Are Cheao Tyres still "ditchfinders" or just marketing?

[ajlsl600]

i am a fan of khumo for my a class and clk ,tho i am trying a pair of hankook ,south korea i understand ? i always had khumo on my 230 ge and ,in east africa had them on the car for over ten yrs, NOT THE SAME SET ! they never gave any issues. if the hankook ,s behave i will try them on the sl .i had a set of china tyes on the a class ,road noise too much and big issues with uneven wear .

 

[dreadlockdw]

For most cars the difference between a set of expensive vs cheapo tyres amounts to a tank or two of fuel at the most. A single tiny bump as a result of a few feet difference in stopping distances will certainly cost more...

If you want to save money as a motorist aren't you better concentrating on canny buying and selling to reduce the biggest motoring cost - depreciation?

 

[Frontstep]

Your right the big picture is where its at, but maybe topping depreciation is peace of mind it is easier to put a set of well reviewed tyres on your car and pay the extra £100-200 or whatever it is.
Same with brakes use a brand your happy with even if, as I have no doubt, some of the lesser brands can work just as well.

 

[Submariner1]

I am not sure I would call these Budget tyres cheap!
Yes cheap to buy, for sure but cheap to run????

My experience.
Previous 12 cars were new, so came with Premium Tyres like Michelin, Continentals Contact Sport, Pirelli Rosso PZero etc.

I inherited Accelleras circa £70 each on my first 2nd hand car.
Changed the fronts (discovered they had the wrong size on them!) to Goodyear Eagle F1 AssyMetric 3s £165 fitted (recommend on here, and had great reviews in german auto press etc.).

As for wear. The Accelleras have lost 4mm and the Goodyears 1mm! In 5,000 miles.
So if this continued 3 sets of Acceras to one set of Goodyears!
So Acceleras real cost is £210!

As for performance.
In the dry with say 6 or 7 mm tread the Acelleras were actually quite good, at 3 or 4mm they were just about OK.

However in the wet
With 6-7mm tread Sort of OK driven slowly. Driven fast I was nervous ref how easily one could get them backs to drift.
With 3-4mm tread, I wouldnt want to drive her fast, except in a straight line! And I really would be nervous how she would brake in an emergency, based on how scarily easy it is to drift out if you put the power on after a sharp turn.

In summary
Pointless having a 5.5L car who's power cant be fully utilized, and has to be pussy footed in the wet.

Based on my experience, overall they are NOT Cheap! In fact they are more expensive.

The only time I would buy cheap tyres was if to comply with the law they needed tyres, and I was selling it to We Buy Any Car !

I always wondered was I wasting money buying expensive tyres, you know “hell rubber is rubber how different can they be!” ; also with an £80K new SL500 who would risk it??

Having been forced into the situation ... imo I am now convinced the difference in the Wet is dramatic, especially as the tread diminuishes; and for my car and my driving they are not cost effective!

Would buget tyres be good for the wife’s A Class shopping trolley?
As they are little tyres not much difference in it, and would they stop as quickly?? In the end we just went with Pirelli Cinturato P1 £60 or £65?.

Caveat:
The wear rates test are a bit Unfair ... as the Goodyears were on the front and the Accelleras on the back.
Countered by the fact I dont rag the car and generally plod around sub 4,000 revs the majority of the time.

 

[Botus]

it can really be summed up as
premium tyres are.
and
budget tyres are.

if you want to get anal, if you drive slow, have no idea what a good tyre feels like and value 50 quid in your wallet, over having legs / a wife you loved, nice steering feel and ride comfort, always buy budget

next level of anal, these days for trying to get arrested / track days you can buy sports versions of premium tyres that last as badly as budget tyres (14k miles) or german premium ones that are nosier and less grippy that'll do 22k, the rest all do 18k in normal driving conditions

lastly, if doing 80mph around your favorite roundabout is not a priority, I'd suggest for all year round normal driving, a premium branded all season tyre will be safer more of the time than summer tyres.


http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/91856/tyre-reviews-best-car-tyres

 

[Botus]

you got me going now

on average, for main versions of easily available tyres from these brands they tend to behave like this


