Tyres?

[trunks82]

This may seem like a stupid question but when it comes to tyre choice,are expensive ones the best to go for? I dont do many miles a week in my car and i dont sling it round like im Colin Mcrae so is it ok to go budget?Do expensive items last longer?Are they tested any more vigoursly?Do they grip better?Excuse my ignorance!

[stevieturbo]

trunks82 said:

This may seem like a stupid question but when it comes to tyre choice,are expensive ones the best to go for? I dont do many miles a week in my car and i dont sling it round like im Colin Mcrae so is it ok to go budget?Do expensive items last longer?Are they tested any more vigoursly?Do they grip better?Excuse my ignorance!

Really depends on application.

Expensive doesnt necessarily mean better, because places like Kwik Fit charge a clean fortune for tyres that may be a fraction of the price elsewhere.

But really there are thousands of different tyre out there, so it's understandable that selection can be difficult.

But absolutely a quality brand is likely to grip better. But then you can buy tyres more aimed at dry grip, others wet grip and so on.
And even with the big name brands, they have cheap ranges, and expensive ranges.

But in general I would avoid the Ling Ling, Triangle, Wan-king etc etc Chinese tyres.
But to generically say Chinese tyres are bad isnt fair either.

Ive been using Mohawk's on my van now for a few years, I do lots of miles and been through a few sets. IMO they're better in every respect than both Hankook and Federal I had before. Cheaper, last longer and grip better everywhere

But to simplify...if you stick with the OEM tyres the manufacturer used for your model, you wouldnt be doing a bad thing in most cases.

[BritishRacinGrin]

I can't say that 'the most expensive are best' because that isn't 100% correct- but with tyres you do generally get what you pay for. If you go in and buy the cheapest tyres, you're probably going to end up with some functional but fairly shoddy tyres and in the grand scheme they often aren't value for money. The mark-ups are proportionally bigger on cheap tyres so they're often only ten or fifteen quid a corner cheaper than a noticeably superior mid-range tyre. I'd recommend Barum, Matador, Uniroyal, Kumho, Falken, Avon etc. these tyres might represent a 30-40% saving from the most expensive tyres and will often offer 95% of the performance. Personally I buy premium for any car I intend to keep.

[TheRealFingers99]

I'd go along with that. I've found Rainsports, for example, to be better than Pirellis costing 40% more.

Remember, it's not what you normally do that determines how good a tyre you need, but what you may be forced to do in an emergency.

[gareyt]

As with all things a little research can go along way. All tyres now come with a rating just like your household white goods. This is probably the simplest and best way for us to make comparisons on makes. So if I were you I would set a maximum budget then simply compare the ratings and when you have two types whittled down I would do a google search and see how the reviews go. This is what I did and I now have Nexen ecoblue all round.

[annodomini2]

They also vary between sizes and behave differently on various cars.