General Budget or Dunlop tyres?

[chriscboy]

Hi,

I need 2 new front tyres for my Abarth, so today I went to a local tyre centre to get some quotes. £140 each if I stick with Dunlops, or approx £75 each if I would go for budget tyres. I asked the bloke behind the counter whats the difference between the two and he said (quote) "Not a lot unless you are planning to race round Brands Hatch".

Now obviously the budget tyres are significantly cheaper, and tbh am not planning on racing any time soon, so I was wondering if any else could shed some light on why budget tyres are so much cheaper?

 

[Andymacselespeed]

Try blackcircles.com for a good comparison. There's little to tell between top end and budget brands nowerdays. The better brands tend to be more refined on the car, lower noise etc. About £100 a corner should get good tyres. I picked up a full set of pirelli p zero neros for just under £400.

Remember to play firms off against each other to get a good deal.

 

[ste]

most brands of tyres ie bridgstone will also do a lower marketed tyre (ditchfiner)
and to be honest these will be fine for summer but if it was raining and winter i would invest in the better make

 

[Caravadossi]

£140 each if I stick with Dunlops, or approx £75 each if I would go for budget tyres ...

Size? Load? Speed?

No need to risk budgets - check-out the mid-range e.g. Kumho, Hankook, Fulda etc. Someone in the GP section picked-up a pair of Kumho 205/45R17(?) for £76ea fitted earlier today.

 

[Mr Cousins]

I'm currently running Falken tyres that i got for £80 each from a tyre place im good mates with and there great!

 

[inki]

Take a look here.
http://www.tiptop-tyres.co.uk/who_makes_which_tyre.html

 

[jackson74]

Ive had a set of Nankang NS2 on mine for 12 months now, only about £60-£70 each, been very happy with them all through the snow, ice and wet.
Whatever you decide to go for you'll probably find them cheapest on ebay tyres.

 

[Caravadossi]

Ive had a set of Nankang NS2 on mine ...

NANKANG?
Falken Ziex ZE512 were made by Ohtsu Tire & Rubber in Miyazaki, Japan. In the 03/2007 ADAC tyre test, the 205/55R16 V (Croma Dynamic) size, was placed bottom of the league – due to bad performance in the wet, with 5.3 marks (the worst possible marking is 5.5).

The Tread carefully Which? (Mar2007) report declared: “These tyres are safe but performed badly in the wet” and advised “Three 205/55R16 Vs fall short of standards we think acceptable: the Marangoni Vanto; the Nankang Ultra Sport NS-2; and, the worst, the Falken Ziex ZE512 which needs 12.3m more to stop than the best in this size” … that’s about 2½ Croma lengths. The Ziex ZE512 was taken off the market.

This year in the 03/2010 ADAC tyre test of size 225/45R17, the Nankang NS-20 was “not recommended” due to weak performance (3.8 marks) in the wet, together with other budget tyres.

 

[jackson74]

NANKANG?
Falken Ziex ZE512 were made by Ohtsu Tire & Rubber in Miyazaki, Japan. In the 03/2007 ADAC tyre test, the 205/55R16 V (Croma Dynamic) size, was placed bottom of the league – due to bad performance in the wet, with 5.3 marks (the worst possible marking is 5.5).

The Tread carefully Which? (Mar2007) report declared: “These tyres are safe but performed badly in the wet” and advised “Three 205/55R16 Vs fall short of standards we think acceptable: the Marangoni Vanto; the Nankang Ultra Sport NS-2; and, the worst, the Falken Ziex ZE512 which needs 12.3m more to stop than the best in this size” … that’s about 2½ Croma lengths. The Ziex ZE512 was taken off the market.

This year in the 03/2010 ADAC tyre test of size 225/45R17, the Nankang NS-20 was “not recommended” due to weak performance (3.8 marks) in the wet, together with other budget tyres.

I agree the nankangs have got quite a poor rep, but i deciced to give them a go anyway and as i said ive found them very satisfactory.
If we all listened to the so called "expert" reviewers then there wouldnt be a single stilo owner considering the dreadful reviews they've recieved in the past!

 

[Andymacselespeed]

I agree the nankangs have got quite a poor rep, but i deciced to give them a go anyway and as i said ive found them very satisfactory.
If we all listened to the so called "expert" reviewers then there wouldnt be a single stilo owner considering the dreadful reviews they've recieved in the past!

Like it!

Most people think the tyres they personally have are great, but to be honest in day to day driving, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between a £150 and a £60 tyre. Only seems to be at all noticeable when going from very bad to very good. When I bought my Stilo it was on 4 different foreign, no name brand tyres. It was okay, but not fun in the wet. A set of Pirelli P Zero Neros and it is noticeably better, especially on roundabouts. Just means I now go faster round roundabouts! Not sure thats a good thing.

 

[muppet42]

Jeez (in terms of price), I've got 205/55/16 Dunlop SP3000A's on mine and they were about £60-70 a corner last year. Not had any issues with them either, supplied and fitted at Farmers who are Edinburgh based but comparable with Blackcircles on prices.

