Branded Vs. Generic tyres?

Richard571 · 08-02-2011 11:28pm #1

I have to get 4 new tyres for a VW touran and was wondering is there much difference between 'branded' tyres like Pirelli, Continental etc and non-branded (or 'economy'tyes).

As the family drive around in the car I wouldn't want to scimp on price if there is a safety impact but equally don't care about paying a premium for branded tyres if no real performance gain.

Any advice as to the difference and what type would be recommended would be appreciated.

Satanta · 08-02-2011 11:34pm

Speaking only from personal experience I would advise on getting decent tyres. I dont see the sense in having all the safety equiptment (ABS, ESP, ASR blah blah) and then put on tyres that will let you down in the wet. They are real important as they are what keeps your car in contact with the road.

I tried a set of crapy tyres before because I didnt think they would make that much of a difference. The car was a balls in the wet. I try to stick to something decent now. I think Bridgestone was the last set I bought.

dingding · 09-02-2011 12:09am

I think I read before that the tyres have to be rated to the max speed of the car.

The cheaper tyres might not make this rating.

Can anyone else confirm.

Bigcheeze · 09-02-2011 12:17am

Cheap tyres will make the speed rating alright but I'd advise getting something reasonable like bridgestones. Cheap tyres tend not to be so good in the wet and often youll never get them balanced properly and have shudder at speed. Don't really need to go for pirellis.

The Bishop Basher · 09-02-2011 12:18am

Tried cheap unbranded tyres once thinking they would all be tested to a similar standard. Never again. They were rubbish and I had many a wibble on wet roundabouts before changing them. Pay the money and buy known brands.

CiniO · 09-02-2011 12:25am

It's not as simple as that.

F.e I got once a set of cheap Chinese tyres Infinity 050.
To be honest I expected they won't be great, but what they were exceeeded any expectations. They were absolutlely ****e. No grip on wet at all.
They were 45 euros per tyre.

Obviously I could bye Pirelli, Michelin, Goodyear, etc... for 80 - 100 euros. They are great.
But on the other hand, for just couple of extra euros (about 50 per tyre) i can get Debica Furio, which are made in Polish factory on the same production line as Goodyear tyres. I had plenty of them in different cars, and they provide almost the same qualisty as goodyear.

So what's the point in here to pay for goodyear.

Only trouble here, is to know which tyre to buy.

But remember - price not always shows the quality of the tyre,.

paddydriver · 09-02-2011 12:26am

OP - I have same quandary at the moment and have to replace 4 x 18's on our S-Max. I have priced around and had everything from €100 a corner to €280 a corner for the same again Michelin Primacy.

I may get flamed here but the Michelin's have done 20k miles and are still legal and Thankfully have served me, my wife and 3 young kids well - so guess what one's I am going for again? Yes, the most expensive and the one's I trust.

They were sh1te in snow but guess can't have it all ways. May consider having a cheap set of 16" steels with snow tyres on them ready to go but will see what kind of prices are available during the year.

Paddy

Bigcheeze · 09-02-2011 12:30am

You only got 20 thousand miles out of them ?

Esel · 09-02-2011 12:43am

paddydriver wrote: »

OP - I have same quandary at the moment and have to replace 4 x 18's on our S-Max. I have priced around and had everything from €100 a corner to €280 a corner for the same again Michelin Primacy.

I may get flamed here but the Michelin's have done 20k miles and are still legal and Thankfully have served me, my wife and 3 young kids well - so guess what one's I am going for again? Yes, the most expensive and the one's I trust.

There's a lot to be said for replacing the original tyres with the 'same again', as long as you were happy with them. Imo, the manufacturer didn't just shop around and slap whatever tyres they found on the car when it was leaving the factory. They researched, tested, liaised with manufacturers, tested again etc. etc. - then they decided what tyres to use.

If I was in your position, OP, this is the way I would be thinking.

p.s. paddydriver, take at look at the Hankook Ventus Prime. I have a pair on the back of my yoke, and when I was researching them I read they are basically the same as the Michelin Primacy Pilot. Good reviews. I'm happy with them anyway. OE on a good few marques too.

Tragedy · 09-02-2011 12:44am

CiniO wrote: »

It's not as simple as that.

F.e I got once a set of cheap Chinese tyres Infinity 050.
To be honest I expected they won't be great, but what they were exceeeded any expectations. They were absolutlely ****e. No grip on wet at all.
They were 45 euros per tyre.

Obviously I could bye Pirelli, Michelin, Goodyear, etc... for 80 - 100 euros. They are great.
But on the other hand, for just couple of extra euros (about 50 per tyre) i can get Debica Furio, which are made in Polish factory on the same production line as Goodyear tyres. I had plenty of them in different cars, and they provide almost the same qualisty as goodyear.

So what's the point in here to pay for goodyear.

Only trouble here, is to know which tyre to buy.

But remember - price not always shows the quality of the tyre,.

