buying budget tyres

[blackrevolver]

Originally Posted by Moosejaw

Apologies for the bump, but I spotted this test from the respected German car magazine Auto Bild, where they tested 50 different tyres for their wet & dry braking performance.

http://http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/...aking-Test.htm

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article...king-Test.html

[Paul240480]

I got my current (Kumhos) from oponeo.fr they have a UK site too
http://www.oponeo.co.uk/
A bit like blackcircles I guess
I paid 180€ for two fitted (balance/valves inc).
Previously I had 2 Roadstones on the front which the Kumhos have replaced.
The Roadstones were recommended by the fitters I used then in Derbyshire.
They covered 25k and were still legal treadwise & were cheapos at £100 fitted for 2 (in 2009).
I still have a set of 'Events' on the rear, have heard bad reports, and bad comments on here about them, mine have loads of tread and I've not had any snags (touches wood) and they must be on about 30-35k now. Not saying they are 'brill' , just not hit any prob's........

[Coventry]

Bump.

Just to say thanks, Paul, for providing this link to the Oponeo site. I'd been searching for hours in all the usual places for a good price and was about to give up and settle for slightly lesser tyre. Oponeo were much cheaper for the tyre I was after (although more expensive on others, than places like camskill, blackcircles, mytyres, etyres etc.) so I've placed my order.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Paul240480

I got my current (Kumhos) from oponeo.fr they have a UK site too
http://www.oponeo.co.uk/
A bit like blackcircles I guess
I paid 180€ for two fitted (balance/valves inc).
Previously I had 2 Roadstones on the front which the Kumhos have replaced.
The Roadstones were recommended by the fitters I used then in Derbyshire.
They covered 25k and were still legal treadwise & were cheapos at £100 fitted for 2 (in 2009).
I still have a set of 'Events' on the rear, have heard bad reports, and bad comments on here about them, mine have loads of tread and I've not had any snags (touches wood) and they must be on about 30-35k now. Not saying they are 'brill' , just not hit any prob's........

[scr8pdo]

As some of you know, I have worked in a multitude of garages, a lot of fast fit and tyre centres, ATS, Roadrunners etc, all of us fitters if we were to go out and buy tyres for our own motors we would always go for middle of the road stuff.

I have told you before that ATS is owned by Michelin, so we were always pushed to promote Michelins, they are an excellent tyre but there are other makes that are just as good for half the price, as we used to get trade prices, I always seemed to end up with GoodYear rubber.

There are other makes made under Michelin, Kleber for example are Michelins, I wouldnt skimp on tyres personally as they are the only contact between you and the road and a tyre has a LOT of work to put up with, speed, turning, grip, being bounced up and down etc.

I also wouldnt knock part worns, Ive seen some good part worn tyres where they may have been fitted to a car only for the car to snap a cambelt a week later, but if I was buying part worns I would want to be looking inside for repairs, evidence of being run flat etc, (stuff invisible from outside)

Tyres are a very touchy subject too just like oil, some will only buy THE best etc, it also depends upon the use of the car, if its only gonna be used occasionally to pop to the shops once a week, its crazy to pay out for top end Michelins cause the rubber will degrade/crack before the tread wears out, on the other hand if you are bombing up and down a motorway everyday buy the best you can afford.

Certain makes have reputations, ie Continentals are a brilliant tyre but seem to wear quick, even more so with Yokohamas, these stick like glue but wear fast, also depends on the car being fitted, some fit tyres and find them noisy at a certain speed others find a certain make wont grip as well as others.

What I will say is if changing tyres try and at least change in pairs on the SAME axle, if not 4 half decent tyres of the same make on a second hand car with a few good mm left indicates to me that the car has been well cared for by the previous keeper, avoid cheap Chinese stuff unheard of "Chin chop sueys" or Yin Yan ya ganna slidas"

[volvo always]

I had budget admiral powermax K769 (bought in the UK) on my 240 estate and have in the last week fitted a set of michelin energy savers.

The michelin road noise is very, very quiet and they seem grippy. The braking feels better too, more instant. When I go through large puddles across the road my steering doesn't go light now, just no difference, seems to cut through the water better. All in all I'm happy with them.

