We had a friend who was a general manager for Discount Tire ( A big tire retail chain). He would tell us that most name brand tire companies rebranded premium tires with a cheaper name plate. He would always steer us to these tires which we the exact same tire as the name brand but way cheaper.

On my old astra 2002 club no abs i used crossclimate 185/65/15 from memory. Brilliant tyre in the rain and ice. I also had a set of winter tyres too 😮 because i used to drive 60 miles a day to work and needed thw help in winter. Really do make a huge difference especially stopping at roundabouts 😊

Hmmm, asking a dealer what is best to buy - they are going to tell you what you want after your leading questions. I'm sure all of their employees use Michelin.

Thanks for another informative video Paul. Funny that you should mention cross climate tyres as I recently had to change the rears on my VW Touareg (having changed the fronts just before Christmas) and I opted for a Goodyear cross climate as I noticed that the Goodyear ones I'd put on the front were classed as a 'summer' tyre. I hadn't noticed this when I bought them. When the guy from Nationwide came to fit the rears he said ''I'd rather not fit these as they are a different compound and tread pattern to the ones on the front and this could cause excessive wear on the 4WD system, especially the diffs''. A quick check on one of the Touareg forums confirmed this and there was even advice that the tyres should be the same make, model, size, tread pattern and within a couple of mm of wear or the diffs will be in constant duty cycle and never in neutral mode. All credit to him for pointing this out and he then rang the depot, arranged for the same tyres as I had on the front ordered for two days time and as these were £30 less I had a refund to my Paypal account within 30 minutes, so top marks for Nationwide Tyres. This may be relevant to the Audi Quattro system in general, as the Nationwide fitter said that he first learned about this regarding a Q7 he had been working on.

@life_on_cars

11 ай бұрын

Sounds like you had a very well informed tyre specialist thankfully 👍

@richardsutton01

11 ай бұрын

All the 4WD systems using a Haldex or equivalent permanent drive system require the tyres to have a very similar rolling radius to avoid wearing out the clutches in the transfer box. This means that if one tyre needs to be replaced because of damage, then unless the tyres are fairly new, all the tyres must be replaced. This has been the case for the last 25 years. Richard

Thanks for a great video :) When it comes to tyres, Its horse for course's ! What vehicle it is, what conditions it is used in, if you plan to keep or sell ! For context, i would not run/use a cheap tyre on a fast road car has I would call them "ditch finders" I would use low end tyres on city car that may never get over the speed limit. Another thing which was not talked about was tracking, toe/camber which also affects tyre performance.

If your on the quickfit website it's always a great idea to plug in your tyre size and play with the refine results button. I've just had to replace my front set at 15k miles, which is pretty good. I have an electric, and there was only 1 double A rated reinforced tyre, and after discounts, it was only £113 a tyre. Now I could have bought £55 tyres, but honestly I'd be surprised if they didn't last half the distance and cost twice the price difference in fuel costs.

My cars are not leased so I would have fixed both those punctures with the rubber "string" repair kit which I carry in the toolkit of all my cars. I've repaired many tyres over the last 50 years using these kits and the repairs have always lasted right through to the end of the tyres natural life. The cost of the repair is negligible although the kits are not for the faint-hearted. 😉 Richard

I know it depends on brand but would you say there would be a lot of difference in fuel efficiency between A and C if all 4 were changed? Thanks

Interesting video. I drive an old 04 Passat so I can’t really justify spending £400 all round for a set of Michelin tyres. But I have found a great top of the range budget for everyday driving, the Sumitomo BC100. Made in Thailand by the same company that makes Dunlop and Falken tyres. For the price highly recommended been running them for years now.

@life_on_cars

3 ай бұрын

Sounds good 👍

I agree Michelin (and Continental) are top of the tree. Traditionally Michelin wear better than Conti, but I believe they've sorted that in the latest versions. If cost is an issue and you don't do high miles, you can drop a level safely if you do your research. In any event don't run tyres that are over 6 years old or have less than 3mm tread. If money is really really tight then do ten times the research before you spend. But what you don't want to do is roll up to a Kwik-Fit and say 'just bung some cheap ones on'

@life_on_cars

11 ай бұрын

Exactly

i have pilot sport 4s on my caddy van really good tyres but i got around 12k miles before i had to change the front 2. thought i would have got more miles out of them i did replace them with another pair of pilot sport 4s but may change to a different model if they keep wearing so quick

@life_on_cars

11 ай бұрын

Must be all that power your van has. Do love a caddy van 👍

Noticed some of the Chinese budget tyres from just a few years ago are now being sold as mid spec Runway for example they are being sold now as mid spec tyres.

The question i have to ask would ATS ect fit a bad Tyre if they did and you had an accident and the tyres were found to be substandard what would be the situation

@life_on_cars

9 ай бұрын

I don't think any reputable tyre retailer in the UK would sell anything that hasn't met a minimum european standard E11 and ECE (I hope not) however some tyre retailers might be willing to sell without or even part worn tyres. Avoid.

