Cheap tyres - should I bother?

[Concho]

After going down some shady dirt track in the rain by Swindon I've developed a bit of an 'egg' in a front tyre so need to change it. The tyre got me home ok and seems to still be ok performance wise but I know the tyre wall has weakened so was waiting till pay day (tomorrow) to get a new one.

Unfortunately with a mates 40th birthday also tomorrow, and another mate getting married this month with all the usual bills I'm pretty skint so looking at cheaper tyres.

My plan is to get a couple of budget economy tyres for a couple of months and then switch those on the back and get good ones on the front when cashflow is back to normal!

Question is should I bother, are they worth taking a risk on? I know tyres are probably the most essential safety feature on the car and don't wanna take risks there.

I'm looking at these two basically, from blackcircles.com (anyone know any cheaper?):

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Falken/FK452.htm - £84.86 each

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Yokohama/S306.htm - £87.80 each

Anyone tried these?

It's for an 08 FR TDi on 18's.

Cheers

 

[wilky87]

i have budgets on mine, (star performer) and they are s*it, they do the job and have lasted me 6 month with another 6 month easily will last another 6 month, but once in wet and driving hard they aint much good for traction, but i paid £46 a tyre

 

[john-e-big-guns]

Personaly I would'nt I'd match up whats already on... and whats the point in putting a cheap one on for a few months then changing later.... £85/88 you may as well buy the better at £140.... nearly double the expence in the end....sod ya mates...think of No 1

 

[SeanCorky]

I've just got 2 x 225/40/18 Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta's for £173 delivered though Camskill

Local dealer wanted £155 a tyre!

 

[makkakm]

Hi.
If you do some searching on the forum as i have some of the guys have used the falkens and have good things to say about them.
I have the pirrelli pzero's on my car and they grip good. Dont know about how long they will last tho

 

[Leigh15]

If all you can afford is cheapo tyres then get one on there as the tyre with a bulge is 3 points and a£60 fine waiting to happen.

I would echo what's been said above though and get decent tyres first time round - pay cheap, pay twice etc

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Seems daft to get cheap ones only to swap them, but I agree they need doing asap. What about bunging two normal ones on a credit card?

 

[sialdo]

I had falkens on my BMW, they were ****. I have full run on at moment on my FR they are **** too. 100 should buy u michelins. U know anyone with Costco card?

 

[sialdo]

Or get part worn off eBay. They will tie you over a few months

 

[wilky87]

If all you can afford is cheapo tyres then get one on there as the tyre with a bulge is 3 points and a£60 fine waiting to happen.

I would echo what's been said above though and get decent tyres first time round - pay cheap, pay twice etc

disagree with the buy cheap buy twice part, i do around 6k a year and my cheap tyres will last longer, but i agrre if i had the money i would buy decent tyres

 

[Petrol head]

Personally from experience (several crashes) I wouldn't put a cheap tyre any where near my car.

I bought my Cupra with two budget tyres on the front and performance was terrible. It spun all over the place in the wet, spun when I accelerated and had terrible under-steer.

I replaced all four recently with Pirelli P zeros and the difference is unreal. No wheel spin and no loss of traction in the wet. If you can manage a credit card properly I would put one on it. A cheap tyre will get you from A to B if you drive like my granny. If you want the confidence of good performance when you need it don't compromise!

 

[r56kyle]

I have Yokohama S306's on my FR, personally I think they are a very good tyre and last alot longer than the bridgestone potenza's I had on before. The front pair now need changed and I will be buying them again The wet grip could do with a bit of improvement but they are by no means crap in the wet

 

[Paulki]

I've had Falken FK452 on mine for a couple of years and have no complaints. Tyres are subjective and your opinion will be dictated by the way you drive. Most of the comments I've seen for the Falkens are positive, and I would certainly buy them again.

If you are an "enthusiastic" driver then there will be better (and more expensive) options out there, but for the price they are very good.

Falken are the 6th largest tyre manufacturer in the world and I agree with SimonFRTDI, FK452's are mid range rather than budget/economy.

 

[chrislee12345]

Cheap tyres are a real no no for me after seeing 5th gear a few weeks back.

They put some Continentals on a car and run it on a wet track at 70 mph then braked and measured the stopping distance.

They got some cheapo's with a virtually identical tread pattern to the Continentals and did the same test.

Where the car had stopped with the Continentals on, the car with the cheapo tyres on was still doing over 30mph at that point!!

Not worth the risk in my opinion

Regards Chris

 

[SimonFRTDI]

Personally from experience (several crashes) I wouldn't put a cheap tyre any where near my car.

I bought my Cupra with two budget tyres on the front and performance was terrible. It spun all over the place in the wet, spun when I accelerated and had terrible under-steer.

I replaced all four recently with Pirelli P zeros and the difference is unreal. No wheel spin and no loss of traction in the wet. If you can manage a credit card properly I would put one on it. A cheap tyre will get you from A to B if you drive like my granny. If you want the confidence of good performance when you need it don't compromise!

I think this sums up the attitude of a few who seem to think they are F1 drivers looking for an extra tenth on their way to ASDA. The wheelspin is probably down to driving (the crashes might back this theory up too).

I have the FK452's and have previously had cars with Goodyear Eagle F1's (usually regarded as one of if not the best tyre albeit at a price). Sure the F1's were a bit better, but worth almost twice as much for normal driving, probably not. I had the Pirelli P Zeros before the Falken's and there is not really any difference (save the price).

Besides I would call Falken and Yokohoma mid-range rather than crappy. If you were putting on some rock hard, kwik-fit specials then it would be a different story.

 

[wayne lcr]

up to you at the end of the day your car if you can stretch to good tyres ive always had p-zeros up till begining of this year then i got some cheapo,s and i carnt wait till i get them off to tell you the truth. and yea the 5 gear was a intresting peace.

 

[Sooty torques]

Or get part worn off eBay. They will tie you over a few months

Personally I'd never fit part-worns and certainly none that were bought off eBay...

 

[wayne lcr]

thats defo asking for trouble fitting part worn. becose a tyre needs to bed into your car and when you buy part worn they have already been bedded in. and part worn on a o8 car defo no?. thats what taxis do becose there mega tight.

 

[SimonFRTDI]

I agree, no matter what your budget for tyres this cannot be a good plan.

 

[Rickst3r]

I've just got 2 x 225/40/18 Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta's for £173 delivered though Camskill

Ditto

Will be getting mine fitted at the weekend to replace the front Dunlop Sport's.

If you can afford circa £85 per tyre, I would deffo go for the Vredestein's over the Falkins any day of the week! I haven't read a bad thing about the Vredestein's, plus i had the Ultrac versions fitted to my old Focus RS and they were the best tyres i ever had.

So i have high hopes for these new one's.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Vredestein/Ultrac-Sessanta.htm