions of these tyres in most conditions (have yet to hit diesel or oil etc) so i can drive accordingly. but i just had a friend (who drives at 9/10ths everywhere) asking to borrow it and all i could think about was that he'd understeer into somthing.
so it got me thinking.
tty tyres all round. now i know the reactions of these tyres in most conditions (have yet to hit diesel or oil etc) so i can drive accordingly. but i just had a friend (who drives at 9/10ths everywhere) asking to borrow it and all i could think about was that he'd understeer into somthing.so it got me thinking.
Rubber compound simple as that, unless its pouring with rain where tread pattern makes a difference (but compound still counts for much)
Many budget manufacturers use a less pliable rubber compound which is cheaper & readily available these dont do well in varying conditions. Also many carcass designs are simply not up to the task of anything but a straight line.
The treadwear indicator number is often a good telltale sign of trouble ahead, presonally I'd avoid anything above 300.
Many budget manufacturers use a less pliable rubber compound which is cheaper & readily available these dont do well in varying conditions. Also many carcass designs are simply not up to the task of anything but a straight line.
The treadwear indicator number is often a good telltale sign of trouble ahead, presonally I'd avoid anything above 300.
Rawwr said:
I'm going to stick my nuts on the table here and say there's nothing essentially wrong with ditchfinders so long are you're completely aware of what they are and how badly they perform. I'm now going to hide and not look at this thread again.
Its the people who dont understand what they are I feel for. My mate runs an ST2 on cheap tyres, his moto "cheap to replace so burn them out and replace, two tyres for the price of a good tyre". My response: "Regardless of how good the car, its only the rubber keeping you on the road"I think it's compound isn't it? There was some testing to say there wasn't much difference in types of tread, provided they shifted the water away.
My inherited MG B has some appalling tyes on it - just can't cope with moist tarmac. They'll be swapped long before the tread is low.
My Alfa had the infamous pirelli P6000s on it when I bought it and they were rubbish on changing surfaces - white lines in particular. Ran it on Eagle F1 GSD3s since and it's amazing.
My inherited MG B has some appalling tyes on it - just can't cope with moist tarmac. They'll be swapped long before the tread is low.
My Alfa had the infamous pirelli P6000s on it when I bought it and they were rubbish on changing surfaces - white lines in particular. Ran it on Eagle F1 GSD3s since and it's amazing.
The rubber ingredients used can vary dramatically, 2 virtually identical tyres can have widely different properties, basically the better one will have more of the expensive ingredients in it.
With anything Chinese made, there is a risk that the original tyres might have been 'ok', but then substandard materials have been used for production batches, sometimes this is not the manufacturer but his suppliers.
They are cheap for a reason, and probably last for ever because they are full of ground up rock fillers rather than grippy rubber!
With anything Chinese made, there is a risk that the original tyres might have been 'ok', but then substandard materials have been used for production batches, sometimes this is not the manufacturer but his suppliers.
They are cheap for a reason, and probably last for ever because they are full of ground up rock fillers rather than grippy rubber!
cptsideways said:
The treadwear indicator number is often a good telltale sign of trouble ahead, presonally I'd avoid anything above 300.
im going to check this out!emmm Treadwear 400 !! Traction A Temp A
i have the cheapest s
ttiest tyres! woohoo! 
Edited by powwerr on Tuesday 26th October 10:37
powwerr said:
cptsideways said:
The treadwear indicator number is often a good telltale sign of trouble ahead, presonally I'd avoid anything above 300.
im going to check this out!t Chinese tyres would have been labelled with a beautiful green A+. Fortunately Goodyear Dunlop made sure wet weather performance was also labelled, which should mean some scary poor scores for the ditch finders.Actually, that's if the tyre industry can pull it's finger out and actually sort out a standardised test. You should see the requirements for treadwear rating (make it up), all season (25% more water channels than a "comparable" summer tyre) and a winter tyre (10% more traction than a summer tyre on snow).
The tyre industry is essentially one big joke regarding standardisation at the moment.
TheLurker said:
cptsideways said:
The treadwear indicator number is often a good telltale sign of trouble ahead, presonally I'd avoid anything above 300.
How do you find that information?
Rawwr said:
I'm going to stick my nuts on the table here and say there's nothing essentially wrong with ditchfinders so long are you're completely aware of what they are and how badly they perform. I'm now going to hide and not look at this thread again.
That's no consolation when you are involved in an accident though, is it?Good tyres have "progressive" characteristics. [No not that Con-Lib kind of progressive drivel!!]
Most importantly a good tyre gives the driver warning before it completely lets go of the road. Rubbish tyres typically have a very quick transition between "grip" and "no grip" which makes them much more dangerous. They can also have a huge reduction of grip as soon as the road gets damp.
AVOID!
Most importantly a good tyre gives the driver warning before it completely lets go of the road. Rubbish tyres typically have a very quick transition between "grip" and "no grip" which makes them much more dangerous. They can also have a huge reduction of grip as soon as the road gets damp.
AVOID!
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