BCT and Triangle tyres

joolsveer

I recently bought a second hand car. It is fitted with two BCT tyres on the front and two Triangle tyres on the back. Since buying the car I have seen posts here about the dangers of using these Chinese tyres particularly in wet conditions.

The concensus on this forum seems to be that these tyres are not up to standards sent by tyres from manufacturers such as Michelin, Goodyear, Continental etc. Would you advise me to change the tyres on the car to a premium brand? The tyre size is 185x60R15.

andyseadog

ideally yes, if money is tight, even brand name "part worn" tyres would most likely be bette.

Saab Ed

You'd be better off with actuall triangles on your car than those rubbish tyres. Dangerous in all conditions.

miller50841

Never again would I fit these crap tyres on a car I learnt the hard way and lost my car 15feet down and into a water filled ditch and to top it off a tree that then took the roof off the car. And no I was not actually speeding the tyre had absolutely no grip.

These tyre's should be ilegal

Where To

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

Chuck_Norris

Where To wrote: »

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

Ah yes, but in what conditions and at what speed?

Leonard Hofstadter

I'd get rid of them asap. Tyres are the only thing that keep you on the road and are the main component in stopping a car quickly!

It's not like decent tyres are all that expensive - Firestones on something like a Corolla are only 45 lids. Surely no-one is that tight that they won't spend a small bit more for tyres that won't let you down when you're most dependent on them?

Saab Ed

Where To wrote: »

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

What was a wall doing on a bridgestone !!!!

Where To

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

Where To wrote: »

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

Ah yes, but in what conditions and at what speed?

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

Leonard Hofstadter

Where To wrote: »

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

I agree, plus the fact that Bridgestones are in my experience an excellent tyre, I once drove an Avensis with Bridgestones and Hankooks, and there is no comparison between the two. What's worrying about Hankooks is that they are supposed to be one of the better Korean/Chinese brands - if they're a 'good' Korean/Chinese make of tyre I'd hate to see what the bad ones are like :eek:.

andyseadog

Where To wrote: »

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

Obviously if you act the **** even with the most expensive tyres on your car it will end badly, but most Chinese tyres are ****e. I ave runways on my car at the minute and with 120bhp in the wet I can spin my wheels in first, second and sometimes third and cornering at over 50 km/h in the rain is not for the faint hearted either.

Chuck_Norris

Where To wrote: »

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

Where To wrote: »

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

Ah yes, but in what conditions and at what speed?

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

My sarcasm detector is goin off slightly here. I meant at what speed was the car travelling?

As andyseadog has said, if you act the cnut in your car, having good tyres ain't going to do much for you.

And I speak someone who has had cheap tyres on their car. Bought new alloys, and they came with Federal tyres. Supposedly a good tyre. But from my experience, they were an exceptionally hard rubber compound, giving sweet f.a. grip in the wet.

Changed them very quickly for Conti SC 3's, and the difference was immediate. Much more assured performance in all conditions.

jsd1004

andyseadog wrote: »

Obviously if you act the **** even with the most expensive tyres on your car it will end badly, but most Chinese tyres are ****e. I ave runways on my car at the minute and with 120bhp in the wet I can spin my wheels in first, second and sometimes third and cornering at over 50 km/h in the rain is not for the faint hearted either.

And people blame their tyres when they crash :rolleyes:. Why should anyone be ever spinning wheels in 3rd gear..you are driving too fast. Learn the limits of your car. If you have **** tyres drive appropriately.Its like brakes..should everyone upgrade to 4pot racing calipers? I am not defending triangles..they are inferior tyres but like it or not are legal and halve the cars in Ireland are driving with these and we have one of the best safety records in europe.

dgt

andyseadog wrote: »

Obviously if you act the **** even with the most expensive tyres on your car it will end badly, but most Chinese tyres are ****e. I ave runways on my car at the minute and with 120bhp in the wet I can spin my wheels in first, second and sometimes third and cornering at over 50 km/h in the rain is not for the faint hearted either.

I thought blown Glanzas were 135bhp standard....?

Do correct me if I'm wrong though

Back ot, The part worn van tyres I used to use were absolutely brilliant in the wet. Semperit Trans-speed 2's and Michelin Cargos. 4 part worn tyres. My dad used to have Kingrats tyres on his old car (got them cheap as chips as part of a tracking deal....) and even when new they would lose traction in the wet at lights under certain circumstances :rolleyes:

No substitute for a decent, reputable tyre at the end of the day

Neilw

jsd1004 wrote: »

Why should anyone be ever spinning wheels in 3rd gear..you are driving too fast.

