I had some Nankangs NS-2’s that were pretty grippy and didn’t seem to be much worse in the wet than other tyres. That was 205/40/17 size. Didn’t last very long and the weak sidewalls meant the wheel got damaged more easily.

Really cheap tyres may also impact on fuel consumption, I fitted some Firestones to a Peugeot 305 many years ago as a set of 4, and the car went from regularly & consistently achieving around 400 miles per tank of diesel to 360 miles/tankful. They were also noisy.

I’ve used & chosen brands such as Yokohama, Toyo, Kumho, Hankook etc over the more obvious brands for a few years, without any real problems – Yoko & Toyo did tend to wear more, but gripped well, can’t have one without the other anyway.

Dunlops seem to always be stupid expensive, Michelins more middle of the road.

My personal hates are Pirelli, had some on a couple of cars and the merest hint of moisture on tarmac would have the wheels spinning pulling away from junctions & lights.

IMO Michelin and Continental make the best tyres.

Michelin Pilot Sport 2s and Continental Sport Contact 3s are the top of the heap IMO. Last well, grip well (PS2s slightly better in dry, CSC 3s better in wet), comfortable, not too noisy.

Pirelli and Bridgestone used to make good tyres but have completely lost their way.

I’ve tried many varieties of car tyres over the years, since I normally knock off 30k miles a year or so.

Definitely agree with much of the above – you get what you pay for with cheap tyres and some are positively dangerous.
I put some cheap tyres on my car recently as I’m selling it soon, and they are truly terrible.
Even the Mrs complained that she couldn’t stop going downhill, or get going uphill properly in the wet and she’s certainly not a boy racer.

Also agree about Pirelli p6000s – shocking.

The couple of pairs of Maxxis tyres I’ve tried on the car have actually been pretty good and are not overly expensive.

Tyre Test

This is a German site used as a reference by the various tyre manufacturers for ‘real life’ tyre testing from experts and the public alike. It’s pretty comprehensive & a good place to start if you want to see how a tyre actually performs rather than listen to the manufacturer/supplier/fitter all of whom have a vested interest.

It’s interesting to see how many tyres billed as ‘all season’ in the UK are treated as ‘summer’ on the continent.

What do you drive?

I don’t anymore, but I had a mildly tuned ( 😈 ) MR2. Big turbo, Blitz induciton, decat downpipe, straight-through Nur-Spec & HKS SSQV = not a cat in hell’s chance you’re going to hear any tyre noise 😀

Nevertheless, the front end never gave way with the Vredesteins on despite some horrendous weather conditions. It was very rare that the rears let go too, partly due to the Toyo T1Rs and partly due to me not driving like a goon all the time.

Same car was killed on the Edinburgh bypass by unsuitable tyres (Yokohamas again) about 20 minutes after I’d been in the local tyre place to order some proper ones.

” A Ford Ka passed us a little quickly on the outside lane then suddenly spun – clearly aquaplaned. It slammed into the central reservation then bounced back out in front of us.”

Saw a BMW 3 series do this in front on my trusty Alfa one night on a rain lashed M25, followed by two more 3 series pulling over into the hard shoulder to switch drivers from the wife to the hubby.

Agree about Pirelli and Bridgestone – I have just junked two P7000s and two P-Zero Neros, all decent condition, from my recently purchased Alfa GT after it broke away on me on a damp road, Dunlops have always seemed better and now I have Goodyear F1 Eagle Asymmetrics on which seem super grippy and comfortable. £91 a corner fitted at Martin’s Tyres near Woking.

Maxxis tyres are a lot cheaper and may be worth a look…

Goodyear Eagles are very good IMO – don’t last quite as long as the PS2s or CSC3s but grip very well. Oh and they look good too…

On our style people carrier (VW Sharan/Galaxy) you have to watch if they are re-enforced (more like van tyres I think) as well. We bought the card and it had some cheap tyres on it correct rating but not re-enforced and they split (luckily on the drive over night and not at 70+ with a car full of kids).

Tyres are what hold you to the road – don’t skimp.

