Safe Speed Forums

As per the title, what do you folk recommend for replacement rubber?

Thanks to some numpty deliberately inserting a screw in to one of my rear tyres (not repairable as it is too close to the sidewall), it's time for some new tyres.
Having looked around the car, I might as well replace all 4 boots in one go as they are all around the 2mm mark with respect to wear.

Now I don't want to put cheap chinese crap on it, but it isn't really a high performance car as such so there is no need to go completely mental.
National Tyres have already quoted me £340 for a set of 4 Avon tyres, but I'm sure I can do better than this.
Also, although the car is equipped with a plethora of electronics (ABS, EBD, TC, etc), I believe it is much better to have a decent grip on the road to start with, rather than having the electronics cutting in & correcting for me.

Car in question is a V (2000) reg Mondeo 2 Litre Zetec and is currently wearing 205/50 ZR 16 boots.

Your suggestions please.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

give BlackCircles a go. They were the cheapest I found when looking last year.

IMO best thing is to shop around. I've bought branded tyres from little garages out in the country that have been almost as cheap as the Kwikfit/ATS mob in town charge for Albanian remoulds. Alright, I exaggerate, but I was pleasantly surprised when a pair of Pirellis only cost me about £120 all in. On the other hand the same place was no better than KwikFit when I went back the next time, but I soon found somewhere else that undercut the big names. Currently got a Japanese tyre (the name of which I can't remember) which is supposedly a copy of a Goodyear or Michelin or something - seems to be lasting perfectly well.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Kumho are supposed to be surprisingly good in both grip and value for money. Vredestein are another make that seem to do well. I like uniroyal and toyo personally. The former do a great wet weather tyre called the rainsport. Autocar did a tyre test recently of several makes which is worth a read (don't know the url sorry). I get most of my tyres from e-tyres who come out and fit them. Saves a lot of bother!

Now strangely enough - Vredestein - had a set on a mini in years gone bye - lasted well on the front too - but that was many moons ago - possibility compound has well changed.
Might as well throw this idea in ring - was suggested - never tried it , but it did seem LOGICAL (SENSIBLE??) as car i had at time (Maxi) ,loved front tyres..--

Front end of front wheel drive does all work - and wears most - fit good quality long lasting tyres on here.
Rear end basically a trailer - fit lower quality, same speed rating on here .

Shop around tho - some companies are having sales just now -

Auto Express did a tyre test recently:

http://tinyurl.com/94wdx

I recently replaced all 4 tyres and found mytyres.co.uk to be the cheapest, however they don't normally fit them. I arranged to have them delivered to my local fitter for fitting, balancing, etc. still the cheapest way overall, tyres £326 and £48 fitting, best locally about £409.

Personally I like Goodyear tyres for the grip in the wet and dry, my new F1 GS-D3 tyres are excellent compared to previous Yokohamas particularly in the wet. Tyre wear as yet unknown.

I got some CEAT Spiders from kwik fit, they seem fine, they have a Pirelli road hazard guarantee

If damage my tyres 3 free months they are repaced free of charge
3-6 75% off, 6-9 50% 9-12 25% off

I hope after 12 months the tread doesn't just 'drop off'

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Oct 11 Birmingham Half Marathon. I am running for the British Heart Foundation.
http://www.justgiving.com/Rob-Taylor

Depends where you live - anywhere near Coventry - i'd suggest looking at Britania - don't look cheaper till you realise that balancing/fitting/valves are standard, as is advice .

ABSOLUTELY AGREE 100%! Gixxer, I urge you to buy Kumho tyres! A tyre dealer friend recommended I fit them, which I did, and they outperformed the Pirellis that I had on previously. I was that impressed I bought I set for my van and they again outperformed Pirellis, especially in the wet. The best bit about it is that they are only about £2 dearer then budgets. Got a full set for my car for £120 fitted, and that was without any discount - he wasn't that good a friend!

I would personally fit Kuhmo's even if they were more expensive then GoodYear or Michellin, although to be fair the Mich's I had before the Pirellis were pretty good, but silly money. Definately fit Kumhos, if your not impressed I'll eat my hat

and say hello to oversteer. This is a good idea only if you want to kill yourself.

I looked online and eventually used My Tyres.

I wouldn't like to recommend a tyre (One man's meat .... etc). But once you have made your choice, they deliver free to your home within a few days, and they have an arrangement with a local fitter to put your rubber on your wheels for you - cost me £6 per tyre including balancing.

