Cheap Chinese ditch finders

Matt Simis

Indricotherium wrote: »

Could there be an element of switching from old worn tyres to brand new ones in that though.

It will have been months at least since you drove the civic with fresh tyres.

Ive had 2 cars with Chinese tyres on them (on when I bought). Previous owner put them on new to pass NCT/MOT, so fresh tyres. Both were appallingly bad, no braking, poor control, sideways etc. This isnt some "tyre snobbery", they are simply bad products as they are made in market with vastly inferior QA, manufacturing and safety standards and requirements than EU and US. I dont think it would be impossible for them to make a great tyre, I think they simply have not done this as they have no interest in "the best" they want to sell "the most".

In my case, I replaced brand new Chinese (Tringles were 1 set, cant recall the other) with some 4year old Euro tyres and it was like I changed season within a day.

Vertakill

Don't feed the troll.
The guys clearly unwilling to have his opinion challenged because we must be 'conforming' or being brainwashed to possibly think that piece of crap cheap tyres are as bad as everyone makes them out to be.

I had some badly worn Toyo Proxies on the rear of my 350Z last year that failed the NCT, but since I was selling it, I went and bought some new tyres and didn't want to spend too much money on them so I bought some complete sh!te yokes, literally the cheapest I could find (don't worry, I informed the buyer!) that would get through the NCT.

Anyways, the next few weeks of driving the car were a ****!ng nightmare.
The back of the car literally could not get grip at all. It was like the tyres were made of literally the hardest compound of rubber known to man.
They would've lasted about 30k miles I reckon (29k more than the car and driver) because there was absolutely no give or grip in them whatsoever so they didn't wear at all - was like the tyres on those toy cars that are made of 100% plastic that just skate all over the place. Lethal...

langdang

What Vertakill said

Vertakill wrote: »

Anyways, the next few weeks of driving the car were a ****!ng nightmare.
The back of the car literally could not get grip at all. It was like the tyres were made of literally the hardest compound of rubber known to man.
They would've lasted about 30k miles I reckon (29k more than the car and driver) because there was absolutely no give or grip in them whatsoever so they didn't wear at all - was like the tyres on those toy cars that are made of 100% plastic that just skate all over the place. Lethal...

What some people will take from that, no matter what you tell them

Vertakill wrote: »

Anyways, the next few weeks of driving the car were a ****!ng nightmare.
The back of the car literally could not get grip at all. It was like the tyres were made of literally the hardest compound of rubber known to man.
They would've lasted about 30k miles I reckon (29k more than the car and driver) because there was absolutely no give or grip in them whatsoever so they didn't wear at all - was like the tyres on those toy cars that are made of 100% plastic that just skate all over the place. BRILLUNT!...

Indricotherium

Vertakill wrote: »

Don't feed the troll.
The guys clearly unwilling to have his opinion challenged because we must be 'conforming' or being brainwashed to possibly think that piece of crap cheap tyres are as bad as everyone makes them out to be.

I had some badly worn Toyo Proxies on the rear of my 350Z last year that failed the NCT, but since I was selling it, I went and bought some new tyres and didn't want to spend too much money on them so I bought some complete sh!te yokes, literally the cheapest I could find (don't worry, I informed the buyer!) that would get through the NCT.

Anyways, the next few weeks of driving the car were a ****!ng nightmare.
The back of the car literally could not get grip at all. It was like the tyres were made of literally the hardest compound of rubber known to man.
They would've lasted about 30k miles I reckon (29k more than the car and driver) because there was absolutely no give or grip in them whatsoever so they didn't wear at all - was like the tyres on those toy cars that are made of 100% plastic that just skate all over the place. Lethal...

I am 100% not trolling and I think if you need to preface your contribution with an accusation about my attitude it speaks about the strength of your own argument.

I have noticed that the majority of cars driving around seem to be on tyres that are consistently declared "lethal, ditch seekers, death traps etc etc etc" on this forum and I don't notice an awful lot of cars skittering around the place like its an icy December evening.

From my own personal experience of driving on these tyres and other branded ones there is little or no difference when you drive at a reasonable speed to suit the conditions on a given day/road.

Any evidence to the contrary given in the above thread is either personal experience most of which I can find some gap of reasoning in or else a video of a polo jamming on from 70 miles an hour on rain a soaked, almost flooded road. That is not a situation I will ever be in as I despise polos (car and mint) and I would not drive 70 miles an hour on a flooded or even a significantly wet road.

Vertakill

Indricotherium wrote: »

I am 100% not trolling and I think if you need to preface your contribution with an accusation about my attitude it speaks about the strength of your own argument.

I have noticed that the majority of cars driving around seem to be on tyres that are consistently declared "lethal, ditch seekers, death traps etc etc etc" on this forum and I don't notice an awful lot of cars skittering around the place like its an icy December evening.

