Do tyre cheap/expensive brands make much difference?

Chemical Byrne

Hi. I drive a 2004 Nissan Almera, it's just an A-B runabout. I had to get a new tyre on it for NCT and when asked what I wanted I said just put on the cheapest one you have.
The NCT and the present wet weather got me to thinking - do tyre types make much difference to the normal A-B driver? I mean I've always bought the cheapest tyres on offer and never had any issues whatsoever. Even on my previous car I always just got whatever was the cheapest and they never caused me a problem or gave reason for complaint.

If I bought big name big money tyres would I actually notice any difference when driving?

I don't even know what brands are on the car, I presume it's probably a mix of various ching chong tyres I've bought while I had the car. Personally, since I see no issue nor have any complaints I just don't see the value of horsing out money on tyres. I know some people are fiercely loyal to certain tyre types of brands. I just can't see myself doing it.

Maybe if your driving fast or cornering mad it would matter but I am relaxed enough on the road, no precision driving or mad sh!te like.

Tea 1000

It makes a massive difference, but most poeple won't notice it.

CliCliW

From listening to my boyfriend talk I think the cheaper brand tyres just wear a bit quicker, but I have no idea. This will be interesting to read.

Tea 1000

CliCliW wrote: »

From listening to my boyfriend talk I think the cheaper brand tyres just wear a bit quicker, but I have no idea. This will be interesting to read.

Nope, often the opposite, some cheap muck lasts a long time. Hard compound.

Andrewf20

You will likely notice in an emergency jam on or serve out of the way situation.

Chemical Byrne

Tea 1000 wrote: »

It makes a massive difference, but most poeple won't notice it.

Well I'd identify with the latter. I mean, I am mechanically minded and generally do all my own maintenance and repairs but I would not notice one blind bit of difference between the cheapest and most expensive tyre if I were to drive them. The only thing I might pick up on is road noise differences.

As I said, someone who drives very hard might notice differences in handling etc but my opinion is that for the normal shopping run A-B driver, it wouldn't matter a damn as the driving isn't hard.

Now I do appreciate that stopping differences are almost certainly affected. But is this differnence only marginal or glaring?

mickdw

Tea 1000 wrote: »

It makes a massive difference, but most poeple won't notice it.

Yes it's actually quite serious how bad some tyres are.
Most normal drivers never get within sight of the limit of grip and as such it makes no difference under normal conditions however the only time normal everyday safe drivers get near or to the limit is when an emergency situation presents itself - kid runs into the roads etc. The cheap tyre could very possibly be the reason you hit the child versus safely steering around them.

Tea 1000

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Well I'd identify with the latter. I mean, I am mechanically minded and generally do all my own maintenance and repairs but I would not notice one blind bit of difference between the cheapest and most expensive tyre if I were to drive them. The only thing I might pick up on is road noise differences.

As I said, someone who drives very hard might notice differences in handling etc but my opinion is that for the normal shopping run A-B driver, it wouldn't matter a damn as the driving isn't hard.

Now I do appreciate that stopping differences are almost certainly affected. But is this differnence only marginal or glaring?

Most drivers simply aren't very good. They just control the car the way they were taught, but have no natural feel for one.
I'm no natural racer, but I'd notice at normal speeds, especially in the wet, differences between tyres straight away on most cars.

cerastes

CliCliW wrote: »

From listening to my boyfriend talk I think the cheaper brand tyres just wear a bit quicker, but I have no idea. This will be interesting to read.

Someone got to it before me, hard compounds, terrible grip, I had some, they were quite ok in the dry, in the wet, horrendous, constantly slipping, huge difference in handling in the wet.

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Well I'd identify with the latter. I mean, I am mechanically minded and generally do all my own maintenance and repairs but I would not notice one blind bit of difference between the cheapest and most expensive tyre if I were to drive them. The only thing I might pick up on is road noise differences.

As I said, someone who drives very hard might notice differences in handling etc but my opinion is that for the normal shopping run A-B driver, it wouldn't matter a damn as the driving isn't hard.

Now I do appreciate that stopping differences are almost certainly affected. But is this differnence only marginal or glaring?

I think you would notice, but it might be too late.
Ive read of chinese brands who make some good tyres, but after a few cheap brands in the past, Id rather go for a part worn (any part worn) in a better make.
Stopping distances and handling in the wet, would be significantly affected.
Im not as inclined to think the dry performance is so different from my experience, but the wet performance was hugely so.
If you were taking it handy and were driving like an old dear, then I think there wouldnt be as much risk, but really a better tyre will improve better there also.

allinthehead

I just changed the two back tyres that came with the car acceleras to good year asymmetric 2 and the difference is huge. I had to tip toe around roundabouts in the acceleras, grip in the wet was very poor.
Just to add expensive doesn't automatically mean it's a good tyre.

