Tyres - cheap or expensive ones?

[peacemf]

So my car needs new tyres.

The price searching online and old skool gives a price range between ?200 and ?650!!!!!

wondering what other people thinks about rubbers......i only like spending money or anti-baby rubber :s

[barbary]

When you come round a corner and need to brake for or dodge a kid in the road. Its too late to wish you spent a few extra dollars on those tyres.

Be honest with yourself about how you drive and buy accoringly.

[sc302 Veteran]

Well it depends. Compare them. I don't know what kind of car or what you are doing. For all I know you are buying tires that are 10 foot tall vs tires that are 32 inches tall (exaggerating here but you get the idea).

It really depends on what you are doing that would justify the cost difference. And even still, the one that costs the most may perform similarity to one that costs half the price. I have no clue what you are comparing to give any sort of opinion, there are thousands of different tires out there some are cheap and some work really well for the price point that they are at others the price is justified as nothing else can you can buy that comes close.

I hope that is vaguely accurate enough for you.

[The Evil Overlord]

Conti sport or premium contact, amazing grip wet or dry,

[Draconian Guppy]

Budget Brands not buy based on my experience, eg. their low tiers

Kumho

Pirelli

Firestone

Bridgestone

Federal

Goodyear

If you step up to "mid performing" they hold up.

Brands i'd recommend on any tier:

Continental

Michellin

Nexxen

Yokohama

Toyo

Dunlop

Falken

Mileage may vary ( pun :p ) But here: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/reviews/MenuServlet?search=surveyComments

[threetonesun]

Budget Brands not buy based on my experience, eg. their low tiers

Kumho

Pirelli

Firestone

Bridgestone

Federal

Goodyear

If you step up to "mid performing" they hold up.

Brands i'd recommend on any tier:

Continental

Michellin

Nexxen

Yokohama

Toyo

Dunlop

Falken

Mileage may vary ( pun :p ) But here: http://www.tirerack....=surveyComments

Igonore this guy, literally every brand on this list is fine. I'd be more worried about getting the right kind of tires for the conditions you drive in. You can get away with cheap, good tires if you live in a tropical paradise. Good all seasons will always be more expensive.

[Draconian Guppy]

Did you even read the "MY EXPERIENCE" ?

This is based on my usage... Kumho, pirelli, firestone& bridgestone, federal and goodyear.. again BASED ON MY USAGE...

[Sandor]

Given that you're in the UK and in London you'll not be experiencing really tricky weather (usually). I'd imagine in London your average speed is fairly low too...not many rural 60mph roads in the city ;)

I'd go with the cheaper brands. It's more important to make sure they're properly inflated and not bald/damaged.

[threetonesun]

Did you even read the "MY EXPERIENCE" ?

This is based on my usage... Kumho, pirelli, firestone& bridgestone, federal and goodyear.. again BASED ON MY USAGE...

If you're going to list tire quality by brand, then you have no experience with tires. By model, sure, but the Kumho Ecsta SPT is a good cheap Summer tire, the Pirelli P-Zero Nero is a good enough Summer tire, the Firestone Winterforce is a dirt cheap monster of a non-studded snow tire, those are just a handful that I actually have experience with.

The things to actually worry about when choosing a tire are all about your climate, specifically a) how much does it rain, b) how cold does it get, and c) does it ever snow. If a) is some, and b) is not very, you can get some great Summer tires for cheap that will be excellent in the rain. If b) is a little cold and c) is never, you can get away with ultra high performance all seasons. If b) is pretty cold and c) is sometimes, I'd say you're stuck paying out the most cash, as you'd either want two sets of tires, or the best snow-rated all seasons you can get (Nokians).

[Draconian Guppy]

Hmm ok, my comment could've come off as daft, not based on brand, but my usage Fair enough, mostly I drive,all weather so:

Kumho Kh17 - Very bad grip

Pirelli P7 - Bad grip, wear quickly

Firestone FH700 - Poor grip, nasty aqua planning

Bridgestone turanza serenity - lasted me less than a year with "normal" driving

Federal really cheap mexican brand can't even remember model.

Good year GPS3 - Expensive and very weird handling, something like to soft side wall if IIRC.

If you're going to list tire quality by brand, then you have no experience with tires.

I've used other models from the same brands, but i've Really, given up on those brands, I just stick with continental, toyo, michellin or yokohama, again, for all weather. Too lazy to list models :p

[123456789A]

Pirelli P7 - Bad grip, wear quickly

I think the Pirellis are supposed to wear quickly. Just ask any F1 driver!

[LaP]

Igonore this guy, literally every brand on this list is fine. I'd be more worried about getting the right kind of tires for the conditions you drive in. You can get away with cheap, good tires if you live in a tropical paradise. Good all seasons will always be more expensive.

There's not such a thing as good all seasons when you stay in canada.

[techbeck]

So my car needs new tyres.

The price searching online and old skool gives a price range between ?200 and ?650!!!!!

wondering what other people thinks about rubbers......i only like spending money or anti-baby rubber :s

Comes with the cost of owning a car. I recently had to have 2 rims replaced in my car (450 each) and 4 new tires (200 each). Those a lot of tires/rims are more expensive....I wasnt expecting that cost. Certain cars/type of tire/rims are more expensive to replace.