From my own personal experience of driving on these tyres and other branded ones there is little or no difference when you drive at a reasonable speed to suit the conditions on a given day/road.

Any evidence to the contrary given in the above thread is either personal experience most of which I can find some gap of reasoning in or else a video of a polo jamming on from 70 miles an hour on rain a soaked, almost flooded road. That is not a situation I will ever be in as I despise polos (car and mint) and I would not drive 70 miles an hour on a flooded or even a significantly wet road.

Nothing to do with my argument actually... because there is no argument at all, the facts are fairly plain for everyone to see.

That's why I think you're trolling because we've gone 5 pages now with you not budging even though you haven't given an inch.

Go out and buy some and go drive a little aggressively along a back road in the wet. You've been warned enough.

Driving along the M50 in a straight line does not constitute a tyre test. Although if someone slammed on in front of you on a good set of tyres while you were on your Chinese ones, you'd end up inside their boot.

keithclancy

Indricotherium wrote: »

I am 100% not trolling and I think if you need to preface your contribution with an accusation about my attitude it speaks about the strength of your own argument.

I have noticed that the majority of cars driving around seem to be on tyres that are consistently declared "lethal, ditch seekers, death traps etc etc etc" on this forum and I don't notice an awful lot of cars skittering around the place like its an icy December evening.

From my own personal experience of driving on these tyres and other branded ones there is little or no difference when you drive at a reasonable speed to suit the conditions on a given day/road.

Any evidence to the contrary given in the above thread is either personal experience most of which I can find some gap of reasoning in or else a video of a polo jamming on from 70 miles an hour on rain a soaked, almost flooded road. That is not a situation I will ever be in as I despise polos (car and mint) and I would not drive 70 miles an hour on a flooded or even a significantly wet road.

Sure take out the Airbags and seatbelts too, that'll save a bit of fuel. You hardly ever need those.

When your replacing the brake discs just stick on smaller ones, far cheaper and if you drive more slowly you wont need to stop as quickly.

Funny, how your stating something based on personal experience and then giving out about personal experience in the next paragraph.

Why are you even here if your convinced that imported budget tyres offer the same level of safety as well known branded european tyres ?

Indricotherium

keithclancy wrote: »

Indricotherium wrote: »

I am 100% not trolling and I think if you need to preface your contribution with an accusation about my attitude it speaks about the strength of your own argument.

I have noticed that the majority of cars driving around seem to be on tyres that are consistently declared "lethal, ditch seekers, death traps etc etc etc" on this forum and I don't notice an awful lot of cars skittering around the place like its an icy December evening.

From my own personal experience of driving on these tyres and other branded ones there is little or no difference when you drive at a reasonable speed to suit the conditions on a given day/road.

Any evidence to the contrary given in the above thread is either personal experience most of which I can find some gap of reasoning in or else a video of a polo jamming on from 70 miles an hour on rain a soaked, almost flooded road. That is not a situation I will ever be in as I despise polos (car and mint) and I would not drive 70 miles an hour on a flooded or even a significantly wet road.

Sure take out the Airbags and seatbelts too, that'll save a bit of fuel. You hardly ever need those.

When your replacing the brake discs just stick on smaller ones, far cheaper and if you drive more slowly you wont need to stop as quickly.

Funny, how your stating something based on personal experience and then giving out about personal experience in the next paragraph.

Why are you even here if your convinced that imported budget tyres offer the same level of safety as well known branded european tyres ?

I'm here to see I there is any rational reason to change my conviction and I've not really found one.

I will admit that the absolute cheapest of cheap tyres probably are not worth the economy, but I've not seen anything here to convince me into the top premium tyres that seem to be in vogue with the motoring fans on this forum.

I don't accept that every non premium tyre is dangerous.

keithclancy

Indricotherium wrote: »

I'm here to see I there is any rational reason to change my conviction and I've not really found one.

I will admit that the absolute cheapest of cheap tyres probably are not worth the economy, but I've not seen anything here to convince me into the top premium tyres that seem to be in vogue with the motoring fans on this forum.

I don't accept that every non premium tyre is dangerous.

Well in the tyre area its usually anything named like:
Yimmyongs, Goodspeed, Goodroad, Supertrack, Linglongs etc = Sh1te.

I wouldn't accept that every budget tyre from China is of the same repeat quality either. Its a bit of a lottery of which you lose most of the time.

Myself I go off the reviews.

djimi

Indricotherium wrote: »

I'm here to see I there is any rational reason to change my conviction and I've not really found one.

I will admit that the absolute cheapest of cheap tyres probably are not worth the economy, but I've not seen anything here to convince me into the top premium tyres that seem to be in vogue with the motoring fans on this forum.