Nobby – Member
Tyre Test

This is a German site used as a reference by the various tyre manufacturers for ‘real life’ tyre testing from experts and the public alike. It’s pretty comprehensive & a good place to start if you want to see how a tyre actually performs rather than listen to the manufacturer/supplier/fitter all of whom have a vested interest.

It’s interesting to see how many tyres billed as ‘all season’ in the UK are treated as ‘summer’ on the continent.

Woot woot! Nice to see I’m making the right choice with the Alpins then 😀

Oh and they look good too…

😯

Oh and they look good too…

Its not just me then who looks at tread patterns from the rear of cars and thinks mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Phwooaaar look at the tread pattern on this baby…. 😉

The non asymmetrics are sexier though…

I need help…

Yes, yes you do.

Never , ever buy Korean Woosung tyres. They were on an old Sirocco I bought. My God. The worst tyre ever made in the world. They were lethal, you could feel the sidewalls flex on initial turn in , and upping the pressures made them understeer for ever.
I rate Khumo and Hankook as a budget usable tyre. I have some Conti Sports on the Passat at the moment and they appeared to have very flexi sidewalls , off the rims. Michelin have a good reputation , however not all the range of every manufacturer is made in the same country.

Kumho and Avon are cheap & good. Kumho is buiding a good reputation and is OEM on some Mercedes.

I’ve had Falkens on a 5 series 235x45x17, quite good but soft and wear after 15000 miles and as I don’t do loads of miles on this car then its fine.

I have Potenza’s on my Mondano bike transporter (205x50x16) and its great but before was a pile of poop.

I thinks its just how much cash is lying around as everyone would have the best tyres on their car.

Also don’t drive like a nutter/prat.

Many years ago, we had a Galaxy and if I remember correctly, the tyres were more expensive than I was expecting. The reason, I was told, was that they had to have reinforced sidewalls. TBH, I’ve never skimped on tyres and tend to stick with OEM brand etc. Somebody once told me that some manufacturers take the actual tyre compliance etc into consideration when setting up the suspension and chassis etc and tends to perform better. Bullsh1t? I don’t know, but I’ve stuck with OEM and focussed my attention on getting them at a better price rather than switching to a cheaper brand. I’ve had wildly differing quotes in the past with some outlets charging up to £50 more per tyre for a performance tyre (not for a Galaxy though). Worth shopping around for the best price, I reckon, but I wouldn’t personally trade down to cheapos or remoulds – especially when you consider the “cargo” carried by most people carriers.

Christ. More bollocks on here than a bike tyre thread.

And performance tyres on a galaxy? WTF…

Performance tyres not on a Galaxy…..

(i.e. for a different car where the starting price of the tyre was higher than that for a Galaxy tyre)

You should really stick with the manufactures spec for the tyre load and speed. Most people carriers spec a extra load tyre because the high weight and height of the car stress the sidewall more than a standard car. Without the stiffer sidewall they’ll wallow or worse split if over stressed. The xl tyres cost more hence expensive people carrier tyres. Brand is less important but as with anything in this world you get what you pay for.

I had Kumho’s on a Volvo and agree they felt good. Its the only time I’ve had three punctures on a car I’ve owned though. I initially thought it was driving through a industrial estate every week but its not happened since!

Mine came with a pair of horrible ditchfinders on the front, they were very poor. Didn’t take note of the names but none I’d ever heard of. Went with Kumho to replace them, inexpensive rather than cheap I reckon and seem to work well. Mind you it’s only a diesel focus so it’s not like they get tortured or anything but they’ve given me no bother.

Performance tyres not on a Galaxy…..

For £139 each I’d expect performance tyres that help the car park itelf and never wear out whether on a Galaxy, a 911 or a Perodua.

Oh and they do both a 200bhp petrol and a 170bhp diesel – both will need pretty high performance tyres to avoid a premature splat.

I’ve found the Arrowspeed tyres from quickfit to be fine.
They are pretty new but feel fine in the rain and when cornering hard.
I’m sure you do get what you pay for but this whole topic has got a little scaremongery.

Galaxy? Shirley if your picking up/dropping off punters you don’t really need performance tyres?

