Just going to put two new tyres on our Golf (GT TDi). It's got Continentals on at the moment but having looked at the prices on the Black Circles website I'm starting to wonder whether I should try a pair of the lesser known makes. Continentals will cost about £100 each delivered while a pair of Nexen would cost nearly half that.
The car is 90% of the time used for trips to school and as such isn't thrown around the place.

Anybody gone from big brand names to cheaper alternatives and regretted it?

there's loads of peer review site around

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/

I've just put a set of lesser known brand tyres on my Seat Leon, same engine and chassis etc as your car. Had a set of Continental Sportcontacts and Pirelli P7's (I think) before that. I have to say it hasn't really a huge difference, certainly not enough to justify the price hike from big brand names. I don't tend to throw my car around too much as I get to do that at work. The lesser known brand were recommended to me by a mechanic/weekend racer friend but I can't remember the name I'm afraid. Try and check some of the reviews or get a recommendation from someone as there are some truly shocking cheap brand tyres.

I got Avon ZV3 fitted, really impressed with them.

The Nexen's on the front of our car are shite compared to the bridgestones it used to have. When we replace these I think I may look for something better.

Actually it was these I had put on I think – Falken FK452

While I'm happy to run lesser tyres on my car, I'm not happy to do that on my wifes'. Therefore she's on Michelins.

And if you are having to ask the question…

Barum are Continentals budget range
Rapid fit centres have Armstrongs which are made by Pirelli as are Kwik fit's Ceats.
Hankook's can be had fairly cheaply and come as oem on some VW's and Ford's
Khumo's come as oem on certain Merc's
All of which are cheaper than the big brands but are not bad if your on a budget, they tend to be older patterns from the big boys, and use slighlty different rubber compounds.
Budget tyres arn't as bad as they used to be, and for the school run and pootling around town will serve you fine.

i had a pair of substantially reduced Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3s put on the passat and whilst impressive on the corners they failed on straight line/pulling away, just didn't cope well with the torque from a big turbo'd diesel, they were a waste of money.

they looked cool though 8)

Car tyres – big brand names worth the extra cost?

Or to paraphrase – car tyres – are my kids lives worth the extra cost?

You spent thousands on abs, tcs, airbags, child seats, shatterproof glass,…. and want to save £50 on the single most important thing on the car (apart from you of course).

Realistically – good tyres make a marginal difference. In particular circumstances they will help you stop a few meters shorter or get around a hazard without spinning, or save you some mpg, or be quieter, or less puncture prone etc.

Also note that when it comes to sell your car – one that's got cheap tyres just screams out: cheapskate and begs the questions – what other servicing / consumables has he skimped on?

btw – this is of course tongue in cheek but after I spent 9 days in hospital after an accident directly related to a brand new cheap motorbike tyre I'd never go there again.

Have you tried: http://www.etyres.co.uk/ (turn off your sound first)

Also check that the speed rating of the new tyres is the same or higher than your existing tyres. If you fit a tyre with a lower speed rating than was fitted by the manufacturer then IIRC you can void your insurance.

From personal experience I have used 'fancy tyres' i.e. Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3, Avon ZZ3 and Toyo Proxies T1s, and several cheaper brands including cheapy mud and snow tyres and cheapy V pattern tyres. They wore quite fast but they are 'sport tyres' so soft compound to be expected.

In the dry I didn't really notice a difference unless driving hard, but in the wet the better tyres did grip noticably better.

I've had some budget tyres that I literally had to swap because they were terrifying in the wet. Budget turned out to be not so budget.

we've got some cheap nasty things from china on right now. They'll be swapped out for some branded stuff very soon!!!!

I've used Kumho & Yokohama before, Yokos in particular were good tyres, better for grip than the michelins they replaced.

Brand name tyres will generally be better for noise & ride comfort than some of the cheaper brands.

Toyo Proxes T1-Rs lasted 30k on the front wheels of my Puma, prefer them to the Bridgestone I got now – similar price though. I think these are 60 quid fitted and don't think cheap ones would save much really once fitted – 20 quid saving each maybe?

Or to paraphrase – car tyres – are my kids lives worth the extra cost?
You spent thousands on abs, tcs, airbags, child seats, shatterproof glass,…. and want to save £50 on the single most important thing on the car (apart from you of course).

