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Tyres.

Mullardman

Mullardman

Moderately extreme...
I think I posted a few years back. I'd had problems with Dunlop 'BlueResponse' and had them all replaced after less than a year, but the tyre fitter Co. took a lot of threatening to refund me the cash owed to me from Dunlop, who'd agreed to refund 80% of cost.
After many letters and threats, the guy eventually paid up.
Anyway, it seems that was in 2016, so all of my tyres are 4 years old, though I'm only doing 4-5K Max P.A. these days.

I've been keeping a general eye on wear. They all look well within limits.

A couple of weeks ago I took a load of scrap to my local scrap yard and was pleased to net almost £40 for a 2 mile drive. Sadly, the following day I found a screw in a front tyre, almost certainly picked up in the Yard. It turned out to be beyond safe repair so. being wondering about new tyres all around.. I settled for a 'mid priced' Lauffen replacement on one wheel.. while I think about things... Cost £66. wiping out the previous day's profit..and some..

So.. Now what? I've read a lot of reviews which have Lauffen as a 'cheaper' Hankook, but perfectly adequate for general use., so the obvious thing is to have the remaining three done to match.

Or do I see the single Lauffen as a 'loss' and get four new something else?

I'm not a boy racer. I like to drive fast on straight roads which allow, but otherwise I'm pretty steady. My main priority is ride comfort and low noise. I'm not interested in winter/summer swaps etc.

Suggestions?

(04 Reg Civic 2.0 L 'S')
 
What's the spare like? Can you buy one new to match across the axle and put the one with decent tread in the boot, then in a few months when you know if they're any good, swap the two new tyres from front to rear or vice versa?

Front wheels need balancing so this can add to the cost.
 
Keep the Lauffen as your spare, pop existing spare on the front.
Unless you have a space saver spare of course.
If your tyres are near the end of their life, I'm thinking age more than mileage, you should be thinking of replacements anyway. Plus I wouldn't replace only one tyre for new as a final solution, should be both fronts or both backs if you can't stretch to all four.
It's also common practice to rotate the tyres, the driven tyres wear faster so you can swap front to back to increase wear life.

Crossed posts with previous, sound advice also;)
 
Driven tyres always wear faster on front-wheel-drive cars. On rear-wheel-drive it varies, depending on the car but also on how you drive. If you do a lot of brutal accelerating and not much braking, or the other way around. Braking always wears out the front tyres about twice as quickly as the rears.
 
It really does depend on your budget. I’d never put anything less than tyres from the big companies on any car. If you’re after long life, comfort, low noise, and of course decent grip/traction, Chinese ditchfinders probably aren’t going to satisfy.

There’ll always be people praising the virtues of Teflon No-Grips, especially when they’re new, but it’s amazing how easily these companies fool people just by making the carcass thicker (heavier) and tread deeper.

If you buy, say, four new Continentals now, drive normally and avoid punctures, you’d probably see at least six years out of them at your annual mileage. And you’d probably be happier in the meantime.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
It really does depend on your budget. I’d never put anything less than tyres from the big companies on any car. If you’re after long life, comfort, low noise, and of course decent grip/traction, Chinese ditchfinders probably aren’t going to satisfy.

There’ll always be people praising the virtues of Teflon No-Grips, especially when they’re new, but it’s amazing how easily these companies fool people just by making the carcass thicker (heavier) and tread deeper.

If you buy, say, four new Continentals now, drive normally and avoid punctures, you’d probably see at least six years out of them at your annual mileage. And you’d probably be happier in the meantime.
Click to expand...
Twice now I’ve had advisories on cracked tyres with plenty of tread still on them. I buy eco type tyres as the car is a VW bluemotion thing, is the harder compound the culprit?
 
TheDecameron said:
Twice now I’ve had advisories on cracked tyres with plenty of tread still on them. I buy eco type tyres as the car is a VW bluemotion thing, is the harder compound the culprit?
Click to expand...

Difficult to say, how old are they? Is the car left outside all day every day? UV and time will do it. How many miles per year?
 
4 years isn't end of life for tyres. Ideally you would replace them in pairs but it's not a big deal imo. As others have said, what's the spare?
 
That just shouldn’t happen. The only thing I can think of is some sort of chemical contamination. Maybe a gas? Or cleaning the tyres with a solvent?
 
I do a lot of miles with work so have had the opportunity to try a wide range of tyres.

I've had good mileage and grip from Continental, Michelin, Pirelli and Avon.

Dunlop (Max Sport?) were grippy but wore quickly.

Khumo are decent as a budget option.

Correct tyre pressures and steering geometry makes a big difference to tyre life.
 
Even the big names do budget tyres, and a quality no-name will be better than a branded el cheapo. Price is often but not always the best indicator.

Can you mix treads across the axle? It’s debatable, I suppose if you think tyres make any difference whatsoever then it has to affect the handling.
 
I do not mix different makes or tread patterns on the same axle - I doubt it actually matters, though,

I have no issue with budget tyres and rarely pay for a brand name.
 
Mike P said:
I do a lot of miles with work so have had the opportunity to try a wide range of tyres.

I've had good mileage and grip from Continental, Michelin, Pirelli and Avon.

Dunlop (Max Sport?) were grippy but wore quickly.

Khumo are decent as a budget option.

Correct tyre pressures and steering geometry makes a big difference to tyre life.
Click to expand...

My van came with factory fitted Contis and they did 20k on the front and just shy of 40k on the rear, I've since had Falkens that don't seem any less grippy (normal driving) but have lasted a bit longer, I've had two more sets on the front and now another on the rear. Can't fault them and reasonably priced at £70 fitted a corner.

No doubt the Contis would have the edge if I were 'pressing on' as they're definitely softer.
 
I've had one or two bad experiences with budget tyres; 'Accelera' was my last mistake, insanely noisy, poor grip, and actually not especially cheap. I usually aim for somewhere in the middle now and Avon have often been my 'go to' tyre.
I actually had two new front tyres put on my 08 Civic last week; Yokohama 'c drive 2' £129 fitted for the pair, which seemed pretty reasonable. Apparently the suppliers had them on special offer so figured I'd give them a try as they get a good write up.
 
On that subject:

PS. Tyres are important. Best not being stingy about such things, and get good ones. I've no choice, only one company seems to make tyres for my car, Bridgestone, but at least they seem to be quite decent (if pricy and hard to find)...
 
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