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Favourite tyre brand?

Finally got the Rainsport 5 tyres & refurbished wheels on today, my initial thoughts are very complimentary towards them. They are quieter than the other tyres I had on, cornering & ride quality is excellent even though I thought the Avon ZV7 tyres were good. Only done 35 miles in them today to scrub them in a little, well happy with them & even in the light rain on the road surface they seemed well in control. Happy bunny is me.
 
AV8 said:
Finally got the Rainsport 5 tyres & refurbished wheels on today, my initial thoughts are very complimentary towards them. They are quieter than the other tyres I had on, cornering & ride quality is excellent even though I thought the Avon ZV7 tyres were good. Only done 35 miles in them today to scrub them in a little, well happy with them & even in the light rain on the road surface they seemed well in control. Happy bunny is me.
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Good news. I think that we overestimate the effect of new tyres. Even same brand, swapping old but legal, say 2-3mm, for new, makes even a modest car feel better. I had this years ago with a pool car Astra Estate that I was having to drive for work.
 
AV8 said:
Their are loads of so called ditchfinder tyres online with all the same pattern but different names, one big moulding factory must churn them out night and day.
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They're made by Shandong New Continent Tire Co, which only has two brands. Roadcruza seem like a middling 'value' brand and probably OK on your average family runabout.

There are, though, lots if different tyre mfrs in China banging out tyres of very dubious quality. Personally, I'd avoid as it's a bit of a minefield to navigate to find the good ones.
 
I'd personally never buy ditchinders, why pay £50-£60 for something like LingLong :rolleyes: when you can get known tyres like my Rainsport 5 for £75-£80 each. My life is worth an extra £100 all day long no matter what.

When I buy a car the first thing I look at is the tyres fitted, quality stuff = care and attention ownership, ditchfinders = budget care and maybe not enough attention ownership.
 
Cav said:
Surely the ditchfinder is the driver...
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Not necessarily. I had a cheap tyre that was fine for a while and then just lost all wet road grip. It was scary and I replaced it pronto. The replacement was great. I've had ditchfinders on a variety of old bangers, most are OK but some have turned out to be a bit treacherous in certain road conditions. I now drive a better car with premium brand tyres on, and the difference in handling is noticeable. Of course that's partly the car, but I've done nearly 40k miles without any incident at all. The nut behind the wheel remains unchanged, he's no more reliable than he used to be.
I think that the observation that dirt cheap tyres on anything other than an old banger indicates poor maintenance holds water.
 
stevec67 said:
I think that the observation that dirt cheap tyres on anything other than an old banger indicates poor maintenance holds water.
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The last two times I traded in my old car for a new one, I later saw the old car on the lot with the cheapest tires the dealer could find in my size. I hate to think that I, or the new owner, would be judged based on those rim-protectors.
 
Yank said:
The last two times I traded in my old car for a new one, I later saw the old car on the lot with the cheapest tires the dealer could find in my size. I hate to think that I, or the new owner, would be judged based on those rim-protectors.
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So you traded it in with worn tyres that he needed to replace then :D
 
AV8 said:
When I buy a car the first thing I look at is the tyres fitted, quality stuff = care and attention ownership, ditchfinders = budget care and maybe not enough attention ownership.
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Agree. When a tyre dealer offers me Accelera for the rear of my Z4, that's a red flag.

When they claim it's a premium budget tyre, I run for the hills. Others are more gullible.

Cav said:
Surely the ditchfinder is the driver...
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As @stevec67 said, not necessarily.

I bought a car with nearly new Zeta tyres.
All 4 had done less than 500 miles. Death traps. I went into a 4 wheeled drift, at 30mph at a roundabout. I controlled it and next day, put part worn Goodyear's on for the same price I sold all 4 Zetas. Night and day difference and confidence returned.
 
AnilS said:
All 4 had done less than 500 miles. Death traps. I went into a 4 wheeled drift, at 30mph at a roundabout. I controlled it and next day, put part worn Goodyear's on for the same price I sold all 4 Zetas. Night and day difference and confidence returned.
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My old A4 quattro did that with 4 spanking new "Triangle" tyres. Straight off the the tyre fitters for proper ones to be fitted.
 
My old 5 Series would lose the back end on a certain wet cambered roundabout at the very normal speeds everyone else was driving uneventfully at. I got fed up with fighting for the life of my car whilst just keeping abreast of normal traffic flow. Replaced the unknown brand tyres with some Continentals and it completely resolved the problem.
 
paul rich said:
My old 5 Series would lose the back end on a certain wet cambered roundabout at the very normal speeds everyone else was driving uneventfully at. I got fed up with fighting for the life of my car whilst just keeping abreast of normal traffic flow. Replaced the unknown brand tyres with some Continentals and it completely resolved the problem.
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Yup. The E65 730D I had for around 8 months came on all new 20" Accelera Phi tyres

The journey home on the was horrendous. Took a roundabout local to me at maybe 20 mph. Back end all over the show!

Replaced them the say after with Nexen N'fera SU1s to make do whilst I wanted for the 18" alloys and winter tyres to be sorted (full refurb and fitting) and then fitted them to have the 20" alloys refurbed and shod with Uniroyal RS3s at that time...

The Nexens are good tyres IMO

I'll never go cheaper than them
 
New Accelera's on a Fiesta I bought some years ago - never knew tyres could be so gripless ,even dust on the road made them feel totally disconnected from the surface - 2 days later I had a set of RS3's put on - totally transformed the car.
 
The major brands and models I've liked over the last 40+ years, from most recent, are:
  1. Michelin (Pilot Sports 4S and Super Sport)
  2. Bridgestone (RE-050A)
  3. Dunlop (Sport Maxx)
  4. Goodyear (Eagle GS-D3)
  5. Pirelli (P-700z)
  6. Yokohama (A-008s)
I'd like to try Continental one day, but I seem firmly stuck with Michelin. How apt!
 
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