CliCliW

Tea 1000 wrote: »

Nope, often the opposite, some cheap muck lasts a long time. Hard compound.

cerastes wrote: »

Someone got to it before me, hard compounds, terrible grip, I had some, they were quite ok in the dry, in the wet, horrendous, constantly slipping, huge difference in handling in the wet.

Aaah, fair enough, I tend to only half follow what he's saying when he starts talking about this kind of thing! He's currently on a job bridge scheme fitting and tracking tyres etc so I think he'll be interested in this thread, I'm going to be showing it to him

kyote00

Cheaper tyres 'tend' to be harder, last longer usually by giving less grip....

In Ireland, a good rain tyre is all that is needed (IMHO) - never really understood the need for 'winter' tyres unless you are ascending the Alps on a regular basis... but each to his own...

To be fair, the labelling of tyres is much better now and fairly easy to pick a good one...

mickdw

I wouldnt put any faith in the labelling at all.
I'd go on experience and with recognised brands

5W30

Have a set of Kendas on my current car (don't blame me, they came with the car). Absolutely horrible tyres, especially in the wet.

I used to have Hankook tyres on my old car and I completely lost confidence in fast cornering with the Kendas from my first day of driving in the wet. Useless tyres.

Waiting to wear these down a bit and then will switch to bigger alloys and better brand tyres.

mullingar

Never ever cheap out on tyres, braking distance greatly reduces with premium tyres.

If you are buying new, look at the wet rating, A-H. At 60 mph to an emergency dead stop, roughly each letter increase equates to 1 full car length longer to stop.

5W30

mullingar wrote: »

Never ever cheap out on tyres, braking distance greatly reduces with premium tyres.

If you are buying new, look at the wet rating, A-H. At 60 mph to an emergency dead stop, roughly each letter increase equates to 1 full car length longer to stop.

Simplest test is to drive in an underground car park on a wet day. I find cheap tyres will understeer heavily while turning on these painted ground surfaces.

cerastes

CliCliW wrote: »

Aaah, fair enough, I tend to only half follow what he's saying when he starts talking about this kind of thing! He's currently on a job bridge scheme fitting and tracking tyres etc so I think he'll be interested in this thread, I'm going to be showing it to him

Took me ages to wear down one set I had, Id go for part worns over any cheap chinese brand Id come across previously or even a cheaper good brand, but Id still try and review what Im getting, which is what I dont like about tyre installer places, you're basically accepting what they have without having the opportunity to review it yourself previously (online).

Toyotafanboi

i will say this; i have four three "Daytona" brand tyres on the Celica and one Conti. they look premium on the eye with an expensive looking sidewall and sensible looking thread cut pattern but they are beyond ****.

they are Romanian remoulds.

on a wet motorway, even the slightest deviation from straight ahead is positively nerve wracking at 100km/h.
roundabouts over 50km/h in the wet would result in sending the car into a spin.
plant your foot in 3rd gear at 50km/h in the wet and you can often spin the wheels.
anything other than a feather touch on the brakes in the wet and the ABS is coming on.

they are great in the dry and great craic in the wet :pac:

i like to think i have some sense of awareness of how the car is and isn't planted on the road so i am tolerating them as the Celica has bled me dry enough as it is, but buying 4 premium parts worns is probably next on the list after i tax it.

i bought the wheels with those tyres on them from another Celica from a breakers yard and it's very easy to understand how the car they were fitted to had been in a considerable accident.

Nichard Dixon

The tyre only makes a difference when you want to stop quickly. That isn't very often, cars have good crumple zones, medical treatment has improved, and nobody lives forever, so save the few Euro for something important.

Toyotafanboi

Nichard Dixon wrote: »

The tyre only makes a difference when you want to stop quickly. That isn't very often, cars have good crumple zones, medical treatment has improved, and nobody lives forever, so save the few Euro for something important.

what could be more important that not seriously injuring or killing yourself or damaging or writing off the second biggest purchase you will ever make.

5W30

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

what could be more important that not seriously injuring or killing yourself or damaging or writing off the second biggest purchase you will ever make.

Shuure it's grand, the parents of the child he runs over can have another one.

Nichard Dixon

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

what could be more important that not seriously injuring or killing yourself or damaging or writing off the second biggest purchase you will ever make.

The right brand of jeans or shirt, so you will look nice and impress yuppies.

