Premium V Budget Tyres

KwackerJack

So I need a new set of tyre's for my 2006 Lexus IS250. I'ts a pretty quick car and heavy enough for its size.

I've spent a few hours looking at reviews and budget tyre's like Maxxis and Federal seem to be getting great review and in some cases being rated higher than the premium brands.

People have gone from Dunlop, Bridgestone, Pirelli etc and have chosen a range of Maxxis and Federal tyre's.

In some cases deepening on tyre model the budget brands are nearly half the price.

For example, some people will say 'you get what you pay for' Well I got a 2.5 210bhp Lexus for a lot less than the equivalent BMW or Merc and in that instance the 'you get what you pay for' is meaningless as the Lexus has all the gadgets will most definitely be more reliable than the German counterparts!

So are they days of spending 150 quid a corner gone and are we finally getting high quality tyre's for a decent price! Bearing in mind a lot of the 'budget' tyre's are made by premium company's!

I have had Maxxis on my old Fireblade and I can tell you there just as good as the Dunlop or Metzelers I had previously!

Foxhole Norman

I wouldn't put Maxxis on my car purely because I never heard of them. Federal get decent reviews but I found them only OK on my Yaris tbh.

pbthevet

I got great grip and good life out of Toyo tyres last time. Good price too. Was an suv tho.

For a car like yours tho would a set of uniroyals rainsport or something along that name be the way to go. In a continental brand

Oafley Jones

KwackerJack wrote: »

So I need a new set of tyre's for my 2006 Lexus IS250. I'ts a pretty quick car and heavy enough for its size.

I've spent a few hours looking at reviews and budget tyre's like Maxxis and Federal seem to be getting great review and in some cases being rated higher than the premium brands.

People have gone from Dunlop, Bridgestone, Pirelli etc and have chosen a range of Maxxis and Federal tyre's.

In some cases deepening on tyre model the budget brands are nearly half the price.

For example, some people will say 'you get what you pay for' Well I got a 2.5 210bhp Lexus for a lot less than the equivalent BMW or Merc and in that instance the 'you get what you pay for' is meaningless as the Lexus has all the gadgets will most definitely be more reliable than the German counterparts!

So are they days of spending 150 quid a corner gone and are we finally getting high quality tyre's for a decent price! Bearing in mind a lot of the 'budget' tyre's are made by premium company's!

I have had Maxxis on my old Fireblade and I can tell you there just as good as the Dunlop or Metzelers I had previously!

One thing I'll say to you is to put on a good set of winter tyres at the end of the year. Even with decent tyres, driving cautiously and having snow mode selected, the IS is a ditch finder in slightly challenging winter conditions. Still have Dunlop winter sport 4d on mine and it makes an enormous difference to the car.

visual

If your.happy in your Toyota with budget tyres good for you. But being almost as good isn't always good enough.

Special Circumstances

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

I wouldn't put Maxxis on my car purely because I never heard of them. Federal get decent reviews but I found them only OK on my Yaris tbh.

Ooh damned with faint praise haha "ok on a yaris"

Maxxis make fine bicycle tyres and are a real company/brand compared to some Asian fly by night crowds. Are they any good at car tyres? No idea. In my case the difference would be about 150 to 200 yoyo for a set. Would I bother being a guinea pig for that much - no. If I had more expensive fitment, it depends.

KwackerJack

Oafley Jones wrote: »

One thing I'll say to you is to put on a good set of winter tyres at the end of the year. Even with decent tyres, driving cautiously and having snow mode selected, the IS is a ditch finder in slightly challenging winter conditions. Still have Dunlop winter sport 4d on mine and it makes an enormous difference to the car.

I plan to get a second set of wheels and stick on some winter tyres! RWD and witer don't mix to well!

visual wrote: »

If your.happy in your Toyota with budget tyres good for you. But being almost as good isn't always good enough.

Why not? If people are finding budget tyre just as good as the premium then whats the problem!

I know plenty of people who buy premium brands and run them till there slicks as they cant afford the high cost so often. One mate for example replaced his Pirelli Run Flats off his 08 520D and got a set of Maxxis Victra Sport and does not have a single issue with them!

