Cheap tyres VS premium brand tyres
Discussion
captain_cynic said:
The Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my 240i are great for dry or wet. Not so good for snow, but it hardly snows here in Berkshire. Not the cheapest tyres though.
Not good in the cold generally, in my experience. Once you get below 10°C, the performance drops off noticeably, even in the bone dry.Very hard to fault otherwise though, and they last well. I drive my M140i pretty hard, and punctures / damage notwithstanding, I reckon I'll get 20k comfortably out of the rears, without troubling the wear markers. The fronts will need changing through shoulder wear before the main part of the tread is anything like done. It's a known issue with the MPSS, as the compound on the outer edges is much softer, and wears quicker.
Edited by Limpet on Friday 11th May 12:46
Limpet said:
Not good in the cold generally, in my experience. Once you get below 10°C, the performance drops off noticeably, even in the bone dry.
Very hard to fault otherwise though, and they last well. I drive my M140i pretty hard, and punctures / damage notwithstanding, I reckon I'll get 20k comfortably out of the rears, without troubling the wear markers. The fronts will need changing through shoulder wear before the main part of the tread is anything like done. It's a known issue with the MPSS, as the compound on the outer edges is much softer, and wears quicker.
Think that's more of an issue with the alignment of the M1xx cars... Very hard to fault otherwise though, and they last well. I drive my M140i pretty hard, and punctures / damage notwithstanding, I reckon I'll get 20k comfortably out of the rears, without troubling the wear markers. The fronts will need changing through shoulder wear before the main part of the tread is anything like done. It's a known issue with the MPSS, as the compound on the outer edges is much softer, and wears quicker.
Edited by Limpet on Friday 11th May 12:46
)Limpet said:
captain_cynic said:
The Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my 240i are great for dry or wet. Not so good for snow, but it hardly snows here in Berkshire. Not the cheapest tyres though.
Not good in the cold generally, in my experience. Once you get below 10°C, the performance drops off noticeably, even in the bone dry.I never skimp on tyres. My old Mazda MX-5 arrived 2 nearly new Toyos on the front and 2 nearly new Firestones on the back. Way over-inflated too for some reason. Was really dodgy in the wet so I dumped them for a set of Kumhos. Result was the car handled beautifully.
I've always like the Goodyear Eagle F1. My Insignia wears them and they're very good in the wet. Cornering speeds not that much down than in the dry really. I like how the softer sidewalls allow the car to dig in and grip.
I don't see the point in buying cheap tyres.
Dave Hedgehog said:
i regard the OEM contisportcontact 5 that audi and merc have fit to many RS / AMG models as a rubbish tyre, only lasts 9k miles (i got 25k on the replacement MPSS), super soft floppy side walls that make the steering even more vague, aqua planes like a mofo , tramlines in lane one of M Ways and when worn to around 4mm are like driving on hard blocks of oiled rubber when its below 5c
awful bloody things
MPSS and 4S instantly cure all of these issues
awful bloody things
MPSS and 4S instantly cure all of these issues
That pretty much matches my experience of the PremiumContact 6, although the wear rate on them seems OK. Overall I was very very disappointed with them versus the Michelin PS4.
According to motoring folklore Peugeots are designed to use Michelin tyres and the suspension characteristics. Mine came from the factory with Michelins fitted and it will stay like that as long as I own the car. It may be old but I enjoy driving it and I'm not about to mess up its feel, ride and handling and especially its safety performance.
southerndriver said:
According to motoring folklore Peugeots are designed to use Michelin tyres and the suspension characteristics. Mine came from the factory with Michelins fitted and it will stay like that as long as I own the car. It may be old but I enjoy driving it and I'm not about to mess up its feel, ride and handling and especially its safety performance.
Michelin make a broad range of tyres with different characteristics, and I have probably introduced several new models of tyre since your car was made. Do they even make the original tyre your car was fitted with at manufacture?captain_cynic said:
This, Kumho haven't been budget for years. Nexxen are your cheap Koreans these days, even then I'd have a set of those over No-Name Ditchfinders.
KU37's are good middle of the range tyres.
Y'see this is an interesting point. Kumho & Hankook *used* to be budget crap, they are no longer. Bridgestone used to be TDB's, they weren't for a long time and now they're getting back again. I've had Pirelli tyres on one car that have persuaded me never to buy Italian again.KU37's are good middle of the range tyres.
Thing is things change up and down and all us poor schlubs can do is get the best we can (all that being said I've never bought linglong type tyres)
captain_cynic said:
The Michelin Pilot Super Sports on my 240i are great for dry or wet. Not so good for snow, but it hardly snows here in Berkshire. Not the cheapest tyres though.
It snowed here in Berkshire a couple of time this year though! Luckily the E91 325i I bought in February had Bridgestone Blizzak winters on it, so no problem there!
