What is the best way to source car tyres?

[defy-one]

I refuse to believe that manufacturers are permitted to sell tyres in this country which are so poor that even 'the best driver in the world' would end up crashing a car fitted with them. Its patent nonsense.

Sorry mate it's not. Cheap tyres are proven under testing to repel water less effectively and also take longer (distance) to stop the same vehicle under hard braking. The stopping distance is many feetwhen comparing the very best to the poorest tyres at 40mph and above.
This is the difference between hitting something/someone (god forbid) and pulling up safely.
Pays your money-makes your choice

 

[defy-one]

Barum Bar Bravuris supposed to be mid range made by Continental I think.

I will look at the calculator and see if anything is easier. Any recommendations would be appreciated of course

What type of vehicle is it?
4 x 4 with 4 wheel drive or just 2 wheel drive?
Saloon car
Pick up/utility vehicle

 

[vernon]

Favourite at the moment are http://www.valuetyres.co.uk/
The problem with local tyre fitters is that my tyres are a funney size (215/70 R 16) and the two I've approached so far have a very small choice or can't get them at all.
I'm thinking of: Barum Bar Bravuris 4x4 100s at £87.70 a pop inc fitting.

Unless Barum tyre compounds have improved beyond all recognition I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. They were fitted as standard to Jawa and CZ motorcycles in the seventies and the first purchase that proud new owners of those two motorcycle marques made was a new set of tyres. Riding the motorcycles in the wet was a challenge.

The pistonheads forum comments suggest that nothing has changed.

 

[tyred]

Sorry mate it's not. Cheap tyres are proven under testing to repel water less effectively and also take longer (distance) to stop the same vehicle under hard braking. The stopping distance is many feetwhen comparing the very best to the poorest tyres at 40mph and above.
This is the difference between hitting something/someone (god forbid) and pulling up safely.
Pays your money-makes your choice

Absolutely, cheap "budget" tyres can be lethal and don't think enough people realise this. When I bought my 205, it came with new tyres. Great I thought. They were lethal on a wet road, any effort to brake even gently could lock the wheels. I binned them on safety grounds. I would never buy cheap tyres, stick to the well known brands.

 

[MarkF]

I feel bad now. I buy the cheapest and..............................used. As long as they are cheap and have 6mm+ of tread left, then I'll buy 'em, don't care if they are called chenshingslip-a-thon. I believe Mickle.

Just put 4 on the good lady's MX-5 prior to it's MOT, picked up 2 from Skipton and 2 from Ilkley, all from Ebay, had all 4 fitted & balanced in Bradford at £5 per wheel, total cost? £70.

BTW I gave it some right stick over the moors to Ilkley on Saturday, it never budged from it's lines, great fun.

 

[GrasB]

I refuse to believe that manufacturers are permitted to sell tyres in this country which are so poor that even 'the best driver in the world' would end up crashing a car fitted with them. Its patent nonsense.

Well it's kind of true. There's a relatively huge gulf in grip between the highest grip tyres & the cheap economy biased budget tyres. This means longer stopping distances & lateral grip when you try doing radical maneuvers (eg the sort of thing you do in an emergency), especially in the wet when the temps are heading towards or are in single figures. That said the bottom end tyres aren't dangerous, they just provide less grip.

It's also not true that you have to spend an arm & a leg on top flight tyres in terms of grip. Say I look at the A rated summer tyres for wet grip for my Alfa, I can get tyres for £95 ea, the thing is they're rated at 74db, F rated for fuel economy & lower load + speed ratings (which equals high wear rates). Pay about twice that & I get 69db tyre nose, B rated fuel efficiency & higher load + speed ratings, thus longer tyre life.

 

[mickle]

Srsly. If manufacturers are selling tyres in this country which are so poor that they cause accidents its nothing less than a national scandal and someone should get in touch with the daily mail. Its total garbage.

 

[Maz]

I feel bad now. I buy the cheapest and..............................used. As long as they are cheap and have 6mm+ of tread left, then I'll buy 'em, don't care if they are called chenshingslip-a-thon.

Same here, I buy budget tyres all the time! Now the cheap-tyre-haters have got me worried (a bit).

