Tired of Tyres

[blondchaser]

This week is the second time in 5 yrs my car has failed the MOT on tyres. The car is 9 yrs old and just turned 50,000mls, with good tread on the tyres.  The first set to fail were Miches (no surprise there) and the current set are Vredestein, as recommended by the tyre depot.

Apparently, modern tyres have a relatively short casing life and cracking and degradation occurs.

So, if you want to run the tread off your tyres you must do this by high mileage over a relatively short time period.  The owner of the local tyre depot says nearly all manufacturers have this problem.

Most of my motoring life I have fitted tyres up to the maximum I could afford, being well known brands.

So, now the question is, do I fit cheap tyres (mid range) and dump them when this problem raises it's ugly head or continue to fit expensive tyres and take the loss of mileage on the chin???

I won't be towing the van very much from now on, and only on relatively short journeys.

[Guest]

You must obviously do what feel is right for you but I will say that I have usually fitted known brands at replacement time, and if possible either chosen identical tyres to those fitted as original equipment, or higher spec ones. Generally I have had all tyres replaced at the same time because of wear, the exception being those on the boat trailer that had got old with little use, or the occasional cut or punctured tyre on other vehicles. Your closing comment about not towing, or only driving short journeys, I believe is irrelevant as all tyres should be able to cope with the full original design spec for the vehicle / trailer regardless of how you intend to use them.

Gordon. 

[rutlandwarrior]

Must say have been driving now for 40 years and have never given tyres a second thought by which I mean when worn out or fail mot I just buy mid range tyres and off I go. I have never come across mot fail by anything other than tread wear and I don't do a lot of milage (5000) so I have either been lucky or you have been unlucky. 

[Borussia 1900]

Tyres are the most important safety item on any car, whether its a Ferrari or a Fiat, the most expensive tyres are the most expensive for a reason, plenty of video's on YouTube showing why.

 

End of the day though, you pay your money and make your choice.

[AlwynMike]

I got out my old MG at the weekend - it has been lying in the garage neglected for about 5 years.

Not too much trouble getting the old lady going once I had drained the stale petrol out and used some mower petrol! Then the clutch had rusted to the flywheel, so I had to take it out and be a bit savage with the transmission. Luckily it is easy to do clutchless gearchanges on it.

 

After a run out to the pub, I noticed the wheels to be out of balance - nothing unusual after its been standing, but it normally clears after a few miles. So a visit to my tyre man, and yes, they are not quite round any more.

But the condition is tremendous! No cracking or visible defects. Yes, the rubber has probably gone that hard it will last forever. The date code? 405. Yes just 3 digits. We decided on 1995, but then thinking about it further, they must have been made in 1985! Time to change I think ?

Only the problem now is that they don't make my size tyre with the speed rating I want (V, up to 149mph), so I'll have to downgrade to an H rating for up to 130mph. The original tyres fitted to the car are H, and I probably won't be doing much over 130mph these days.

It was a towcar too! I towed a Bessacarr 376/2 on a number of occasions with it. It is probably one of the worst towcars ever though! Plenty of power but not much else.

(Sorry - old tablet won't let me resize pic)

[rutlandwarrior]

54 minutes ago, Borussia 1900 said:

Tyres are the most important safety item on any car, whether its a Ferrari or a Fiat, the most expensive tyres are the most expensive for a reason, plenty of video's on YouTube showing why.

 

End of the day though, you pay your money and make your choice.

I think seat belts airbags and abs come before tyres as more important safety items 

[Borussia 1900]

15 minutes ago, rutlandwarrior said:

I think seat belts airbags and abs come before tyres as more important safety items 

I don't, your car only has 4 tiny areas of contact with the road, everything your brakes, steering, suspension, power delivery want to do can only do so if your tyres can put those requests onto the tarmac.

 

If your tyres are not capable of doing this seatbelts, airbags, abs etc then become necessary. 

[Black Grouse]

32 minutes ago, rutlandwarrior said:

I think seat belts airbags and abs come before tyres as more important safety items 

 

Tyres are your only contact with the ground - once they let go you're just a passenger on the way to an inevitable accident - I'd agree that seat belts and ABS are high on the list after that.

[Paul_B]

I've known advisories due to cracked tyres but never a fail, unless the tyre carcase was visible  

[Griff]

Good tyres are not just about saving the skins of those in the car not having them but also saving the skins of anyone around it when it all goes wrong.

[Woodie106]

have a read of a few tyre review websites - yes they do exist!!

