Morning
I\'m looking to replace the 2 rear tyres on my 2.0 Accord, and have been quoted £63 each for \'mid-range\' Uniroyals, or £73 for a pair of \'budget\' Arrowspeeds.
Obviously I\'m very tempted by the Arrowspeeds at nearly half the price, even if they don\'t last as long, but would they be safe? I can\'t find much about them on the Web, although I was told they are made by a big name manufacturer.
Cheers
John
|
|
To be honest, it's a minefield, some cheap brands models seem better than some premium brand's models, I have also seen tests that support this. Ive not heard of Arrowspeed though.
|
|
|
Cheepos tend to fall down on wet road grip as well as wear.
Me? I would not risk an unheard-of brand.
I would get a decent tyre (NCT5 or somesuch) from a competitive dealer,
such as the famous Micheldever Tyres, or
www.protyre.co.uk/slough.html
|
Have a look around for Toyo Proxies. They have a very good reputation but are reasonably priced.
www.mytyres.co.uk are good to look at even if you don't buy through them, as the majority of tyres have a link to a reviewing site.
I certainly wouldn't risk an unknown budget tyre, after all, they're the only thing connecting you to the ground.
I especially wouldn't risk tyres with possibly little grip on the rear.
|
John
Your profile refers to Berks. If you're still within 50 miles of Micheldever Tyres, you'll probably find the best price there. I'm more than 50 miles from them, but I almost always go there, and always after phoning around locally for quotes. I also use their laser alignment facility, which is state of the art and worth every penny of the £18 or so they charge. In any event, I'd never skimp on the primary safety device on a car.
|
john,
i have uni-royal ralle 540's on my honda, they are actually branded "the rain tyre", but i cannot fault them in the dry either, these were only £50 each,last year,and for a budget tyre, they seem to be lasting better than anything i've shod the car with yet!. hope i'll be able to get some more sometime.
billy.
|
The Uniroyal 540's are not a budget tyre.
They are a widely recommended "normal" (not cheepo nor esoteric) tyre that happens to be widely available - so keeping the price competitive.
|
i do not disagree with you O.N.W, but compared to the prices i was being quoted for other well known brands of tyres, the £50 price tag on the 540's were comparable to well known makes of tyres at the budget end of the market, but i will re-phrase and say i got a good tyre at a budget price.
billy
|
|
|
|
Whatever tyres you buy have to conform to very strict standards before they go on sale in this country. Little known brands are often cheaper because they are made in third world countries where labour costs are a fraction of those in the developeped nations.
You would probably find that some of those little known cheapo's are often made by foriegn plants of the household names in the tyre business. Downside of fitting them would probably be shorter life and a harsher ride.
|
What's the price range? say £50 - £100 a tyre
Max saving on a set of four by buying cheapest is £200, over (say) 20k miles, i.e. 1p/mile
Even if the best tyre is the most expensive (not neccessarily true), isn't it a pretty marginal extra cost to improve safety/performance/(insert whatever tyre-derived attribute you value most)?
|
Thanks for all the replies chaps - I'll see if I can get a pair of Uniroyals for £100.
Cheers
John
|
|
|
|
Cheepo tyres are usually a false economy if you do "average" driving. Wet grip is often dire, rolling resistance poor, and wear - who knows. If however you only do short round town trips, and don't corner quick, they *may* save some money.
Far from being made a foriegn plants by well known manufacturers, cheepos are usually all their own work. Yes the big OEM's do have eastern european tyre plants, but this is to reduce their own costs. What they do do is market last years models as "budget" tyres. One is example is the Michelin Classic, which is based on the previous generation MXT (or what ever it is called now).
My advice is steer clear of unknown cheepos, and stick with "budget" version of the main brands if you need to save some money. That said, doing some homework can make some large savings (40% per tyre the last set I brought).
Joe
|
Yes the big OEM's do have eastern european tyre plants, but this is to reduce their own costs. What they do do is market last years models as "budget" tyres. One is example is the Michelin Classic, which is based on the previous generation MXT (or what ever it is called now).