I recently got another set of wheels with summers on for it, and they're Pirelli P7 RFTs, but they seem pretty good!
Certainly far better than the Bridgestone Potenzas on my Z4 - which just stays at home if it snows!
Mr Tidy said:
underwhelmist said:
Do premium brands make some bad tyres too? Years ago I bought a nearly new Accord with Pirelli P6000s. I didn’t know any better then but looking back I think they were crap, I replaced them with Bridgstones (I think) which were a vast improvement.
Were/are P6000s generally poorly regarded?
I'm sure they do! Were/are P6000s generally poorly regarded?
I had some Pirellis many years ago that were hopeless in the wet (but I can't remember which ones they were).
And I've got a BMW on Bridgestone Potenza run-flats (RE050 I think) that are dreadful! It'll be going onto decent non run-flats soon.
greenarrow said:
I've always like the Goodyear Eagle F1. My Insignia wears them and they're very good in the wet. Cornering speeds not that much down than in the dry really. I like how the softer sidewalls allow the car to dig in and grip.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get them in the right size for my current car, so got Pirelli Scorpion Verde all seasons. Seem good. Wet grip is very good and standing water is dealt with very very well.
I certainly wouldn’t put budgets on a 2.5 tonne car either.
Ahbefive said:
Good Year Eagle F1s are a good tyre but the michelin PS4 & Supersport are quite a lot better.
I disagree; I don't think any one of those tyres can be considered "better" than the others, they're just different. The Goodyear probably has the best performance in standing water and the softest sidewalls and hence best ride; the PSS (which I think is actually discontinued now?) is considerably grippier in the dry and feels sharper but firmer and has more tendency to tram-line; the PS4 sits somewhere between the two. On a bog standard family hatch, I prefer the Goodyear.
kambites said:
Ahbefive said:
Good Year Eagle F1s are a good tyre but the michelin PS4 & Supersport are quite a lot better.
I disagree; I don't think any one of those tyres can be considered "better" than the others, they're just different. The Goodyear probably has the best performance in standing water and the softest sidewalls and hence best ride; the PSS (which I think is actually discontinued now?) is considerably grippier in the dry and feels sharper but firmer and has more tendency to tram-line; the PS4 sits somewhere between the two. On a bog standard family hatch, I prefer the Goodyear.
kambites said:
I disagree; I don't think any one of those tyres can be considered "better" than the others, they're just different. The Goodyear probably has the best performance in standing water and the softest sidewalls and hence best ride; the PSS (which I think is actually discontinued now?) is considerably grippier in the dry and feels sharper but firmer and has more tendency to tram-line; the PS4 sits somewhere between the two.
On a bog standard family hatch, I prefer the Goodyear.
This however I have started to use Avons ZZ5 both on a Fiesta 1.0 125 & a 2006 Mini One. On the Fiesta they are easily the equal of the OEM Conti 5's. The Mini is going from GYA2's to the Avon's this coming friday. On a bog standard family hatch, I prefer the Goodyear.
greenarrow said:
I've always like the Goodyear Eagle F1. My Insignia wears them and they're very good in the wet. Cornering speeds not that much down than in the dry really. I like how the softer sidewalls allow the car to dig in and grip.
I don't see the point in buying cheap tyres.
Goodyear Eagle F1’s were fitted on my car as OEM, I guess Ford researched that they were the best tyres for my model so that is good enough for me. I particularly like the rim protection, not that I ever kerb my alloys, it’s just nice to know it’s there. I don't see the point in buying cheap tyres.
Buy Quality. Buy Once!!
Budget tyres are a complete false economy in my opinion.
Had my X5 four years now, bringing it to eleven years old total, and only just put tyres on for the second time in that period, and having covered 50k miles.
Have run the correct Bridgestones so far, however now switched to Michelins which have found an additional 5% fuel economy in the process.
Assuming the Michelin’s last the same as the Bridgestone boots, the economy gain will have all but covered their entire cost.
Sure, there are budget tyres out there for half the money, or less if I really wanted to put on some utterly unheard of brand, however objectively or subjectively, there’s no way that the cheaper option can compete on value, economy, noise, performance, safety, and potential resale appeal if I move it on in the next 12 months.
Budget tyres are a complete false economy in my opinion.
Had my X5 four years now, bringing it to eleven years old total, and only just put tyres on for the second time in that period, and having covered 50k miles.
Have run the correct Bridgestones so far, however now switched to Michelins which have found an additional 5% fuel economy in the process.
Assuming the Michelin’s last the same as the Bridgestone boots, the economy gain will have all but covered their entire cost.
Sure, there are budget tyres out there for half the money, or less if I really wanted to put on some utterly unheard of brand, however objectively or subjectively, there’s no way that the cheaper option can compete on value, economy, noise, performance, safety, and potential resale appeal if I move it on in the next 12 months.
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