Club 80-90 Forums

I'm looking for general advice rather than T25 specific.

My "other" car has common tyre sizes and so there is loads of choice. The tyres for my car range from £50 a tyre to £ 200. I do about 10,000 motorway miles a year in all weather. Car is a compact estate, generally unlaiden.

If I am selecting mountain bike tyres I know what tread pattern, width, compound I am looking for on each outing. Yes I do change my tyres several times during the course of a season to suit my riding - sad but true!

What is the difference between a £50 tyre and a £200 tyre?

Brand- I'm not worried if it has a fashionable name.
Safety - of course paramount but I would have thought all tyres have to be safe to be sold in the UK
How much depth do tyres start off with? Do expensive ones have more life in them?
How soft is the compound. I guess this is a balance between grip and wear. For motorway driving a harder compound is probably OK and will last longer!

It would be easy to say, go for a mid range tyre. So I agree to spend £100 a tyre but one shop might price there "midrange" tyre at £100 to get more market share and another shop might price a similar tyre at £120 to make a bit more profit and for a perception that it is 20% better.

Does anyone understand the black art of the black circles? and is the necessary information available for us to make informed decissions?

Tyres are THE most important part of your car... The only bit in contact with the road and I wish more people where like you and took an interest in them.

All tyres in the UK have to meet certain minimum requirements, but the difference between the worse performing . Ones and the best are qunite noticeable and measurable in feet and inches ( stopping distance) not just price .

The compounds differ hugely, some performance tyres will have higher levels of cilica in to help with heat disapation, some tyres are built for better rain dispersion, some for less noise or better fuel figures. etc etc so the tyre you choose should be determined by the requirements you need.

Avoid the budget tyres, or adapt your driving style to suit, knowing that ultimately you will have less grip than with a known quality manufacturer.

I was bought a BMW M3 that was fitted with budget Chinese tyres.... Only car to ever scare me. That thing was plain evil to drive and let go so fast and unpredictably it wasn't funny.

If it was my family in the far then I would look out for special offers... Usually some quick fit type place is offering
A deal on a decent manufacturer like Dunlop or pirreli.

Winter tyres are becoming more popular in England now too, modern tyres just don't work well in low temperature and below 7 degrees there is a marked drop of in level of grip.

It's a very interesting subject!

Ive had cheap tyres in the past on my golf. They were lethal in the wet at high speeds. Loads of understeer. Never made that mistake again, always used yokohomers (not sure of spelling) it was like cornering on rails and dramatically reduced stopping distance in wet.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessorie ... -test-2012

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/20 ... -Guide.htm

Google is your friend. Plenty of review sites out there.

I think that the new EU rating system is a good thing:
http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/eu-tyre-labelling

It is the result of independent, impartial testing so you get to see how the tyres perform irrespective of price, brand etc.

We put new rubber on our car a couple of months back and the it was really interesting to see the differences. In the end, I opted for ones with better braking/wet performance at the expense of noise/economy (although the ones we went for were far for bad on those counts too).

I would also have a look at tyre reviews as per the links above.

StuM wrote:I think that the new EU rating system is a good thing:
http://www.tyre-shopper.co.uk/eu-tyre-labelling

It is the result of independent, impartial testing so you get to see how the tyres perform irrespective of price, brand etc.

We put new rubber on our car a couple of months back and the it was really interesting to see the differences. In the end, I opted for ones with better braking/wet performance at the expense of noise/economy (although the ones we went for were far for bad on those counts too).

I would also have a look at tyre reviews as per the links above.

nice link StuM, very interesting.

ive never really understood why you would choose a tyre that had less rolling resistance... surely that just means less grip

pionte wrote:
ive never really understood why you would choose a tyre that had less rolling resistance... surely that just means less grip

Not necessarily
Low profile tyres have more rolling resistance than the old 80 profile tyres due to the side wall having to flex more to give some tread contact with the road, all they are doing with the low rolling resistance tyres is concentrating on the side wall to use less energy to flex it.

bigherb wrote:

pionte wrote:
ive never really understood why you would choose a tyre that had less rolling resistance... surely that just means less grip

Not necessarily
Low profile tyres have more rolling resistance than the old 80 profile tyres due to the side wall having to flex more to give some tread contact with the road, all they are doing with the low rolling resistance tyres is concentrating on the side wall to use less energy to flex it.

good info BH, makes sense everyday is a school day

The Bishop wrote:What is the difference between a £50 tyre and a £200 tyre?

