tyre opinions

whiterebel

I have an 09 A6 from which I got 42K on the original rear Michelin tyres. A mate of my has his own tyre business, and wouldn't do me wrong. He fitted a pair of Nankangs at €110 each 7/8 months ago. However I have now had to replace 3 of the rear tyres already, one due to a puncture caused by hitting a brick on the motorway which ripped the sidewall. However the latest two have been caused by gently tapping of the kerb whilst parking, causing a tear in the sidewall. I know here we go, you must be bashing it into the kerb, but I'm not. I've never had a run like this for tyres, and am wondering should I change the tyres. Audi say Nankang are budget, and wouldn't have the strength in the sidewall that a Michelin would. My mate who owns the tyre biz reckons i would have gone through Michelins much quicker as they are weaker in the sidewalls. Audi say the next up from Nankangs they would put on Kumho, and Michelin as the best. I'm sure I had Kumhos for years on a Passat and never had these problems. I'm not a hard driver, do a fair bit of mileage up the motorways etc, so I don't need sporty. Hard wearing, and less prone to damage would be best
What do people reckon? The Michelins are €220 each, but if they are better, would be cheaper in the long run. Tyre size is 255/50 R17.
Any advice or ideas appreciated,

whiterebel

I also believe:
people should only drive at a maximum of 80km/h in the fast lane of a motorway, and that nobody should use the left lane.
No matter how many exits are on a roundabout, you should start on the left hand lane
People should use fog lamps (Front and rear) every day, rain, hail or shine.
BMWs are shyte, particularly the 6 cylinder models.
Renault have very reliable electrics......

C'mon, someone surelay can give me a technical opinion here. I know there's a load of threads about tyres, but they seem more about preference?

navara man

stop hitting kerb

whiterebel

navara man wrote: »

stop hitting kerb

Thanks for that. When you have a try at parking a real car yourself maybe it'll make sense to you.

navara man

if the kerb has a sharper edges it will ripped most tyre .so the moral of the story is STOP HITTING KERB:p

navara man

whiterebel wrote: »

Thanks for that. When you have a try at parking a real car yourself maybe it'll make sense to you.

mirrors

bazz26

I have lost two tyres in the last 6 months to the sidewall damage from a kerb at very low speed. Never destroyed a tyre in that manner before up to then so it does happen no matter how careful you can be. In saying that it appears my tyre model have bit of a rep for having fragile walls.

whiterebel

bazz26 wrote: »

I have lost two tyres in the last 6 months to the sidewall damage from a kerb at very low speed. Never destroyed a tyre in that manner before up to then so it does happen no matter how careful you can be. In saying that it appears my tyre model have bit of a rep for having fragile walls.

Do you mind me asking the make?

bazz26

Sure. Vredestein Ultrac Sessantas.

vectra

whiterebel wrote: »

Thanks for that. When you have a try at parking a real car yourself maybe it'll make sense to you.

Stop hitting the Kerb

Alternatively
Fit Hankooks. The sidewalls look damn strong on those.
I know. My son has a fascination with kerbs as well and the Hankooks on that or perfect.

Matt Simis

This is probably the only good use case for runflats! The sidewalls are virtually solid rubber. I was in a car that hit a kerb at 60kph and skimmed it for 1meter. Tyre was fine and the kerb is now black..

RobAMerc

I can't say if the Michelins will take more abuse than the Nankangs - but I had them on a car ( dealer put them on ) and the road noise was shocking and the level of grip poor.
There is about 4 sq inches between you and the road per tyre - the Michelins will sure make that 4 square inches count for more than the other yokes - I say buy the brand ( and I am not normally one to say that in other purchases ) or look for a more mid range alternative ( Hankook seem to make a good tyre )

Dubdude

Fast Fit are doing a special promotion with Hankooks at the moment I got 2 new one's for an Avensis 85euro each and they come with free punchures and tyre replacement depending on the tread depth. For example you drive home hit the kerb and damage the sidewall and cant be fixed they will automatically replace the tyre, it really sold it for me.

ValerieR

Got 4 vredestein sessantas, same size as yours for 550 euros, recently. Very happy with them but I didn't try hitting curbs with them... I haven't had them long enough to see how many miles they will cover.
For the other car, we got 4 Continental Sport Contact 2 last year for 860 euros. A stone on the side of the road did rip the side wall on one but yet, it probably would have ripped any other tyre .... Very happy with the latter too however it looks like we'll only be covering 30k/35k km before having to change them.
V