It doesn't matter what production line they're made on, thread pattern, sidewall, compound etc matter. You could make the crappest tyres in the same factory as the Bridgestone Potenzas they use on the Merc SLS, it's immaterial where they're made.

Also, quality is ephermal and immaterial. Firestone or Hankook are the same quality as bridgestone(despite being budget and midrange tyres), what differs is compound and thread.

paddydriver · 09-02-2011 12:47am

Bigcheeze wrote: »

You only got 20 thousand miles out of them ?

They're not done yet:D

Probably around 22.5k miles now actually and on the service recently they had them at about 2.5mm whereas I recall limit being 1.8mm or something along those lines.

Service garage (A Ford one) tried selling me same again at €380 (Ex VAT) a corner... I said No Thanks. Was one lady there in front of me paying them for 2 tyres fitted during the service; felt sorry for her.

Eoin · 09-02-2011 12:49am

Tragedy wrote: »

It doesn't matter what production line they're made on, thread pattern, sidewall, compound etc matter. You could make the crappest tyres in the same factory as the Bridgestone Potenzas they use on the Merc SLS, it's immaterial where they're made.

Also, quality is ephermal and immaterial. Firestone or Hankook are the same quality as bridgestone(despite being budget and midrange tyres), what differs is compound and thread.

But I think he does have a point that there are some very good "middle of the range" tires that will do just fine.

paddydriver · 09-02-2011 12:50am

Esel wrote: »

p.s. paddydriver, take at look at the Hankook Ventus Prime. I have a pair on the back of my yoke, and when I was researching them I read they are basically the same as the Michelin Primacy Pilot. Good reviews. I'm happy with them anyway. OE on a good few marques too.

I had a long chat with Dave McCann (well known tyre guy in Coolmine) and he insisted I had a good read up on the Hankook's too but TBH I weighed up all the differing reviews and swayed back towards Michelin's - he admitted they were great tyre's but were just very expensive.

Just waiting to round up some cash and will likely go same again.

Thanks all the same.
Paddy

Tragedy · 09-02-2011 12:53am

Of course, I'd always argue that people should go middle range(Falken etc), but his points on quality and where the tyre was made were invalid.

bladebrew · 09-02-2011 12:56am

paddydriver wrote: »

They're not done yet:D

Service garage (A Ford one) tried selling me same again at €380 (Ex VAT) a corner... I said No Thanks. Was one lady there in front of me paying them for 2 tyres fitted during the service; felt sorry for her.

is that €380 per tyre:eek:, on a s-max? did i read that right, a guy my dad plays golf with mentioned getting a tyre for an m6 afaik that was €330,

kirving · 09-02-2011 1:01am

I know just posting a link is lazy, but it's interesting all the same.

http://www.gizmag.com/wet-weather-braking-tests-show-budget-tires-dont-pay/10850/

Shod with the Linglongs, the VW Golf Autocar used for its tests was still doing 27.8mph at the point where it had stopped on the Continentals.

:eek:

And what ever you do, don't put the Linglongs on a Brilliance BS6...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4WdMvmml6c

Actually, just don't get into one of them at all!

Seriously though, decent tires really won't cost you a much more than the cheapest of the cheap.

09-02-2011 1:06am

Linglong and Triangle and that sort of stuff are utter sh1t. The Hankooks mentioned are good, they were OE on the 2005 Mondeo I had, decent tires. Semperit, Kumho, Falken and Firestone are all worth tracking down too. All very decent and not as expensive as the premium brands.

Tragedy · 09-02-2011 1:08am

If you ever need to replace the tyres on your ZT, I've heard really really good things about the Falken FK452 on both mgr.org and the 75 and ZT club.

MASTER...of the bra · 09-02-2011 1:23am

Hankook Ultimos, got a set of these before xmas, went through all the bad weather and never had a slide and that's on alot of back roads.

€65 each for 195/65 R15 in a local Volkswagen garage.

Got 26,000 miles out of the Michelins (Is that a record?) that I was replacing, but there now €95 each.

Esel · 09-02-2011 1:39am

paddydriver wrote: »

I had a long chat with Dave McCann (well known tyre guy in Coolmine) and he insisted I had a good read up on the Hankook's too...

Good to know that Dave rates them!

09-02-2011 1:42am

Tragedy wrote: »

If you ever need to replace the tyres on your ZT, I've heard really really good things about the Falken FK452 on both mgr.org and the 75 and ZT club.

Yeah, had planned on getting a full set of them but had to order them, noticed damaged sidewalls on a Friday afternoon on both my front tires so had tires there and then really. €150 each for the Falken I think in 225 45 18s.

Fizman · 09-02-2011 2:02am

I'm in need of two rear tyres for the GTI as of right now so I'm thinking of ordering two more Falken FK452s from Camskill to match with the same two I put on the front this time last year. They don't ever seem to have Vredesteins in stock anymore which is annoying. The Uniroyal Rainsports have gotten very good reviews too.

