Any experts on car tyres here?

[Drago]

Maxxis. I got another set of wheels with Geolandar M/T's, but it might take a few years to wear out the existing ones with the mielage I do.

 

[screenman]

I did my bit to rid the world of the Maxi, by ripping the engines out of three of them to keep my Allaggro alive. I then killed the Allegro anyway.

I got the T shirt for that one as well.

 

[Levo-Lon]

My dads hilman imp had a spare engine in the boot ....

 

[LimeBurn]

As a tyre fitter and then a tyre garage manager for many years it amazes me how many people ask does it really make a difference what tyres i fit to my car. Of course it does! ! If you are struggling to get all four tyres the same you should at least have axle pairs that match, and of a similar tread depth too. Your tyres are the only contact point between the car and the road and it beggars belief that people try and skimp on them, you wouldn't buy a sofa just because its the cheapest available in the shop. Don't get me wrong there are some very good budget tyres so I'm not saying you have to buy Michelin or continental but a decent pair of matched tyres is a minimum.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Funny how threads make you remember things..
my dad had many cars as I have but he had a Landi Safari ,tough old thing.I remember a guy up the road ran into the landi in his datsun cherry..totalled it and he was quite shook up to.
dad simply spent a minute or 2 with the lump hammer as the fron wing had a kink and the bumper was a bit bent ,wonder what encap would make of that..

 

[Drago]

I had a SHART car pull out on front of my old Isuzu Trooper in 1999. Stupid toy car absolutely oblitereated, front bumper on the Trooper pushed inwards slightly (it pinged back out when a frined of mine put a rope round it and gave it a pull with his van, leaving zero damage). you can't beat the big old trucks for a cheap and easy repair.

 

[Drago]

Contemporary with a park bench.

 

[BrumJim]

Tyres now come with EU performance guides (easily seen on blackcircles), and therefore you can tell at a glace if the Michelins are actually more fuel efficient than the budget brand, or if the Continentals do have more grip than the Japanese equivalent. Takes all the guessing out of the equation, and cuts through the marketing rubbish. Oh, and never listen to empirical tales. If you replace a badly worn tyre with a new one, of course it is going to be much grippier, better ride, etc. Even if you replace a branded worn with a budget new one. And the drop-off in performance is so gradual I'm not convinced anyone can give a realistic comparison between their last set of tyres and the current ones.

Also, if you drive enthusiastically, some will advise putting newer tyres on the back regardless of where the power goes, as loosing grip at the back is much more difficult to catch on a front wheel drive than loosing it at the front. And for a rear wheel drive, that's where you want the grip anyway.

 

[ayceejay]

My dads hilman imp had a spare engine in the boot ....

I'll bet he needed it too.
I bought an Imp brand new from a garage in Bristol. You didn't get a free tank of gas in those days so I pulled from the showroom to the forecourt and pulled on the thingy that opened the front where the tank was and it came away in my hand. They fixed it. I drove away and was enjoying the heat, there was no water in the radiator so back I went. They fixed it. A week later the entire exhaust system dropped off so back I went. The guy came out "Le's 'ave a look squire" put his jack directly on the bodywork and branded my Imp with the star of stupid. I also owned an Ital once but this was worse.
It had four tyres but I never wore them out.

 

[mr messy]

Where's the "fun" in burnin' oot Conti's on the rear? What you need is Camacs

 

[gbb]

Any experts on car tyres here ?
Relax.....we are ALL experts here ...on whatever the subject happens to be

 

[LimeBurn]

Yeah it used to be that you'd put the best tyres on the drive wheels but the current theory is as you say on the rear as over steer it's far more of a problem.

Tyres now come with EU performance guides (easily seen on blackcircles), and therefore you can tell at a glace if the Michelins are actually more fuel efficient than the budget brand, or if the Continentals do have more grip than the Japanese equivalent. Takes all the guessing out of the equation, and cuts through the marketing rubbish. Oh, and never listen to empirical tales. If you replace a badly worn tyre with a new one, of course it is going to be much grippier, better ride, etc. Even if you replace a branded worn with a budget new one. And the drop-off in performance is so gradual I'm not convinced anyone can give a realistic comparison between their last set of tyres and the current ones.

Also, if you drive enthusiastically, some will advise putting newer tyres on the back regardless of where the power goes, as loosing grip at the back is much more difficult to catch on a front wheel drive than loosing it at the front. And for a rear wheel drive, that's where you want the grip anyway.