Cheap Tyres vs Expensive Tyres (Car)

MolteniArcore

MolteniArcore

Well-known member
So I need to buy a couple of tyres for my car. I forgot how expensive they can be!!

I have the choice of a budget tyre for £82 that have B ratings for fuel and wet (Pace Alventi) and the reviews are pretty good OR a Kumho at £123 B wet and C fuel OR go for a Continental Premium Contact at £160.

Do the people that bother to review tyres on the internet have the ability to know a good tyre from a bad tyre or are they all the same really?

If I had to guess the premium tyres might last a bit longer? I might sell the car soon anyway so I am not sure that I am too worried about that, plus 2 budget tyres cost the same as 1 premium so even if I buy twice I’ll get more wear?

Budget for £82 or a more expensive one??
 
MolteniArcore said:
So I need to buy a couple of tyres for my car. I forgot how expensive they can be!!

I have the choice of a budget tyre for £82 that have B ratings for fuel and wet (Pace Alventi) and the reviews are pretty good OR a Kumho at £123 B wet and C fuel OR go for a Continental Premium Contact at £160.

Do the people that bother to review tyres on the internet have the ability to know a good tyre from a bad tyre or are they all the same really?

If I had to guess the premium tyres might last a bit longer? I might sell the car soon anyway so I am not sure that I am too worried about that, plus 2 budget tyres cost the same as 1 premium so even if I buy twice I’ll get more wear?

Budget for £82 or a more expensive one??
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For me as much as you can afford, especially now the weather is turning.

I`ve used this website in the past for reviews - https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyres_For/
 
For years I always put premium tyres on my cars.

Put some Bridgestones on a Golf we had a few years back and they were sh*t. So put some "expensive budget" tyres on and they were very good. So now, do reviews on the budget tyre and generally fit these.

Just had Landsail tyres fitted on the car last week, got excellent reviews so let's see.

It's a personal choice🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️
 
I would consider what you are driving and the conditions of the roads. There is nothing worse than buying an expensive tyre are ruining it with nails and potholes. Some cars have homologated tyres and some insurance is dependent on using them.
I buy tyres for 4 cars. 3 of them I use budget tyres and on the other I only change tyres in pairs and have a little cry every time I do.
No budget tyre is worse than an old tyre.
 
I had 4 Michelin Cross Climates on the van when I bought it, truly eye watering to replace them. Went with a pair of Falken all seasons, which, while cheaper, were not budget and they are proving to be just as good.
I'd definitely read reviews, but maybe treat those done on track days with a pinch of salt as they are looking at a little bit more performance than you need on the road and are hence a bit pickier.
 
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If you’re doing big miles, travel on sketchy back roads with kids in the car or generally like hooning about I’d suggest the expensive tyres.

If your popping to the shops, commuting and the odd leisurely trip out I’d personally save the cash and go with the cheap ones
 
I tend to use Falken tyres - I believe they are a Japanese brand from Sumitomo a historic Japanese manufacturer like Dunlop. I have paid between £80 and £100. Pirelli and Continental were about £120. Pirelli were fitted on by the manufactuer and they were good but the Falken were just as good.
 
MolteniArcore said:
So I need to buy a couple of tyres for my car. I forgot how expensive they can be!!

I have the choice of a budget tyre for £82 that have B ratings for fuel and wet (Pace Alventi) and the reviews are pretty good OR a Kumho at £123 B wet and C fuel OR go for a Continental Premium Contact at £160.

Do the people that bother to review tyres on the internet have the ability to know a good tyre from a bad tyre or are they all the same really?

If I had to guess the premium tyres might last a bit longer? I might sell the car soon anyway so I am not sure that I am too worried about that, plus 2 budget tyres cost the same as 1 premium so even if I buy twice I’ll get more wear?

Budget for £82 or a more expensive one??
Click to expand...
There's no way on earth a random bloke on the street (or me) is going to be able to tell the difference in a £80/120/160 tyre, on an average car, at average speeds and average driving. The materials will be practically exactly the same and the tread pattern will just be a play off surely? More grip = worse on fuel etc?

Maybe I might be able to tell the difference between a £100 and £300 tyre after a few laps of croft, or driving round the nurburgring, but at 30mph on acklam road there's zero difference, unless one of them is pothole avoiding.

Half the Continental price will be paying for adverts during formula 1 etc, and for fancy offices etc. They may be "better" but is that even measurable to the average guy, never mind "value"?

Get the cheap tyres and save the money for some replacement tyres on your bikes, or buy cheap tyres and replace them more often.

The alternate to this is if you're selling the car, then certain buyers will value tyres, it's important with some more expensive car makes etc. So for me, when I sell mine, I'll be weighing up whether to save, or whether to get something "better", and avoid the "why do you have cheap tyres" conversation.
 
I am a fussy person with tyres, il use certain mid range brands and premium brands (not all though as some are over priced rubbish). Alot of budget tyres claim to be mid range when they clearly arent.

The average person driving on a dry day will generally not notice the difference. Where you do is in heavy rain or if you need to make an emergency stop. Thats when the quality of your tyre makes a huge difference. Its those few inches of rubber that can be the difference between stopping in time or not.

Definitley check reviews, you can find some good budget tyres with a soft compound that will be grippy but will just wear down quickly, the harder compound tyres can be lethal.

Ive driven hire cars with almost new tyres that struggle to pull out a junction because the cheap tyre compound cant grip the road well enough in torrential rain.

If part exing or sellling to a we buy any car then it probably wont effect re sell value with cr6p tyres but if trying to sell privately it might.

