Cheap tyres VS premium brand tyres

[xjay1337]

I love tyre threads.

Such cheap skates.

If you can't tell the difference between quality tyres and cheap tyres you shouldn't be driving a performance car tbh.

[caelite]

snake_oil said:

caelite said:

Nexen, a Korean tyre maker. Possibly the worst quality non-Chinese tyres about.

May I ask which Nexen's you've run and could you share how they performed for you?

I switched from the OEM Conti SC5 to Nexen N8000 at around half the price (after reading an ADAC review of the latter) and having pushed and leaned on them I can't detect any deterioration in performance.

The jury is still out on wear as I've only had them on for 8k or so but they still look like they have plenty of tread.

I used to be a bit of a tire snob but I'm converted.

Had a (~4-5mm) set of Nexen N Fera SU1s on my Forester XT when I bought it, they where god awful, slippy in the wet, not progressive in the dry, lots of sidewall flex (it was a fairly high profile 215/60r16). Replaced them with Vredstein Quatrac 5s and it was like night and day, steering firmed right up, car gripped worlds better in the wet, didn't get upset over small bumps as much during cornering. I know I am comparing an all season to a summer bit snow grip was astronomically better.

After reading your post I actually looked up a few reviews of the SU1, a lot of people reporting the tyre was good new but turned into death traps once down <5mm tread, so my experience may have been tainted as I never tried them new. That being said, life cycle performance should be important.

[Finlandia]

Even the most obscure brand of summer tyres is a safer bet in the summer than summer tyres during the winter.

[caelite]

Finlandia said:

Even the most obscure brand of summer tyres is a safer bet in the summer than summer tyres during the winter.

Yeah, I agree, I don't even tend to trust all seasons in the winter (although the new 3PMSF rated ones are begining to look attractive). Point I was making was the Vredsteins where better in the summer in 18C heat, as well as being better in the winter at -5C on the snow. The Nexen's I experienced where really low quality tyres.

[Finlandia]

caelite said:

Finlandia said:

Even the most obscure brand of summer tyres is a safer bet in the summer than summer tyres during the winter.

Yeah, I agree, I don't even tend to trust all seasons in the winter (although the new 3PMSF rated ones are begining to look attractive). Point I was making was the Vredsteins where better in the summer in 18C heat, as well as being better in the winter at -5C on the snow. The Nexen's I experienced where really low quality tyres.

My musings were not aimed at you, just throwing it in there, have a seat and watch the reaction

[WarrenB]

TheGuru said:

What grinds my gears even more is seeing 1-2 year old family SUV’s that are worth £60k new with cheap Chinese types on. You wonder what goes on in these peoples heads.

You'll be seeing this more and more as more people get cars on PCP/PHP/Lease whatever.

All people seem to be bothered about is how they look in the car. Couldn't care less about what tyres it has on it, or even servicing it or looking after it.

A family member has an AMG Merc A Class thing. Had it just over two years, 30-ish-k on the clock. Never once opened the bonnet to check the oil, never had it serviced and is currently rolling on the cheapest tyres available.

[kylos27]

Sometimes the cheap(er) tyres are actually better than the premium tyres , such as Davanti

[Toyoda]

Alucidnation said:

Yay, another tyre thread.

Indeed. Must be the most discussed topic on here. This thread is ticking most of the boxes, cheap v premium, summer v winter, just needs the good old new at the front or rear debate. Some muppet has even mentioned davanti!
I'll refer him here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=15...

Edited by Toyoda on Sunday 25th February 21:08

[TooMany2cvs]

Jim AK said:

I put Hankook`s on my last E Class.

£40 less a corner than Conti`s iirc, but were a higher load rating.

So long as the load rating's high enough, more is rarely better. B'sides, size-for-size, there's usually only two load ratings available. One for everything "normal", and one for all the XL-rated. And that's going to "transform", sure - it'll make the ride far worse for no benefit.

Debaser said:

What kind of person would point and laugh at a tyre brand (or a jumper)?

Hands up who said "Davanti"?

[Barchettaman]

Budget Chinese types are a false economy - terrible performance and a faster wear rate.

Mid-range is a bit of a lottery, fortunately sites like tyrereviews.co.uk put all the tests together so you can make an informed decision.