€135 (€540 Set) for Pirelli or €68 (€272 Set) for the Maxxis

Pov06

My 1.0 Yaris used to understeer like crap with the Nankang tyres in the wet

KwackerJack

Pov06 wrote: »

My 1.0 Yaris used to understeer like crap with the Nankang tyres in the wet

A Yaris would understeer on rails

Foxhole Norman

I just don't get the mentality, they're the only thing keeping your car on the road so why skimp on them? Premium tyres aren't expensive for the quality you get. Why trust yours or others lives on a tyre you've never heard of?

Special Circumstances

KwackerJack wrote: »

I know plenty of people who buy premium brands and run them till there slicks as they cant afford the high cost so often.

Nobody put a gun to these people's heads and made them buy a car with cool big wheels.

IMHO... If you only just afford the repayment and tax and insurance on the swanky car, but can't afford to keep it in consumables of decent quality. .. stop spoofing and get a car you can afford.

Anyway that's off topic - I guess the topic boils down to what is "decent quality". Buy a brand with a decent track record is my theory on tyres.

There's Michelin energy savers on both cars outside. Are they super sporty handling? No. Are they able to stop a car without causing some electronic module (or me!) to panic. Yes. Are they very reasonably priced - yes. Are they better than some alphabet soupy named tyres. Yes.

KwackerJack

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

I just don't get the mentality, they're the only thing keeping your car on the road so why skimp on them? Premium tyres aren't expensive for the quality you get. Why trust yours or others lives on a tyre you've never heard of?

But I have heard of Maxxis, I went from Premium brands on my bike to Maxxis and I am getting the exact same performance! Why pay more for just a name!

Its like saying you would rather pay the extra for a Golf than buy an Octavia!!!!

Same car, different badge!

Foxhole Norman

KwackerJack wrote: »

But I have heard of Maxxis, I went from Premium brands on my bike to Maxxis and I am getting the exact same performance! Why pay more for just a name!

Its like saying you would rather pay the extra for a Golf than buy an Octavia!!!!

Same car, different badge!

OK you go ahead there and buy some tyres for your car based on what's on your bike. Good luck with that.

KwackerJack

Special Circumstances wrote: »

Nobody put a gun to these people's heads and made them buy a car with cool big wheels.

IMHO... If you only just afford the repayment and tax and insurance on the swanky car, but can't afford to keep it in consumables of decent quality. .. stop spoofing and get a car you can afford.

Anyway that's off topic - I guess the topic boils down to what is "decent quality". Buy a brand with a decent track record is my theory on tyres.

There's Michelin energy savers on both cars outside. Are they super sporty handling? No. Are they able to stop a car without causing some electronic module (or me!) to panic. Yes. Are they very reasonably priced - yes. Are they better than some alphabet soupy named tyres. Yes.

I never said they drove big luxury cars. Most of them in fact drive your average 1.4 - 1.8 family saloon, Avensis, Passat, Vectra!

At the moment I have a set of Bridgestone (I'll Check the Model) on the Lexus, Good thread left but my god are they awful! Yet these are apparently a premium tyre! Before you ask that was at normal speeds

KwackerJack

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

OK you go ahead there and buy some tyres for your car based on what's on your bike. Good luck with that.

You have a credit card size patch of rubber contacting the road on your bike tyres and even less in a lean!

If Maxxis can hold my 1000c bike on a corner at speed then I have no reason to believe their cars tyre's aren't as good!

Special Circumstances

Some of those Bridgestone turanza are only for sedate A to B stuff. Definitely not sporty tyres. The michelin energy savers are similar I suppose. Better than the average irish aftermarket fitted tyre but still not up to very enthusiastic driving.

Bpmull

Bridgestone turanza t001 are a serious tyres along with most models of goodyear. I personally wouldn't buy anything else. Serious amount of grip in wet and dry conditions.

OldMrBrennan83

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Foxhole Norman

I had a pretty bald Pirelli P-Zero on my 5 and I reckon it still had more grip than most chinese tyres :pac: You could pull away hard in the wet on it without a touch from the traction control.

