premium vs budget tyres

[retromadness123]

Hello right I need to get this right because its doing me head in and I want to know if its true, firstly what is the difference in premium brand tyres and budget as some have the same efficiency marking, also, are budget tyres made from the of cuts and not the best rubber ( someone mentioned this at the local ) and also do budgets tyres have less thread new than the premium, also is it best to go for a premium tyre or just cut short on a budget, just want opinions and advice on which are better to go for in the long run, all help and advice appreciated maybe people in the tyre trade can shine some light

[sb]

Generally the price reflects the chemical compound of the rubber. Theres nothing wrong with budgets but it all depends on needs.

A more expensive sportier tyre will generally have a different tread pattern and compound to a budget. The tread pattern is mainly all to do with moving rain from the contact point. The compound will reflect how soft a tyre is, thus how long it will last but also how much traction it provides.

If you drive hard a more expensive tyre will provide more traction but it will wear down quicker. A budget will provide less traction but last longer. Think of driving on plastic vs rubber.

I will say though tyres are the ONLY thing keeping your car on the road, if you have the money I would always go for a better tyre, you might not need R888s but the cheap chinese stuff may see you lose traction when you need it most. I ran the cheapest of the cheap and Yoko S Drives on a 69bhp 106 and a Hyundai Getz, both are incredibly slow and underpowered cars but you can feel the difference immediately in how planted and comfortable the car feels on good tyres.

[tristanh]

I echo Chas's comments.
Marangoni tyres on my mk2 when I got, Lovely arrowhead type directional pattern, 100ish bhp could make them spin and utterly rubbish in the wet.
Michelin Pilot Sports on it now, same car, same suspension and its on rails, and stops in the wet in way less.

[slater]

Tbh there's so many choices I think it's utterly impossible to choose tyres for a daily nowerdays. If you're building a car for performance you can gauge off other peoples opinions somewhat but even then most people only have scant first hand experiance of what's avalible and base their opinions largely on what sounds good down the pub rather than proper scientific analysis..

I just buy from the low end of the mid range.. the nangkangs, komhos or other brand I have actually heard of rather than try and save litrally a few extra quid on somthing totally unheard of.. If your the kind of person buying double the price 'premium' tyres for an average daily car in think your probably a bit deluded personally.

[Deleted]

Same.
I had Nangkang "ditchfinder specials" on.
Changed to a soft Dunlop Sp Sport the same size and the car is transformed.

[igor]

You haven't lived dangerously until you've done 90+ mph on worn out, third time re-tread, cross-plies. I used to get three months out a pair of front tyres on a Mini Clubman back in the '80s.
I run HiFlys at 40 psi on my current vehicle, 46 in the back if heavily laden. They're cheap but adequate for my needs.

[Ritchie]

Be aware that some cheap tyres are bloody noisy. I put 4x new ditchfinders on my wifes E46 touring. Soon after that I heard a wheel bearing noise, most noticable slowing down coming into a 30 zone, a real rumbly drone. I ended up changing 4x hub bearings and a centre bearing on the prop. I was 100% convinced it was a bearing and would have put money on it.
In the end, as a last resort I put a set of decent rubber on, noise gone! An expensive lesson.
I kept the removed tyres as there was still plenty tread on them and a year later we had changed the car for a Merc estate.
The rears were worn and the same size, so I thought, curse word it, I'll stick a couple of those old tyres on to get the wear out of them, bearing noise again!
I was glad when those buggers wore out.
I can't remember what brand they were but if I do I'll post it up.

[gtviva]

I tend to go for something middle of the road price wise and a name that sounds familiar! with the state of the roads I cant justify spending top money on tyres that get trashed by potholes and all the other rubbish on the roads

[Dez]

Sept 12, 2018 7:33:16 GMT gtviva said:

I tend to go for something middle of the road price wise and a name that sounds familiar! with the state of the roads I cant justify spending top money on tyres that get trashed by potholes and all the other rubbish on the roads

A very valid point. I’ve lost more tyres to punctures than outright wear in the last two years, and anyone who knows me will know I take pothole dodging seriously!

[mylittletony]

Most of the cost difference is rubber compound and tread design as mentioned above.

However, most cheap tyres will be fine for day-to-day use. use the ratings for wet grip and noise to guide you

E.g. If I push on in the wet I can cause my no-name fronts (came with the wheels) to slip, but I drive like a normal person then they're fine.

However, when I buy new tyres I opt for something like a Nankang or Kumho as suggested, they're a few pounds more and approaching "top" brand quality. I've been thrown out of my seat cornering on a set of kumho before. Nexen came 3rd in a test for the size the wife's car uses, so it wears them.

If you're going for ultimate performance, then go for the big brands

And the puncture point is valid, wife's daily has had 3 in the same time as half wearing the others - replacing mid-range is much cheaper than replacing premium!

[waveman1500]

The really cheap no-brand tyres are definitely not worth buying. I've tried a few brands, and they have such poor grip that they're almost dangerous.

