I have tyre OCD. All 4 tyres need to match and be of a half decent brand. Lowest brand I’ll go for is Kumho, or Falken.

Sister in law’s car has random ditch finders on it of different brands and never gets serviced. Yet she’s paranoid about getting a safe car based on NCAP ratings but doesn’t give a shit about tyres or brakes. She also moans that as it’s a Seat it should be reliable but is forever breaking down. I have pointed out that preventative maintenance is better than reactive.

Similar issue with a Passat they had. Cam belt never got changed and she was surprised when the engine lunched itself.

As someone said above a lot of people will stretch buy what they perceive to be a well badged car but then can’t afford to maintain it.

I’ve gone from having 4 different (some budget no name whatevers) to a full set of premiums for the first time. Can I tell the difference? No. It went round corners before. I can’t recall it ever breaking traction. Maybe you have to go round corners at more than the speed limit notice the difference.

I’ve had 3 different brand ditchfinders and all 4 the same on two different cars. Both were absolute dangers. The Civic would spin out (literally) if it hit anything wet or slippy on engine braking because the Savas it came with were like drift trike tyres. The bus that I have now just didn’t stop for anything and ended up on a verge avoiding a car that thought the sequence was mirror, estop, manoeuvre.

Tyres are what I rely on to keep me, my family and other road users safe when all else fails, you’re damn right I’m going to be concerned about them.

I just remembered how I was quickly taught the value of good quality tyres.

Back in 2001 I bought a 1993 Clio. I spent all my savings on it, £2700 so not an insignificant amount for a student! I knew it had cheap tyres on the front, Road Champ which were an ATS own-brand and Kwik Fit’s own-brand Centaur on the rear. I could only afford to replace two with my preferred Michelins straight away so I put them on the rear as the Centaur’s were near the legal limit, the fronts would be replaced on my next payday in 3 weeks time. In those three weeks I had to drive down to Exeter, in February so it was cold and damp with that horrid, greasy slime on the road. Coming off the motorway to go into Cullompton services I went to slow down at the end of the sliproad but the fronts just locked up and refused to start spinning again when I quickly released the brake pedal via cadence braking (no ABS). Smacked into the back of a Fiesta despite coming off the motorway at 50 and braking in plenty of time, so much so the driver behind me thought I’d had complete brake failure. Cue swapping of insurance details and a police car also showed up and breath-tested me, completely clear but even they couldn’t understand how I’d failed to stop as the skid marks went on for ages and they were sure I would have needed to do a lot more than 50 mph to make ones that long. Fast forward to the insurers inspecting the car and they blamed the accident on “Sub-standard tyres fitted to the front wheels.”, even trying to get out of paying for my repairs due to this. New Michelin’s were fitted by the garage before I collected that car, on my instruction, and the guy who was there when I collected it said that they had real trouble getting the old tyres off as they were like plastic, despite having 7mm of tread and date marked as a year old.

I’ve never skimped on tyres since.

I have tyre OCD. All 4 tyres need to match and be of a half decent brand. Lowest brand I’ll go for is Kumho, or Falken.

Lowest I’ve gone recently was a set of Uniroyals a few years ago (very good but lasted just under 10k) and my current Toyo’s which are again nice and grippy but wearing fast on the front. I’m relatively happy having different brands F-R if that’s unaviodable (due to a tyre model changing or supply issues for example) but always the same across the axle. As long as they’re premium brands then I’m pretty happy.

I then started thinking about the drivers’ education programme that I had to go through back in 1987 in Manitoba.

That explains an awful lot! In the southern parts of Britain, we might get Manitoba-like weather conditions once every 25-30 years! I’m 67, that sort of weather has happened twice. Once in 1962-3, and again in, I think, 1982.

FWIW, I had my old Octavia for fifteen years, and it only ever had budget tyres fitted. I only lost control once, and it was on a junction where I had to take a right turn, but that particular place flooded regularly, and if conditions suddenly turned cold, it was just a big sheet of ice. As the Octy was a diesel, with a manual ’box, I always used the engine to brake, shifting down very gently. On this occasion, despite only traveling at around 5mph, as I turned the wheel, I slid very gently onto the grass verge. Bugger-all I could do about it. Took ten minutes of rocking the car back and forth with the gearbox, before I got the car unstuck.