OldMrBrennan83

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Special Circumstances

Bpmull wrote: »

Bridgestone turanza t001 are a serious tyres along with most models of goodyear. I personally wouldn't buy anything else. Serious amount of grip in wet and dry conditions.

It's clever marketing by bridgestone. There's some amount of different variations of turanzas, dueller etc. Trading on the fact that all most people want to hear or are going to be told when they are pricing tyres is Bridgestone. A small amount of people might ask what model. Turanza, grand.
I'd say a very small amount know if it's the B 250 or the t150 or whatever is the best.

KwackerJack

Patww79 wrote: »

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That is my point, A lot of people online are not giving the top brands good reviews! Some people were very unhappy at the high road noise of some top brands!

If your paying 150 odd a corner you should at least expect to get a quiet tyre.

Foxhole Norman

KwackerJack wrote: »

That is my point, A lot of people online are not giving the top brands good reviews! Some people were very unhappy at the high road noise of some top brands!

If your paying 150 odd a corner you should at least expect to get a quiet tyre.

I paid 160 a corner from a local fitter for a Hankook Ventus Evo with a fitting of 255/40/17, car is way more quiet and stable now even at Motorway speeds.

I still think anyone that opts to get a budget tyre over a premium one is a bit if a nutter, fair enough if you were stuck for a tyre and needed one immediately by all means pick one up but replace it when you can with decent ones.

Bpmull

Special Circumstances wrote: »

It's clever marketing by bridgestone. There's some amount of different variations of turanzas, dueller etc. Trading on the fact that all most people want to hear or are going to be told when they are pricing tyres is Bridgestone. A small amount of people might ask what model. Turanza, grand.
I'd say a very small amount know if it's the B 250 or the t150 or whatever is the best.

Id only get turanza t001 they are about the best of them if they didn't have them Id be going with Goodyears. But I agree must people don't care what model they get most don't even care what brand.

OldMrBrennan83

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Foxhole Norman

Bpmull wrote: »

Id only get turanza t001 they are about the best of them if they didn't have them Id be going with Goodyears. But I agree must people don't care what model they get most don't even care what brand.

This is so common it's silly. When I was looking for prices a few weeks ago in one place I asked what they had, they said a Falken. I said grand, what model? Eh, a Falken. Yes I got that but which one? A Falken.

I promptly left.

Toyotafanboi

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

I paid 160 a corner from a local fitter for a Hankook Ventus Evo with a fitting of 255/40/17, car is way more quiet and stable now even at Motorway speeds.

I still think anyone that opts to get a budget tyre over a premium one is a bit if a nutter, fair enough if you were stuck for a tyre and needed one immediately by all means pick one up but replace it when you can with decent ones.

When did hankook stop being a budget-mid range brand?

pablo128

I nearly died in a crash which was due to cheap chinese tyres sliding in the rain. I hit a lamp post head on. For the extra few bob just put decent tyres on. It's the one part of my cars I don't scrimp on now.

And your car will look awful funny with motorcycle tyres on it!:pac:

Foxhole Norman

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

When did hankook stop being a budget-mid range brand?

Their lower stuff is mid-range/budget to be fair but the Ventus V12 Evo ratings are up there with Eagle F1's/Vredsteins. And I must say, they grip very well, even on wet tile.

Special Circumstances

Paddys day, sun is shining and here we all are debating tyres. I'm off to put some miles up on my 700c conti city rides. 20 yoyos for a 29" tyre oh yeah...

OldMrBrennan83

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StereoSound

One thing I always did was make sure the correct tyre pressure for the weight of your car as per the user manual. I'm sure everyone has noticed that if you put too much air in your tyres they will make them slip and slide. When I got my Octavia last year it came with new Bridgestones and I experimented with tyre pressure abit. You may get good results from cheaper tyres with properly adjusted pressure. I'm no tyre expert but if I found great reviews on a cheaper brand tyre I'd go for it. If worst came to worst I would change back to the premium brands again next time round.

KwackerJack

Taken from a tyre review site

http://www.which.co.uk/cars/driving/car-tyres/best-car-tyre-brands/


Bridgestone is one of the top three makers in the world by volume. But did you know it also owns the Firestone tyre brand?

