this one does come up every now and then. unless you’re getting the suspension system refreshed every 40k or so on your car, the ability to stop and manoeuvre is compromised, and many, many folk seem to think that this is ok, or at least happy to overlook it. by extension, spend a ‘reasonable’ amount on tyres if it makes you feel better, but you’d be better off driving to the conditions and paying attention. unless you’re driving a powerful sportscar you’ll never notice the difference in a run of the mill car unless you fit some real shockers or you have incorrect ( high ) pressures in them.

This is a daft view and a reason people buy cheap deathtrap tyres and find out when they crash due to no fault of their own. Even if you compromise on replacing suspension parts, which I agree is stupidity, the effect of poor tyres is simply amplified – its not lost in noise, it amplifies the problems.

In a bog standard 306 diesel I can tell the difference and cheap tyres nearly led to me having a very pricey accident (carcass delaminated as I hit the brakes a LONG long way away from the traffic and left me with fabric to stop on, which triggered the ABS and left me vibrating my way down the road – ended up having to ditch into the grass verge for the last few feet). Even ignoring catastrophic tyre failure they were really quick to lock up in the wet even with 4mm of tread left. Makes a difference when a kid runs out from behind a hedge or fence, or someone pulls out on you.

you’d be better off driving to the conditions and paying attention

It’s kind of expected that you do that all the time, not just to justify buying cheap car parts.

I would just like to add, the roads are for getting from a to b on if you feel the need to race go on a trackday. A “fun” road with lots of corners could equally be seen as a road where cyclists/pedestrians/horses try and escape the wannabe racing drivers. only to find a **** coming round a blind corner at 60mph.

How people drive is a completely different argument. This is about tyres and whether to buy cheap ones or expensive ones. Whether to drive without due care and attention is a whole other debate and the two should not be related but some people choose to assume the moral high ground in order to justify their cheapskate poor maintenance and choices.

When a kid runs out in front of your car from a hidden location and you kill it even though you were driving very carefully you will give your life savings to go back and change the outcome, when a little more expense at new tyre time can drastically reduce the likelyhood (though of course not eliminate it, nor be an excuse for taking less care).

When it comes to cars there are only three things that I care about:

Tyres
Oil/oil filter
Coolant

Everything else is peripheral/frm-frammery for the annual service really.

You might want to ensure the suspension parts replaced are good quality too, rather than euro-car-parts cheapest.

not diagreeing coffeeking, just reading some of the comments you would think that the roads are a racetrack, which they are not. If you want to race go to a track and show how good you really are.

And for exactly the reason you mention about kids and the like running out it makes sense to spend a bit on tyres.

Wouldn’t it be better to spend the money on NOS?

You might want to ensure the suspension parts replaced are good quality too, rather than euro-car-parts cheapest.

exactly. in fact by not fitting vented carbon ceramic discs are you not equally risking the child who’s face it could have been?

http://www.motorcaravanning.com/vehicles/tyre_test.htm

see the first table, it’s why i always spec. decent tyres on the van. cheap van tyres (aren’t even that cheap) and are scary, especially that the van is 2 t empty and happily carry another t.

exactly. in fact by not fitting vented carbon ceramic discs are you not equally risking the child who’s face it could have been?

No, as those take too long and cannot retain enough heat on the road to work as efficently as your standard steel brakes and OEM fitments.

You might want to ensure the suspension parts replaced are good quality too, rather than euro-car-parts cheapest.

Agreed.

At my last MOT (May) it failed on one tyre just below the limit. So I popped round the corner from the testing station to the local tyre place expecting to get stung for an ad-hoc tyre request. I asked for a mid-range tyre and the guy suggested a Nexen N8000 – £65 fitted, which I went for. Some googling back at home showed this to be a reasonable tyre/price so I went back a few days later and replaced the other (less worn but nearly gone) side with the same.

http://www.tyrepress.com/News/1/22/25012.html

All good so far 🙂

There’s definately a big jump up from proper cheapo tyres to competent budget ones. My current tyre came with horrible dealership specials on and sure, it could be driven safely but only by being very conservative. And stopping distances, margins for error etc all badly hit, especially in the wet.

So I’ve just stuck some Hankook Ventuses on, at £110 a corner. Hardly top end but the difference between that and the Autogrips it had before is ridiculously huge. So that translates into more safety for sure, but also less need to baby the car all the time, which is also good.

That said, I used to have a lot of fun with my old Focus and its feeble tyres, it’d find its grip limit very easily even at fairly low speeds.

As mentioned Khumo’s seem pretty good but I’ve also got a set of Fulda’s that I’ve kept (German brand) that are actually very good.

exactly. in fact by not fitting vented carbon ceramic discs are you not equally risking the child who’s face it could have been?

No, carbon ceramic discs would never heat up enough during normal road driving situations to give decent performance. That would be stupid also, one should leave modifying cars to those who know what they’re doing 😆 .

have a google for the best lasting

I’m tellin ya, any of the eco ones – Michelin Energy, Conti Eco Contact, all Nokians and probably others – they last twice as long as normal tyres.

Who was saying about suspension components btw? You talking about shocks or bushings?

My Passat needs new bushings, I’m wondering if replacing them will improve the ride a bit. There are different types, aren’t there?

Kumho are generally pretty good, as are Vredestein.

I got some Matador MP44s for my car, and was slightly dubious but without spending loads more, the tyre place near work didn’t really have any other options in stock.
I’ve been very impressed with them. They grip well in wet & dry and are lasting ages. God knows how many miles I’ve done on them….
I know have them front & back – I think the last pair I got were a newer version – perhaps mp46…?

My Passat needs new bushings, I’m wondering if replacing them will improve the ride a bit. There are different types, aren’t there?

If you just replace them with new standard OE bushings from VW you won’t go far wrong. ‘Uprated’ urethane bushes are more likely to end up feeling harsh and, in some applications, don’t actually work properly due to the characteristics of the material. Depends a bit on which bushes, but if they’re worn, replacing them should tighten things up, more than changing ride quality drastically.

only run premium tyres on all our vehicles. regardless of what some think, during an emergency stop, the difference between funyoudieyoungs and a michelin might make the difference between running over a childs face, or not. so that is enough for me. other than that i do not rush about, so i probably don’t need them. i also want my missus to have the safest tyres i can get her as well.

Cheap tyres = false economy

In previous years I was convinced to try x tyre by local
Fitting centre , they stayed on 2 days and I kicked up hell
Utter crap – michelins went on and it was like a new car again

Always bought good tyres since then
Tried khumo winters them swapped back to bridgestones
Like night and day

It’s the biggest player in keeping you on the road

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

For all the naysayers about the Barums have a look at the top barum on the list (wet and dry grip) and look at the top tyres for all the major brands, (it beats most of them) (however the odd person on here will know more than all the independent reviews) 😉

WunUndred 😀

No, as those take too long and cannot retain enough heat on the road to work as efficently as your standard steel brakes and OEM fitments.

Yes, but you could uprate the OEM pads and disks to something like EBC green.

Won’t somebody please think of the children!

Depends a bit on which bushes, but if they’re worn, replacing them should tighten things up, more than changing ride quality drastically

The existing ones are cracked (apparently) and creak a lot when starting off. I was hoping new ones would be a bit more plush. I was also wondering if it’s a DIY driveway job…