Sorry, but that's hysterical bullsiht.

They will have been made to exactly the same safety standards as any other tyre and will be no more likely to fail in any way at all
The best way to make sure your tyres are safe us to check the pressures every day. That's what police motorcyclists do, and how many people do you see driving round with an under inflated tyre? Lots! That's a sure fire way if getting a blowout, in case you didn't know…..

Sorry, but that's hysterical bullsiht.

They will have been made to exactly the same safety standards as any other tyre and will be no more likely to fail in any way at all

Right, obviously you've never driven some on the sh1t that is pedalled around. A few years ago we were 'forced' to use Dunlops on our company cars, I had a 2.5 V6 auto Vectra, I'd be lucky to see 9k out of the fronts. They just fell apart.

It can work the other way round too.

I changed my expensive 'make' to a so-called budget tyre on the recommendation of the retailer (Tyrespot – very big distributor apparently) as they were made by the same factory that produces Bridgestones.

Absolutely transformed the handling and feel of the car for the better, in the wet and dry.

Sorry, but that's hysterical bullsiht.

To be fair I think the truth lies somewhere in between, some 'budget' tyres will be fine. When I got my car it had Ling Long tyres on the back, they made it handle like a sack of ****. They may have passed 'some kind' of safety standard but I kept them for about 6 weeks and got some Bridgestones instead when I had to get the front done. The difference in handling was significant.

I tend to stick reasonable priced 'performance' tyres on my car, not too expensive when you run small diameter higher profile tyres. Cheap tyres work fine but IME they can suffer from very poor performance in the cold and wet. I do all my own work on vehicles so spend a small part of what I save on grippy tyres.

Down to earth driving both me and the wife have gone from Michelins to Prestivo's

Almost half the price and sorry I cannot tell the differance

mind I do drive a Picasso 😳

The premium brands are that for a reason, premium quality. not just in grip, but comfort and especially noise. I have lost count of the number of cars that i have checked for various bearing noises, only to find cheap tyres to be the cause! Try telling a customer that the tyres they recently had fitted are the cause of the noise! I personaly use Kumho's on my car as they are middle ground quality and i hate spending money on cars and parts. Do you use cheap tyres on your bikes? probably not!

As above, you wouldn't even think about cheap tyres on the bike so why on a car, i won't skimp on such a crucial part

buy cheap, buy twice.

yes I do hear what you are saying but honestly I cannot tell the differance but I do drive the Picasso in a way it is designed, and the wife drives a 306 estate

lets be honest the picasso does have a 90hp diesel engine at the front and it is hardly a er performance car

but it does do 50mpg 😀

I've got some Toyo Proxes CF1's on my rover estate. they're definitely better than both the Michelin energy's and Pirelli p7's I'd previously used. They're 195/65/15 and were £50 a corner. Bargain imo.

If you want to keep the fuel economy, something like michelins will be slightly better in the long run than cheapies. The cheapies generally have higher rolling resistance, so take more power to achieve the same goal. Its only very slight, but over time, every little helps! You only have to fit one cheapie to a car to make it pull to one side, which shows they must have more drag. And no. i'm not a tyre rep!!

I try and buy decent tyres but think some prices are a tad excessive. After a bit of review research we had fitted to the wifes family mobil some Falken ZE912 these have proved to be excellent tyres so far and only around £55 a corner approx.

I have just bought a car a Pug 307 on the back some nice Michelin Primacy but it needed tyres on the front pre delivery so dealer fitted some brand i've never heard of Capitol???. Not keen on budget jobs but am willing to see how they go……hopefully not off the road in the rain lol.

Millenium tyres here. Fitted at a local tyre place of old, in Surbiton, done loads of miles, no wear to worry about. Cheap, cheerful, cool!

in my experience forget any of the summer tyres, its the uk, it rains a lot (and even snows a lot this year) get a tire with lots of grooves and less big flat sections if you want it to be reliable in the wet (and somewhat capable in the snow) which is probably when its most important that you have decent grip. Summer tires must be useless with any sort of standing water but folk will but them cause the look good. They might look nicer but unless your still in your teens that should be the least important factor.

