d215yq
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2008
- Messages
- 2,664
- Reaction score
- 702
- Age
- 39
- Location
- Valencia, Spain
- Your Mercedes
- 1987 W124 300D 280k miles
So after having done the tie bars now got a puncture and so need 2x new tyres (they need to match to pass an MOT here). So looking through it seems the cheapest Michelin (70€)/Goodyears (60€) etc have E.E. rating (E for wet weather and E for fuel consupmtion) same rating as the cheapest Chinese tyres (30€). But there are some unheard of Cheap tyres boasting C.C. rating for (40€). So in other words how can they be ditchfinders when their wet grip (most important as I've never slid a car in the dry) is better than some of the premium brands offerings?
Seems to me these EU tests have really shown all the premium tyre companies up as marketing/scaremongering. I know they say the cheap tyres don't last but my old ones (Kingstar, not recognised brand made in China) have done 70k and still have 4mm left - only replacing 2 of the 4 due to this puncture.
In the end I've gone for Falkens which offers the best price for good ratings (45€ and a A for fuel economy and B for wet grip) and the same or lower noise than the others. Does anyone else trust/use these official ratings because all the tyre fitters etc seem to ask what brand or what price you want but never what minimum rating you want, etc. I just want to pay the least for reasonable fuel consumption and reasonable wet weather performance and don't care what the name says...
Seems to me these EU tests have really shown all the premium tyre companies up as marketing/scaremongering. I know they say the cheap tyres don't last but my old ones (Kingstar, not recognised brand made in China) have done 70k and still have 4mm left - only replacing 2 of the 4 due to this puncture.
In the end I've gone for Falkens which offers the best price for good ratings (45€ and a A for fuel economy and B for wet grip) and the same or lower noise than the others. Does anyone else trust/use these official ratings because all the tyre fitters etc seem to ask what brand or what price you want but never what minimum rating you want, etc. I just want to pay the least for reasonable fuel consumption and reasonable wet weather performance and don't care what the name says...