Overall grip and safety
Goodyear 10
Michelin 9
Continental 9
Dunlop 8
Pirelli 6
Bridgestone 6
Kumho 7
Budget 4

Dry handling
Goodyear 10
Michelin 8
Continental 9
Dunlop 9
Pirelli 7
Bridgestone 7
Kumho 7
Budget 4

Wet handling
Goodyear 10
Michelin 8
Continental 8
Dunlop 9
Pirelli 4
Bridgestone 7
Kumho 7
Budget 3

Steering feel
Goodyear 8
Michelin 9
Continental 10
Dunlop 8
Pirelli 7
Bridgestone 8
Kumho 5
Budget 4

Dry braking
Goodyear 10
Michelin 10
Continental 10
Dunlop 9
Pirelli 8
Bridgestone 8
Kumho 8
Budget 4

Wet braking
Goodyear 10
Michelin 9
Continental 8
Dunlop 8
Pirelli 3
Bridgestone 7
Kumho 6
Budget 2

Noise
Goodyear 10
Michelin 9
Continental 7
Dunlop 8
Pirelli 7
Bridgestone 6
Kumho 6
Budget 4

Ride comfort
Goodyear 10
Michelin 9
Continental 8
Dunlop 9
Pirelli 7
Bridgestone 7
Kumho 6
Budget 3

Wear
Goodyear 8
Michelin 9
Continental 10
Dunlop 7
Pirelli 6
Bridgestone 6
Kumho 10
Budget 2

 

[kid-jensen]

Botus, do you work for Goodyear?

Suspiciously consistent number 1 in every category...

Never seen that in any of the Tyre tests I've seen.

 

[Craiglxviii]

That’s an interesting series of test results. Where does the data behind them come from?

 

[John Laidlaw]

There are so many tyre tests out there, I don’t trust any of them really to be honest so I’d rather hear ‘word of mouth’

 

[SL63 Mark]

Bought a set of BF Goodrich Mud Terrains (premium brand) for the Landrover Defender 15 years ago, they are still on there with plenty of tread. The ££ saving over cheapo remoulds which many of the LR community use is huge. They have excellent ride and handling quality on the road, and they are pretty good off road too, in all but the deepest mud. Best tyres I have ever bought.

Can't remember what is on the SL, pretty sure they are black and round, and will be either Michelin or Pirelli. I will have a look later.

 

[Craiglxviii]

There are so many tyre tests out there, I don’t trust any of them really to be honest so I’d rather hear ‘word of mouth’

Well, from my own direct experience. Each OEM maintains a list of tyre models that meet or exceed the test criteria for each of its fleet models in production. I should point out, the point here is “OK” or “No Good” vs the test criteria, not “stops 1600kg car from 100km/hr to 0 in XX metres on road surface of grade (1-8) in dry/ damp/ wet/ ice/ snow condition”.

As far as we each are concerned, the applicability of a tyre to a car is unique for that specific tyre size/ model and that specific car model. What is good for an A200 may be no good for an S63.

So, I straight don’t believe that series of lists published. The variables in each of them are so great as to make them meaningless.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Well, from my own direct experience. Each OEM maintains a list of tyre models that meet or exceed the test criteria for each of its fleet models in production. I should point out, the point here is “OK” or “No Good” vs the test criteria, not “stops 1600kg car from 100km/hr to 0 in XX metres on road surface of grade (1-8) in dry/ damp/ wet/ ice/ snow condition”.

As far as we each are concerned, the applicability of a tyre to a car is unique for that specific tyre size/ model and that specific car model. What is good for an A200 may be no good for an S63.

So, I straight don’t believe that series of lists published. The variables in each of them are so great as to make them meaningless.

Far more eloquent, detailed and objective than my “I don’t trust them” !

 

[towat]

I think performance of certain makes of tyres can vary depending on the vehicle, I once had a Peugeot with Pirelli P6's and it was deadly in the wet, when I asked ATS to change them for something better they thought I was mad and said they were the best tyres around. I agree about cheap brands though my current no name tyres (bought with the wheels) have got to go I can't get round a roundabout in the wet except at walking speed and even then can lose the back end.

