Car Tyres

[Speck]

Mrs Speck has Kumho tyres on her Micra, seem pretty good

http://www.kumhotyre.co.uk/

 

[tyred]

I agree with everything Mr Pig says but in reality, 99.9% of drivers will never push their car hard enough for any of it to matter. A worryingly large percentage of drivers have no idea how to control a car as it approaches or goes over the limits anyway.

My preferred characteristic of a car tyre is good stopping ability in the wet but even that isn't really a problem if you drive with a little anticipation. It is worthwhile to find a quiet, straight road and check the stopping distance in the wet imo.

 

[GrasB]

I tend to be a sedate but high mileage driver. I have pushed my tyres to their limit and so know where that limit is. I have also found that the limit drops off very suddenly as the tyre gets near the wear bars so I change them when they are close.

Yeah, for wet weather braking with around 3.5~4mm of tread left the stopping distances increase dramatically. Personally I'd like to see the legal tread limit raised to 2.5 or 3mm but have a requirement that a car has at least 3.5mm tread left at the MoT.

 

[Mr Pig]

in reality, 99.9% of drivers will never push their car hard enough for any of it to matter.

It's not about deciding to push the car, it's about the times when something unexpected happens that forces you to. Years ago I had to stand the car on its nose when a young drunk guy walked straight in front of me in Edinburgh. Just missed him. I rolled down the window and said "Well done mate, you were nearly dead there". Maybe with different tyres I would have hit him.

The lifeboat analogy is reasonable. Yes, someone could wear out a cheap set of tyres without once having to find out where their limits are but equally you could be in a crash because their performance is poor. It's like insurance. I've not made a claim in over a decade so does that mean I don't need it? No, because I don't know what will happen tomorrow.

Personally I'd like to see the legal tread limit raised to 2.5 or 3mm but have a requirement that a car has at least 3.5mm tread left at the MoT.

Totally agree. Once you get down to about 2mm the tread does very little in the wet. The current limit is a joke.

 

[bauldbairn]

Personally I'd like to see the legal tread limit raised to 2.5 or 3mm but have a requirement that a car has at least 3.5mm tread left at the MoT.

I agree, I change mine before they get to 3mm - it's an absolute minimum for me.

 

[magnatom]

Blimey, this started a fair old conversation.

Went for Barums (Bravuris 2). I'll take the C4 Grand out for a spin at the local circuit to let you know how they handle at the extremes....

 

[Coco]

I disagree with the lifeboat analogy. What you're really saying is that cheaper tyres are like a lifeboat that's only suitable for up to a force X storm.
You are right in saying that better tyres/lifeboats will perform better in more severe storms/conditions.We just don't know what the value of X is. Like everything in life there is a compromise between risk and cost and different people will make different decisions.

An interesting thing about cars happened to me this weekend. We went out in my wife's car on our very icy street and a warning light came up on the dashboard. Neither of us had seen it before so we were alarmed enough to RTFM. Turns out the light indicated that the traction control had activated. So in 8 years of this car and its predecessor we've only lost traction once.

So would I buy cheaper tyres? Probably not.

 

[bauldbairn]

Blimey, this started a fair old conversation.

Yeah well!..........while the cat's away?

 

[gbb]

I agree with everything Mr Pig says but in reality, 99.9% of drivers will never push their car hard enough for any of it to matter. A worryingly large percentage of drivers have no idea how to control a car as it approaches or goes over the limits anyway.

My preferred characteristic of a car tyre is good stopping ability in the wet but even that isn't really a problem if you drive with a little anticipation. It is worthwhile to find a quiet, straight road and check the stopping distance in the wet imo.

You beat me to it. The info Mr Pig is giving is no doubt true and good, but 99.9% of us just want a reasonably good set of tyres at a reasonable price. All tyres will compromise somewhere. I always found P6000's wear well and i never had problems on my SRI with them.

No idea how to control a car in an emergency..i also think 99.9% of driver probably know the theory (steer into a skid etc)...but the reality is if you find yourself correcting that much, you're doing something wrong or are a bloody unlucky driver.