I site I wonder onto every now and then and is very useful:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/

Divorce Referendum · 09-02-2011 3:20am

Fizman wrote: »

I'm in need of two rear tyres for the GTI as of right now so I'm thinking of ordering two more Falken FK452s from Camskill to match with the same two I put on the front this time last year. They don't ever seem to have Vredesteins in stock anymore which is annoying. The Uniroyal Rainsports have gotten very good reviews too.

I site I wonder onto every now and then and is very useful:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/

One warning about uniroyal. I had a set of these before and I was very impressed how they handled in the wet, however the sidewall if very soft in these tyres for our roads i.e. pothole laden dirt tracks.

--Kaiser-- · 09-02-2011 10:09am

Do not skimp on tyres. They are the only part of your car in contact with the road. End of

Paparazzo · 09-02-2011 11:34am

Amazing that some people buy cars based on a high ncap rating, but then fit cheap tyres.

RobAMerc · 09-02-2011 12:17pm

I normally would say don't skimp on tyres too but I bought a set of Kuhmo ( KU31's I think ) based on recommendations and I was well impressed with them. I didn't have the car long but I liked what I got for the money. About 70 squid each I think.

Eoin · 09-02-2011 12:38pm

RobAMerc wrote: »

I normally would say don't skimp on tyres too but I bought a set of Kuhmo ( KU31's I think ) based on recommendations and I was well impressed with them. I didn't have the car long but I liked what I got for the money. About 70 squid each I think.

I've the same ones on my car (and my previous 2 as well) and find them pretty good as well. I think they were about €40 less per tyre than the big name brands. I don't think they're really considered a budget brand, but I think they're a good example of not having to pay top dollar for a decent tyre. I think I paid a little more though for them (235/45/17).

Fey! · 09-02-2011 1:35pm

Tragedy wrote: »

If you ever need to replace the tyres on your ZT, I've heard really really good things about the Falken FK452 on both mgr.org and the 75 and ZT club.

I'm a huge fan of Falkens, and have had them fitted to various cars. I've never had a problem with them.

We had Dunlops fitted to Mrs Feys Freelander. We paid around €90 per tyre, but we had huge vibration problems. It turned out that the ones we got had no E mark, and the supplying fitter hadn't noticed.

We eventually got the replaced with Bridgestones, and the vibration disappeared!

Moral of the story; even with branded tyres you can have the odd difficulty.

I still wouldn't go with a cheap tyre; €30 - €40 a corner might sound like a lot, but it's cheaper than a crash or a hospital stay.

Tea 1000 · 09-02-2011 1:37pm

I never liked Michellen, always a hard compound that the grip goes from long before the tyre is worn. And the fact that they're outrageously priced confirms to me that I won't test their newer ones either. Bridgestone Turanza's or Potenza's are about as good as you'll get really for all round grip in wet and dry, reasonable life span, low enough noise and good water displacement without going for some of the performance tyres. Depending on size, they're not always that much dearer than others.
Also it's worth remembering that different tyre brands and types perform differently as the size of the tyre changes. Autocar's test confirmed this, with one brand doing well on a Golf, where as the same brand not quite as well on a BMW with 18" on it.
All in all though, I'd go primarily for Bridgestone if picking, however I'd be happy to go with Continental, Hankook, Good Year, Dunlop, Pirelli, and also I've found Firestone to be quite good, and Kumho's also are not bad. Falken I haven't tried, but got good reports from people in the know from these.

Nissan doctor · 09-02-2011 1:51pm

There are European laws regarding tyres and spec which there is no government or independent body in Ireland which implements them. The vast majority of the cheapest of the cheap Chinese tyres are being imported into Ireland have only had an 'e' mark added to their mold, they have not been euro tested or approved but because the majority of Irish motorists are not interested in correct car maintenance they are a big seller.

It is also illegal to have a tyre of a lower speed rating then the manufacturer specified(speed rating isn't just about how fast your car can go), its illegal to have different brand/spec of tyres on the same axle, as is having tyres that are over 5 years old on your car. But again, these European laws are simply not policed here and the Irish tyre journal recons that a huge % of the crashes in Ireland that are put down to speed etc would still have been avoided if the car had safe/legal/quality tyres fitted.

Its only in emergency situations where you need your tyres to perform their best, and its exactly then that a cheap untested tyre will not perform.

Tea 1000 · 09-02-2011 2:26pm

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Its only in emergency situations where you need your tyres to perform their best, and its exactly then that a cheap untested tyre will not perform.

That's exactly it. I've had cheap tyres on a car that I bought, changed soon afterwards, but I know how bad they can be. Also the legal limit of 1.6mm is a pure joke. Only performance tyres I reckon would still be any good at that limit. I don't think I've ever gone below 2mm on mine, even good tyres, while still fairly grippy at that, still can't give that extra bit in an emergency situation.
They only have to do their job once in order to justify the small price increase.

Branded Vs. Generic tyres?

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