[Headgasket17]

I have often seen comments like "mmmm, cheap tyres, can't be that great a car" "Possibly not that well looked after, it's fitted with cheap tyres" etc. Now then,
I use my spider daily to take to work, home again and journeys further afield, and I have it serviced regularly etc. and in 30,000 miles in my ownership, fingers crossed has NEVER let me down, however I do buy cheapish tyres and have had no problems. I don't rag the car, have no wish to rip round corners, and can think of no time that I have gone over 70mph maybe 80mph on an overtake on the A1 etc. It is looked after.
What would I achieve by spending out on branded tyres? or is it all just a bit of tyre snobbery? I am happy to hear opinions. Am I losing mileage on cheaper tyres? do expensive tyres last longer? what is it please?

 

[Dex87]

For me, its safety.

You won't notice much difference day to day (as you're not "ragging") but you'll sure as hell notice the difference if you have to brake sharply, or perform a hasty maneuver in a pinch.

I like driving on performance rubber as I know I'm protecting myself and the missus when out on the road. Look up some modern braking distance test results... you'd be amazed. Life saving distances.

 

[Sharpie916]

For me, its safety.

Agree with Dex. This reminds me of when I was in college and the lecturer said there was 1 area he wouldnt scrimp on money... tyres! 'What is the point of having good brakes if you dont have good tyres to provide the traction to slow you down?' :teacher:

Dont usually buy big name brands in general life but its reassuring to know when you have to brake sharply, you got the rubber underneath thats capable stopping the car efficiently as 5/10 metres stopping distance could make the difference between breathing a sigh of relief or having a crumpled front end.

 

[andypj]

gate crashing a thread here, but as far as wheels and tyres go, you want them to be as light as possible. People will talk of unsprung weight and how it is important to keep it down. This means it takes less effort to turn them, speed them up or slow them down. It also means that you will get more feel through the steering wheel. The other important factor is that with a wheel you want the mass to be as close to the centre of rotation as possible - that makes it easier to turn.

So that's the science bit sort of.

Put into practice: light, smaller diameter wheels, light tyres. OK so small wheels look a bit daft, but a set of 16s with light tyres will make a significant positive difference to the performance of a car with big wheels and heavy tyres. Problem is with big wheels all the weight of the rim and tyre is further away from the centre of rotation and makes it harder to turn. So just to the tyres: oddly the big brand name tyres are significantly lighter cheaper tyres because they use better materials: For example a Good Year F1A2 in 225/45/17 weighs 8.7kg, whereas a Bridgestone S02 in the same size weighs 12.4kg - and that's not the heaviest. Some are nearly double the Goodyears weight. Other light tyres: Pirellis, Dunlops, Michelins (bit heavier, but not too much). Bridgestones for some reason seem to be made out of concrete, continentals I can't find weights for. However, some of the less well known brands are surprisingly heavy. Does it make a difference? Well from my own experience, going from a heavy wheel/tyre combo on my Giulietta 1.4tb (non-MA) to one that was 12kg per wheel lighter (I couldn't believe the difference either), mpg went from 32 to 37. if you have a less powerful car you are more likely to notice a difference. It's not conclusive, but then again weight matters - every manufacturer out there is looking to save weight on their vehicles so I suppose there must be something in it. I've just bought a new set of winter tyres for the wifes DS3 & I was talking to the owner of Kingswinford Tyres & he said everyone wants Goodyear F1A3s at the moment.

 

[BuonGiorno]

Depends upon brand policy what they charge extras for.
Michelin is long life. If you are going to sell car tomorrow no sense to cash it.
Heaviest Bridgestone is meaty and strong. If you want 225 width with 8,5J with no kerb problems it would be best solution.
If your need XXX/35-25R20+ or similar size I would stay with Pirelli since they are considered to be best for pressure 3,0kgs and higher ( not sure exact psi for this ).

 

[andypj]

Unfortunately, you need a remap to regain the power loss due to the extra weight of the bridgestones!:biglaugh:

 

[BuonGiorno]

Unfortunately, you need a remap to regain the power loss due to the extra weight of the bridgestones!:biglaugh:

Friendly speaking I do not know where you have copypasted previous post from.
Considering dedicated TI- tires sized to 235/40/19, weight difference is about 1LBS between top brands supplier.

 

[andypj]

I think you answered your own question: "only a lb difference between top brands" that's the point! Now look at some really cheap tyres in the same size.