If you want to keep the fuel economy, something like michelins will be slightly better in the long run than cheapies. The cheapies generally have higher rolling resistance, so take more power to achieve the same goal. Its only very slight, but over time, every little helps! You only have to fit one cheapie to a car to make it pull to one side, which shows they must have more drag. And no. i'm not a tyre rep!!

Surely more rolling resistance = more grip 😉

I would second the Barums they are half the price of premium tyres and are made by Continental. That said I put some cheap tyres on the front of my last car and they were crap (spun out on a 90 bhp C5 at the slightest hint of rain)

something to add.when you take any old tyres that are coming to the end of there life and replace them with spanking deep treaded new ones it will always be a "transformation" to some extent from the old worn out crap you had before.i think this is what some (not all) may well have experinced that has "transformed" there cars handling.

p.s. all taxis tend to run on cheap tat tyres usually but then they just drive round town mainly.

There the only thing that connect you with the road, so its not worth cutting corners on them, when a schwalbe tire for your bike cost £45 plus, whats £100 for a tire for your car when your safety is at risk!!!!!

JDboy the manufacturers are taking the p!ss with bike parts. That is how you can buy 4 large brake pads (that stop 2 tonnes of car doing 70 mp/h) for your car for the same cash as 2 tiny pads for your bike(that stop 130 kg of bike/rider doing 30 mp/h).you cannot compare the two.

Continental Sport contact2. On teh same car as OP. Fitted for £73 each. YOu need to order them on Kwik-Fit on line. but it saves £40 a corner.

Barum are Continentals budget range

And they're effing aweful in anything but the dry.

Personally I always saved cash on tyres by buying mid-range or budget, then I started taking notice of how the car handled in more detail and how it coped when I needed to stop quickly (dogs running out, occasional over-zealous cornering with traffic stopped round the corner) and they react far less well in the wet than more expensive tyres, but even expensive tyres can be poor – you need to find the correct tyre, not the correct brand. The ones I have on my daily driver at the moment are uniroyal rainsports and they are by far the best tyre I've had on a car for all conditions. They grip little different in the rain to the dry and are entirely predictable if they do slip, even in slipping is only in rare cases and emergencies that is specifically when you'd want the best grip.

In 185/55/15s
£30 a corner gets you plasticy cheap budget tyres
£50 a corner gets you good tyres
£100 a corner gets you a name

In 215/40/17s
£40 gets you cheap plastic
£60 gets you a decent tyre, good all round
£90 gets you a bit more grip in the dry
£115 gets you a name. Or semi slicks for dry fun 🙂

I tend to go for a named brand – we've got a vw sharan and that came with some really shonky tyres on it that did just fall apart, plenty of tread but cracked / rubber broke up enough that the tyre was completely flat after being left on the driveway over night – I'm glad that it didn't do it with a car full of family at 70+ on the motorway. 8O. Now I've put the recommended one on and no problems.

Budget tyres may be fine for running around on but you only need them to perform beyond their capabilities in an emergency.

A few years ago my misses ran in to the back of somebody when they stopped suddenly (luckily no-one hurt but car a right off), but that car had needed its tyres changing (not much tread + not great brand) and I'd been putting it off – now I always wonder if she'd have had that crash if the tyres had been new.

Continental Sport contact2. On teh same car as OP. Fitted for £73 each. YOu need to order them on Kwik-Fit on line. but it saves £40 a corner.

Not any more. Now £105 a corner. 🙁

Not read all the thread but my experiences:

I've had some budget tyres that I literally had to swap because they were terrifying in the wet

I've had similar to that on my 206 – fine in the dry but just awful in the wet.

But other than the very cheapest tyres, I've never had any issue with the non-well-known-brand middle of the price range tyres compared to the similar range branded ones. Nowadays I buy whatever's good value/on offer but avoid the very cheapest ones.

It's not about the brand per se, it's about the individual tyre. Have a look on the Autoexpress web site, in their recent tyre test, the worst performer was a Pirelli. Some budget tyres are pretty good, some are slippy and awful, particularly in the wet.

Do some research, grit your teeth and have a look on relevant owners' forums to get a idea of what suits the car and then shop around on line for a good deal and don't forget to factor in the price of fitting if it's not included.