Aeolus Tyres - my review :)

twofish101

The Chinese company Chemchina have bought Pirelli tyres

Suppose Pirelli and now classed a Chinese Junk too?

bazz26

It's not down to who owns the company or where they are made. It's down to the quality of the product. The vast majority of Far East branded tyres are cheap for a reason.

Special Circumstances

The iPhone comparison makes more sense if you compare an ipad to some junky android farcical spec tablet.

They both come out of the same province, but one is designed by people who know what they are doing, with quality materials and processes. The other is a corner cutting exercise in cheap crap.

One brand has something to lose by churning out rubbish, the other product is sold by 20 different names this week for a quick buck.

You can't deny that quality product can be made in China. But how do you know what's crap and what isn't? Give a company 10 years to build a reputation and we'll see. I'm still dubious about nankangs after being a guinea pig for their early product. Why would I try a no reputation brand who haven't been around 6 months yet?

pred racer

Special Circumstances wrote: »

The iPhone comparison makes more sense if you compare an ipad to some junky android farcical spec tablet.

They both come out of the same province, but one is designed by people who know what they are doing, with quality materials and processes. The other is a corner cutting exercise in cheap crap.

One brand has something to lose by churning out rubbish, the other product is sold by 20 different names this week for a quick buck.

You can't deny that quality product can be made in China. But how do you know what's crap and what isn't? Give a company 10 years to build a reputation and we'll see. I'm still dubious about nankangs after being a guinea pig for their early product. Why would I try a no reputation brand who haven't been around 6 months yet?

Thanks man, you saved me typing the same thing.;)

Eric Cartman

twofish101 wrote: »

The Chinese company Chemchina have bought Pirelli tyres

Suppose Pirelli and now classed a Chinese Junk too?

tata own landrover , i still wouldnt buy a tata safari pickup.

the fact is these brands are targeted to come in lower priced than the premium brands, to do that you have to cut costs somewhere. Tyres are the only things that connect you to the road , and for the sake of 10-15 quid a corner , im going to stick with premium tyres from a company with decades of good reviews before making a verdict . these tyres could very well be ok or not , but its going to take atleast 10 years of their existance before ill chance it , and even then as above , if its 10 or 15 a corner for a brand thats had a great reputation even longer , theyll still get my money.

ardmacha

Eric Cartman wrote: »

tata own landrover , i still wouldnt buy a tata safari pickup.

the fact is these brands are targeted to come in lower priced than the premium brands, to do that you have to cut costs somewhere. Tyres are the only things that connect you to the road , and for the sake of 10-15 quid a corner , im going to stick with premium tyres from a company with decades of good reviews before making a verdict . these tyres could very well be ok or not , but its going to take atleast 10 years of their existance before ill chance it , and even then as above , if its 10 or 15 a corner for a brand thats had a great reputation even longer , theyll still get my money.

This. They cut costs, you save €1 a week at the cost of less grip. What are you spending the Euro on?

enricoh

Just went on my local tyre fellas website, Sean McManus Drogheda Michelin energy saver 85 fitted kormoran 55 fitted In 205 55 r16 . Kormoran are decent enough IMO. I'd pay 20 extra for Michelin over aoelius any day

techie

Fundthementals wrote: »

I have fitted Aeolus as replacements for Bridgestone and Nokian on a B6 Passat and Galaxy resp - and on both cars I have found them to be excellent - low noise level, with excellent grip in both wet and dry conditions. Good mileage as well - 30k+ from front tyres on Passat TDI.

I'm not bothered really where the tyres are manufactured tbh - as long as they meet the required quality standards and in the case of Aeolus they definitely do. The anti "everything manufactured in China" view is a bit dated at this stage - I mean where does your Iphone 6 etc come from ??

Nice to see someone else that uses the tyres, as I said at the start I have always gone for Brand name tyres but after a bit of persuading my tyre guy got me to try the Aeolus brand.

I'm glad I did, my only problem now is they don't do the size for my own car

dogg_r_69

I've had a few sets of Eaolus tyres on my transit Been well happy with them Done better mileage than the sets of nokian or Bridgestone I had before them Think I paid €85 each if I remember correctly

Boskowski

Id give them a go if they did well in tests. However I've now seem so many different new names from China that were hailed as the new thing that's as good as the real thing that I'm going to be skeptical.