Some of the reviews for the better known manufacturers are shockingly bad, with some reviews for the less well known brands being much better than you'd imagine. 

As said, you takes your pick, but in my opinion most mid range tyres are perfectly adequate for the sort of driving most of us on here will be doing. 

[Alansl]

Yep; whenever I have to change tyres it's because they are cracked but they have loads of tread on them.  It doesn't help that as I work from home the car is sat on a totally exposed south facing drive most of the time and only does around 2000 miles a year.

 

So I go for mid range tyres and have had good sucess with the Nexen brand. They appear to have good grip in the wet/dry and are not too noisy.

[rutlandwarrior]

All tyres sold in uk have to pass certain safety checks so even budget brands are safe. Only time you need super spec tyres are on a race track 

[Paul1957]

I have found that original fit Michelin tyres by the car manufacturer crack about 3 to 4 years old but the same replacements do not. Maybe the car manufacturers tyres are not as good/different quality to the ones we buy - possibly a sales ploy by the tyre suppliers.

 

Our Citroen C5 has Michelins, the originals I replaced when we got it at 4 years old due to cracking (12k miles) and these were replaced with the same type and these are now 7 years old with no signs of cracks after doing 20k miles. We had this on a C3 with Michelins and another with Bridgestones and our C4 is going the same with Michelins at 4 years. None of these have been worn out. Never had any cracking on caravan tyres though and only replaced at 7 years due to age.

[Borussia 1900]

18 minutes ago, rutlandwarrior said:

All tyres sold in uk have to pass certain safety checks so even budget brands are safe. Only time you need super spec tyres are on a race track 

"Safety checks" are a minimum standard, like a 'CE' mark all they show is that a minimum standard has been met, they do NOT  indicate any level of 'quality'. Like I said, you pay your money and take but your choice but as I live in Germany and often drive on the Autobahn at speeds well in excess of what is considered 'normal' in the UK I'd rather have a set of Continentals, Goodyears, Michelins etc fitted than a set of no-name ditch finders.

https://www.directline.com/car-cover/budget-vs-premium-tyres

[Woodie106]

My Shogun had Accentura's fitted when i bought it & i found them to be well able to cope in all conditions - snow, rain, ice sunny etc - so when i had to replace them i went for the same tyre. Been more than happy with the new set as well. Not a very well known brand, but they get good reviews.  There isn't an amazing range of choice in my tyre size as i have 20" alloys. 

To be honest I rarely exceed our national speed limit & a shogun isn't something you tend to want to chuck around corners. 

[Borussia 1900]

1 minute ago, Woodie106 said:

My Shogun had Accentura's fitted when i bought it & i found them to be well able to cope in all conditions - snow, rain, ice sunny etc - so when i had to replace them i went for the same tyre. Been more than happy with the new set as well. Not a very well known brand, but they get good reviews.  There isn't an amazing range of choice in my tyre size as i have 20" alloys. 

To be honest I rarely exceed our national speed limit & a shogun isn't something you tend to want to chuck around corners. 

My Shogun came new with Dunlop AT20 tyres on it, it now has Continental Contact Sport 5 SUV summer tyres on it and in the Winter it has Goodyear Winter tyres on it. You've probably not tried it in the UK Woodie but flat out, downhill with the wind behind it it will just touch 190 km/h. The wife has Continental Summers and Toyo Winters for her Suzuki, I've even got Continental's on my bikes which probably cost more than some folk pay for car tyres, I don't want to be hurtling down a German or Spanish mountain at 50 mph on 25mm of cheap rubbish.

[logiclee]

41 minutes ago, rutlandwarrior said:

All tyres sold in uk have to pass certain safety checks so even budget brands are safe. Only time you need super spec tyres are on a race track 

 

Disagree totally.

 

Many magazines and specialist websites do group tyre tests. Some of the budget tyres are borderline dangerous. The differences in stopping distances and resistance to aquaplaning can be substantial and the difference between an accident or not in an emergency situation.

 

Everyone has their own price point and priorities but the performance difference between budget and premium is sometimes not insubstantial especially for owners of higher power heavier cars that are owned by many contributors to this forum.

Some Ozzy Humour

 

[Woodie106]

14 minutes ago, Borussia 1900 said:

 You've probably not tried it in the UK Woodie but flat out, downhill with the wind behind it it will just touch 190 km/h. I've even got Continental's on my bikes which probably cost more than some folk pay for car tyres, I don't want to be hurtling down a German or Spanish mountain at 50 mph on 25mm of cheap rubbish.