 

[Caravadossi]

Like it!

I like it too. From the moment I read it - I couldn’t stop laughing.

Somehow I don’t see Dr Martin Rempfer (Head of Vehicle Test, ADAC Technical Centre) & Daniel Bott (Tyre Test Leader, ADAC) being unduly worried – or the army of German, Austrian (ÖAMTC), Swiss (TCS) & (dare I say it) British engineers’ that hold the qualifications … & hold the job of year-on-year tyre testing.

If qualified engineers are disparaged as “so called `expert’ reviewers“ – then what does that make the guy who’s test (?) results wouldn’t cover a sheet of arse paper?

 

[The_Cinq]

I can also recommend blackcircles.com (order online, pay one price and get fitted at a local garage for no extra cost).
I found my JTD handled very poorly in the wet on budget tyres, particularly on roundabouts, tbh it was getting quite scary. It was also losing masses of traction when pulling out of side streets onto dual carriageways etc.
Anyway, I priced up new budget tyres from a couple of garages and was looking at around £80 a corner inc fitting. Going through blackcircles I got Pirelli's (P6000's I think) for a bit less than the budgets. For a tiny bit more I could have got some Toyo Proxy's which would have been even better for grip but I was told would have worn a lot faster as they're more 'sticky'.
The Pirelli's are still going strong and still have masses of grip.

Oh and you can read user reviews on all the tyres on blackcircles which is more useful I think than the expert ones.

 

[muppet42]

I can also recommend blackcircles.com (order online, pay one price and get fitted at a local garage for no extra cost).
I found my JTD handled very poorly in the wet on budget tyres, particularly on roundabouts, tbh it was getting quite scary. It was also losing masses of traction when pulling out of side streets onto dual carriageways etc.
Anyway, I priced up new budget tyres from a couple of garages and was looking at around £80 a corner inc fitting. Going through blackcircles I got Pirelli's (P6000's I think) for a bit less than the budgets. For a tiny bit more I could have got some Toyo Proxy's which would have been even better for grip but I was told would have worn a lot faster as they're more 'sticky'.
The Pirelli's are still going strong and still have masses of grip.

Oh and you can read user reviews on all the tyres on blackcircles which is more useful I think than the expert ones.

Had P6000s on the front before I put Dunlops all round and I'd say they're comparable with the SP3000As on grip, noise, wear and the like. Would've preferred to go for Pirelli's again but Farmers didn't have them in stock at the time. Still, happy enough with what I've got till I get an alloy and tyre package or a second hand set off eBay

 

[fudge1200]

Just had Two Front tyres fitted to my Daughters Abarth Pirelli P Zero Nero 17" £105 each, Fitted, Local tyre shop. at that price why bother wit budget tyres.

 

[Andymacselespeed]

The other thing to check is tracking, that way the tyres will last a fair time and not scrub out existence early.

 

[Caravadossi]

I agree the nankangs have got quite a poor rep, but i deciced to give them a go anyway ...

From your comments on your tyres & car - you disclose a propensity to run towards possible trouble, rather than away from it. It’s clear you’ve read the negative reviews - & therefore haven’t excluded data, but included it. But then you chose to ignore it.

I’m not surprised. It’s a topic covered in business schools & universities. Not sure what module covers it - but basically it’s about poor decision making resulting from `ignoring data you don’t like.’ (Guys/gals at uni - can you advise?)

I recall an RAF officer who was up for buying a sports tourer. He paid for the car to be independently examined by the AA (or other), & the report came back with a significant list of negative elements – that he didn’t like, but then ignored & bought the car anyway. An extreme example often referred to is the US administrations decision over Iraq. Reports that there were no WMD in Iraq were ignored – because they didn’t want to hear that.

 

[Caravadossi]

I can also recommend blackcircles ...

Oh and you can read user reviews on all the tyres on blackcircles which is more useful I think than the expert ones.

Why?

Oh and there are no “user reviews on all the tyres” on blackcircles.

There are “customer testimonials” (i.e. statements of recommendation) - & only on some of the tyres. You won’t find a negative wave about a tyre – only positive.

Why is that – do you think? Is it because … they sell tyres?

.

 

[The_Cinq]

Why?

Oh and there are no “user reviews on all the tyres” on blackcircles.

There are “customer testimonials” (i.e. statements of recommendation) - & only on some of the tyres. You won’t find a negative wave about a tyre – only positive.

Why is that – do you think? Is it because … they sell tyres?

.

Just checked blackcircles - it's changed since I used it last (probably about 14 months ago). Last time I used it there were multiple reviews on all the tyres I looked at including those negative and those not quite so positive. This is how I made my final decision between the the Pirelli's and the Toyo's - reading reviews by other drivers. Apologies if my information isn't quite right - although that aside it's still a cheap site for good tyres.

 

[spid3r1987]

jeeze!! my budget tyre's are £45 each lol!!!
weird or wht!