There are people who drive cars with more than 70bhp you know

Where To

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

Where To wrote: »

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

Where To wrote: »

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

Ah yes, but in what conditions and at what speed?

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

My sarcasm detector is goin off slightly here. I meant at what speed was the car travelling?

As andyseadog has said, if you act the cnut in your car, having good tyres ain't going to do much for you.

And I speak someone who has had cheap tyres on their car. Bought new alloys, and they came with Federal tyres. Supposedly a good tyre. But from my experience, they were an exceptionally hard rubber compound, giving sweet f.a. grip in the wet.

Changed them very quickly for Conti SC 3's, and the difference was immediate. Much more assured performance in all conditions.

My point was more to do with the inexperience of the driver than the performance of the tyres.

I think that there's an attitude out there that premium tyres make you invincible, Chinese tyres make you in visiting the ditch.

Premium tyres are not 100% infallible.
Budget tyres are not 100% psychopathic killers.

joolsveer

Thanks for all the input. If the Chinese tyres are so bad why are they not illegal? I have been back on to the garage (a main dealer) I bought the car from and they say that the tyres are legal and they will not replace them for me.

pete4130

Chinese tyres don't perform as well. Over here in Aus I have my lowly Lancer estate andit came with cheapo chinese tyres. Doing 30kmh going to work one damp morning on a steep hill taking a corner with no throttle or braking the car nearly swapped end over a cliff.

I've since changed to Yokohama A-Drives and have hooked it round corners in the wet/damp with no worries.

On average the Chinese tyres take about an extra 25% distance to stop.

They tyres are legal, as in they meet the legal requirement for holding pressure, thread depth and fitting to a rim. It doesnt mean they are made of equally comparable materials/rubber compounds that grip as well.

JBokeh

Where To wrote: »

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

I agree,When i bought my car the dealer put new tyres on the back for me,they were triangles,the front had Michelin energy i think. When they wore i moved the back tyres to the front and got 2 more Michelins for the back.

The Triangles have worn down a bit since i stuck them on the front,but they are still a grand tyre, I wouldn't be too mad to go out and buy them again as i'd be a man for the named tires. But in their defence they haven't let me down at all. That is in the snow,rain,ice and everything else you can think of. The car slid on me once,and this was in coming out of the Dublin port after a ferry at 5 in the morning in December,it was icy,the back let go for a split second,just ended up doing a small drift around a corner . That was with the Michelins on the back.

Anyone that says that they have been slipping and sliding with Triangles must be driving the absolute bag out the car coming off roundabouts and around corners.

brennarr

Does these tyres have the europeam standard 'E' mark that is required to pass the NCT?

gollywog

Where To wrote: »

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

Where To wrote: »

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

Ah yes, but in what conditions and at what speed?

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

If they were brand new they would still have a layer of film on them from production, that would be my guess why they slid... Won't get the best from new tyres til they have been run in

Chuck_Norris

Where To wrote: »

My point was more to do with the inexperience of the driver than the performance of the tyres.

I think that there's an attitude out there that premium tyres make you invincible, Chinese tyres make you in visiting the ditch.

Premium tyres are not 100% infallible.
Budget tyres are not 100% psychopathic killers.

I get your point, and concede that it is a valid one. People can place too much faith/ blame in premium/ Chinese tyres. At all times, people should drive to the conditions. But, emergency situations do happen where having the extra grip provided by premium tyres is obviously a benefit.

But as I had said, the only experience I had with cheap tyres was not a good one.

As a very experienced driver (not claiming to be perfect), I would put more faith in having premium tyres on my car.

Nissan doctor

brennarr wrote: »

Does these tyres have the europeam standard 'E' mark that is required to pass the NCT?

Yes, but that indicates nothing about their performance/traction ability.

Chuck_Norris

JBokeh wrote: »

Where To wrote: »

It was dry and the wall was stationary.

People are too quick to blame tyres I think.

I agree,When i bought my car the dealer put new tyres on the back for me,they were triangles,the front had Michelin energy i think. When they wore i moved the back tyres to the front and got 2 more Michelins for the back.

