Yes, I read that and even recently I'd have agreed. I've had reason to be wary of a couple of the brands of far eastern manufactured tyres I've driven on in the past. One in particular wore at a very low rate indeed until eventually I was forced to scrap them because they were cracking badly although not even half the tread depth had been used up. That particular tyre, in the dry, drove quite well, although, on reflection, I doubt if it's braking performance in an emergency would have been great. It's performance in the wet, especially as it aged, was diabolical. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was like driving on ice! I was young, inexperienced and broke so was happy to live with them for the money it was saving me - never considered I might have an accident. Recently though, there are some very good products being produced by eastern manufacturers, many of which are appearing as original equipment on new vehicles from prestigious manufacturers, So I think we need to think hard about our past impressions of these products. Trouble is, it's difficult to really "know" which are the good ones and which are still cheap rubbish. I like what I read about these Davanti people and I'd be surprised if they are doing anything other than pursuing excellence?
https://davanti-tyres.com/
Whilst on this theme, Many of you on here will have read previous posts from me on tyres and will know I worked for a major manufacturer in their racing division many years ago. I'm still very interested indeed in tyres and "stuff" to do with them. Apart from the mechanical side of them, I mean design and manufacture of the tyre structure, the rubbers used - a tyre is not made up of the same rubber all over, the casing and it's cords are encased in a very different type of rubber to the tread rubber which contacts the road. Both must work in harmony to make a "good" tyre. Many people, understandably, will be keen to buy a tyre which wears slowly and lasts a long time. However you need to think about this approach. The problem, putting it very simply - and it's a complicated subject, is that to make it last a long time the rubber in the tread needs to be relatively "hard" but to grip the road surface well it needs to be "soft". Then, when you throw into this mix, (joke here because tyre rubber is actually a synthetic mix of not even 50% natural rubber these days) the fact that rubber oxidises with age and becomes less flexible and more brittle and prone to cracking means that their performance is age dependent. The older a tyre gets the less well it will grip the road. The generally accepted guidance is that a tyre more than 10 years old will be significantly compromised even if it looks fine and performance, although reducing from the moment it goes on the car will be reduced to a measurable degree after around 5 years. With this in mind, and the fact I don't do a high annual mileage, I'm not at all influenced by claims that one make of tyre will outlast another. My priority is to buy a tyre which will grip well and I'm looking to renew at around the 7/8 year mark if it's not worn down to around 2 mm before then. Why 2mm? I was involved in a series of tests on tyres for fast road cars and it became very obvious early on in the tests, which involved a number of manufacturer's products tested back to back - we were interested not just in outright levels of grip but also in how our products compared to competitors products - that performance in conditions where it was not just "wet" but had patchy areas of standing water as you might run into in everyday driving in heavy rain, was significantly compromised when tread depth went below around the 2mm. The legal limit is currently 1.6mm but I'd be nervous about driving at any sort of main road speeds in significantly wet conditions on a tyre worn to this degree. So I'm always interested primarily in any tyre which has good wet weather performance. If it meets that requirement then I'll start comparing it with similar tyres for dry weather performance. Generally a tyre with good wet weather grip is likely to wear a little more quickly than others but, as I'm not going to ever let it get "really old" that doesn't bother me as I'm probably never going to wear it out substantially before it gets too old.
