Cheap Tyres v. Expensive Tyres

[Benzowner]

Interesting read with some very constructive comments, but this is a Mercedes forum. I wonder what the response would be to the same question on say a Ford or Rover forum

 

[renault12ts]

Interesting read with some very constructive comments, but this is a Mercedes forum. I wonder what the response would be to the same question on say a Ford or Rover forum

Mine would not change.

 

[HB]

Anyone on the forum who thinks budget tyres are nearly or just as good as premium tyres obviously knows f all about cars. The first upgrade that should always be done to a car is putting good tyres on it ie contis, michelins etc.
This is not me speaking but Dario Franchetti who happens to be known to our family and I think his opinion carries a bit of weight.

 

[renault12ts]

Who is Dario Franchetti?

I think brakes are even more important than tyres.

And this is my opinion.

 

[st4]

Who is Dario Franchetti?

I think brakes are even more important than tyres.

And this is my opinion.

The brakes on pretty much any modern car can force the wheels to lock, hence why they have ABS pumps.

If the tyres cannot exert sufficient traction, they will lose traction sooner and lock and the ABS will have to work within the limits of the tyre to prevent wheel lock. Grippier tyre, the higher the limits of the tyre.

A "better" tyre will be able to take more force from the braking system before lock up as it generates more grip, reducing the stopping distance.

Unless a cars braking system is in a really bad state of repair, the tyres will have a greater effect on the stopping ability.

There are tests obtained proving that a car with continetal tyres takes less distance to stop than one with Nangkang tyres. Its the extent of this difference is what matters, to you it may not, but to others it will.

I cannot remember the last time I had to stop in an emergency, but one of those days you will and the shorter stopping distance afforded by a decent tyres might mean the difference between you sitting in A&E or thinking "**** that was close.

You make your choices and stick with them, all tyres sold in the UK conform to a suitable safety standard, but you can better that easily, so why not do that?

 

[renault12ts]

The brakes on any car will lock the wheels...even my Morris Minor in the 70s. ABS is there to stop this and allow maximum braking, whilst maintaining the ability to steer.

 

[HB]

Who is Dario Franchetti?

I think brakes are even more important than tyres.

And this is my opinion.

Oh help its captain cheap tyres again...sorry wrong spelling it's Franchitti...I assume you re joking as to who he is. Dam Iphone.
With regards to the brakes comment... look at the Autocar tyre test. On the wet braking test, the budget tyre was still doing 27.8mph when the Conti had already stopped. I'll find the link somewhere.

 

[renault12ts]

Oh help its captain cheap tyres again...sorry wrong spelling it's Franchitti...I assume you re joking as to who he is. Dam Iphone.
With regards to the brakes comment... look at the Autocar tyre test. On the wet braking test, the budget tyre was still doing 27.8mph when the Conti had already stopped. I'll find the link somewhere.

Is it not possible for you to respond/debate, without getting personal? We all have our opinions...you don't have to agree, but civility would be nice.

 

[st4]

The brakes on any car will lock the wheels...even my Morris Minor in the 70s. ABS is there to stop this and allow maximum braking, whilst maintaining the ability to steer.

Yes, but cheapo tyres lose traction sooner so the ABS has to intervene sooner and it cannot work effectively with really bad tyres.

Have you tried an emergency stop in snow/ice. I did for a laugh and the ABS was remarkably useless, now imagine a really bad tyre with ineffective grip.

I had budget tyres on mine, with even "mid range" tyres, the noise is remarkably reduced, the car less likely to "lose" its back end.

You get what you pay for.

Is it not possible for you to respond/debate, without getting personal? We all have our opinions...you don't have to agree, but civility would be nice.

Given your comments on the Pistonheads M5 thread where you accuse me of hot air... I've got one thing to say. Pot, Kettle, Black

 

[renault12ts]

So, there is a difference between cheap and premium tyres.

Is that the end of the story?

Would all cars with the same tyres have the same braking characteristics?

What I mean is, would, say, a C63 and a C180 (with the same wheels and tyres), stop in the same distance?

 

[HB]

Is it not possible for you to respond/debate, without getting personal? We all have our opinions...you don't have to agree, but civility would be nice.

Says the man who told two members to piss off last week.
I'm one of the most civil people you'll come across. Maybe we have got off on the wrong foot. If I have offended you,I'm sorry. No hard feelings. The name is Harry.

 

[st4]

So, there is a difference between cheap and premium tyres.

Is that the end of the story?

Would all cars with the same tyres have the same braking characteristics?

What I mean is, would, say, a C63 and a C180 (with the same wheels and tyres), stop in the same distance?

I guess more or less.

