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Do they actually cost more to make, or are the manufacturers simply ripping off people who can afford to buy cars with big alloys?
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Maybe it's intended as a deterrent to those who want to ruin the ride of their cars
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Sure. Market forces. Simple. If a punter'll pay, someone'll charge.
Applies to bike tyres, too.
The nice, sticky, sink your finger nails in to it after a ride over the awesome A44 to Aberystwyth, 180/55x17 Z rated tyre fitted to the back of my Honda Hornet is one of (probably the) most popular sizes in the huge global sportsbike market.
Does that make them cheap, as they are churned out by the bucketload? Err, no.
£120 easy, and it'll be worn out in 5,000 miles or less. Much less if, as with the previous few tyres, I pick up a puncture, because Z rating means they are not to be repaired.
At least there's only two tyres on a bike, and the huge pleasure I get way outweighs such considerations!
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I love the way that the less rubber I have on my car, the more I pay. £81 a corner I paid for my last set of tyres and that was after spending a day ringing around and haggling!
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My first thought was that this was probably the old Catch-22 situation - the vast majority of cars on the road don't use low-profile tyres, so most tyre retailers stock those kind of tyres.
Then, I put my cynical hat on. If more cars had low profile tyres as standard, tyre retailers would stock more, but they'd probably keep the prices as high as they are now.
What gets me is the number of different variations of tyre width and profile...
Andy
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The 40-profile 18" tyres on my after market wheels are actually cheaper than the standard 'fat' 55-profile 16" tyres, as they are a more common size, so economies of scale come into play.
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Are you sure - checking Mytyres.net shows that tyres for your size are anything up to DOUBLE the price of the same brand/model of tyre in 205/55/16!
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Well Mike, looks like you've got me there...
Perhaps I should have said, a couple of year's ago they were cheaper. Perhaps that size has become more popular...
The sizes for the record are 215/55-16 vs 225/40-18.
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