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Fixed ideas are like cramp, for instance in the foot, yet the best remedy is to step on them.

Ian

As i said - sounded logical - threw it in to see what others thought in light of practical experience.Never tried it myself - always like 4 of a kind.

only tried it once - and not by choice. I bought a 2nd hand car from what was supposedly a respectable dealer. An inspection showed the rear tyres were knackered so as part of the deal we agreed for them to put new tyres on. Didn't think any more about it until I turned into a 80km/h bend and the rear end let go. I just managed to catch it, restart my heart and pull over. My first thought was that I'd had a puncture. A close look showed that they'd decided to put some really cheap tyres on the back. Brilliant move on their part, must have saved them all of $50 on a $15K car. Of course it lost them any future business from me and anyone else I've been able to tell.

Have had Uniroyals, Continentals, BF Goodrich and Avons all were pretty good when the roads got foul.

My Xsara had original fit Michelin, very long live but very skittish and slippery when it got wet.

If you're in Essex Supertyres in Maldon are very good they advertise as being a performance car tyre specialist but they will supply tyres for all cars at pretty reasonable prices.

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Gordon Brown saying I got the country into it's current economic mess so I'll get us out of it is the same as Bomber Harris nipping over to Dresden and offering to repair a few windows.

Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.

http://www.wildcrafts.co.uk

never bothered with shopping around. Won't bother with any of the chains after going to a local private out let for me little bike. One Saturday had a puncture on the beast and went all around the scooter and tyre emporiums of southend with no joy. Ended up at Woods. They had a tyre for me little bike. Took it out of me boot, they fitted new 'un and was on my way within half an hour. There was an elderly roller in there and a guy having a front tyre on his CBR600. He told me never to part with the C90...

I'm horrified by some of the responses on here.

For so called Road Safety enthusiasts, aiming for the cheapest is terrible imo.

You want UK/US or European designed tyres designed to offer grip in the climate we're used to, going for tyres designed in a hotter country won't offer the same level of grip on a UK road.

Secondly, I'd always have the tyres with the least grip on the rear, oversteer is far safer than understeer, you can steer into oversteer, there is not much you can do about understeer. Ok, this applies more to a rear wheel drive car putting the power down than a typical everyday modern car which is usually front wheel drive, but still applies when cornering.

In my case, I have a rear drive car and I change all four tyres at the same time for safety reasons and I make sure I rotate the tyres from front to rear half way through their lives to even out wear. I also buy Goodyear Eagle F1, about the best compromise tyre you can buy, shed loads of grip, suprisingly good in the wet, only thing is they don't last very long, although much longer than most high end tyres and they're quite expensive.

I understand wishing to save money, so go to mytyres.net, but not to buy cheap crap, buy the expensive tyres, but at a reasonable price.

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www.clubrwd.com - For all things rear wheel drive

Who exactly is saying that? I don't believe there is anything other then a vague relationship between tyre price and quality. A while ago I argued with my boss to put Pirelli's on instread of the budgets that he insisted on buying for my van, which he eventually agreed to do. And what did I find? The Pirellis were woeful and were worse then the budgets. Yet they cost £45 but the budgets were about £25. Then I discovered Kumho's and never looked back yet they were only £27. For my car they were only £30.

Not that I'm suggesting this is aimed at you DaveyBoy, but if anyone has to fork out for the best tyres on the road just to keep them safe, then they are doing something wrong!

I'm sure people on here just want to find a good tyre at an affordable price!

Are you sure about that? Really sure? If you ask me it's far harder to catch an unexpected rear end slide than it is to ease off a bit should you go too hard into a corner. The other thing with understeer is that you keep going straight, that may not be the best option but at least it's predictable. With a rear end slide, if you don't catch it and keep fighting it you could end up just about anywhere.
If I'm not mistaken most road cars are set up to understeer.

Hands up I've treated "cheapest" as synonymous with "best value" in this thread.

As an aside, I forgot to mention that Costco do tyres, at least they do at the Reading warehouse. They do 'em while you're inside shopping. Prices quite reasonable too, but I assume you still have to be eligible for Costco membership.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

err likewise. Only quality boots get put on my cars. Back in the day when I had an old mkII escort I think my tyres were probably worth more than the car.