C.K Dexter Haven

There can be very little between cheaper tyres and more expensive/branded tyres in dry condition tests for stopping distance, but huge differences in wet condition stopping distance tests.

That, and road noise, are the two aspects that I research closely when choosing new tyres for my car.

Tommyboy40

Difference in stopping distance between an A rated tyre and an F rated tyre in the dry is 18 meters. You work it out! Even my old W124 wears Pirellis. Cheap tyres should be banned as the tyre is your only connection with the road. If you carry kids, are they worth the extra few bob for a decent set?

CJhaughey

4 contact patches the size of your hand are all that is holding you to the road.
The rubber you choose better be good.
It's all very well giving supposedly funny answers like
*The tyre only makes a difference when you want to stop quickly. That isn't very often, cars have good crumple zones, medical treatment has improved, and nobody lives forever, so save the few Euro for something important*

But when you are in a wheelchair and relying on someone else to wipe your arse because your crap tyres failed when you needed them to grip.
It won't be half as funny I can assure you of that.
You can skimp on some things, tyres are not one of them.

serious3

witnessed first hand 2 weeks ago what cheap tyres do, i was following a 2008 subaru diesel at about 80kmh on a wet connemara road, went passed a property where a small bit of water runs across the road, and next thing its spun around and smacked nose first into the crash barrier on the other side of the road, she didn't even have time to brake or anything. she was very shook up and could not understand what happened, i looked at the tyres and lo and behold..... they were triangles....... worse again she's a doctor and could well afford proper tyres.

BrowmThomas

A guy once said to me "the tyres are the only part of the car that touch the road, so buy good ones"!

I bought new Michelin ones....honestly, I don't know if they are better than cheaper ones or not �� (sorry all the girls who are annoyed at me admitting that ☺)

Roger Mellie Man on the Telly

I emptied my paycheque on 4 Pilot Supersports.

Weirdly they seem to grip more as you turn harder into a corner. They're awesome!

316

People need to educate themselves on tyres, people going beyond the limit of their tyres and blaming the tyre then.

Pops_20

In my experience, tyres make a huge difference, if you know how to look out for the differences.

I had two Infinitys on the back of my car recently (Chinese brand). There was an awful awful whirring noise resonating through the car. I thought it was a wheel bearing at first. Swapped both tyres and the noise disappeared.

Also for handling I find they do make a difference. Never had a serious slip or spin in the wet, but having good tyres just gives you that bit of confidence when you're pushing it through a corner.

I've been using Firestone TZ300a for the last few years. Mid range price tag but always find they very good in the wet.

Sh1tbag OToole

When I first saw an Infinity tyre I saw a label on it that said Shandon and I thought they were made or at least labeled by some crowd in Cork but on further inspection it actually said Shandong Linglong

Skatedude

Watch this before buying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_j-2W2uZ8c

Nichard Dixon

CJhaughey wrote: »

4 contact patches the size of your hand are all that is holding you to the road.
The rubber you choose better be good.
It's all very well giving supposedly funny answers like
*The tyre only makes a difference when you want to stop quickly. That isn't very often, cars have good crumple zones, medical treatment has improved, and nobody lives forever, so save the few Euro for something important*

But when you are in a wheelchair and relying on someone else to wipe your arse because your crap tyres failed when you needed them to grip.
It won't be half as funny I can assure you of that.
You can skimp on some things, tyres are not one of them.

I wasn't trying to be funny in saying the above, I was attempting irony, perhaps unsuccessfully.

I certainly don't think people should skimp on tyres, they last a long time and the difference in cost is modest compared to the difference in performance.

But this thread id largely pointless, most people who buy crap tyres do not read the motors forum.

Superwofy

Bought the car with 4 new Triangles. I'm watching them peel away and it's only been about four months.

Dry grip is ok. Wet grip is.. well, nonexistent. DON'T cheap out on tires.

rebel.ranter

Check out these two short videos, you don't have to be a techie to understand the results:

http://youtu.be/a_j-2W2uZ8c

http://youtu.be/e2c9Ry0JfMw

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Mc Love

Dealer put on new tyres for me but they were never as good in the wet compared to the F1s i sorted myself.

dar83

I'd say that even the people in here that claim not to be able to notice the difference between Premium and Budget tyres actually can, if they think about a couple of things.

When it's raining, do you drive at a reduced speed to prevent odd car behaviour? Do you go around corners slower than you would in the dry?

On decent tyres for normal day to day driving, you would answer the above questions with a no.