I don't accept that every non premium tyre is dangerous.

You have been given three pages of people saying (mostly from personal experience) that the cheaper tires are inferior to the more expensive brands, and that some of the cheaper tires are downright dangerous. If you choose to ignore this then fair enough, but I really dont see the point in starting a thread like this if you dont want to hear what people have to say.

The more expensive tires are a better tire; this is fact, not opinion. They have shorter braking distances, better grip and handle more extreme weather better than cheaper tires. Whether or not you choose to spend the extra money is up to you; as you say the cheapest tires all pass the safety standards, so if youre happy with that then fair play.

Tea 1000

Indricotherium wrote: »

I'm here to see I there is any rational reason to change my conviction and I've not really found one.

There is a word for the type of attitude that is offered much logical discussion and explanation and still refutes it... it's called "ignorance".

Indricotherium wrote: »

I will admit that the absolute cheapest of cheap tyres probably are not worth the economy, but I've not seen anything here to convince me into the top premium tyres that seem to be in vogue with the motoring fans on this forum.

I don't accept that every non premium tyre is dangerous.

Again, we're not saying that you have to spend massive money. If a Linglong piece of crap is about €50 for a given size, then going to €60 will get you a Semperit or Hankook or something similar that will be worlds apart. You may even find the Linglong for €45, but it's still crap and false economy.
Your argument would hold much more water if you were arguing that a Kumho tyre for €65 is just as good as a Michelin for €95. In fact, there'd be a good discussion around the fact that you may well be right. The Kumho might even be better. But drop below a certain level, and it's like falling off a cliff in terms of performance.

WOT

Hello all, my 1st post..

I have used all of the following and won't ever again:
Wanli, Sunny, Nankang, Rockstone, Yokahama

Where all of these tyres let go was lateral grip when cornering causing the car to become unstable. In my opinion this is why they are called ditch finders rather than baby killers.

It is however unfair to say something like all Nankangs are rubbish. Looking at the results in this comparison:

Nankang NS2 This tyre performs poorly in the wet.
Nankang SV2 Whereas this one has excellent wet performance.

They are both Nankangs and therefore all generic discussion about Nankangs is nonsense. Sounds like an apple / orange / fruit joke from primary school.

I have used several sets of these Kormoran and would use them again on a daily driver.

I use these bridgestones now on my passat and I'm happy with them for my use.

@OP sorry for all the external links

Indricotherium

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Indricotherium wrote: »

I'm here to see I there is any rational reason to change my conviction and I've not really found one.

There is a word for the type of attitude that is offered much logical discussion and explanation and still refutes it... it's called "ignorance".

Indricotherium wrote: »

I will admit that the absolute cheapest of cheap tyres probably are not worth the economy, but I've not seen anything here to convince me into the top premium tyres that seem to be in vogue with the motoring fans on this forum.

I don't accept that every non premium tyre is dangerous.

Again, we're not saying that you have to spend massive money. If a Linglong piece of crap is about €50 for a given size, then going to €60 will get you a Semperit or Hankook or something similar that will be worlds apart. You may even find the Linglong for €45, but it's still crap and false economy.
Your argument would hold much more water if you were arguing that a Kumho tyre for €65 is just as good as a Michelin for €95. In fact, there'd be a good discussion around the fact that you may well be right. The Kumho might even be better. But drop below a certain level, and it's like falling off a cliff in terms of performance.

That's beginning to sound rational now.

Tea 1000

Indricotherium wrote: »

That's beginning to sound rational now.

Finally! We broke him! Bet he's looking up Bridgestones as we speak...

-Corkie-

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Indricotherium wrote: »

No they don't.

I didnt write that. Thats your man he cannot even quote a post....:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Chuck_Norris

If the above post is starting to sound rational O/P, then people must be forgiven for thinking that you're trolling. My logic being your original post was primarily about "ditchfinders". Which most of us on here would associate with Chinese shoite (LingLangs, Wanli's, Triangles etc)
Only now are we really talking about Middle ground (Hankook etc) versus premium.
Pretty much all of the opinions are going to be subjective on here, primarily as they're based on personal experience. As has been stated, the only way to offer truly subjective opinion is to do a series of tests, with the exact same conditions throughout. There are tyre review sites who do this, as has been pointed out to you.
Personally, I don't see the point in my contributing to this thread any longer, as ou do seem to have made up your mind already, and don't seem to be open to the opinions expressed by posters on here(subjective as they may be), or evidence (objective testing done by independent review sites).

Terrontress

sorry for not reading pages 3 - 8 but thought I'd pitch in with the fact that my father-in-law drives a 2007 E-Class. He buys Contis at a serious discount off a coachbuilder who stretches E-Classes. Apparently the OEM tyre is not recommended for a stretched E so they always change the tyres on new cars and sell them off.