The current car will, very soon, be getting a set of all-season tyres on the front, which are now going to be Michelin CrossClimates+, due to a mixup with the suppliers sending gen1 Goodyear Vectors, instead of the gen 3’s I wanted, and which are unavailable at the moment; They’ve been getting lots of good reviews…

It’s interesting the comments about people driving big SUV’s, or performance-oriented cars with big rubber, and fitting the cheapest tyres they can find. Working where I do, which is a repair and refurbishment unit, now part of Cazoo, we’re seeing a lot more high-end cars, instead of the Motability and middle-range lease cars we used to get in, and I’ve been surprised at the sort of cars that get rejected and sent to auction. Among them have been an Audi RS6 Avant, a top-end Range Rover, and an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quatrofoglio. In the case of the Audi, the body repairs weren’t too significant, but it was the engine service and replacing the front discs and pads it also needed pushed it over budget. A new set of tyres could do it, if the margins are tight on repairs, one tyre on the Range Rover, which are the same size as the ones on the Audi was £358 – there was an invoice on the seat. The discs and pads for the Audi, IIRC, were about £1600…

When a set of tyres costs around £1300, I would think performance considerations take second place to budgetary ones!
It’s going to cost me significantly more for the new tyres, about £200, instead of about £120, but I’m not going to compromise any more, the Ford is more powerful than the Octavia, despite the engine being about half the size, plus I’m driving a hell of a lot more to work and back. Also, the car cost a lot more than the Skoda!

Generally go with premium end tyres, but there are occasionally good budgets to be had, but absolute guestimation as to what might be good. Had some very good and sticky Accelera branded tyres on a 944 – thought they would be the first thing changed, but turned out to be pretty grippy.

Rarely disappointed with premium type tyres though, they have wet weather performance, grip and last.

I’ve had cars with 4 different ditchfinders, bloody scary.
Bloody expensive too, because they wear out quickly. The only time they are cheap is the day you buy them.
I once had a ford orion, 1.6, 90bhp.
Not exactly a quick car, but it could spin the wheels easily in second, or third if it was wet. It was so bad that my wife thought I’d done something to the engine to get more power.
Thankfully, I never had to find out how it performed during an emergency stop.
Never had cheapo tyres since.

I think tyresake a huge difference – as someone else here said, I tend to buy old cars but put good tyres on ASAP and can 100% feel the difference.

Driver training back in the ‘old days’/Canada? I’m pretty sure that driver training and tests are getting harder in the UK, not easier. Yes, new drivers are inexperienced (obviously), but they have probably had more training and know the highway code better than most middle-aged drivers. ‘It was harder in my day’ has been repeated since at least as far back as the ancient Greeks.

I’ve always gone for the cheapest premium brand for my cars, and matched on each axle but not necessarily front and rear.
Tend to end up with Goodyear or Dunlop which seem fine. No idea if the extra for Conti or Michelin is worth it mind you.

I enjoy my 911 best when the rears have no tread left.

This forum is the only place I ever hear the term ‘winter tyres’ mentioned

Like the OP I’ve always been concerned of what tyres I’ve got, and their condition – maybe it’s an age thing (old enough to drive cross-plys) or maybe because I spent +30 years riding motorcycles (where crap tyres equal falling off).

I once succumbed to cheap tyres, when we were skint and my 309GTI had bald front tyres & an MOT due. It ran 185/55 15’s, which in their day were very low profile and wide 🙂 They were ditched the next pay day for new Michelins as per the rears, horrific.

My current car is currently on its winters, Pirelli Sottozero’s – and the summers are Bridgestone Polenza.