When im looking at a car i look at the tyres, are they matching how cheap are they. If i see cheap ditch finders the first thing i think is if theyve scrimped on tyres what else have they scrimped on. If i see decent tyres, i think this person cares about their car.

What site did you check on?

Check black circles, E-Tyres and Asda tyres, if you are in Middlesbrough or Stockton M&M tyres tend to do very good pieces if you book on their own website as well.
 
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My only suggestion is to go for the tyre rated best in the wet. We get used to the feel of our tyres in the dry and adjust our driving style/expectations and if your tyre is poor in the wet it can come as a very unpleasant shock when you lose grip in the rain. I tend to go with "all weather" or winter tyres all year on the family car.
 
Andy_W said:
There's no way on earth a random bloke on the street (or me) is going to be able to tell the difference in a £80/120/160 tyre, on an average car, at average speeds and average driving. The materials will be practically exactly the same and the tread pattern will just be a play off surely? More grip = worse on fuel etc?

Maybe I might be able to tell the difference between a £100 and £300 tyre after a few laps of croft, or driving round the nurburgring, but at 30mph on acklam road there's zero difference, unless one of them is pothole avoiding.

Half the Continental price will be paying for adverts during formula 1 etc, and for fancy offices etc. They may be "better" but is that even measurable to the average guy, never mind "value"?

Get the cheap tyres and save the money for some replacement tyres on your bikes, or buy cheap tyres and replace them more often.

The alternate to this is if you're selling the car, then certain buyers will value tyres, it's important with some more expensive car makes etc. So for me, when I sell mine, I'll be weighing up whether to save, or whether to get something "better", and avoid the "why do you have cheap tyres" conversation.
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That is what I was thinking TBH. The cheapo ones are rated B for wet and have good reviews so I might just get them.

Funny you mention bike tyres… I never have this discussion about those!! I always get the expensive ones! :ROFLMAO:
 
do your research on the cheap brand... most have links to a premium brand.

I have a maintenance contract on my lease now but in the past i have found the budgets to be better on wear and noise level and equal on performance and fuel economy... this was certainly the case on my volvo a few years back where the continentals on it barely lasted 9000 miles but the budgets were still good at 12000
 
MolteniArcore said:
That is what I was thinking TBH. The cheapo ones are rated B for wet and have good reviews so I might just get them.

Funny you mention bike tyres… I never have this discussion about those!! I always get the expensive ones! :ROFLMAO:
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Yeah, that's why I said it lol, thing is there aren't many crap tyre manufactures, not for road bikes, not that I've noticed.

Thing is if you come off your bike then it's guaranteed pain and maybe a lot worse so it's a far better ROI. In a car, the chances of coming off the road or crashing are fairly slim if you're driving normally, but even if you do, they chances of getting hurt are still slim.
 
Acklam_Lad said:
do your research on the cheap brand... most have links to a premium brand.

I have a maintenance contract on my lease now but in the past i have found the budgets to be better on wear and noise level and equal on performance and fuel economy... this was certainly the case on my volvo a few years back where the continentals on it barely lasted 9000 miles but the budgets were still good at 12000
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9000 miles for a set of supposedly premium tyres is a joke, you should have complained to the manufacturer. I would be hoping for 20-25k miles, maybe even 30k these days, especially if rotating the backs with the fronts.
 
"The only part of the car in contact with the road so make sure they are good" - Some tyre manufacturer probably.

Personally I have never noticed a difference whatever tyres I have had on. I would assume the main difference is hard to measure and that is how often you have to replace them. If a tyre lasts 20k miles vs 10k and it is twice the price then the price per mile is the same. The risk of it being damaged by an external factor (pothole, screw etc.) increases the longer you have the tire so have to take that into account.

I get tyres included as part of my lease and they fit the fancy ones. They don't feel different.
 
Andy_W said:
Yeah, that's why I said it lol, thing is there aren't many crap tyre manufactures, not for road bikes, not that I've noticed.

Thing is if you come off your bike then it's guaranteed pain and maybe a lot worse so it's a far better ROI. In a car, the chances of coming off the road or crashing are fairly slim if you're driving normally, but even if you do, they chances of getting hurt are still slim.
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A bit off tangent but I have noticed in the past that crap tyres puncture a lot more on the Yorkshire roads! I always now use Conti tyres, GP5000 on the road bike and Terra Trail on the gravel.

I’d quite like Contis on the car but not sure I can justify paying double for the privilege.

Yes, it does hurt when you come off! I’d fallen off twice this year!! :ROFLMAO:
 
I find tyres one of those areas that are similar to beds, or work shoes. The reliability of them are essential.

You need to rely on them a lot to provide you comfort and in this case safety. I don't question the cheap stuff with tyres - get 4 Continentals on there and worry about it when the credit card statement lands.
 
MolteniArcore said:
A bit off tangent but I have noticed in the past that crap tyres puncture a lot more on the Yorkshire roads! I always now use Conti tyres, GP5000 on the road bike and Terra Trail on the gravel.

I’d quite like Contis on the car but not sure I can justify paying double for the privilege.

Yes, it does hurt when you come off! I’d fallen off twice this year!! :ROFLMAO:
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Yeah I've got GP5000 on my summer road bike, and had them on my winter road/enduro too until I swapped em for vittoria 30mm (I think) gravel ones, as a bit of a test, but they were only cheap.

Not had a puncture in about 5 years, somehow, and been tubeless for about 3 of those.

I don't do the miles you do mind, and don't think it's possible to get a puncture on zwift yet.
 
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