It could be the difference between a close call and an insurance claim.

Brand- I'm not worried if it has a fashionable name.

Indeed. But, at the same time, a decent brand is usually a guide to a decent quality tyre.

If Michelin aren't ridiculous price, they'll always be my first port of call - unless they're the Eco low-rolling-resistance ones. I had a bad experience once with those. Just not a patch on their "proper" tyres. Otherwise Conti (but they can wear quickly ime), Avon, Vredestein would be my first choices. I've got some Uniroyals kicking about at the mo for 'erselfs 205, and am interested as to how well they're going to be perform.

Safety - of course paramount but I would have thought all tyres have to be safe to be sold in the UK

<hollow laughter>
Gawd, no. There are some real horrors out there. The real budget end of the market is full of far eastern ditchfinders. Really, really horrible stuff. Understeer, squeel, lock brakes, just... well, think labrador puppy on wet lino.

Do expensive ones have more life in them?

Yes, IME, but not because of tread depth. Because the rubber compound used resists wear better.

Cheap tyres are usually a false economy over their life, working out more expensive per mile than more expensive ones.

pionte wrote:ive never really understood why you would choose a tyre that had less rolling resistance... surely that just means less grip

Fuel economy.

Camskill.co.uk is about the easiest site I've ever found for seeing what's available in any given size.

Vredestein are a great tyre... I have them on the van. Overkill im sure but got them part worn for peanuts . When I bought my daughter her first car I put on Dunlops, most cars I sold when I had my car sales business had what ever the tyre shop had in as budget specials.... never chinese chengpooh though ! I would always try and replace both on the same axle at the same time personally.

The old rule used to be ( on a front wheel drive car ) best tyres on the front.... but the school of thought is now the reverse.... after some horrible accidents with (Lift off ) snap oversteer when the rears suddenly let go ! worst you can have if the fronts slide is undeersteer.

people think car and van tyres are expensive... but considering how important they are to safety and how long they last they are pretty good value imho. Try spending £220 for a rear tyre on a Sports bike that destroys itself in 1000 miles

The general message coming through seems to be pick a reputable brand, close your eyes and put a pin in their product chart or choose what is on offer for that brand. But then there are good and bad within the same brand.

Choosing motorcycle or bike tyres seems a lot more of an informed decision. Choosing compound and handling characteristics.

It doesn't seem that information is readily available for car tyres other than stu's link above for noise/braking/rolling resistance.

I think I am going to pick a brand, in my case Michelin, and read up more about the options within that brand.

I made car and van tyres for twenty years with Goodyear.
to be van specific I would choose a Pirelli P6 or a Goodyear equivilant.
Reason?
developement, research, quality control.
Those things cost money.

European tyre producers produce tyres for our climate here in Europe.
..and the hoops they have to jump through to meet the quality standards in materials and construction are many..trust me I have worked with them.

I could not afford a Pirelli last tyre change and fitted a cheap tyre substitute.
They scare the hell out of me.

My partner drives an old Audi S4 Quattro. Good safe handling? Never lift off over steers, usually pushes the nose and give you plenty notice? Sure.

Except

When we loaned it to a friend for a month or two. It needed new rears and they guy told us he would put Pirelli's on to match the front. Anyway, we got it back and I was going round a roundabout in the wet and PING the back end came out. I put it down to a greasy road but later, travelling quite quickly , the back end slipped on a corner. I'd never ever experienced anything like that on the Audi and thought something as seriouly wrong with the back end and stopped

There was nothing wrong with the car, except my friend had put Linglong's on the back. The garage the next weekend were amazed I was dumping virtually brand new tyres, but these things were lethal.

Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone, Avon, Pirelli etc for us from now on.
Buy cheap, but twice, and maybe not be lucky enough to be able to buy again. The amount of truly shocking tyres allowed for sale is scary.

Interesting commennt from Kev that European tyres are made for out climate - that alone makes sense.

I know from other sports that other countries make nice products that work well in the sunshine but not here.

Think I'm going to look more closely at European brands,

The Bishop wrote:Interesting commennt from Kev that European tyres are made for out climate - that alone makes sense.


Think I'm going to look more closely at European brands,

In Northern Europe a lot of people fit winter tyres ... because the summer tyres DONT work well below 7 degrees. It is becoming more common in the UK too.

I know several people who fit them to their cars , and with the weather warnings that have been mentioned recently about the possible heavy prolonged bouts of snow they may well be glad that they did.