And to add to the initial comment about brake testing, something my Dad once said:
“Your brakes need to be more powerful than your engine”

He use to sell cars, and once told me a story; back in the 60’s a customer didn’t want a car with disc brakes as they’d be too good and folk behind would run in to them…

considering the amount of work an oem does to calibrate the ride and handling, abs and esp, and fuel ecomony im suprised you are not obliged to fit oem approved ones. you could certainly make the co2 worse than certified, so potentially making your tax band incorrect.

you could certainly make the co2 worse than certified

When my current car was new-ish I had a new set of tyres fitted by the dealer as a recall action because the OEM tyres “didn’t meet the efficiency requirements of the car”. I was somewhat dubious of the environmental impact of throwing away an 18 month old usable set of tyres in the name of efficiency but them’s the rules.

Lowest brand I’ll go for is Kumho, or Falken.

When test driving a new car for Mrs R I was surprised that the dealer’s demonstrator had Khumo Ecowings on it. I pointed out to the salesman that these seemed to be a bit rubbish and he said I was the first person that had ever noticed or commented on it, which I think tells you a lot about people’s attitudes to tyres. The new car was delivered with Khumos on, and you can imagine the embarassment of the dealer when he tried to sell us £400 of tyre insurance. It turns out that Khumos were BMW’s standard fitment for basic tyres at the time so I guess they can’t be that bad.

Majority of drivers want a big shiny box that’s bigger and shinier than their neighbours. And… that’s it.

A few will care about the details.

FWIW I drive a fairly battered 20 year old runaround with a matching set of 4 reasonably branded all seasons.

As someone mentioned, I don’t be requiring the restraining abilities of my seatbelt in the normal scheme of things, but when I do I imagine I’ll be rather pleased for it being there. Tyres and brakes are the same.

There is a huge difference in grip, handling braking etc. between cheap tyres and the premium brands. Tyres are the single biggest thing that effect how your car interacts with the road surface and for all those saying that they can’t tell the difference, or I only drive slowly, well you will eventually, in a critical situation when it matters most to you and the lives of others.

I think that anyone who skimps on tyres is putting not just themselves and their family at risk but also other people too. Imagine explaining to the mother of the child you’ve just hit because you couldn’t stop in time due to your sh*t tyres how you also ‘cannily’ saved a couple of hundred quid.

Buy the best tyres you can afford or otherwise please don’t drive anywhere near me or my family.

What’s classed as a “ditch finder”?

A lot of the premium brands make the budget brands too. e.g.

The tyre division consists of the Continental, Uniroyal, Semperit, Barum, General Tire, Viking, Gislaved, Mabor, Matador and Sportiva brands.

https://www.continental-tyres.co.uk/car/about-us/continental-tyres

Wow. Must make life pretty hard, checking all the tyres on cars near your family to make sure they are up to your rigorous standards. I mean, if you cared that much, surely that’s what you’d do?

I’m sure most people are too busy sending whatsapp messages to hit the brakes anyway.

Wow. Must make life pretty hard, checking all the tyres on cars near your family to make sure they are up to your rigorous standards. I mean, if you cared that much, surely that’s what you’d do?

There would be no point. Clearly someone who fits sh*t tyres cares little for their own life or that of their friends or family. So why would they care about mine?

Ha ha! Fellow tyre nerd here. Walk through a car park & see all the fancy expensive brand fitted with LingLong tyres 🤣

I don’t think it’s necessary to go for all out premium brands though – there are also some very good brands with better value options. I’ve used Kumho and Matador before and found them pretty good.

A few years ago I had to get a puncture repair done at a local tyre place. While there 3 people came in all wanting tyres asap as there cars had failed the MOT as the tyres were bald. In one case, both front tyres were down to the canvas.
People just don’t care about this kind of thing in general. It’s funny how something so potentially important can be given zero thought.

It’s funny how something so potentially important can be given zero thought.

And good tyres don’t have to be expensive. I’ve got a set of Goodyear Eagle F1’s on my RS3. Less than £600 a full set including fitting if you shop around. The bargain budget option was around £400 for the set. So £200 more for a whole lot of extra grip and a huge amount of peace of mind. A lot of people would spend a whole lot more than that just to shave a few grams of a bicycle.

I’ll skip the tyre discussion and pick up on this:

(horrible, gory accident scenes, and details of what led to them)

I often wonder how many accidents could be avoided if there was a bit more effort put into educating drivers about common accident scenarios and how to avoid them. No need for any gore, just a bit of analysis of the mistakes that people commonly make. Not just generic, don’t drive, don’t speed stuff, but more specifics of particular situations.