The Triangles have worn down a bit since i stuck them on the front,but they are still a grand tyre, I wouldn't be too mad to go out and buy them again as i'd be a man for the named tires. But in their defence they haven't let me down at all. That is in the snow,rain,ice and everything else you can think of. The car slid on me once,and this was in coming out of the Dublin port after a ferry at 5 in the morning in December,it was icy,the back let go for a split second,just ended up doing a small drift around a corner . That was with the Michelins on the back.

Anyone that says that they have been slipping and sliding with Triangles must be driving the absolute bag out the car coming off roundabouts and around corners.

Having had cheap tyres on my car previously, and not being someone who does the above, I found that they would spin up very easily under normal acceleration. Thankfully never had to find out what they were like under emergency braking.

RootX

Where To wrote: »

Budget tyres are not 100% psychopathic killers.

Some of them are!!!

jsd1004

Neilw wrote: »

There are people who drive cars with more than 70bhp you know

I have a car with 300bhp per tonne and it spins tyres when i want it to not when the tyres decide.

porsche boy

The garage is under no means going to put premium tyres on a sales car, the less they spend on the car the more profit they make.

Triangle, Hero, Sunny, Sinew, BCT and all these other 'economy' brands will usually be 'E' marked which they meet the minimum standards required for use in Europe. These standards are a waist of time. I cant remember when exactly the 'E' mark came into existence but I think it needs to be looked at again. The requirements for handling & stopping on even normal cars is far higher now than it was say twenty years ago and as such these tyres that just about meet the minimum requirements are lethal and cause deaths, no question on that.

Remember your in a car that weigh's 1 and a bit ton, carrying momentum of 40/50/60 miles per hour and the only part of the car touching the road is about the size of a cigarette box on each corner. I would like that small bit of contact to have the best grip possible.

I have had occasion to fit this cheap muck onto such cars as M3 BMW, Toyota Supra, Mits Lancer Evo's & Scooby's. I would try to advise that junk rubber on cars like that was just a total waist of time but ya know, the customer is always right (soon to be involved in a leg crippling crash, but right none the less)

As previous posts have said, second hand branded tyres are a far better investment.

bazz26

joolsveer wrote: »

Thanks for all the input. If the Chinese tyres are so bad why are they not illegal? I have been back on to the garage (a main dealer) I bought the car from and they say that the tyres are legal and they will not replace them for me.

They meet a minimum legal standard, that is all. It still doesn't mean their performance is any good.

Garages are in the business of making money, when selling a second hand car, they want to maximise their profits. If they have to replace a tyre that is below the legal thread depth limit then from their perspective they want to spend as little as possible on a replacement. The dealer is doing nothing legally wrong by doing this. The same way Average Joe goes into a tyre centre and asks for the cheapest tyre they have in their size because that is all he/she wants to spend.

mullingar

JBokeh wrote: »

I agree,When i bought my car the dealer put new tyres on the back for me,they were triangles,the front had Michelin energy i think. When they wore i moved the back tyres to the front and got 2 more Michelins for the back.

The Triangles have worn down a bit since i stuck them on the front,but they are still a grand tyre, I wouldn't be too mad to go out and buy them again as i'd be a man for the named tires. But in their defence they haven't let me down at all. That is in the snow,rain,ice and everything else you can think of. The car slid on me once,and this was in coming out of the Dublin port after a ferry at 5 in the morning in December,it was icy,the back let go for a split second,just ended up doing a small drift around a corner . That was with the Michelins on the back.

Anyone that says that they have been slipping and sliding with Triangles must be driving the absolute bag out the car coming off roundabouts and around corners.

WTF??

Triangle tyres are absolute rubbish, have you ever done an emergency stop in the wet on them compared to premium???

Thankfully the new EU label will show the public that the Triangle tyres will score terribly in the wet stopping test, I reckon a "G". This means its roughly 50% longer braking distance to a band "A" tyre for an emergency stop.

JBokeh

mullingar wrote: »

WTF??

Triangle tyres are absolute rubbish, have you ever done an emergency stop in the wet on them compared to premium???

Thankfully the new EU label will show the public that the Triangle tyres will score terribly in the wet stopping test, I reckon a "G". This means its roughly 50% longer braking distance to a band "A" tyre for an emergency stop.