40 years of driving, i think i've lost control twice. Its not much to hone ones skills in an emergency is it

I love these discussions

 

[fossyant]

Blimey, this started a fair old conversation.

Went for Barums (Bravuris 2). I'll take the C4 Grand out for a spin at the local circuit to let you know how they handle at the extremes....

They is the ones I've got...pretty good..been on a year. Happy to say the tread is good in snow as well.

 

[Piemaster]

You beat me to it. The info Mr Pig is giving is no doubt true and good, but 99.9% of us just want a reasonably good set of tyres at a reasonable price. All tyres will compromise somewhere. I always found P6000's wear well and i never had problems on my SRI with them.

No idea how to control a car in an emergency..i also think 99.9% of driver probably know the theory (steer into a skid etc)...but the reality is if you find yourself correcting that much, you're doing something wrong or are a bloody unlucky driver.

40 years of driving, i think i've lost control twice. Its not much to hone ones skills in an emergency is it

I love these discussions

No. It is however a good argument for some skid pan training. Something I've never done but would like to have a try at.

Based on this thread I had a look at the Alfas tyres today. Best get some new fronts. There is apparently a Vredestein dealer in Hull so I'll give them a call tomorrow. These Sportrac3 better be good Mr.P

 

[Mr Pig]

So in 8 years of this car and its predecessor we've only lost traction once.

It depends on the system and what else is going on. Some systems will only come on if the one of the front wheels is spinning much faster than the other for more than a second or two, slipping on ice for instance. A stability system might flick a light on if it has to brake a wheel because you've accidentally chucked the car into a bend too fast but you might be too busy looking ot of the window and sweating to notice!

Worth pointing out that ABS will not make up for poor tyres. It'll help your tyres brake close to as well as they can but it won't make a crap tyre stop as well as a good one.

40 years of driving, i think i've lost control twice. Its not much to hone ones skills in an emergency is it

A few years ago my wife bought me a session on the skid pan for my birthday, I was rubbish! ;0) We drove two cars, a Vectra and BMW, to experience front and rear wheel drive. In the Vectra we were supposed to around in circles faster and faster until it spun out but I couldn't do it. Because I've been driving mostly front wheel drive cars all my life I'm used to them and kept catching it before it spun. It was an automatic reaction to dip the power and jink the steering a bit and no matter how hard I tried I couldn't stop myself.

The BMW was the opposite, I kept spinning it when I was supposed to be catching the slid. It was like driving on ice and once the back broke away I couldn't catch it. The young girl who was on the skid pan at the same time was much better at it ;0)

 

[Piemaster]

New shoes

The Alfa now has a set of shiny new Sportrac3. And I like them. No chance as yet to give them much of a try out over the few miles in the car today in traffic and slush, but do seem to be quieter than the mixture that was on before (despite Auto Express rating them as noisy). Also feels like car is running on rubber now. I hadn't realised how wooden the old ones were in comparison.

Thanks for the tip Mr.P

I had intended to replace only the fronts as they were quite worn with some odd flat spots across the width in places. Apparently putting new tyres on the front only is not a good idea and a closer inspection revealed the rears were different makes anyway (milanza heros anyone?)

 

[Piemaster]

New shoes

The Alfa now has a set of shiny new Sportrac3. And I like them. No chance as yet to give them much of a try out over the few miles in the car today in traffic and slush, but do seem to be quieter than the mixture that was on before (despite Auto Express rating them as noisy). Also feels like car is running on rubber now. I hadn't realised how wooden the old ones were in comparison.

Thanks for the tip Mr.P

I had intended to replace only the fronts as they were quite worn with some odd flat spots across the width in places. Apparently putting new tyres on the front only is not a good idea and a closer inspection revealed the rears were different makes anyway (milanza heros anyone?)

 

[Mr Pig]

do seem to be quieter than the mixture that was on before (despite Auto Express rating them as noisy)

No, trust me, they are. Don't get me wrong, they're not deafening, but you can hear more road noise than you can with...just about any other tyre I've used actually! ;0) Can't win em all.