The Admiral budget tyres cost me £140 for 5 around 26 months ago and had done 23,000miles. They were worn well down and the rear tyres sidewall was starting to get very fine age splits.

Im hoping the michelins will do around 30,000 miles and age well. I paid 360 euro for 4 which seems to be the going rate here.
The budget tyres were 65 a tyre!!

I needed new and thought go with a well known brand All the other recommended makes were not available and they didn't want to order because of shipping costs, wanted to use what they had.

James

[scr8pdo]

The thing is ALL new tyres have to pass a safety check before then can be sold in this country so any new tyres will work to a set standard but you will get what you pay for, cheap budget chinky tyres are normally made from rubber more like freakin plastic, they are noisey and wont be as good as other makes.

Compare it to a pair of shoes, I could go out today and buy a set of hiking boots from somewhere for lets say £30, they look ok they will keep your feet dry etc but they will start to fall apart in 4/5 months, on the other hand I could spend say nigh on £100 for a set of say North Face or Berghaus, I know that these boots will still be perfectly serviceable in well over a years time, so its false economy somtimes to buy cheap (The last set of Berghaus boots lasted over 3 years!)


Tyres are important full stop so spend the best you can on them, if you go for part worns (these have to be checked nowadays BTW and stamped) get a pair or a set of the same, there is nothing wrong with a set of decent part worn tyres, others will disagree with me, but any tyre that has been on a car for 5 mins or 5 months, they are part worn, as long as they are not full of repairs, no sign of cracking delaminating etc I wouldnt hesitate, I mean if you went and bought a secondhand car with a decent set of tyres all-round are you gonna go out and replace them all because after all they are second hand/part worn, of course you wouldnt, (well not me)

[GMad]

Catch 22 on this one!
Fortunately I can afford to experiment and to be honest, 99.9% of budget tyres I have tried have been just fine. Having said that, 99.9% of branded tyres have been fine too.
It really is a case of suck it and see. Different tyres suit different people and indeed thier different driving styles.
Although I'm not so sure, come replacement time, that I would fit second hand tyres.....

[Coventry]

Originally Posted by scr8pdo

I have told you before that ATS is owned by Michelin, so we were always pushed to promote Michelins, they are an excellent tyre but there are other makes that are just as good for half the price, as we used to get trade prices, I always seemed to end up with GoodYear rubber.

Would you recommend ATS for a full 4 wheel alignment check? The branch near to me offers this service (no idea on cost) and I'd like to get it done after the new tyres are fitted. I'm also changing the wishbones next weekend so the alignment will no doubt be out.

It's a pain finding a good garage/tyre fitter to carry out alignment: so many bad reviews.

I know to avoid Kwik Fit, but are ATS just the same (i.e. ****)?

[scr8pdo]

Originally Posted by Coventry

Would you recommend ATS for a full 4 wheel alignment check? The branch near to me offers this service (no idea on cost) and I'd like to get it done after the new tyres are fitted. I'm also changing the wishbones next weekend so the alignment will no doubt be out.

It's a pain finding a good garage/tyre fitter to carry out alignment: so many bad reviews.

I know to avoid Kwik Fit, but are ATS just the same (i.e. ****)?

Right I will be honest, the equipment ATS use is top notch 4 wheel laser stuff and if done right it will work brilliant, BUT you need to be a pain in the arris of a customer otherwise you will be taken for a ride:

Tell them you cousin works for ATS, ask them what the tolerances are and ask them could you please show me how far its out, sometimes even if its fine they will rattle the spanners, wire brush the track rod ends and grease them to look like its been done, also be careful that once its on the ramp they find "other problems" if they do ask them to show you EXACTLY WHATS WRONG, its easy to get ripped off, especially if they are having a slow day or cant be arsed, tell them your cousin owes you a favour, he is a mechanic and he will do the work, if its genuine you will know cause if it aint they will start to backpedal.

I worked in places like this before, they are VULTURES mate, best advice I can give you is be or come across very suspicious, they may think its a spot check and will do the work properly, appear you dont trust them and they will do it right cause they do get QC checks Quality Control, ask to see the paperwork etc, they will not want someone like that back so will do it right, dont be afraid to ask a million questions after all its your money mate