I've Had to stomp on the brakes many a time,in all kinds of conditions,and the car has stopped. Can't say it's a whole lot worse. There is a difference between them and the Michelins but it's not huge.

I had Continental Contitrac SUV's on a jeep I once had ,an they were deathtraps. They handled much worse in the wet than the mud tyres i had on the jeep I had before that,and they had no rain grooves. I ended up understeering and then oversteering while coasting round a corner in a town centre with the continentals,and i was only doing about 20 MPH. They were great craic on wet roundabouts though After the Continentals i got GT-Radials and they were fantastic,I could take a corner as fast as i could without getting scared and they still did not lose grip.

Since then I would never get continentals. I wouldn't buy another set of triangles,But if i wanted to sell a car and put new tyres i'd wouldn't think twice about putting them on a car.

captainspeed

captainspeed wrote: »

I agree, plus the fact that Bridgestones are in my experience an excellent tyre, I once drove an Avensis with Bridgestones and Hankooks, and there is no comparison between the two. What's worrying about Hankooks is that they are supposed to be one of the better Korean/Chinese brands - if they're a 'good' Korean/Chinese make of tyre I'd hate to see what the bad ones are like :eek:.

The 2005 Mondeo I had was fitted with Hankook from the factory, they seemed quite decent to me.

Col200sx

Rather than start a new thread, has anybody ever had Autoguard tyres?

Am looking at a set of alloys and they're wrapped in Autoguard tyres with pretty decent tread, I've not heard of them before......

Any thoughts/reviews?

sean1141

There are triangle tyres on the front of the mondeo I receantly bought. They would not be a tyre I would consider if I was buying tyres but I have to say they are not all out as bad as they are made out to be here. I have tested them on empty roads to get a feel for the grip and the stopping power and I was suprised they were not as bad as most make out. I was thinking of changing them to a mid line brand when I got the car 3 months ago but they are still on it!

Now when it comes to replacing them triangles wont be going back on but I wouldnt put top end tyres on it either.

There were conti sport contact 3's on the leon when I first got it. Great tyre with good grip in the wet and dry but I thought they wore out very quickly. I got about 12k miles out of 5-6mm thread on them. Replaced them with hankook evo 12s which were almost half the price for a full set. Great grip in wet and dry and lasted 20k miles. I would highly recommend them

porsche boy

Autogards are another econo brand, I've actually had them on the front of my car at one point. Where it rally matters on all these tyres is the wet weather stopping distance. it can be up to twice the distance, there's just little in the way of effective grip.

_Kaiser_

Agree completely with most of the posters here - get rid of those Chinese tyres ASAP.

I recently got stuck with two and they're abysmal. I've already changed one for a part-worn Bridgestone and they'll both be coming off anyway as soon as I get a chance to get down to my regular tyre place.

Side note: isn't it funny how these part worn places tell you they have Bridgestone etc when you call, but when you get there they just happen to be sold out of the size you asked about, or only have 1 left - guess they're like indie mechanics.. a decent one is as rare as hen's teeth!

Unfortunately this means a 75km round trip + tolls for me as I've tried a few of the Dublin based tyre places and they're either ridiculously overpriced or will sell you the aforementioned Chinese rubbish at mid-range prices (even places that come highly recommended on here)

Tea 1000

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Side note: isn't it funny how these part worn places tell you they have Bridgestone etc when you call, but when you get there they just happen to be sold out of the size you asked about, or only have 1 left - guess they're like indie mechanics.. a decent one is as rare as hen's teeth!

Probably because properly reputable tyre dealers won't touch something in which they have no knowledge of the history.

vectra

The Funny thing is,
There is a local Hackney driver that I use ( used to use ) any time we were on a night out.
Now on a weekend we all know Hackney drivers become F1 drivers, This guy never missed a beat. Never loses traction. Rear of his S Max never stepped out.

Last time I go tout if it I noticed he was running on Triangles all round.. As it happens that was the last time I got back into it.. :P

maidhc

Where To wrote: »

Premium tyres are not 100% infallible.
Budget tyres are not 100% psychopathic killers.