Plus I'm just not the type who tries the cheapest thing everywhere. Some stuff I'm going to be brand snobby about. Runners. Jeans. Sunglasses. Tyres. Amongst others.

techie

Boskowski wrote: »

Id give them a go if they did well in tests. However I've now seem so many different new names from China that were hailed as the new thing that's as good as the real thing that I'm going to be skeptical.

Plus I'm just not the type who tries the cheapest thing everywhere. Some stuff I'm going to be brand snobby about. Runners. Jeans. Sunglasses. Tyres. Amongst others.

Fair enough, but just to be clear these are not the cheapest tyre around either

DIF

I do around 50,000km a year and tried those Aeolus tyres last year on my Megane and was surprised how well they wore and handles. I got a full year out of the tyres which I wasn't expecting. So I replaced the front tyres with them last month and will be replacing the rear ones shortly.

I got the tyres in Automotif by the Kinsale roundabout - the price went up by a tenner a corner to €85 (for 205/55/17) this year, so I'll have to shop around for when I'm getting the rear tyres I think.

The one criticism I have is they don't handle great on corners on country roads - I've had to increase the presssure more than recommended by Renualt as the side-walls are weaker than premium branded tyres - making the steering spongy on corners.

But overall I'm happy with them - and will be getting them again.

As for this anti-Chinese vibe.... all the super posh brands like Samsung, Apple and Sony are all made in China... a made in China sticker doesn't mean you're buying junk anymore.

Special Circumstances

DIF wrote: »

As for this anti-Chinese vibe.... all the super posh brands like Samsung, Apple and Sony are all made in China... a made in China sticker doesn't mean you're buying junk anymore.

Doesn't HAVE TO mean junk. But often does if there is no track record of quality.

Let's face it you've got the likes of Foxconn (who subcontract a lot of the manufacturing for the big brands) making stuff with quality designs quality components and proper quality control and testing for very demanding companies.
And you have the crowd next door making junk quality joke spec android tablets or HID ballasts etc etc.

visual

DIF wrote: »

As for this anti-Chinese vibe.... all the super posh brands like Samsung, Apple and Sony are all made in China... a made in China sticker doesn't mean you're buying junk anymore.

Buying a top brand made in China is a world apart from Chinese rubbish made in China.

enjoy your Teflon tyres

DIF

visual wrote: »

Buying a top brand made in China is a world apart from Chinese rubbish made in China.

enjoy your Teflon tyres

@ visual you're hating the fact others are liking a Chinese tyre... call the poor auld Chinese tyre what you like, but the fact remains I got almost 50,000km out of a set and the grip was fine even in the snow n ice we had this winter. Also I had a set of Bridgestones before and was surprised by how quickly they ran out of thread on the bumpy country roads around Cork... so ya maybe all tyres need a bit of Teflon in em! ahaha

visual

I have had a couple of vehicles fitted with Chinese tyres over the years.
They all seemed good in dry but in wet they where dangerous.
I needed 4 tyres for a van a few years back dropped into a tyre fitter great price on 5 tyres so got all replaced that morning it rained during the day and van was wheel spinning taking off and front sliding when braking. Went back to tyre shop and got them taken off.

Last year bought a 525i with triangle talon tyres all round in dry great but wet traction control. Kept coming on and abs if braked anyway quickly. After nearly rear ending other cars a couple of times I went out and bought proper tyres. Guy in tyre shop commented on the triangle tyres having plenty of thread and said these tyres give up.50 k miles but grip isn't good in wet

soft compound will wear quicker but give better traction

Hard compound will wear slowly but have less traction

getting the balance right takes research and investment in compounds, thread pattern.

Cheap tyres are at best are a copy of some branded tyres just like cheap perfume or after shave sure it's just liquid in a glass bottle that smells but it obvious once you use it.

When you use your tyres it's at extremes having to brake hard in corner to avoid something or someone on a dark wet night. Sudden stop on motorway. Child runs in front of car. This is when the quality of the rubber on your car makes a difference.

Fundthementals

Aeolus are not particularly cheap tyres , but imo, and the others who have fitted them on this thread - actually are a very good tyre that happens to be manufactured by a Chinese company. Agree that there is some awful rubbish tyres out there - but wouldn't put Aeolus in that bracket.
Aeolus are around for 50 years or so and now seem to be making a big push into European and US markets with a quality range of tyres.