Tyres. Do you go premium?
Discussion
davetibbs said:
With a lot of the type of cars on this forum, spunking cash on the tyres is understandable, justified, and in many cases essential.
But by GOD there's a lot of brand snobbery when it comes to tyres even when it comes to "normal" cars and I just can't understand it.
We all hear the terms "Taiwan Ditchfinder" etc banded about, but does Old Mrs Goggins really, REALLY need premium (or even dare I say it mid-range) tyres on her Nissan Micra? Do my retired parents need premium tyres on their EK Honda Civic, which hasn't seen VTEC since it was sold to them? If they fit budget tyres, are they GUARANTEED to crash headlong into a ditch at the slightest sight of rain?
Are they f
k.
But you try even thinking that on a car forum without being shot down in an inferno of indignant contempt.
When I was going through a poverty-stricken period I ran £40 a corner WingWong specials on my 406 coupe a few years ago. And do you know what? Compared to the Bridgestones I had fitted previously at three times the price, they absolutely, 100% handled better in the wet AND the dry, were quieter, and wore down a hell of a lot slower. So what am I supposed to make of that?
That you want to believe they were better while being much cheaper?But by GOD there's a lot of brand snobbery when it comes to tyres even when it comes to "normal" cars and I just can't understand it.
We all hear the terms "Taiwan Ditchfinder" etc banded about, but does Old Mrs Goggins really, REALLY need premium (or even dare I say it mid-range) tyres on her Nissan Micra? Do my retired parents need premium tyres on their EK Honda Civic, which hasn't seen VTEC since it was sold to them? If they fit budget tyres, are they GUARANTEED to crash headlong into a ditch at the slightest sight of rain?
Are they f
k.But you try even thinking that on a car forum without being shot down in an inferno of indignant contempt.
When I was going through a poverty-stricken period I ran £40 a corner WingWong specials on my 406 coupe a few years ago. And do you know what? Compared to the Bridgestones I had fitted previously at three times the price, they absolutely, 100% handled better in the wet AND the dry, were quieter, and wore down a hell of a lot slower. So what am I supposed to make of that?
I used to always go for well known brands, then when changing all the rubber on the R reg BMW 535i I refused to pay £900 so got "Sunny" something or others.
Did a bit of reading of reviews beforehand and they were the best of the cheapo tyres. £50 a corner.
They're great in the wet or dry. Good wear so far.
So, like loads of other things, "ditchfinders" deserved their name 10~20 years ago, nowadays it's a load of cobblers for most of the cheap tyres. Unless they're going on a performance car, decent cheapo tyres are good and 1/4 the price.
But as this is Pistonheads I wouldn't imagine most of our "main" or "weekend" cars are slow or lazy cars, so this will only apply to smallish / slowish "commuting" / shopping cars.
Did a bit of reading of reviews beforehand and they were the best of the cheapo tyres. £50 a corner.
They're great in the wet or dry. Good wear so far.
So, like loads of other things, "ditchfinders" deserved their name 10~20 years ago, nowadays it's a load of cobblers for most of the cheap tyres. Unless they're going on a performance car, decent cheapo tyres are good and 1/4 the price.
But as this is Pistonheads I wouldn't imagine most of our "main" or "weekend" cars are slow or lazy cars, so this will only apply to smallish / slowish "commuting" / shopping cars.
The Mercedes wears Continentals and it is fantastic. Especially in the wet.
I put cheapo's on the integrale as it has a tendency to eat tyres, I went around a corner quickly and the tyre ripped on the tyre wall. Could have been very messy.
The gay car has cheapo's on it, since putting them on, the road holding in the wet has been terrible. I will be putting proper tyres on it next time.
I put cheapo's on the integrale as it has a tendency to eat tyres, I went around a corner quickly and the tyre ripped on the tyre wall. Could have been very messy.
The gay car has cheapo's on it, since putting them on, the road holding in the wet has been terrible. I will be putting proper tyres on it next time.
I go through tyres quickly on my sports cars, usually two full sets a year so try different ones but always get track or road/ track tyres. Just had Hankook RS2's they were good in the dry, no grip in the wet but lovely and progressive all the time. Getting a set of Yoko Advan AD08's delivered tomorrow, see what they are like.
Joe Osborne said:
Garvin said:
So, you will never need to deploy 'all anchors' in the wet to avoid that * / * / * that's just careered into your path?
*delete as appropriate
Not so far in my driving life (200k). As I said unless your really on the limit then I don't think the extra grip from premium tyres will help a great deal. *delete as appropriate
True story, old Uni housemate needed new tyres for her Fabia VRS. She said she had no money, I urged her to get the best tyres she could afford to.
Instead she opted for £30/corner chinese things I'd never heard of.
6 weeks later she's stuffed it into a brick wall at the first hint of icy conditions.
Whether it's a shed or an Enzo, I always recommend (to anyone who will listen) to get tyres fitting for use. Hell, I don't want someone to appear on my side of the road having lost traction.
Instead she opted for £30/corner chinese things I'd never heard of.
6 weeks later she's stuffed it into a brick wall at the first hint of icy conditions.