Agreed. I lost my car before on an offramp on the m50 and I had reasonably decent firestones on the front and bridgestone on the back. Worst tyre I ever had were BF Goodrich, followed by Falken

At the moment I have Maxxis on the front and chinese ones on the back. I only bought the chinese ones because I was stuck and that is what was in stock. They are both behaving OK, and seem to stop the car Ok, even in the wet, and far better than the set of baldy Pilot Premacies that it had previosly.

furtzy

Have Federals on my wifes car and I thought they were rubbish until I checked the tyre pressure. Fronts were well under and once I blew them up to the correct pressure they were transformed. They are now grand and I'd consider them again

_Kaiser_

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Probably because properly reputable tyre dealers won't touch something in which they have no knowledge of the history.

Well I went to a very recommended tyre dealer on the west of the city who sold me new "Event" tyres @ €85 a corner and assured me they'd be fine when I was hesitant (but also stuck at the time)

It was certainly an "Event" driving on them alright.. never again!

barryfitz

meh, drove around on a set of jintongs for well over a year. Never had a problem with traction, or stopping. Car was a 1.3 Corolla. Car was never driven like a Sunday driver either. That was my experience of cheap Chinese tyres. Had a crash back in January in a different car, no idea what tyres were on it, all I know is no tyre could have helped me in that particular situation. When your luck is out, its out.

iverjohnston

I got a pair of "Linglong" 195/65/15's on the front of my diesel Passat, and they are scary in the wet. Roundabouts, you could go straight on instead of coming round (on a damp road) So last week got a pair of Fulda M&S part worn;s fitted, and they inspire a lot more confidance. I would really only recommend the Linglong's for fitting to a trailer, to be honest. There, they would be more likely to perish before they wore out. Mack in Cavan

Tea 1000

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Well I went to a very recommended tyre dealer on the west of the city who sold me new "Event" tyres @ €85 a corner and assured me they'd be fine when I was hesitant (but also stuck at the time)

It was certainly an "Event" driving on them alright.. never again!

I never trust recommendations unless I know the person doing the recommending very well! 90% or more of people out there haven't a clue. They buy tyres of some dude, he seems friendly enough, sells them 4 doughnut shaped black things at a price that's less than their friend seemed to pay, and they think "what a great guy". Keep going back. Tell all their friends that he's a great buck, you should go there...
Load of crap! Same with mechanics. People are happy with the one they always use. That's because they haven't a clue what he is or isn't doing.

_Kaiser_

Tea 1000 wrote: »

I never trust recommendations unless I know the person doing the recommending very well! 90% or more of people out there haven't a clue. They buy tyres of some dude, he seems friendly enough, sells them 4 doughnut shaped black things at a price that's less than their friend seemed to pay, and they think "what a great guy". Keep going back. Tell all their friends that he's a great buck, you should go there...
Load of crap! Same with mechanics. People are happy with the one they always use. That's because they haven't a clue what he is or isn't doing.

Well what surprised me is that this particular outfit were recommended by multiple people on this very forum in several threads, but not to worry.. live and learn.

guerito

Where To wrote: »

I saw a car slide into a wall on brand new bridgestones once.

No brand new tyres will give decent grip until you've worn them in a bit, Bridgestones, Triangles or whatever. Was this car straight out of the tyre shop?

Edit: missed gollywog's post

h3000

I took these Triangle pieces of crap off my wife's car a few weeks back and replaced them with a set of Vredestein's. There was plenty thread dept left in them but the were just atrocious. The difference in the grip and stability of the car is huge even my wife notices the difference and she is in no way a quick driver.
I truly believe good quality tyres are one of the most important safety features on your car. Good quality brakes or advanced stability programs are no good if the tyres do not grip.

peter barrins

This post has been deleted.

dgt

peter barrins wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

I 100% agree.

It took me a full night to burn them off my merc. A great tyre to do circles and sideways action in. Leaves good rings and all

Gets my vote as a good lasting tyre

colm_mcm

Had triangles on my car for a small while, VSA, TRC lights on quite a lot, ABS cutting in a lot. Changed to Michelin, no lights, no ABS cut in on braking.

visual

Had triangle all round when bought car after nearly rear ending a couple of other cars I switch to a branded tyre. The difference was huge no longer have traction and abs flashing on the dash when driving on wet or moist roads

triangle tyres shouldn't be sold here. They are cheap and hard wearing so will last a long time but they offer no grip at all in wet and if you need to stop in a hurry it just won't happen

magentis

they really are awful tyres.
Having said that,more and more of the "premium" tyres are being made in asia.