The age old question for most of us though is "how do I know the "good" ones to buy? Especially if, like me, you don't want to unnecessarily buy an overly expensive product? My approach is that I always do a price search for the "big name" products - Michelin, Good Year, Continental, Pirelli, Bridgestone and the like. They are expensive for good reason because they contain the latest and best technology and materials and the strictest quality control etc. I then ring up my wee mobile tyre man to see if he can do me a "deal". I've been using him for years now and he always comes up "trumps" for me. If he can't help then I ask what he'd recommend and, if it's a name I'm not familiar with, I'll do some research before buying. He's never made a recommendation I found unacceptable. The only other thing which I'm very strict with myself about is always having the same make and version of tyre on an axle. So both front and both rear tyres must be a matching pair. Preferably all four tyres would be the same, but I'm not unhappy with different ones on the front to the back as long as they are the same on any axle. Oh, and always newest tyres on the back axle, even if this means a bit of a rearrangement of the other tyres on the car! Why? I know there's an argument for putting them on the front as this might give better braking. Under heavy braking most of the "gripping" effort is thrown to the front tyres due to weight transfer but loading up the tyres and "pressing" them harder into the road surface also increases grip so this concerns me less than the possibility of oversteer if you have old tyres on the rear and new ones on the front. If you always run your newest tyres on the rear the car is much less less likely to whip round on you (oversteer) if you go into a corner too fast. Oversteer requires a very skilled and experienced driver to control. If you ever get the opportunity to drive on a skid pan then do it. It's a sobering and eye opening experience. You'll view driving in a very different light after it. If the rears grip better than the front you are more likely to experience understeer in this sort of circumstance which is where the front, due to loosing grip before the rear, runs wide in the corner and can usually be recovered simply by letting off on the throttle - which you'll do without thinking, and turning the steering wheel more - which will scrub off speed. Only if you're going very much too fast will you then end up in the ditch!
And the "evangelical" parting message to all? I'm sure many reading this will find what I'm going to say now a bit "old hat" but it always bears repeating. Check your tyre pressures regularly, minimum once a month I'd say? On modern vehicles you've got the backup of Pressure Monitoring systems of course, but how failsafe are they? an occasional manual check won't go amiss. But also periodically, even if it's only a couple of times a year. Take a very close look at all your tyres. Of course check tread depth - Tyres will have depth indicator bars to help you check at a glance. Here's a video which shows what you're looking for:
What's the build date? do you even know what that is and where to find it? Here's another video to help you:
Then look at the area around the rim of the wheel. An old tyre will often show cracks here and in the sidewall generally before anywhere else, and remember to look on the inside wall too. Means getting a bit "down and dirty" to do that, especially on rear wheels (you can turn the fronts with the steering). Also look for cracking right down deep in the tread grooves. I recently found early signs on Becky's O/S/R, it's the oldest tyre on the car, so will need a new one for MOT probably. While you're about it, you need to be watching out for any physical damage to the tyre such as cuts and lumps and bumps, especially on the inner sidewall where people seldom bother looking. Your garage should be checking for all this at service time and at MOT, but many people get their service and MOT done at the same time and tyre damage can happen at any time. Obviously check if you've run over something "nasty" or mounted a high kerb etc. Most people don't and even with quite severe damage the car may drive normally, until the tyre bows out!
Oh dear, gone on a bit again, haven't I? Trouble is, having been involved with tyres, especially in my earlier career, I've seen some pretty shocking sights and, in my experience, the majority of everyday drivers seldom give their tyre a second glance or even check pressure - Electronic tyre pressure monitoring is a great idea in my opinion, as long as the driver understands and acts on it. Just of late I've spoken to a number of elderly friends who have bought new cars, perhaps after many years of reliable service from their old one, and they don't have the slightest idea what to do with all the technology in them. My very good friend from just up the road, used to be a welding instructor, has just replaced his Mk1 Jazz with a small Toyota Hybrid and he's stopping almost every time he passes if he sees me outside. He just doesn't have a scooby as to what's going on with the display. The TPI light came on so he, being the practical chap he is, checked all the pressures, found them within a couple of PSI of recommended but then didn't know what to do about turning the light out. He also has trouble with the centre screen reconfiguring it's display unexpectedly. I'm betting he's unintentionally triggering stuff with the steering wheel controls, but who knows? A goodly number of the folk I speak to are much in the same "boat". Used to be folk thought the oil warning light in the older cars came on because the oil needed a top up! This is just "silly" now. On that subject - the oil warning light - I notice the one on my Skoda is now "electronically" controlled. It comes on during the initial bulb check but then, like the other warning lights GOES OUT! It's out from then on, including before the engine is even cranked over. I like to see an oil warning light go out within seconds of fire up. But it seems now that the oil pressure is being monitored by the ECU and the light only illuminates if the ECU detects very low, or no, oil pressure for a period of time. How long will it run with low, or no, oil pressure? Only the manufacturer knows! AAAAARGH!