Continental
Continental is well known across Europe. This giant also makes tyres under the names, Barum, Mabor, Semperit, Uniroyal and Viking.

Goodyear Dunlop
You've heard of both Goodyear and Dunlop. Did you know the former owns the latter? It also makes the Fulda, Kelly and Sava brands.

Michelin
Michelin vies for top spot in the world with its tyres. It also owns BF Goodrich, Kleber and Riken.

Pirelli
Italian maker Pirelli makes a range of tyres for all purposes. It also makes economy brands, like Ceat, 'C' and Courier.

apache6

I have had good experiences of Primacy Tyres, running Primacy on the front of my 2 Liter Turbo Volvo S80 with Toya on the back, all good, hard braking, wet roads, ice etc.
Have used Federals in the past and found them ok but pretty unforgiving, by that I mean they did not give a very smooth ride, hard compound is what does it, they didn't wear very well either, particularly bad wear if you don't keep a regular check on the pressures, let them go down to say 28 psi and they wear out very quick whereas a softer compound gives a better ride as well as better wear, the kicker here is the road surface, those really high grit road surfaces which are noisy are very hard on hard compound tyre wear, less so on softer compound, if you get my drift.
Cheap....very cheap tyres are a false economy, strike a balance and go for something like the Toya's is my advice.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Maxis would be a middle of the road tyre nowadays, the likes on sunny, linglong (yes there really is a brand called linglong) and wanli are cheap budget brands and you will know it in terms of noise and grip if you fit them to any sort of half decent car.

Toyotafanboi

I will say, i've always made an attempt to buy the best tyres i can and tried to stay away from unknown brands. My first set of budget rubber has came on the celica, it has 4 new 18" hi-fly tyres fitted and i have to admit, so far, so good.

It wouldn't make me want to buy a set any more than i did previously but driving the car sensibly, wet and dry grip seem very acceptable. Road noise is chronic however, as is the wear. 1k miles looks to have taken maybe 15% of the tyre.

bazz26

When it comes to choosing tyres for my cars I never apply the "fur coat, no knickers" approach. I certainly would not be putting cheap no name branded plastic on a 210bhp rwd car.

I've a 5 Series myself and a replacement 18" run flat tyres will cost me €190 a corner which I knew when I was buying the car. I'm sure I could find some muck for about half that price but they ain't going on my car.

I just see it as a bit like replacing your house with a mobile home because it's cheaper and it still does the job.

serious3

maxxis motorbike tyres used to be called cheng shin.... or nippon slipp-offs!! they used to make woeful bike tyres, they re-branded themselves as maxxis a while back and make average bike tyres these days, i tried their supermoto tyres and only got 1800miles out the rear one so it doesn't bode well for their car tyres. i've uniroyal rainsports on my jag (2.5lt rwd) and find them great and bought for a acheaper price than the local shop wanted for chinese ditchfinders.

Toyotafanboi

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

When did hankook stop being a budget-mid range brand?

Since before they were factory fitted to European makes perhaps

KwackerJack

Just checked and I have Bridgestone Turanza T001.............Thread is good but there not great!

Toyotafanboi

Augeo wrote: »

Since before they were factory fitted to European makes perhaps

it would be wrong to assume they weren't still low range based on that.

Outkast_IRE

Any opinions on the new Michelin CrossClimate tyres that are launching soon ? They seem to be aimed at an irish/UK market where you have lots of wet weather with occassional snow fall.

There seems to be good advantages to using them over all season tyres.
http://www.michelin.ie/tyres/michelin-crossclimate

KwackerJack

Outkast_IRE wrote: »

Any opinions on the new Michelin CrossClimate tyres that are launching soon ? They seem to be aimed at an irish/UK market where you have lots of wet weather with occassional snow fall.

There seems to be good advantages to using them over all season tyres.
http://www.michelin.ie/tyres/michelin-crossclimate

Was just looking at them...seem pretty good and Lexus use Michelin on there new models.

Outkast_IRE

KwackerJack wrote: »

Was just looking at them...seem pretty good and Lexus use Michelin on there new models.