Whether it's a shed or an Enzo, I always recommend (to anyone who will listen) to get tyres fitting for use. Hell, I don't want someone to appear on my side of the road having lost traction.
davetibbs said:
We all hear the terms "Taiwan Ditchfinder" etc banded about, but does Old Mrs Goggins really, REALLY need premium (or even dare I say it mid-range) tyres on her Nissan Micra?
Do my retired parents need premium tyres on their EK Honda Civic, which hasn't seen VTEC since it was sold to them? If they fit budget tyres, are they GUARANTEED to crash headlong into a ditch at the slightest sight of rain?
Are they fk.
Depends really do they drive in the rain ?Do my retired parents need premium tyres on their EK Honda Civic, which hasn't seen VTEC since it was sold to them? If they fit budget tyres, are they GUARANTEED to crash headlong into a ditch at the slightest sight of rain?
Are they f
k.Do they ever drive on motorways / dual carriageways ?
I was going to put cheap tyres on my van on the basis that it won't be driven like my RX7 would but I saw a tyre test where at 70mph in the wet when the Continentals had stopped the Linglongs were still doing 20+mph - that's a huge difference.
So really it depends how much risk you wish to take verses how much money you have.
I put decent tyres on my Mum's car - she pootles but for the extra £200 she has increased her chances of avoiding an accident for the next 5yrs which is money well spent IMO.
Kwistof said:
I am possibly going to change to Goodyear F1 A2s as I to have also heard everyman and his dog sing its praises and the reviews I've read up on also back this up.
I too read the reviews, and the top scores in the Giant Tests, which I why I bought them - Twice!They will probably be fine on your S3, but they're no good on big old barges like my Turbo R though (and yes, I've got the XL), there's so much slop/flex in the sidewalls, they make the car lurch, whether punting it into a corner, or just changing lanes at speed. It drives like a wallowy old Shad on the F1's.
Patrick Bateman said:
davetibbs said:
With a lot of the type of cars on this forum, spunking cash on the tyres is understandable, justified, and in many cases essential.
But by GOD there's a lot of brand snobbery when it comes to tyres even when it comes to "normal" cars and I just can't understand it.
We all hear the terms "Taiwan Ditchfinder" etc banded about, but does Old Mrs Goggins really, REALLY need premium (or even dare I say it mid-range) tyres on her Nissan Micra? Do my retired parents need premium tyres on their EK Honda Civic, which hasn't seen VTEC since it was sold to them? If they fit budget tyres, are they GUARANTEED to crash headlong into a ditch at the slightest sight of rain?
Are they fk.
But you try even thinking that on a car forum without being shot down in an inferno of indignant contempt.
When I was going through a poverty-stricken period I ran £40 a corner WingWong specials on my 406 coupe a few years ago. And do you know what? Compared to the Bridgestones I had fitted previously at three times the price, they absolutely, 100% handled better in the wet AND the dry, were quieter, and wore down a hell of a lot slower. So what am I supposed to make of that?
That you want to believe they were better while being much cheaper?But by GOD there's a lot of brand snobbery when it comes to tyres even when it comes to "normal" cars and I just can't understand it.
We all hear the terms "Taiwan Ditchfinder" etc banded about, but does Old Mrs Goggins really, REALLY need premium (or even dare I say it mid-range) tyres on her Nissan Micra? Do my retired parents need premium tyres on their EK Honda Civic, which hasn't seen VTEC since it was sold to them? If they fit budget tyres, are they GUARANTEED to crash headlong into a ditch at the slightest sight of rain?
Are they f
k.But you try even thinking that on a car forum without being shot down in an inferno of indignant contempt.
When I was going through a poverty-stricken period I ran £40 a corner WingWong specials on my 406 coupe a few years ago. And do you know what? Compared to the Bridgestones I had fitted previously at three times the price, they absolutely, 100% handled better in the wet AND the dry, were quieter, and wore down a hell of a lot slower. So what am I supposed to make of that?
However, as for myself, for anything sporty that I'm going to drive with, erm, enthusiasm, I tend to go premium (Michelin/Bridgestone/Goodyear etc) but with a bias towards dry weather performance. I found that on my 350Z the replacement Toyo T1-R were not as good as the OE Bridgestones.
For my daily driver, I used to go premium, but have since found that mid-range perform just as well and last longer. The Uniroyals currently fitted are better than the Dunlops or Bridgestones previously fitted. Although I was disappointed with a pair of Vredesteins I had.
tercelgold said:
redgriff500 said:
But it shows the Hankook in 2nd beating all the other "Premium" tyres
That's something people will ignore, like Falken making a very good tyre according to BMW forums.I had Hankook Ventus on my truck for the last few years and just ordered another set online for £120 each which is not bad IMO for a 20" tyre.
Pretty good in the dry and in the wet it wouldn't matter what tyres were fitted.
The Merc has Conti's on it though.
Caulkhead said:
I was driving on the limit last Friday. It was wet and I was doing 30 in a 40 zone when a girl cycling on the pavement fell off her bike just in front of me. I just stopped in time with very sticky Rainsport2 tyres, large vented disks all round and ABS.
I buy decent tyres because I can't see into the future.
My car has the collection of mis-matched tyres it came with. I'd have been driving at 20 or 25 (i.e. the limit) in the situation you describe.I buy decent tyres because I can't see into the future.
Don't imagine that worse tyres necessarily mean more accidents. It just means going slower.
I always used to like Dunlop SP Sport 01
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