Cheap tyres - good tyres. Much difference on the road??

I work in a garage that sells tyres, and have witnessed many an 'old shed' have a set of winruns, autogrips or any other 'budget' tyre fitted to it.

I can assure you they are all crap! And have no place fitted to you're R26!

Get some decent rubber on there mate and you'll notice the difference for sure.

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Why do you think they call them "Ditch finders" ?

 

I have from cars in the past. In the dry the cheap tyres seen to be ok under normal driving conditions. In the wet I'd always be a bit unsure.

Having good branded tyres gives confidence in the wet and you know in the back of your mind you're more likely to be safe (traction, stopping distances).

You don't have to stretch out to the top of the line Conti's or Michelin's etc but perhaps a set of branded and well rated tyres would be better than your current setup.

 

When i bought my Megane it had 3 illegal tyres, i put some cheap (£50 each) tyres on to use for a month or so and
to get it through the MOT, i was very surprised how well they were when a group of us had a very spirited drive around the back roads of Cornwall, i did take them off and fitted NS2r's but they are still in the workshop ready to go back on

 

Mark
Uniroyal 3's are epic in the wet, i have done a track day on them and will do again, in the dry they do over heat on track but i think you will struggle to really abuse them on the road, give them a go they are worth it

 

They are good in the dry on the road, dry track work is too much for them, in the wet you will never use anything else again

 

Chinese Ditch Seeking Missiles

 

I had autogrip tyres on my mk3 when I bought it and I've just fitted Michelins due to everyone hyping on about how good they are! Verdict?..although I like to think they're better and I've not wasted my money, in reality I can't tell any real difference even when pushing it. You'd have to be driving like an idiot on the road to tell any difference.

 

I had these on a little Merc I purchased to go behind the motorhome. That well known make "Happygallop" seemed to drive ok but probably total shite. Gave the car back a few days later to change for another. Probably best to get some good quality tyres....might save your life one day.

 

Still got Rapid p609 budgets on mine nearly two years after I bought it. I'll get some better tyres when I change but they are performing fine on the road, so reluctant to ditch new tyres. Even the first day I got it, being used to low sportscars, the speed caught me out approaching a roundabout on a wet road and I had that "...oh crap" feeling and didn't think I'd stop but car pulled up fine, and I was very surprised by the tyre performance given they cost less than my MTB tyres!! I am hoping they wear out quick but it doesn't look like it. Cambelt before new tyres for me though.

 

interesting reading if this helps
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Winrun/R330.htm

I guess I must be a bit of a tyre snob. there is no way on earth I will put anything but the best available on my motorbike...I guess I use that view/mentality on the car as well (probably wasting a lot of money as well)

 

Just replaced all 6 tyres on the motorhome. They are massive compared to car tyres. Hardly used but some minor cracking on the sidewalls. Top of the range michelin....ouch. don't want to be one of those guys at the side of the road with a blowout. Had to be done.

 

Years ago we never used to worry in the slightest what tyes where on the hot hatches of the day.
I has a mk1 xr2 with 3 different brands on it,including remoulds!

And yet i never had a accident,or remembered wayward handling.
My van had chinese tyres on it,and again i never once thought`fk these are dangerous`

But in saying that i never fit anything but the very best to my R26.

The biggest difference is defiantly wet grip between cheap and premium.
Your stopping distance will also be massively increased.

It is amazing how many people you see with family cars on chinese tyres, with woman driving.
I would never put cheap tyres on my family car.

 

On the x5m they are 350 a corner. I don't think I can get cheap tyres even if I wanted to...deep joy

 

yep i have seen woman rolling in with mpv`s packed with kids ,with fkn tyres down to the canvas!

 

Why do the chinese insist on these ridiculous names for tyres?..Landsale,goodride,linglong,happygalop.
My mates crappy leon he bought for a donar engine for his mk2 golf ,came with tyres that just had a email address on the side!

 

for me the problem with these cheaper tyres is they are an unknown quality. some may be very good but some may be awful...you just dont know. and how consistent is their build quality. I tend to steer clear of anything with a dodgy name. but I am happy with Nankai and Toyo which a few years ago i would not have considered

 

Maybe some sort of poll for tyres that are popular on here should be created whereby we can all give them a dry and wet rating for example would be better than there repeat types of posts? Dunno how much work that involves?

 

Or just goto a tyre review website that already has it all

 

I run rainsport 3 on mine for road use and wet track day, no good in the dry on track tho.

 

I think he is referring to what rs owners think regarding different tyres...typically those people on the tyre review sites that review the chinese tyre "imaluckychapbuyingthisshitecheapcraptyreforfookall" are always going to say they are fab because they have spent 20 quid a corner on them and may not be a fair reflection on the tyre capabilities for a typical rs driver

 

its all very subjective anyway...

I know people rave about michelin pilot sport 4 tyres on here
I've got michelin pilot super sport tyres on the m5 and they are not great in my opinion as they break traction all the time, but they are the only tyres I have used on it and the 560hp doesnt help

 

yep..i had f1 assy 2 on my R26 for a while and hated them..car lost a lot of turn in sharpness.
I have PS4 now...for all weather fast road driving..i dont think you can buy better.
I dont hear a bad word about Yoki ADO8R`s though...obviously not as good in the wet,but with stiffer sidewalls,epic in the dry on the road ,and occasional track.

 

Does not stop the same type of post appearing all the time tho does it.......
and to a certain extent I understand that people want the opinion of the tyre on the same car as they own.

 

With budget tyres I've found that on day to day road use, driving 5-6/10ths most of the time and on roads you know well, you'll never have a problem and they'll be absolutely fine. The problem is when you need them to work, they probably won't.

I have a Volvo 850 T5 which came on a triangle talon sports all round, they were fine most of the time, it's a fairly powerful car and the chassis is terrible so you do rely on the tyres to have fun in it but they had plenty of grip and drove fairly well it's an old Volvo everyone says "it'll be right". Then when it rained it would spin up the wheels in 4th gear doing 40-50mph and any slight bend was like driving on ice, when it was cold you had to take roundabouts at no more than 15mph because the thing would just go straight forwards. Normal road temperatures they were good/great!

I also bought a Mk4 Toyota Supra off a chap who daily'd it for about 11 years and never drove it hard in his entire life, came with a set of Primewells all round fitted to it. Again day to day and going for spirited drives was fine, it even did a reasonable time down the drag strip at Santa Pod for a standard car and a driver who'd never been down a drag strip in his life. But the day came where the anti-slip control was off and there was a right hand bend with a give way say about 10 yards after it with a car sat at the junction, squeeze the brakes a little harder than normal and the thing began to lock up various wheels even though there was no sign and really I wasn't slowing down that quickly (not for the fastest stopping car of it's era anyway).

Anyway long story short... budgets are fine most of the time, but you probably don't realise you're actually at the limit of their grip when you're only driving at half mast so push that little bit further and they just give up, which if in an emergency brake or heavy downpour when tyres are being pushed is not ideal!

I have to say "HappyGallop" made me giggle