Official launch in may, i think they will be worth a proper look at once some of the review websites get a look at them and confirm what michelin is saying.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Op I think your trying to get validation for a decision you have already made. Online reviews will always overestimate satisification with anything seen as a bargain.

The fact is you don't buy for normal driving, most tyres are fine for that, you buy for an extreme situation that most people don't see in the lifetime of the rubber. It's a situation where 1 meter longer braking distance leaves you in a wheelchair or somebody else dead

It's a law of deminishing returns, and the average drive won't perceive a difference day to day. Personally I think you should spend more than a tank of fuel per corner but maybe I just don't want to die more than I want to save money.

Uncle Ben

On the subject of tyres do any of ye rotate same and how often and finally does it make a difference?

challengemaster

KwackerJack wrote: »

Why not? If people are finding budget tyre just as good as the premium then whats the problem!

If people find a budget tyre as good as a premium, then I can tell you for certain that they have never tested the limits of that tyre to see how good it actually is.

I've noticed a performance difference between each of the premium brand tyres I've put on my car, however slight it may be. The difference between those and the chinese crap on it when I bought the car was night and day. You get what you pay for most certainly holds true for tyres.

The big companies may own smaller tyre producers and produce other brands, but that doesn't mean the quality or performance is the same. If it was why would anyone ever buy the more expensive tyres? They're not stupid enough to undercut themselves. They use other companies because sticking a bridgestone name on it would de-value what bridgestone stands for. Different tyres for different markets.

goz83

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I will say, i've always made an attempt to buy the best tyres i can and tried to stay away from unknown brands. My first set of budget rubber has came on the celica, it has 4 new 18" hi-fly tyres fitted and i have to admit, so far, so good.

It wouldn't make me want to buy a set any more than i did previously but driving the car sensibly, wet and dry grip seem very acceptable. Road noise is chronic however, as is the wear. 1k miles looks to have taken maybe 15% of the tyre.

I too found myself using Hi-Fly and on my FTO. Really good for regular and spirited driving. I had no issue with road noise (but my attention was on the sound of the V6 Mivec mostly ). Have you checked the pressure, as this cound account for excessive road noise. I can't really comment on wear, as i have done so few miles on them. Mine went onto 17" Kahns.

goz83

challengemaster wrote: »

The big companies may own smaller tyre producers and produce other brands, but that doesn't mean the quality or performance is the same. If it was why would anyone ever buy the more expensive tyres? They're not stupid enough to undercut themselves. They use other companies because sticking a bridgestone name on it would de-value what bridgestone stands for. Different tyres for different markets.

While I agree it's important to put decent rubber on every car, I would be confident to say that big budget marketing and human complacency both have significant roles to play in the reasons why the "other companies" don't get the same traction as the well known brand owners. By owning some of the smaller brands, they cut the competition down and make a few quid selling the cheaper tyres to the consumer market who buy cheaper brands.

Some people will stick with a top brand and put up with any flaws they come with. Some people will buy the mid range types, like myself, after doing a bit of research. Then others will put any old shìte of different brands on all 4 corners and put us all at risk. It's grand if you're driving conservatively, mostly, but when you put €30 rubber on high powered sports cars, that's when I start to get worried.

Special Circumstances

I wonder how many sets of tyres average joe puts on a given car. Assume the set he buys it with arent bald to start with, 2 sets maybe 3? Not a lot of scope to experiment with tradeoffs between price and handling. Fair enough if you own a car until it's an extension of yourself. I'd be more inclined to play it safe for the sake of a few euro. Brands that have been around 10+ years.

And that's what makes it difficult for any new brand - they can invest the extra in producing quality tyres hoping they can gain recognition. Spending years making not a lot of money until they are seen by discerning customers to be producers of quality tyres.

Or they can churn out Ny Lon Slip Longs as cheap as possible and make a quick buck.

magentis

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

I paid 160 a corner from a local fitter for a Hankook Ventus Evo with a fitting of 255/40/17, car is way more quiet and stable now even at Motorway speeds.

I still think anyone that opts to get a budget tyre over a premium one is a bit if a nutter, fair enough if you were stuck for a tyre and needed one immediately by all means pick one up but replace it when you can with decent ones.

Nothing premium about hankooks.