 

[mickle]

Well it's kind of true. There's a relatively huge gulf in grip between the highest grip tyres & the cheap economy biased budget tyres. This means longer stopping distances & lateral grip when you try doing radical maneuvers (eg the sort of thing you do in an emergency), especially in the wet when the temps are heading towards or are in single figures. That said the bottom end tyres aren't dangerous, they just provide less grip.

It's also not true that you have to spend an arm & a leg on top flight tyres in terms of grip. Say I look at the A rated summer tyres for wet grip for my Alfa, I can get tyres for £95 ea, the thing is they're rated at 74db, F rated for fuel economy & lower load + speed ratings (which equals high wear rates). Pay about twice that & I get 69db tyre nose, B rated fuel efficiency & higher load + speed ratings, thus longer tyre life.

I get that different tyres have different levels of performance. Thats just common knowledge. I also know that high performance tyres are getting softer in the quest for more grip and corespondingly less durable. But if cheap tyres are actually causing accidents thats a different matter altogether.

 

[vernon]

Srsly. If manufacturers are selling tyres in this country which are so poor that they cause accidents its nothing less than a national scandal and someone should get in touch with the daily mail. Its total garbage.

It's not that they cause accidents it's that they do not perform in such a way as to forgive poor or less than optimal driving techniques.

Barum and Yokahama motor cycle tyres were notorious for their poor grip but it did not stop them from being fitted as standard on Jawa/CZ and Yamaha motorcycles in the seventies. I found myself sliding on my ar5e watching sparks fly from my RD200 as the tyres let go on a wet roundabout and no, no diesel was involved and it wasn't after a protracted dry spell so there was no road/tyre based lubrication issues involving water, rubber particles and other grime.

Yokahama tyres were nylon based at the time I think that they are substantially better now though I'm not sure what the tyre compound is based on.

Barum were made of a 'durable' compound which led to a long life though this was at the expense of grip.

 

[Drago]

There is a big gulf inverse and performance between budgets and premium tyres.

The various standards relate in the main to the nanufacturing process, the noise the tyre makes in use and (from November) how fuel efficient they area. There is no obligatory standard that relates to the tyres performance or durability.

What does it say about your love for you family if youre only prepared to fit Lap Sang Woo Wongs? Unkess I've suddenly developed X-Ray vision I won't touch used tyres either. Most wont be date coded so even if they're mint you won't know how effective the compound might be, and damaged caused by poor inflation or impact isn't always visible.

Bin them at 3mm as well - RoSPA, the AA, ACPO, and every tyre brand in the UK bar one advise to do this. Water is incompressible, and at 3 mm the tyre Simply becomes unable to function in terms of treading the water. The legal limit might be a stupid 1.6 but at that point the typical car takes 60 metres longer to stop in the wet at 60 than the same car on new tyres with 8 mm of tread.

 

[GrasB]

I get that different tyres have different levels of performance. Thats just common knowledge. I also know that high performance tyres are getting softer in the quest for more grip and corespondingly less durable. But if cheap tyres are actually causing accidents thats a different matter altogether.

I suppose it's which way you look at it. Are higher performance tyres increasing the safety of the driver by allowing them to turn harder/stop faster or are the lower performance budget tyres causing accidents by not being able to stop as quickly or corner as hard. In the grand scheme of things I view it as the former, there are minimum performance levels which a tyre has to conform to before it can be sold. Anything which exceeds those specifications improves safety.

 

[MarkF]

What does it say about your love for you family if youre only prepared to fit Lap Sang Woo Wongs?

My kids have never worn cycle helmets, I am pretty sure that I love them all.

 

[Drago]

I think the difference is that the difference in tyre performance with wear and cobstruction is pretty much proven, whereas with cycle helmets it isn't. No comparison.

 

[MarkF]

I my life I have been lucky enough to have a lot of company cars, I was always provided with premium brands. I can't tell the difference between those and whatever budget ones get put on my private cars I've owned. I am prepared to believe that tyre choice is important for performance cars that are used as such, but for everyday normal driving, in normal cars by normal drivers? Nope.

Just checked the MX 5, they are 2 x Federal and 2 x Hankook . The latter are c.h.e.a.p and are supplied by Tesco in the UK "Hankook tyres are often chosen as original equipment for some of the biggest car manufacturers such as Audi, Ford, Mitzubishi, Renault, Vauxhall and Volvo."