 

[Flyinspanner]

And if you look at tyre reviews uk then then depending on size Michelin may be the best liked .... and Khumo doing better than the Goodyear F1 asseymetric 2, which does better than the Goodyear F1 assymetric 3.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Search/Size/275-35-19/Order/Rating

 

[Flyinspanner]

You pays your money, and makes your choice......

 

[Botus]

Botus, do you work for Goodyear?

Suspiciously consistent number 1 in every category...

Never seen that in any of the Tyre tests I've seen.

no affiliation with any....

if you look, I clearly rate steering feel of goodyear lower than two others, however
Goodyear hang on consistently - allowing you to drive at or over the limit with little consequence or effort
Michelin fool you in to driving harder then go of a cliff in a lively manner, in the end you have to drive slower and more consciously for the same level of safety.
The others are less good and Pirelli are consistently dangerous if there is any moisture out there

 

[Botus]

That’s an interesting series of test results. Where does the data behind them come from?

what I wrote are scores related to MY PERCEPTION as I thought it clearly stated - not from any test just my 40 years of experience and knowledge
"on average, for main versions of easily available tyres from these brands they tend to behave like this"

other thoughts/info

1) autocar used to do a comprehensive test every year across different cars and sizes, with blind versions they bought in to save on funny compound specials swaying the results. (what used to wind me up was no weighting of perceived nicer tyre to live with, nothing on wear, and some irrelevant stuff impacted the totals unfairly - take them out and or focus on the all-round safety and fun of the tyre and goodyear won by a country mile every year. Wet / dry handling, wet / dry braking, aquaplaning, lap speed and noise goodyear's always at the top... which is how I have always found them.
2) auto express do something, as I gave a link for one last week
3) german companies / magazines do the most reviews (with continental always just getting first - surprise!)
4) if you want inane drivel by owners with a grudge this site is a way to spend many hours http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/ although they do have links to real tests if you search about

 

[dreadlockdw]

All tyres aren't the same, and if you spend a bit more you are likely to get a better tyre, in my opinion.

In answer to the OP it isn't just marketing, but hopefully nobody ends up in a ditch

 

[Botus]

here u go...

goodyear first (and no I'm not a writer or tester for Auto-bild)

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2017-Auto-Bild-Summer-SUV-Tyre-Test.htm

The Full Results

1st: Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3
Total: 41 / Dry: 7 / Wet: 8 / Offroad: 6 / Comfort: 8 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 6
Positive: Good performance balance, very good results on dry and wet roads, high resistance to aquaplaning
Negative: Low traction on grass, expensive

Read Reviews Buy from £122.20

2nd: Hankook Ventus S1 evo2 SUV
Total: 37 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 8 / Offroad: 7 / Comfort: 4 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Noise: 6
Positive: The best resistance to aquaplaning, high braking performance, high grip on wet surfaces, good results on dry roads
Negative: Average comfort, high rolling resistance

Read Reviews

3rd: Dunlop SP QuattroMaxx
Total: 37 / Dry: 7 / Wet: 7 / Offroad: 6 / Comfort: 8 / Rolling Resistance: 3 / Noise: 6
Positive: A good balance of performance, good results in wet conditions, good traction in the mud
Negative: Highest rolling resistance, expensive

Read Reviews Buy from £116.80

4th: Michelin Primacy 3
Total: 39 / Dry: 7 / Wet: 6 / Offroad: 6 / Comfort: 6 / Rolling Resistance: 7 / Noise: 7
Positive: Very short braking distances on dry roads, fast, accurate steering response, low noise
Negative: Low resistance to aquaplaning, very expensive

Read Reviews Buy from £140.00

5th: Continental Premium Contact 6
Total: 44 / Dry: 8 / Wet: 6 / Offroad: 6 / Comfort: 8 / Rolling Resistance: 9 / Noise: 7
Positive: Very high grip on dry and wet roads, low rolling resistance, good traction in the dirt
Negative: Worst aquaplaning result, highest price, a little noisy

Read Reviews Buy from £117.84

 

[Avnt]

Ive taken my alloys for refurb and the loan wheels have Nexen tyres on same size as the tyres fitted to my own alloys, which are goodyear asymetric 3’s, i can honestly say theys a difference even in the dry with the steering. No where near as confident throwing it into a corner


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