Also had to get a new transmission (4k) but luckily it only cost me 100 since I had the extended warranty.

[Draconian Guppy]

I think the Pirellis are supposed to wear quickly. Just ask any F1 driver!

:laugh: :p

[ThreadAbort]

Well, I've been living under a rock. Didn't know you UK guys preferred the word "tyre" over "tire". Interesting.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire#Etymology_and_spelling

[123456789A]

I personally use Michelins. Never had a problem with them over 14 years of driving (not on the same set of tires of course). They cost a little more but I think it's worth it for the safety and smooth ride. I'm due for another set next year and I'm pretty sure they'll also be Michelins.

[threetonesun]

Kumho Kh17 - Very bad grip

Pirelli P7 - Bad grip, wear quickly

Firestone FH700 - Poor grip, nasty aqua planning

Bridgestone turanza serenity - lasted me less than a year with "normal" driving

Federal really cheap mexican brand can't even remember model.

Good year GPS3 - Expensive and very weird handling, something like to soft side wall if IIRC.

Fair enough, those are all pretty terrible tires. :laugh:

Conversely, I had some Falkens that were great... for about 10,000 miles. I also had some Hankook RS2 tires which were dirt cheap and made the car handle like a slot car.

There's not such a thing as good all seasons when you stay in canada.

Nokian WRG2 tires. Only all seasons that are snow rated. If they're good enough for Finland, they're good enough for Canada.

[abecedarian paradoxious]

My wife wants to know why you say 'tyre' but don't say 'wyre' or 'wyfe'.

[Draconian Guppy]

Fair enough, those are all pretty terrible tires. :laugh:

Conversely, I had some Falkens that were great... for about 10,000 miles. I also had some Hankook RS2 tires which were dirt cheap and made the car handle like a slot car.

Nokian WRG2 tires. Only all seasons that are snow rated. If they're good enough for Finland, they're good enough for Canada.

Oh man... you've no idea how hard it is to get a decent pair of rubbers in honduras, central america! Those brands and models are everywhere and anywhere, it seems, they said "oh lets send all our stock over there"! But you find a niche place keeping decent tires and you have to buy them in a heart beat, I kid you not, people here have no idea that different tires for different weather, roads, temperature, loads, etc... they just sell "all round" crap like there's no tomorrow.

@abecedarian

potato potatoe... seriously...

[sagum]

Well, I've been living under a rock. Didn't know you UK guys preferred the word "tyre" over "tire". Interesting.

http://en.wikipedia....gy_and_spelling

My wife wants to know why you say 'tyre' but don't say 'wyre' or 'wyfe'.

Hmm. I bet it's because the English use the Queen's English and not Amanicaneese :)

Honestly though jokes aside... proper English is actual English that everyone has been using for a long time, and so have the Americans. Its only recently 100 years that America has started to use the simplified spelling of English words.

A bit more information over here http://history1900s.about.com/od/1900s/qt/trspelling.htm

[sc302 Veteran]

Fair enough, those are all pretty terrible tires. :laugh:

Conversely, I had some Falkens that were great... for about 10,000 miles. I also had some Hankook RS2 tires which were dirt cheap and made the car handle like a slot car.

Nokian WRG2 tires. Only all seasons that are snow rated. If they're good enough for Finland, they're good enough for Canada.

I had crappy falkens too, nothing like being able to spin tires at 60 mph with 200hp.

[OOOOOOOO]

Do some research and spend the money you have to spend. Do not buy cheap hard low grade tyres. This is your, or someone elses life. No one should be allowed to scrimp on car parts of this nature.

My wife wants to know why you say 'tyre' but don't say 'wyre' or 'wyfe'.

Because that's the language :) You guys are spelling things wrong is all :)

[neoraptor]

Check ADAC's reviews they are quite accurate. There are expensive tires that don't perform as well as mid-priced, personally i stay away from the cheapest ones.

Also choose a tire depending on your usual usage (mainly wet, etc).

And another thing, it is model specific, like michelin has bad models and kumho has good ones.

[peacemf]

went with the expensive ones, Michelin primacy 3 or something, 225/55/16 ?590 for 4 :(

there goes my weekend hook up with me b*tches :(

[HawkMan]

There's not such a thing as good all seasons when you stay in canada.

Canada is probably like Norway, our Winter tires, are completely different from those of other places. EU just introduced a EU quality marking for winter tires. all the tires that get A+ on that are horrible in Norway, As they're based on "european" weather, which means little snow, mostly rain and cold, and what snow there is is wet. Meanwhile Norways winter roads are Snow, ice, and Compacted snow(that can be even more slippery than black ice), and of course, ice with various types of snow on top. which requires completely different type of winter tires, tires that happen to get a D or less, on the EU grading :)

I'd probably never buy all seasons, not even if I lived further down in Europe. they're worse in every condition than summer and winter tires, and it's worth it changing tires twice a year. though I guess people in Nevada and Mexico would be fine with summer tires all year round :p