For example, turning right across queuing traffic, queuing driver makes space/flashes lights, turning driver takes out a cyclist in the bus/cycle lane.

I suspect that are a relatively small number of scenarios that happen again and again, and whilst individual drivers don’t make the same mistake twice, I suspect that there are many drivers who don’t spot the risk until it happens to them or they’ve had a near miss.

If budget tyres are so risky, why are they allowed to be sold? Don’t we have relatively high road safety standards in the UK? Presumably they need to meet a minimum level of performance to be legally sold.

I suspect it’s bad driving rather than cheap tyres that cause more accidents.

aledrinker

And good tyres don’t have to be expensive. I’ve got a set of Goodyear Eagle F1’s on my RS3.

I’ve got a set of those, love the rim protector thingy. Already saved me from a kerb scuff.

Only thing is they’re very much a summer tyre, there’s quite a noticeable amount more wheelspin now we’ve started getting cold mornings. Wish in hindsight i’d waited for the v3 Vectors to come into stock.

davros

If budget tyres are so risky, why are they allowed to be sold? Don’t we have relatively high road safety standards in the UK? Presumably they need to meet a minimum level of performance to be legally sold.

Yeah, let’s all just aim for the minimum.

When I bought my old Ibiza, the front tyres were almost bald at the test drive (I was reluctant to actually test drive it, but it was a dry day, so decided to risk it).
The seller agreed to put new tyres on & stuck the cheapest rubbish he could get hold of. I later found them on the Camskill website. Mid-brand tyres (Kumho, Matador etc) were around £65 and premium tyres were £85-110 for this size of tyre. The ones he had fitted were £33.

They were awful in anything other than warm & dry conditions. Accelerating off a roundabout on wet roads was almost comical in terms of the dire performance. Just normal acceleration off a large roundabout (not racing round mini-roundabouts foot to the floor) would have the wheels spinning in 3rd gear. I got rid of them after about a month. I never had to do any heavy braking in the wet in them, but I doubt it would have been pretty.

Now I’m worrying even more than usual about summer vs all-season.

The new inch wheels I bought for the car are intended to have 255/40 R18 on, according to the handbook. This results in a slightly larger diameter than the 285/30 R19 that came on it. All-seasons are not available in that size, but they are available in 245/40 R18 which is about the same as 285/30 R19 but they are narrower again. So if narrower tyres have less grip, am I better off with a narrow all-season or a wider summer, most of the time?

Am I even allowed to fit a size that’s not specified in the handbook?

Am I even allowed to fit a size that’s not specified in the handbook?

Would your insurer not have an issue with this?

I’m not saying let’s all buy the minimum performing, I’m asking whether the minimum standards aren’t high enough.

But then we let people drive on public roads in cars that can do 150mph so maybe I’m putting too much faith in regulations.

I see many expensive cars with worn out tyres. I’ve advised a mate who is getting a new Merc GLC 4×4 to get it fitted with all seasons, as the pimped wide summer tyres will be useless where he lives (he was getting it cos of snow and ice and he lives on steep hill).

Just picked up a used Aygo for my daughter to learn in and bail son out whilst his car is off the road. Front’s will need replacing, but at least it had 4 x Nexxen tyres on that are decent, and proved good in snow. What got me, it’s passed it’s MOT’s fine every year, including recently, but the front discs/pads aren’t in great shape, and by the looks of it, only half the pad is biting the disc (obvious by the ring of rust). Stops fine, but I’ve got a set on order and they will be changed ASAP.

@multi21
Coincidentally I couldn’t find Falkens locally and just bought a pair of Vector v3. They’re on offer on blackcircles for a pair or all four.

Am I even allowed to fit a size that’s not specified in the handbook?

I can’t think you’ll notice the difference between 245 and 255 profile. I doubt anyone will notice.

Caveat, I am not a legal expert in what happens after car smashes or insurance claims.