 

[renault12ts]

Says the man who told two members to piss off last week.
I'm one of the most civil people you'll come across. Maybe we have got off on the wrong foot. If I have offended you,I'm sorry. No hard feelings. The name is Harry.

You are very gracious Harry...likewise to you...Ciaran.

 

[renault12ts]

I guess more or less.

That's the point Steve, I don't think they would be the same given the different weights of these two cars and between other cars too.

If that is the case (not proven) then in fact two cars (as above) will also have difficulties in an emergency situation where they are both invloved given their different relative positions (if you know what I mean).

So, in an emergency stop situation, the C63 may stop more quickly and the car travelling behind may run into him (or vice versa depending on which would actually stop quicker).

 

[st4]

There isn't a huge difference in the C63 and C180 in mass, so with same tyres I would expect the result to be similar if the tyres were the same, if you fitted remoulds to the C63 and conti 3's to the C180, the C180 would stop quicker and if you swapped around it would be the other way.

Repeated effects and brake fade: The C63 with its vented/dics and larger calipers may well stop a bit sooner than the C180 (assuming same tyres) but after repeated attempts in quick succession I would expect the C63 to stop sooner as the C180 would take longer as the C180 would suffer brake fade as the discs would not cool as quickly.

The other thing to consider is wet weather grip, noise, steering feel and feedback. All better on mid range or premium tyres.

The choice is yours though, I doubt you are in danger with cheapies, but I do suspect if you fitted really nice qualities you would feel the difference and enjoy your car that bit more and worse case, maybe save yourself a trip to A&E

 

[renault12ts]

I may have used a bad example, but I don't think any two (different) cars will have the same rate of stopping.

That being the case, in an emergency on a busy road...all cars will have different braking characteristics. And I dare say, that some on cheap tyres will perform better than some on premium tyres, because they are vastly different cars.

 

[st4]

Maybe, but with cheap tyres, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage and not fully utilising the capabilities you spent your hard earned on when you bought your car. (You bought an E320, not a 1.6 Yawndeo). You have a capable car, why handicap it to save £150 / axle.

 

[billywhiz]

Just to throw something else into the mix.

The review on cheaper vs expensive tyres was done on a specific road surface using a specific car at a specific speed etc etc.

My question is has anyone personally had a 'moment' in their car whilst on cheaper tyres ?. If so, what car, what tyres, what conditions..- there is lot's of heresay on the interweb and the old addage of 'only contact with the road etc' - I do agree with that but at the same time and as mentioned earlier all tyres have to perform to a standard to be DOT rated otherwise they are not allowed for sale.

So what is the actual DOT spec of a tyre?? > and by how much does a 'premium' brand over perfom from those specs.

Otherwise I feel that people on forums are just putting across what they have read and follow rather than actual real life test.

Just trying to open the OP's question a bit more rather than just kill it with an 'Always put the most expensive you can afford on'

I'm not condoning or promoting either way, just after some real life feedback before I form any opinion.

Thx

p.s and I think the Conti Sport 3's on my 55 are noisy as hell - or maybe that's just the exhaust note....

 

[Dieselman]

J
My question is has anyone personally had a 'moment' in their car whilst on cheaper tyres ?. If so, what car, what tyres, what conditions..

One of my old cars came with a full mongrel mixture and in wet conditions I found plough on understeer was pretty extreme, now having Michelins up front and Continental on the rear, the understeer seems to have pretty well dissapeared. (Tested only yesterday on a local roundabout).

We used to run Mrs Dm old Fiat on Michelins but found the tyres started cracking due to old age, before being worn out, so went for cheaper tyres. One day I was driving and the traffic in front came to an abrupt stop. I braked but it was clear we were going to plough straight into the back of the cars, so I dived up the pavement to avoid a smash.

Back to Michelins for us.

 

[moonloops]

My question is has anyone personally had a 'moment' in their car whilst on cheaper tyres ?.

1. Merc CLK 500 had "event" tyres on it. Traction control light on most of the time in the dry. Scary in the wet. Switched to Michelins. problem gone away.

2. As previously mentioned S3 quattro with Triangle tyres, no grip, no traction, sideways round a wet roundabout whilst off the power. Switched to uniroyal rainsports in this case.

3. MR2 Turbo had mongrel tyres, I think two where runways (or run aways), pulled out of a side road onto a 70mph dual carriageway in the dry, part throttle and it went sideways big time. Now it is running on Falken 452's I can get some serious lateral forces through those tyres.

ps. I had Pirelli's on a subaru impreza ages ago and they were terrible, so not all premium tyres work on every car. In this instance Toyo Proxies were way way better.