Buying manufacturer recommended needn't always be expensive.

ottostreet

I remember buying my FTO on 'Nankangs' and they were dreadful, no grip in the rain whatsoever. Switched over to a set of Hankook V12s and they just were much much better at clearing water and my ABS light didnt flash at me constantly.

I had a set of Nankangs on an old Punto once, and they were excellent, and I was a far more dangerous and faster driver then. I still eventually crashed on them though.

Poulgorm

Tyres are being graded from November, as far as I know. Something on the lines of electrical appliances - A to G, or something like that.

Will get separate ratings for (A) wet grip, (B) fuel economy and (C) noise.

However, I read somewhere that the ratings will be done by the tyre manufacturers themselves. If that is the case, I don't think it will have much credibility with customers

lomb

I swapped out legal Chinese Nangkangs and Sunitracs due to having lost confidence in Chinese safety after viewing a video.
Id be more worried about a sudden blowout and veering headon into oncoming traffic than lateral grip shortage. One can adjust driving style to suit and I always do on a wet road in spots where I definately dont want to oversteer off as grip is not predictable by me. In fact I found the Nangkang Sunitrac combo gave excellent grip in the dry and predicatable fun loss of grip in the wet where the vehicle neutrally oversteered and pressing the brake rapidly pulled the car into line, but my TT has quattro so maybe that helped.
Videos here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ULm6QrC428&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFzfPagVhY8&feature=related

Nissan doctor

Poulgorm wrote: »

Tyres are being graded from November, as far as I know. Something on the lines of electrical appliances - A to G, or something like that.

Will get separate ratings for (A) wet grip, (B) fuel economy and (C) noise.

However, I read somewhere that the ratings will be done by the tyre manufacturers themselves. If that is the case, I don't think it will have much credibility with customers

All tyre ratings for speed, wear rate, load ratings etc etc are set by the manufacturer. This is the main problem with the tyre industry, its mostly self regulated. Its not a problem for the main manufacturers but the cheap Chinese manufacturers only have to 'declare' that they meet the European standards and as such they all come only with an E mark.

Tyres actually independently tested as meeting their quoted claims carry an 'e'(small e) mark in addition to the standard 'E'.

IMO people who say they don't notice any difference between the cheap stuff and quality tyres are the people who will be too far into a slide to control it before they have even realised they are sliding as clearly they simply don't understand the feed back from their car.

It comes down to a very simple fact.....its only when you suddenly need the grip the most that you'll realise you don't have it.

Where To

Continental have a major plant in China, should they be avoided too?

Nissan doctor

Where To wrote: »

Continental have a major plant in China, should they be avoided too?

It doesn't matter where the tyres are made, its the standard of technology/compound/design that's in the tyre.

The generic term of 'cheap Chinese tyres' is simply due to the fact that there are a huge number of these budget tyres coming out of china these days.

WOT

WOT wrote: »

Hello all, my 1st post..

I have used all of the following and won't ever again:
Wanli, Sunny, Nankang, Rockstone, Yokahama................

Couldn't agree that Yokohama Parada are a crap tyre, they're so so soft and sticky.

chocksaway

I have Pace PC72s on my polo and I'll be getting rid of them asap. Seem to be listed as summer tyres (http://www.ityre.com/en/tyres/catalog/pace/size/149731), and they are fine when its dry. But once it's a bit wet they are worse than useless. Roundabouts in particular are a nightmare!

Nissan doctor

RoverJames wrote: »

Couldn't agree that Yokohama Parada are a crap tyre, they're so so soft and sticky.

More likely just people hear the name and assume they are Chinese aswel.

Yokohama are a premium Japanese tyre.

johnos1984

Had my first real experience of a full set of Triangles this evening in the wet.

May I report that I can get wheel spin in second gear in a 1.3 Mazda 323 :eek:

Shocking, I never passed 60mph on the way home as I couldn't stop the car safely in a hurry in the wet. Never realised tyres could be THAT bad.

Stop start traffic was a pain as I found it very hard to do a smooth start without some wheel spin. Eventually got it but the grip levels were terrible in the wet

Mully_2011

Why would you even cheap out on such an important part and its not exactly like tyres have to be changed every week. at a guess a set of bridgestones or Prelli tyres in 16" will set you back a shade over 400 euro considering how much you use your car and considering the driving conditions in this country is that really so much money to pay for piece of mind.

johnos1984

Just to expand the Mazda is a garage car, not mine

gollywog

Been reading this thread with huge interest I must say, never realised there was such a difference before now. Can anyone recommend a good all round tyre ( 235 40 18) for a decent price?? I just don't know where to begin! Wouldn't mind spending a little more for a better tyre!

johnos1984

I find Hankook Ventus 2 a good all rounder tyre