kormoran tyres - guss
i saw these tyres in costco yesterday. i have never heard of them . does anyone know who makes them or has any experience of them? they were priced at about 40 pounds each
kormoran tyres - Dan J
My local tyre guy recommended them to me for my Vectra. He also had them on his. They were a very good price and seem hard wearing but there was certainly an increase in road noise - notably at motorway speeds. I'd probably try something different next time but only for the noise reason.
kormoran tyres - Ben {P}
they are made by michelin- its their budget brand.
kormoran tyres - M.M
Ben,

You comment that they are "a Michelin budget brand", it might not be that simple.

I do get annoyed in the tyre dealers when they produce some Far Eastern horror and say "of course these are really just a Goodyear (or whatever) with a different name and cheaper".

I'm sure Kormoran tyres are made by the Polish company Stomil which Michelin bought/invested in a while back. They may still be making their tyres to suit expectations of the local market and not the high standards we expect.

Of course Michelin may have made some tech input and they could be OKish.

There was a recall in the past year of two for a whole range of this tyre type for tread separation and pressure loss...great!

M.M
kormoran tyres - CM
Is it worth buying cheap/economy tyres? It is one of the cheaper aspects of motoring and one that is more important than the average driver realises.

If you buy 4 tyres at £40 each and get 15k miles out of them, that works out at 1p per mile (or 1/4p per tyre). Of course if your tyres are £80 this will put it up to 2p a mile, which taking into account petrol prices, insurance, depreciation etc etc really isn't alot.
kormoran tyres - SteveH42
Is it necessarily as much as this even? Better tyres will typically last longer, can give better fuel consumption, plus might give you that little bit extra grip or stability needed to turn a serious accident in to a very close shave. The only reason for going budget really is the 'lump sum' cost - if more than one tyre needs changing then it can add up quite quickly. Also, if you aren't that bothered then part-worns may be a better bet - if bought from a reputable supplier then they will be perfectly safe, often have plenty of tread left and are of better quality than budget brands.
kormoran tyres - hussarman
Four of these on my Fabia, they are in fact made in Serbia.
After 39,000 miles I still have five millimetres of tread left.
kormoran tyres - unthrottled

Quite! I became fed up with replacing brake discs, but since I started oiling them, I've had over 100,000 miles out of them! The front of the car doesn't look too good though...

kormoran tyres - Collos25

How little you seem to know about tyres

kormoran tyres - davmal
So to some up;
Good (expensive) tyres last longer because they don't wear and give better grip.
Bad (cheap) tyres last longer but don't grip so well because they don't wear.
Part worn good tyres are better because they haven't worn even though they grip better.
Just thought I'd clear that up {:|
kormoran tyres - GazNicki

I disagree completely.

I have been using Part Worn Tyres for 3 years on my car. The major problem is that you seldom get a matching pair, so they always have different treads or different rates of wear due to differing compunds - I found I was going through more tyres on part worns.

I have since changed to a new budget brand - £66 per tyre, and I can confirm that the wear rate is good, the braking is excellent, and the handling is actually better than when I had part worns (most likely because they now match). I drive an ST200 over an array of road types, at an arrray of speeds. Most often conservative, but occasionally enthusiastically.

Expensive tyres have their benefits, but not always worth the expensive price tag. Not when Bridgestone want £140 a tyre and my current tyres are better than half price. Only downside to these cheaper tyres are the road noise is a little higher, but not much.

This is a different brand to the thread title, but still a budget tyre.

kormoran tyres - SteveLee

Premium tyres are a con, they offer marginally better grip than budget stuff but cost at least twice, sometimes three times as much.

I do 30K+ miles per year on budget Chinese and Korean tyres and have no problems whatsoever.

kormoran tyres - Skookum1973

These are quite franky the worst tyres I ever have come across.

205/60/16 H 92

They have lasted just 4k, yes just 4k!! I can't even say lasted as I was going around a roundabout and heard screeching. Checked the front tyres to see they were on the wear indicators on the outside but down to the lining on the inside. Had them changed and had the pressures checked before removal which were a steady 29 psi and the tracking checked which was also nearly spot on.

In my case these were lethal, be careful as garages often try to knock them out for big money because Michelin owns Kormoran and they are described as 'made by Michelin'.

They are not, they are made in Eastern Europe and are budget "straight from Michelins mouth' not mid-range as often marketed. My local garage 'who didn't fit them' said the only tyre that came close to their shoddy build and performance was the budget Chinese Ling Long which are the joke of the industry.

Please, please avoid these for your own safety, I have contacted Michelin about the safety aspects of them but they refused to talk at all about Kormoran. Says it all really.

kormoran tyres - Collos25

There must be something wrong with your car they may not be the best tyres in the world but no tyres wear out in 4k miles unless there is a drastic fault under normal conditions and fitted to a correct vehicle these tyres will last many thousands of miles.

kormoran tyres - S40 Man

That depends on your point of view of safety and on your value of cash.

If that marginally better grip is the difference between just stopping or just hitting something it isn't a con at all.

I had a really bad shunt in a Rover 200 with cheep tyres. I always buy Continental or michelin now. I am a lot better off now than then so can afford decent tyres. Cheap tyres are no longer a gamble I'm prepared to take.

kormoran tyres - 1litregolfeater

I hate spending money unnecessarily so I just get them off the internet.

That website with black circles seems to work great, the fitters are grateful for the additional traffic and seem to work hard to please their internet bosses.