You are correct - i've never had it up to 190kph (120mph) - i did hit 80 once - honest it was just the once.... 

I also have continentals on my bike, though i must admit thats because they were on it when i bought it. 

[macafee2]

7 hours ago, rutlandwarrior said:

I think seat belts airbags and abs come before tyres as more important safety items 

how often do you use either your abs or airbags?

how often do you use your brakes and tyres?

 

what about seatbelts, where do they come in the top 10 of safety features

macafee2

 

[Fireman Iain]

As a lifelong motorcyclist I’m very, very aware of the difference in feel and grip between tyres on my bikes. It’s difficult to buy anything but ‘premium’ bike tyres from most good retailers. For good reason. 

 

I carry  the same philosophy over to the cars, they’ll never have anything but top brand tyres fitted. And I'm a bit obsessive about checking their condition too, even if modern pressure sensors have eliminated the need for a weekly pressure check. 

 

As others have said the difference in cornering, braking and wet grip can be staggering between premium tyres and Chinese cheapos. The higher spec tyres are generally good for far more miles too.

 

Even if premium tyres are more than double the upfront cost, the price difference over the life of a set of tyres is so small that I can’t understand anybody scrimping on them. They are your only contact with the road. 

[svimes]

I've had premium, mid range and budget tyres. Not found any appreciable difference in grip that corresponds to price.

 

I go on reviews and ratings. Many of the premium brands are made in the far East. As with everything, price tells you something about quality but also something about marketing and snobbery. With a safety item people are very reluctant to shift.

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, Fireman Iain said:

As a lifelong motorcyclist I’m very, very aware of the difference in feel and grip between tyres on my bikes. It’s difficult to buy anything but ‘premium’ bike tyres from most good retailers. For good reason. 

 

I carry  the same philosophy over to the cars, they’ll never have anything but top brand tyres fitted. And I'm a bit obsessive about checking their condition too, even if modern pressure sensors have eliminated the need for a weekly pressure check. 

 

As others have said the difference in cornering, braking and wet grip can be staggering between premium tyres and Chinese cheapos. The higher spec tyres are generally good for far more miles too.

 

Even if premium tyres are more than double the upfront cost, the price difference over the life of a set of tyres is so small that I can’t understand anybody scrimping on them. They are your only contact with the road. 

Absolutely bang on… years ago on plastic Yokohama tyres, is a world apart from modern tyres on bikes, and anyone who has ridden bikes will agree that the experience only adds to their overall driving knowledge (and hopefully ability...)

[Mr Plodd]

Purely an observation.

 

I needed a couple of tyres for my car a couple of months ago. 225 45 ZR x 19 so not small. 

 

I did a bit of research and found the following info across most sites.

 

Kumho, decent price Wet grip “A” rated.

Continental, more than twice the price of Kumho, wet grip rating? “C”!! (Most of the other “premium” makes were also “C” rated, which I found amazing) 

 

The Continentals were rated quieter and slightly lower rolling resistance so marginally better full consumption. 

 

I went for the Kumho’s If it comes down to it I want to be able to STOP! 

 

Having ridden bikes for the police as well as driven cars I would fully endorse the comments in respect of bike tyres, buy the best and only ever the best. Car tyres? Over 30 years I did notice slight differences in tyre performance over the various makes when fitted to identical cars, but it was never anything other than marginal, and I was SERIOUSLY using the tyres performance a lot of the time. Having said that they were always premium makes. 

 

I would NEVER buy tyres at the bottom end of the market, but equally, from my own extensive first hand experience, neither would I buy the most expensive either (see above for the reason why)

 

Andy

 

out of interest just after having the two new Kumho’s fitted I tried REALLY hammering the brakes on a soaking wet road surface at about 60. My car has this fancy “emergency brake assist” facility. I nearly got smacked in the neck by my towbar!! The car just ground itself into the road surface and stopped without drama, the ABS did chatter just a couple of times, but no more. I was VERY impressed with my new tyres!!

[Borussia 1900]

I have had Kumho tyres in the past, a very good mid range tyre they won’t win any overall tests though and obviously they’ve concentrated on wet braking.

If that was my price point I would definitely buy Kumho again.

I’m saying if the market leaders who’ve spent millions on R&D are charging £150 a corner and you can afford those, buy them, if Kumho, Semperit, Nexen etc are charging £100 for their equivalents you can happily fit those but expect slightly inferior performance but please, please, please, for the sake of yourself, your family and other road users, don’t fit 40 quid ditch finders.