I normally look for a magazine test in my tyre size which has done proper back-to-back tyre testing.
The last few sets which I've bought were Michelin Pilot Sport 2, Michelin Pilot Sport 4 and Yokohama AD08R.
I would absolutely recommend the Michelin Pilot Sport series to anyone. I got over 40,000km out of my Pilot Sport 2s on a WRX STI and they were a pleasure to drive on. I think they're great value, considering how long they last.
The Yokohamas have excellent grip as I would expect, but I can't comment on the wear yet, as I haven't had them for long enough. They were very good on a track day in both wet and dry.

[incarsolutions]

Sept 12, 2018 5:25:27 GMT Ritchie said:

Be aware that some cheap tyres are bloody noisy. I put 4x new ditchfinders on my wifes E46 touring. Soon after that I heard a wheel bearing noise, most noticable slowing down coming into a 30 zone, a real rumbly drone. I ended up changing 4x hub bearings and a centre bearing on the prop. I was 100% convinced it was a bearing and would have put money on it.
In the end, as a last resort I put a set of decent rubber on, noise gone! An expensive lesson.
I kept the removed tyres as there was still plenty tread on them and a year later we had changed the car for a Merc estate.
The rears were worn and the same size, so I thought, curse word it, I'll stick a couple of those old tyres on to get the wear out of them, bearing noise again!
I was glad when those buggers wore out.
I can't remember what brand they were but if I do I'll post it up.

We bought a car cheap from this very forum a fare few years back. Cheap because it wasn't commonly seen n UK roads and the diff was noisy. We pulled the diff and went right through and seemed to be spot on. Back together with fresh oil and just the same. About a month later we picked up some big wheels for it, stuck them on with new boots and silent as you like!

[djefk]

I would always buy quality, you’ll never know when you need the extra grip only £lots of R&D money a good tyre manufacturer spends can buy until a moment of inattention (whether yours or someone else’s around you) puts it sharply into focus.

Watch some comparison tests on YouTube and it’s hard not to think like this. You get what you pay for in my opinion.

Someone once told me they always invest (their wording) good money in things that separate you from the ground - I.e. shoes, mattresses etc. etc. - I think tyres can be included in that mantra.

[mercedeslimos]

I buy according to the Auto Bild tyre tests. They spend huge money testing all kinds and sizes of tyres. Bought my current Pirelli P7 Cinturato Blue after reading about them. MPG is up from the previous whatever was on the car, noise vastly down and wet grip is great, even when pressing on. They weren’t outrageous on a 215/55R16 size, though if I was to fit those 225/40R18 to my 18” they would be pricey. Have Avon ZV-7 on those 18s and again highly rate them. Often comes down to how much mileage the car does vs price. Also a wet grip is very important, since it rains 99% of the year here. I have a set of 17” with 235/45R17 Continental ContiWinterContact TS860P after the AUto Bild review. Haven’t got stuck in the snow yet, despite 230bhp and FWD.

[retromadness123]

Is it true that a budget tyre has less thread dept than a mid/premium brand, also does Bridgestone make firestone?

[Deleted]

No such thing has a cheap tyre - if it's wear rate, speed rating, general performance & lifespan is less than that of the premium branded tyres - for example I fitted 5 x Waymaster Premium crossplys to my Javelin 5 years ago - they have done circa 5,000 miles - still loads of tread in them but the side walls have all cracked open - they were about £75 each at the time - so I recently fitted 5 Avon Tourist crossplys at a cost of £120 each - there is absolutely no comparison with the Waymaster's - the Avon's have without any doubt transformed the handling of the car - gone has all the tyre squeal & lack of road holding that the Waymaster's had - the car now handles like it's on radials - it's the last time that I will ever go down the cheap route again - I should have fitted the Avon's in the first place.

[igor]

I would have thought that whatever you put on a car that only does 1000 miles a year you won't wear them out before the rubber perishes or the sidewall cracking becomes dangerous.

[ontheedge]

I would go for Avon's as well, or Cooper Avons. www.coopertire.co.uk/

[Phil H]

I can’t fault the Michelin Pilots on the company car - getting around 35k miles a set out of them and they perform well in all weathers. Previous best surprises (better than the price point suggests) were Uniroyal RainExpert and Rainsport, as well as Kumhos. Having had my fair share of ditch finder moments, I wouldn’t touch the bottom of the pile with a barge pole - the C70 has a couple of them on the front and they are the next thing to get changed before I go any further in it.

[Deleted]

Sept 12, 2018 20:42:05 GMT igor said:

I would have thought that whatever you put on a car that only does 1000 miles a year you won't wear them out before the rubber perishes or the sidewall cracking becomes dangerous.

You may well have a point however I would not expect to find sidewalls on a tyre degrading at such an early point into the tyres life - maybe at 10 + years yes - but not at 5 years old







I have a clients car with me at present that is on 40 year old Dunlops that are in better condition than the Waymasters in the pics