I stick to Bridgestone Turanza which I think offer the best quality over price compromise. Never tried Michelin, Yokohama or Continental. Other brands I tried are Pirelli (Pzero) which I didn't like and Hankook Evo, very satisfied with the latter.

Nice video, you know when you swapped from Bridgestone Turanza's to Pilot Sport 5's did you notice if the ride was any harsher (even slightly)? A mate has the same car and is due to change tyres soon but is concerned that he'd lose the comfy ride, thanks

@life_on_cars

5 ай бұрын

Hi I've always found the ride slightly harsh on this car.. and it didn't change with the tyre swap. Thanks for watching

"Buy the best tyres you can afford because they might save your life". That's it in a nutshell. If you average out the additional cost of premium vs cheap, it's negligible over the life of the tyre. In my experience, premiums last better, which helps negate the extra cost of purchase. I'm on Conti Premium Contacts at the moment, which last well and I find excellent in the wet.

@alexandremachado6500

3 ай бұрын

The problem is: which one is the best?

@laurieharper1526

3 ай бұрын

@@alexandremachado6500 Doesn't matter. Any premium tyre will be good. They all strike a balance between comfort, performance, rolling resistance/economy, etc. Buy according to your priorities. Being ancient, I favour comfort, but ymmv.

I'm a bit of a trye geek and snob. On my 20 year old 530i, I'm using Conti Premium Contact 7s and Winter Contacts for winters.

@life_on_cars

10 ай бұрын

Sounds like a great combo. Love those 5 series. Fantastic motor

@lewis72

10 ай бұрын

@@life_on_cars It's an E60 not an E39 but I do also have an E39... also on Continental tyres.

@life_on_cars

10 ай бұрын

@@lewis72 I like both designs

I was at my local independent tyre dealer a couple of months ago and there was an S3 (I think) having it's newly refurbished 19" wheels fitted with new tyres. Landsails! I wouldn't fit them on our FIAT Panda never mind the Alfa. My concern is that if everyone buys Chinese copies the established brands may go out of business, leaving the question : Will the Chinese brands continue to develop new tyres? If not there will be little or no advance in safety.

@life_on_cars

10 ай бұрын

Landsail on an S3!

I think the Korean brand Kumho tyres are good value! They are fitted from the factory to Hyundai’s & Kia’s, so hopefully the performance & quality is decent.

@triplevxd

21 күн бұрын

Used to be Korean. They're now owned by Double Star (Chinese)

Premium everytime

If you have a lower value car, that is a basic run around at lower speeds, and then a decent budget tyre is totally fine. If the car is a hot hatch or quicker, drive your car hard, lots of long journeys, then buy the best tyre you can afford. But there is no point spending £100 a tyre for a 15yr old 1.2 corsa that only does school runs and goes tesco twice aweek. and never leaves the town or goes above 50mph.

In general, car culture has gone, and for most people a car is just an expensive inconvenience that gets them from A to B and back again. And as long as they don't hit anything in the process that's a win.

Had the cross climates for 3 years on my VW Caravelle now. Great tyre. Had them on a few motors now. Also have Goodyear Eagle F1 Asy 5's, Michellin PS5's and PS4S's and a set of Pirelli P Zero's on some of my other cars. So I am not unaware of quality tyres, ha ha.

What if current China premium tires are as good as any European tires made new during 2012 and you actually don't drive more than 160km/hr?. Just in retrospect European tires made during 2012 are already good for 200km/hr. I recently put in UC7 tires for my 2006 Mercedes but my mechanic put in made in China tires for his 2004 Jaguar. 😂😂😂. Much2 cheaper.

@life_on_cars

11 ай бұрын

Those UC7 tyres are fantastic I've heard a lot of good reviews. I've no doubt that even budget tyres are getting better but I'd not use them just yet 👍

It's odd, I see some budget tyres rated C and B and 70db that is half the price of worse rated premium brands. I know there's more to it than these ratings, but that's where there's a lack of knowledge about tyres. I see the better EU label, at half the price, then why would I buy a premium tyre when there's nothing telling me I should.

@triplevxd

21 күн бұрын

The issue is that those ratings are entirely self-scored by the manufacturer. There is no independent body to verify them. The premium brands are usually pretty accurate, but you have to decide whether you trust some unknown budget manufacturer to be truthful with the ratings.

Who listens to anyone from Kwik fit😂😂😂😂😂

@life_on_cars

11 ай бұрын

😆

only fools go to Kwik fit .They will try to sell you new brakes and tyres on a car that has come straight from the showroom new . But they are Ok for AC re charge

Veeeeeery looong winded. Please get to the point? And I thought the yanks were bad😂

@life_on_cars

2 ай бұрын

😂