*Tries again*
I once bought a pair of wide and exotic high performance tyres for a car that was not a Galaxy. By shopping around I saved over £50 per tyre.
I once had a Galaxy. I stuck with the OEM tyres and shopped around for the best price. I saved a bit. But not as much as I saved on the more expensive tyres for the car that wasn’t a Galaxy.
😀

Hora – there is a niche of “performance MPVs” – about as silly as performance SUVs but hey ho, it keeps people happy.

Focus S Max with the ST engine, Zafira VXR, the 200bhp Galaxy, etc, etc. I imagine that like performance SUVs, they need pretty “serious” tyres to make up for the rather daft mix of Noddy Car proportions and large wad of power. I suspect even cooking models need a fair bit of rubber to keep them stuck to the road.

Tinners – ermmm, nope, still not got you there…

Not sure I understand myself any more……. 😉

Not read all of the above, but after 33 years of driving and 50+ cars, I have learnt not to skimp on tyres, after all they are the only contact your vehicle has with the ground! Braking, cornering, power transfer etc.

You may be able to drive around the inadequacies (did I spell that right ?) of a cheap tyre, but in an emergency STOP! you don’t get that option !!!!

Any thoughts on Lassa tyres? We got Impetus revo’s for £55 each, sold as ‘mid-range’.

Been running a set on or car and they seem Ok, however I don’t really have anything to comapre them too, I guess they’re Ok cos they’ve never noticed any major problems, only the fronts seem to be wearing a bit quick. Think we’ll get about 15k miles out of them.

Our VW Sharan (standard 1.9 tdi) takes re-enforced tyres. There were some cheap ones on when we bought it and they were sh!t scary as they fell apart (tread was fine but they sort of separated in between treads).

I feel much happier with the proper ones on and the car drives loads better

Lassa are one of the bigger names in really cheap tyres, Impetus are budget tyres nowhere near mid range.

Many, many years ago I was skint and put a set of budget tyres on a 309GTI to get it through its MOT – it transformed the car, from superb to shit.

Now, I use Avons on my cars, and have done for the last few cars – 18k miles from the last set of rears (535i).

The wife gets Michelins on hers – last set managed 45k miles (4×4).

I get a pair of tyres for the price of one of hers…

Michellin Premacy’s for our Galaxy were £198 each.
After regaining consciousness they offered me some Avons for about £100 each.
(Apparently they are reinforced tyres)
((Because of the car’s weight, not mine)).

They seem to be wearing ok, but are a lot noisier than the Michellins. Grip wise they seem ok, but the Wife doesnt approve of me Tokyo drifting the Galaxy on the school run.

Back in the 80’s I remember replacing the Pirelli P6’s on my XR3i with some cheapos. The fronts lasted a tyre squealingly appalling 8 months. Cue a late night – multi-storey car park wheel swapping meeting with a mate before the MOT.

On a serious note, I had a pair of budget tyres put on my Rover 25 about 18 months back. On the way back from shopping with my two young sons the car had a blow-out & rolled at 60mph. I know it can happen on any car, at any time, but I cant help but think my opting for a cheap brand nearly cost us dearly.

Michellin Premacy’s for our Galaxy were £198 each

😯

I was quoted £200 for Pirelli Scorpions for my XC90 (slow but extremely heavy). Shopping around, I managed to get them for £130ish each inc fitting. Given that I get 35k out of a set, the cost differential (maybe £100 across all four tyres) between the best tyres I can get and some cheap ones is just not worth it.

£800 for tyres? Judas Priest 😮

all you guys saying no good in emergancy stops – in all honesty how often have you found your self doing emergancy stops ?

ive done 2 since i started driving – it was in the lesson before my test – ok ive not been driving as long as half of you.

just drive my car like i ride my bike – looking well up the road and anticipating dangers ok aint always that simple but its working for me

im just back from 7 weeks working/driving in west africa – and in all honesty coming back here onto the roads shocked me – ok the cars out there are shit and people are reading newspapers and on the phone i still felt safer out there than i do in this country – everyones in such a rush here – slow the **** down people