I often wonder how many accidents could be avoided if there was a bit more effort put into educating drivers about common accident scenarios and how to avoid them. No need for any gore, just a bit of analysis of the mistakes that people commonly make. Not just generic, don’t drive, don’t speed stuff, but more specifics of particular situations.

Have you ever been in a speed awareness course? If you have you’ll know that a lot of drivers don’t give a shit, even when presented with loads of facts, figures and scenarios wher their behaviour is bad it even dangerous.

I’m not saying let’s all buy the minimum performing, I’m asking whether the minimum standards aren’t high enough.

If you want to really scare yourself look at the BS standard for bicycle brakes. The cheap caliper brakes on some BSO’s pass the test despite them merely suggesting the bike slows down! Tyres are the same, the standard is so low it’s easy for most tyres to pass it. If it wasn’t for the likes of Motorsport pushing the manufacturer’s to research better construction, tread patterns and compounds that directly benefits their road products then we’d possibly still be running around on cross-ply doughnuts that aquaplane over a small puddle and are made of essentially plastic.

And good tyres don’t have to be expensive. I’ve got a set of Goodyear Eagle F1’s on my RS3. Less than £600 a full set including fitting if you shop around.

Hate to be the one to tell you, but £150 per tyre is expensive. I was at my local tyre place in Berwick yesterday with a flat (as a result of storm debris) that turned in to needing two new tyres as the tread was more worn than I had realised. The guy at the desk came across slightly embarrassed in telling me that the ones I was after would be £140ish each.
Most of the other customers were looking at that sort of amount for four tyres. Many people needing four were in discussion as to whether the front or back were more urgent as they could only afford one set of ‘midrange’ until the next payday.
Personally I have an interest in cars and always go for the top end options but it is important to remember that not everyone is in a position to spend several hundreds of pounds unexpectedly, or indeed at all.

On the SUV / cheap tyres point, ironically I suspect that an awful lot of them are fine with the cheap options as they are low mileage city based cars rarely driven at more than 40mph.

Contis on MrsF’s car, and my 20 years old car running high performance ‘mid range tyres by a Michelin company.

I too fell foul of some crap tyres many years ago. Big make on the rear, cheapo one on the front – didn’t stop well. Swapped around(big mistake) and it spun out going round a corner in the wet at a sensible speed (no damage luckily). Never again.

Looking at All Seasons for the Aygo – they are only £50 a corner for Toyo’s

Hate to be the one to tell you, but £150 per tyre is expensive. I was at my local tyre place in Berwick yesterday with a flat (as a result of storm debris) that turned in to needing two new tyres as the tread was more worn than I had realised. The guy at the desk came across slightly embarrassed in telling me that the ones I was after would be £140ish each

Best you don’t tell them that decent MTB tyres are pushing £70 each 🙂

Bike tyres are stupid money !!

Have we had this video posted yet?

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2021-Tyre-Reviews-All-Season-Tyre-Test.htm

He tests all-season tyres but also includes a winter and summer specific tyre in the mix which is interesting.

In terms of wet braking, which is what I’m thinking about, at 4C the winter isn’t particularly great, the summer is much worse but the all-seasons are top. At 15C the summer is better, but the difference is less than at 4C.

Have you ever been in a speed awareness course? If you have you’ll know that a lot of drivers don’t give a shit, even when presented with loads of facts, figures and scenarios wher their behaviour is bad it even dangerous.

It’s not just tyres. There was some stat a while ago that reckoned that about 1/8 – 1/10 cars on the road would fail a roadside MOT with about 1/4 of those fails being immediate “stop driving” issues. Some of course will be something as simple as a cracked indicator cover but there’ll be plenty that are very serious.

Most people don’t know or don’t care and many people can’t afford expensive repairs even if they do find out that the car is critical hence the cheapest option – it’s precisely why dodgy garages thrive and you end up in a catch-22 of a dangerous car being repaired to the lowest possible standard.

I got the bridgestones from that test. Only £260 for a set. Glad I don’t need SUV tyres based on the prices mentioned above!

That suggests that all-seasons are significantly better than true winters for a typical UK winter. I could see myself getting all-seasons on a second set of wheels given where I live.