Part-worns are where the real value is. I got a set of Goodyear EfficientGrip, DOT 2015, 7mm tread in 205/55 r16, for 80 euros. The owner had swapped them for all seasons and was happy to get rid. Top tyres.

[Danxr46]

kylos27 said:

Sometimes the cheap(er) tyres are actually better than the premium tyres , such as Davanti

Exactly.... it’s like saying because you have heard of Pirelli they must be better than any brand you haven’t but you wouldn’t say that about Peugeot over Kia just because you have heard of them and been going longer

[TheAngryDog]

Riley Blue said:

TheAngryDog said:

Oh Christ. Riley blue will be along in a minute to regale about how fantastic ditch finders are and how we are all blithering idiots for daring to buy decent tyres.

Me? I've never held that view.

Sorry, my bad. I know someone does and their name begins with an R. Many sorries.

[Patrick Bateman]

On a performance car where handling/precision matters more I'll always put premium rubber on.

For something like a barge I'm quite happy to stick to good mid-range tyres.

[Evanivitch]

kylos27 said:

Sometimes the cheap(er) tyres are actually better than the premium tyres , such as Davanti

Care to point me to a review of Davanti? Can't find any brake or wet test results.

[HustleRussell]

TheAngryDog said:

Riley Blue said:

TheAngryDog said:

Oh Christ. Riley blue will be along in a minute to regale about how fantastic ditch finders are and how we are all blithering idiots for daring to buy decent tyres.

Me? I've never held that view.

Sorry, my bad. I know someone does and their name begins with an R. Many sorries.

R11co.

[TheAngryDog]

HustleRussell said:

TheAngryDog said:

Riley Blue said:

TheAngryDog said:

Oh Christ. Riley blue will be along in a minute to regale about how fantastic ditch finders are and how we are all blithering idiots for daring to buy decent tyres.

Me? I've never held that view.

Sorry, my bad. I know someone does and their name begins with an R. Many sorries.

R11co.

That's the chap.

[anonymous-user]

I bought a set of Toyo Snow Prox as my winter tyres and they are utter st, Can't even get out of the garage and had a brown trouser moment as 2+ tonnes of metal slid down the slope backwards missing the garage door by inches.

Terrifying in the snow and actually much worse than the Colway winter remoulds I ran several years ago In their defence they are very quiet.

[url]




My wifes car on Nexen Winguards gets out just fine. (Both are RWD BTW)

[Funkstar De Luxe]

Of course I can’t speak for anyone else - but when buying a car first thing I check is tire brand. Why? Because if the owner is willing that cheap out on the single most important component on a car then the chance of them having done good quality maintenance is zero.

I think it’s a really stupid thing to do. If I couldn’t afford the best tires for my car, I’d sell it and really consider what the fk I had been doing.

Compromise my cars handling and safety for the next 20,000 miles to save a couple hundred quid? Not a chance

[snoopy25]

When i first bought my 2009 1.6i Megane coupe 4 years ago it came with Landsail tyres on the front. They weren't bad and lasted me around 2 years and about 11,000 miles and were absolutely fine for normal day to fay driving including the all important emergency stops as and when needed.

Due to money being scarce the last few years i have had to go for the cheapest part worn tyres for the the last two years (managed to find 4x michellins for £25 each/fitted about 2 years ago) with about 3mm tread, now they have around 1.6mm left of tread but have crazy paving pretty much all over the tyre. Checked the age of the tyres and found one of them is 9 years old......... Uurrrggggghhhhhh...... Blame myself for not checking age when i bought them.... But still they have handled well and stopped brilliantly when needed.

As i said money was key issue when i bought these, but they have done me well. Have now invested in brand new Uniroyal rainsport 3's now my money is back to normal and will be fitted at the end of the month once i have ordered the rears as well and i genuinely cant wait to try them out

But if i had a nice new-ish expensive car, i would be fitting the best tyres i could on it

Edited by snoopy25 on Monday 26th February 08:03

[Silverbullet767]

jon- said:

Debaser said:

What kind of person would point and laugh at a tyre brand?

Got to admit to pointing and laughing at 'GOODRIDE' tyres.