Mc Love

I've noticed with the premium tyre I can go around a corner in the wet at a decent speed as with the budget tyres I had on, I would have had to slow down a lot more as the tyres would lose grip

Special Circumstances

allinthehead wrote: »

I just changed the two back tyres that came with the car acceleras to good year asymmetric 2 and the difference is huge. I had to tip toe around roundabouts in the acceleras, grip in the wet was very poor.
Just to add expensive doesn't automatically mean it's a good tyre.

Had the accelera experience too. Permanent AWD probably masked some of the awfulness but that just meant you were in for a bigger shock when you braked. 4 budget michelins on now and no more random brown pants moments. Michelin energy savers, not even a performance tyre, just a sensible alternative to false economy chinese nylon muck.

James Bond Junior

I have a focus with 4 bridgestones on it and have never felt them lacking in grip. I've been driving an 11 transit the past few days in austone tyres on it. The wheels were spinning in 3rd under normal acceleration in the wet. I was genuinely nervous driving in the rain and pulling out of junctions was near impossible to do anyway quickly. Scary stuff and confirmed my thoughts on budget tyres.

coolisin

Huge difference, I have gotten ripped off once never again.
And I was never exploring how fast I could go around a corner, it was at slow speeds you'd notice a loss in grip.
They where only on the front.
I'd a set of vredistains on the back.

Never again and it was only tipping around Dublin 60kph driving.

Lack of grip on roundabouts was shocking and scary.

antodeco

I used to put eagle f1s on the car. Fantastic grip (I've needed it a few times) but wore very quickly. I can't remember what I have on now, I think they're Dunlop's, and the grip on them is also fantastic. I had the misfortune of driving with cheaper tyres before and nearly lost it a few times!

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

sunnysoutheast

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Surely the reduction in wet stopping distance is even more important in start/stop heavy traffic as it lowers the risk of going into the back of somebody else?

The increase in premium from an at-fault accident would more than wipe out any savings from cheap tyres.

Don't skimp on oil, tyres, brakes and contraceptives would be my motto :pac:

Dord

A few weeks ago when it was quite wet, I noticed a good few cars (of all sizes) having trouble. Wheels were spinning at the traffic lights when they pulled away. These weren't powerful cars and I couldn't hear that they were putting a lot of power down either. One of them was a Toyota Aygo FFS!

I've got Dunlop Street Response 2 on my Panda. They've been great so far. Lots of grip in wet and dry. Now, they weren't 40 quid for a set but they didn't break the bank either.

H3llR4iser

Dord wrote: »

A few weeks ago when it was quite wet, I noticed a good few cars (of all sizes) having trouble. Wheels were spinning at the traffic lights when they pulled away. These weren't powerful cars and I couldn't hear that they were putting a lot of power down either. One of them was a Toyota Aygo FFS!

I've got Dunlop Street Response 2 on my Panda. They've been great so far. Lots of grip in wet and dry. Now, they weren't 40 quid for a set but they didn't break the bank either.

Because everyone in Ireland drive on cr@ppy Chinese rubber, quite simply. Take a look around, you'll easily spot even fairly upmarket cars with stuff like "Sunew" underneath. People go to tire shops and ask for the cheapest stuff they have, and shops only stock that.

Second hand car sellers are also to blame - every single time somebody at work showed me some car they bought, I looked at the tires and they were the cheapest possible. And the owner(s) see me inspecting them and go, full of pride, "oh yeah, I got the seller to put new tires before taking it!"

316

Going to reputable tyre shops that stock good quality brands of tyres is key. Branding every tyre as crap or rubbish that is made in Ching Chong land is incorrect also.

Jesus.

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Well I'd identify with the latter. I mean, I am mechanically minded and generally do all my own maintenance and repairs but I would not notice one blind bit of difference between the cheapest and most expensive tyre if I were to drive them. The only thing I might pick up on is road noise differences. As I said, someone who drives very hard might notice differences in handling etc but my opinion is that for the normal shopping run A-B driver, it wouldn't matter a damn as the driving isn't hard. Now I do appreciate that stopping differences are almost certainly affected. But is this differnence only marginal or glaring?

You're on the money. It won't make a blind bit of difference to a slowish A-B driver. If however you have a decent car and you like to drive her on then you'd be better off getting a decent set.

Jesus.

They rarely do to be fair and if they do its unlikely to be down to not having Premiums on their 10 year old Focus.

mullingar

There is also a big comfort factor with premium brands, all thanks to the sidewalls.

Either way, I blame the tyre fitters for not explaining the differences between the Chinese muck and proper premium as they have zero incentive. To make it worse, the profit margin on premiums is worse than the Chinese crap so they will push the buyer towards the linglongs