Watch videos or read the data about stopping distances on budget tyres vs quality tyres.
You won't buy a budget tyre ever again (unless your a i don't give a crap person)
Tyre test.
Then think again about how much you want to spend on your 1500Kg car doing 70mph in the wet
[url= http://www.universal-tyres.co.uk/news/performance-tyres-vs-budget-tyres-best/ ]link[/url]
25% increase in wet braking distance for the budgets - a metric shirt load worse.
sounds impartial
so what your saying is ALL budget tires are crap and ALL premium tires are great magical physics defying wonder stuffs ?
thought not.
FWIW go take a set of conti van contacts off the motorway as see how grippy they are - they were designed with traveling in straight lines on the motorway.
unless its a solid plastic tire off a little tykes car i fail to see how anything can be worse....
Had a set of MAxxis MA-P1's that lasted over 30k on my diesel Civic, the Sava Intensas before them lasted less than 10!
The Maxxis were reasonable on the noise (far better than my Hankook iCept Evo's!) worked well in snow and slush and had decent grip in summer. I'm ready to fling another set on provided the car passes it's MOT at the end of the month.
Had Conti's on one car as supplied new from dealer, ate through them in only 15K miles - replaced with Kumho, lasted 30K, gripped better and were quieter.
Had loads of P6000's and no complaints, at one point had the same type on an A4 and a BMW 3 - A4 was shytewinder and BM was bob on.
so what your saying is ALL budget tires are crap and ALL premium tires are great magical physics defying wonder stuffs ?
No. I'm saying spend as much time researching the tyres you put on your car as you do on your bike.
Some very high performace (and expensive) car tyres are shite in the cold/wet but then they are designed as dry weather tyres. When BMW sold the M3 CSL a few years ago customers had to sign a disclaimer to say they wouldn't use the car in the wet (with the standard fitment tyres fitted) as it was fitted with dry weather, road legal track day tyres.
i was refering to mr monk fingers link more than anything.
Vested interest in selling expensive tires vealed in ambiguous anecdotes.
WTF? Vested interest?
Ok, last post from me I think.
There is this tyre labelling scheme, which tells you pretty much what you need to know. It's been around a couple of years now.
For 205/55/R16 (fairly common size), the cheapest ditchfinders on blackcircles.com are £50 and has a wet rating of "E".
Same site, Uniroyal rainsports, £76 have a wet rating of "A".
So, can we put this one to bed yet?
Wet braking performance is also categorised in seven classes. An A-rated tyre provides the shortest braking distances on wet roads whereas a G-rated tyre will have the longest braking distance in the wet. [b]Driving on four A-rate tyres at 50mph can help you stop up to 18m* shorter, which is approximately 4 car lengths, than if you were driving on four G-rated tyres[/b] (Source: European Commission impact assessment SEC (2008) 2860). * When measured according to the test methods set out in Regulation EC 1222/2009 - See more at: http://www.tyresafe.org/tyre-safety/tyre-labelling-information/wet-breaking#sthash.CqcOFnWI.dpuf
Yes, I know, E and G are different. I can't be arsed to find out how much different, I'm losing the will to live.
Accellera ditch finders on the alfa 159 but yokohamas on the megane insane grip from the Yokos and only £71 from black circles and quadruple club card points
The major tyre companies spend spend millions on research every year, this is why their tyres are more expensive.
The real budget end of the market are simply copies of old designs, made with cheaper materials.
I personally choose premium tyres for my car - my whole family use it and I'm not risking them for the sake of saving a few quid on the tyres.
If this sounds a bit melodramatic then remember I see the aftermath of failed tyres every day as part of my job.