>>
I think Goodyear Club are in this category. Made in South Africa
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
when I asked my local trye fitter to put on some cheap tyres he said put on a set of michelins and count the cost when I take them of.well 40000 miles later they are still on with a good bit of tread left,you get what you pay for.
|
This link might be useful. They have my tyres @ between £33 and £75, depending on make.
www.eventmobiletyres.com/
|
|
|
'he said put on a set of michelins and count the cost when I take them of.well 40000 miles later they are still on with a good bit of tread left,you get what you pay for.'
For choice, I prefer my tyres to grip the road, rather than to stay stuck to themselves. Michelins are famous for longevity, but notorious for not sticking very well.
|
|
just a small point here about michelin tyres lasting longer ,maybe starting with 10mm of tread as compared with 8mm on other leading brand has something to do with it.I have never as yet had a problem on grip despite being in more severe conditions than most drivers (deep snow,ice ,mud ,real offroading).Disco no 2 has now done 6500 miles on goodyears and certainly no better road holding than no 1 on michelins,I once tried marshall powerpoint or something similar now they were serious in the wet.
|
|
|
|
|
Have you tried the following :-
www.blackcircles.com/home?view=standard&vpath=/pub...e
Their prices seem quite good, I have hiddeously expensive 225/17/45 tyres on my SaaB and am anxious to make any significant savings.
Also, I would avoid the unknown brands, as they look like a good deal at first but are very cheaply made in reality...
|
I've just been ringing around for 205/50x15 tyres for the Alfa 155. Micheldever quote £66 for Pirelli P6000s, other local suppliers (West Sussex),eg ATS, Just Tyres, Kwik-Fit all between £80-£90. Nearest quote to Micheldever was £69 for Uniroyals.
As I'm passing Micheldever this Friday, I'll wait and get them there. Unless anybody rates the Uniroyals above the Pirellis?
|
Bracknell Tyre & Exhaust are just down the road from where I work and are V cheap cheaper than the usual place I use in Chatham. Try +44 (01344) 411323. I run P6000 on the 156 JTD they are OK but I'll try Goodyears next time as all my previous cars have run on them.
Jim
|
I will second that - Bracknell Tyres are the cheapest that I've found anywhere. I got 4 215/45 R17 Toyo Proxes T1Ss for £79 each.
Regarding the Toyos, they seem to be a lot more wallowy round bends than what I had on before - Continental Sport Contact, but do have fantastic grip, especially in the wet.
|
In the old days, Dunlop, Firestone etc used to sell cheaper tyres under names such as John Bull - in most cases they were basically the same tyre as the more expensive option.
Providing you are not doing more than average motorway miles - i.e. you don't spend most of your driving time on them - the cheaper tyres are more than adequate for general use.
I used the Sava brand from my local Hi-Q over a number of years and the tyres have proved excellent. Average price for a 14in Sava brand tyre for my then Jetta was £33 all in, including balancing and fitting.
If you go to a reputable tyre supplier then you should have no qualms about buying such tyres.
|
Providing you are not doing more than average motorway miles - i.e. you don't spend most of your driving time on them - the cheaper tyres are more than adequate for general use.
Perhaps this is true if you're talking about the possibility of the tyre overheating and having a blowout, but other properties which a cheapo tyre might be lacking in aren't necessarily only important on a motorway, overall grip levels might not be to the same standard, and that is more likely to be an issue on rural and urban roads than a motorway.
From what I've seen and heard cheap tyres tend to use a harder rubber compound. This actually makes them last longer, but also means the grip is less, expecially in cold and wet conditions.
|
|
Somebody posted a website in the last couple of months that translates tyre manufactureres into tyre brands. IIRC there are only about 4 manufactureres worldwide, but 100 different brands?? Anybody help?
|
|
|
I've had no problems whatsoever with the Sava brand tyres I've bought over the years; if I thought there was any risk whatsoever in fitting them to my car I wouldn't do so.
On the other hand I don't "kerb" my tyres, avoid road potholes, go slowly over sleeping policemen, maintain correct tyre pressues and regularly remove small stones etc from the treads.
Looking after tyres is just as important as deciding which ones to buy, no matter what their price.
|
|
|
|
|