Problem is with the size you mention the mass of the tyre is 91/2" from the centre of rotation so any increase, indeed that extra lb will sap power. Remember saving weight on rotating mass is worth saving double the amount anywhere else.

 

[130 rosso]

I have often seen comments like "mmmm, cheap tyres, can't be that great a car" "Possibly not that well looked after, it's fitted with cheap tyres" etc. Now then,
I use my spider daily to take to work, home again and journeys further afield, and I have it serviced regularly etc. and in 30,000 miles in my ownership, fingers crossed has NEVER let me down, however I do buy cheapish tyres and have had no problems. I don't rag the car, have no wish to rip round corners, and can think of no time that I have gone over 70mph maybe 80mph on an overtake on the A1 etc. It is looked after.
What would I achieve by spending out on branded tyres? or is it all just a bit of tyre snobbery? I am happy to hear opinions. Am I losing mileage on cheaper tyres? do expensive tyres last longer? what is it please?

For me it's all about safety - tyres are the only part of the car in contact with the road so I would only ever fit premium branded ones.

I also admit that I probably wouldn't buy a car with cheap tyres fitted to it. I would be thinking something along the lines of "if they've skimped on the tyres, what else has been neglected?"

I suppose that makes me a bit of a tyre snob!

 

[andypj]

For me it's all about safety - tyres are the only part of the car in contact with the road so I would only ever fit premium branded ones.

I also admit that I probably wouldn't buy a car with cheap tyres fitted to it. I would be thinking something along the lines of "if they've skimped on the tyres, what else has been neglected?"

I suppose that makes me a bit of a tyre snob!

I think the problem is that they aren't really tangible: you look at the tyres, you compare their eu labels & cost but after that its very difficult - you never get to see them or touch them before you buy. In some cases the online stores even show you pictures of a different tyre completely! so you never really get to see them until they're on the car! Then when they are, they are black, round and have wiggly lines cut into them. Yes I too prefer to buy brands that I have heard of: I have Bridgestones on my car (it came with them honest & I can't wait to get rid of them), my wife has Michelins on her DS3 and my children have continentals on their C3s. The silly thing is that the difference in cost between cheaper tyres and branded tyres isn't as great as a lot of people think.

 

[MalcQV]

I've said this before but everything we do in life is a compromise. You have to decide what where and how you apply that compromise.

For example, a 2nd hand car (say 100k miles) with a well known make of tyre. Is that better than a newer version = (say 40k miles) with new low budget tyres?
Tyres are almost useless if there is an air gap between them and the road. Shock absorbers are something 80% of us change when the MOT tech tells us to but are they that good a year before that change?

I'm just changing the tyres on my 159, I got a great deal on two Michelin Premacy (think that's the name) but I could not get four. I considered two slightly worm Michelins but ended up with new Nexen's. MOT reported one excessively worn (inside edge) front tyre. They're mid to low budget tyres that came with the car.

I've bought new budgets tyres (as well as premium) and slightly worn premium. Mostly I can't tell the difference.

It's a compromise, my 360 will need tyres in the next 12 months but I can't decided which very premium tyres to put on it :lol: I'm not compromising on that

 

[BuonGiorno]

Costs difference between budget and top brand tires are really not so great provided we have talked about 205/55/16 with 91T load index or similar widely used. As soon as we switch to 225++/40--/18++ with 94W or even Z load index price difference would be really costly.
Friendly speaking I can hardly understand motivation to buy Accelera with R19. My view that is a case than car is going to be sold soon.

 

[andypj]

I bought a set of 4 dunlops for £22 more than a set of 4 Jinyu, 225/45/17 91Y. For that much the Jinyu stayed on the shelf. There are deals out there, they change often and in many cases its right place right time. But if you don't ask you don't get.

 

[BuonGiorno]

The true is that Dunlop has never been considered as a top brand.
Dunlop is not bad. Motocycle Dunlop is excellent. Cost budget probably because of actual JPY ratio on the particular moment.
I had also 215/45/17 Dunlop sport 9000 far ago which was also bought because of price criteria.

 

[AHspider916]

Useful thread, thanks. I found I had a slow puncture in one of my front tyres last week. Usually I would have gone budget, but after reading this I decided to spend more for peace of mind. My local tyre centre had 205 50 R16s from Dunlop, Goodyear and Pirelli for roughly equal money, about 30% more than budget brands. I went for a pair of Dunlop Bluresponse on the front in the end as they seemed to do best on the grip / noise / fuel economy labelling.

Cheers,

Andy