What is the best way to source car tyres?

[Col5632]

Try camskill.co.uk for tyres, i ordered two and got them the next day, one of the cheapest places i found to buy tyres and the service is next to none

 

[Stonepark]

Have a look at my tyres, good selection.

I use Kumho's for both summer tyres (KU31) and snow tyres (KW7400) and can't fault them, the equivalent for you vehicle would be Ventures at £82.60 each, you can also get eh barums for less than your quotation above.

Kumho Road Venture APT KL51 215/70 R16 99T

 

[Fnaar]

I just go to KwikFit

 

[Davidc]

I just go to KwikFit

Likewise

Even so I buy the mid range ones from them. Perfectly good for my boring driving style, but the ABS works more often than it did with the original Michelins.

Reason for Kwik Fit - when I've needed it their customer service has always been good. If that fails they'll lose me.

 

[mickle]

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.

It's pretty clear to me that if your standard or style of driving is at a level where the performance difference between a cheap tyre and an expensive tyre is causing you to have accidents - either through an inability to stop in time or because you can't go around corners without crashing - then you probably shouldn't be allowed to own a car.

 

[mickle]

I'm sick of people using the roads as their own private race circuit, and this mythology of the 'high performance' tyre at one end of the price range and the 'death trap tyre' at the other just feeds into that. Why the hell does anyone need a high performance tyre on the road? Track days fair enough, but most of the people driving performance cars never see a track, yet the market supplies them with ever stickier rubber so that they can hoon around corners faster - to the detriment of everybody else unfortunate enough to share a road with them.

I'd be prepared to wager that cars fitted with high performance tyres are more - not less - likely to be invloved in collisions.

 

[JoeyB]

All I know is my old Astra was dangerous with budget tyres (Linglong) in the wet and roundabouts were a nightmare lol. It was no longer dangerous once I upgraded to mid range (Toyo) tyres.

 

[Cletus Van Damme]

Try camskill.co.uk for tyres, i ordered two and got them the next day, one of the cheapest places i found to buy tyres and the service is next to none

They are very cheap, I live close to the place so use them for tyres. Regarding cheap tyres I once put some Nankangs on a fast"ish" car I used to have and they were utter shite. I get middle of the road tyres like Falken's or Kumho's now. They are both pretty good and well reviewed for not a huge outlay.

Of the bigger name tyres that I have had I always thought that Pirelli P6000's were really poor once they got worn down a bit. I always used to like Goodyear Eagle F1's and Toyo Proxes T1R's.

 

[GrasB]

It's pretty clear to me that if your standard or style of driving is at a level where the performance difference between a cheap tyre and an expensive tyre is causing you to have accidents - either through an inability to stop in time or because you can't go around corners without crashing - then you probably shouldn't be allowed to own a car.

Something I saw happen in Italy last year. You're driving through a 40km/h limit at 30-35km/h, it's overcast & a little damp on the road due to intermittent light drizzle but visibility is good. There's an old man walking on the pavement with his shopping in bags. Just as you're about to pass him dog jumps up standing on his back paws barking. This causes the man to jump & then stumble back a few steps back & then falls down onto the road as he trips over his shopping bags. The driver of the car didn't quite manage to stop in time, the impact speed was at less than walking pace, but thankfully the man didn't sustain any injuries from being hit by the car. In a situation like that I'll take every little advantage I can get in terms of braking & grip, be it from tyres, suspension or the brakes them selves. In this case cm really did matter so a 0.5% reduction in stopping distances is an advantage.

EDIT: Mechanical only stopping distances at 50km/h (wet surface):
Nankang XR611 (165/55R13) £38ea - 11.6m (18.2m)
Pirelli P700 Z (165/55R13) £65ea - 11.0m (15.2m)
Continental SportContact* (195/40R14) £75ea - 8.7 (11.7m)
*Also using 257mm discs rather than 240mm discs, same brake callipers.

So in some cases we're not taking about small advantages here. The conti SCs were almost as good in the wet as the Nankangs in the dry, something I find very scary.

 

[Col5632]

They are very cheap, I live close to the place so use them for tyres. Regarding cheap tyres I once put some Nankangs on a fast"ish" car I used to have and they were utter s***e. I get middle of the road tyres like Falken's or Kumho's now. They are both pretty good and well reviewed for not a huge outlay.

Of the bigger name tyres that I have had I always thought that Pirelli P6000's were really poor once they got worn down a bit. I always used to like Goodyear Eagle F1's and Toyo Proxes T1R's.

They sure are I've had falkens and kumhos on my car before and i rate them highly

 

[Night Train]

'Cheap' tyres are a false economy.

They often have fewer, or poorer designed, sips leading to significantly worse water clearing in the wet, and can also have less grip, poorer rolling resistance, shorter tread life, etc.

It also isn't about drivers 'racing' on the road. Sometimes just being able to respond safely in an emergency, or just having consistent handling can make all the difference.

I also wouldn't buy second hand tyres from a scrap yard. There is no indication of the tyre condition and the tyre could have been damaged due to, or being the cause of, the incident that put a car in the scrap yard in the first place, or even damaged when the car was being scrapped.

That little patch of rubber keeping my car safely on the road, to me, is much much more important then the little patch of rubber keeping my bike on the road. If it were to go wrong with my car other people can be hurt, not just me.

Tyres = no compromise for quality, just like brakes, steering and suspension components.

 

[bridgy]

I've recently changed to buying "budget" tyres after years of sticking to the premium brands, because they were literally half the price. The guy at the local tyre depot (whose prices have always been comparable with the best online deals I can find) explained the ones I've bought are exactly the same tread pattern as last year's Goodyear, but that they would most likely wear down quicker. I've not noticed any difference in performance at all and they seem to be wearing at a very similar rate to the premium brand I had before.

Sorry I can't remember the make and its raining so I'm not going out to check! but in my experience, not all "budget" tyres give rubbish performance.

 

[subaqua]

I suppose the car forums would have a laugh at us discussing the merits of Bontrager over Schwalbe over Kenda etc . the same arguments fopr cycle tyres and tubes are valid for car tyres IMHO. I tend to stick with what the manufacturer specified as they seem to know what they are doing.
my dads RS4 Audi came with a Continental tyre , the base model A4 was fitted with pirellis ( P6000 I think) he has stuck with the Continentals even though the Pirelli have the same load and speed rating and a similar wear level.
having had budget tyres on various cars as a young BR I will stick with the premium brands on the car she drives.

 

[defy-one]

For midrange kumho ku39's are very good. I have them on the wifes car. For my 530d m sport i had Falken 452's last time. Excellent grip in the wet & dry. This year i tried the Falken 453. No complaints thus far.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

We're just 'on the cusp' of needing new front tyres on the Octavia, but then again I reckon that nigh on 31,000miles from a front wheel drive diesel estate isn't bad going?

It's presently wearing Dunlop SP Sport 01, & at that kind of wear rate, I might buy the same again