On checking tyre pressures & adjusting on my new Octavia 1.5 tsi SEL noticed Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 2 tyres were fitted , I always considered that make was amongst the "cheaper budget" brands,pound for pound what are considered to be more of a "premium" brand, I do realise it is the "overall" performance of a tyre, & personal opinions that will make the final decision ! 

Just because other OEM tyres the VW Group fit are from Continental, Dunlop, Pirelli, Michelin etc that does not make them premium, just cheap for VW to purchase and 

if you buy like for like to replace they can be overpriced IMO & IME. 

 

Performance in wet and cold and even the summer is very much decided i believe by how the tyres are on the car and not because one Multi National is thought of as a premium manufacturer.

Plenty 'Eco' tyres fitted that are rubbish from the big names.

Agreed; the tyre supply decision for "normal models" from most manufacturers is "what can we get the best price for 10_000 of this week?" if, for example, Pirelli are £1-50 a tyre cheaper than Goodyear, that's a saving of £6 or £7-50 per car!

Hankooks are pretty good, perhaps not quite Michelin, Continental or Goodyear level, but not far off either. I certainly wouldn't call them budget; a quick search on Blackcircles has a few Hankook tyres priced within a few pounds of the Goodyear F1 AS3.

 

As mentioned it will depend on what tyres can be had for the best price and stock availability etc. I have seen Hankooks fitted to a number of "premium" cars from factory including Mercedes Benz and Audi, so it's not just a Skoda thing.

Hankook S1Evo2s are a fairly decent 'midrange performance' tyre. Wouldn't be my first choice on anything I wanted to drive hard but wouldn't complain at having them on a normal car by any means. 

Also sometimes the tyre manufacture will subsidise the fitment of OE tyres to the car manufacturer.

This can help with brand awareness and some people with then fit the same tyres at replacement time.

 

Thanks AG Falco

Quote

 

Thanks for your "noteworthy" comments/opinions & now not thinking along the lines of having them changed...wear them down a little, change over front to back [as always] then think about what to fit when that time comes !

I was chatting to the guy who came to repair my tyre (was going to replace but when he looked at it said it was perfectly repairable). He was of the opinion that most people waste money buying premium brand tyres because they have no need for them. He said unless you’re driving a particularly powerful car or you intend to take it around a track, you’re perfectly fine with even most budget brands these days because they’re not like they used to be 20 years ago. 

 

Have to say the only time time I ever bought pricey Michelin tyres (forget what they were it was over 10 years ago!) they were total rubbish and wore ridiculously quickly. Purely anecdotal I know. 

You'll find that major manufacturers get substantial discounts on tyres. Of course cost will be a deciding factor, but may not be in the direction you might think.

There will be a percentage of people that once they need new tyres will simply say "same again".

This percentage must be high enough so that tyre manufacturers want to create good deals with motor manufacturers.

 

I'm happy enough with the P Zero's on my car at the moment, however they will almost certainly be swapped out with Good Year AS3's (or AS4's exist by then) as this is a tyre I know and trust.

But there will be plenty of others out there that'll just have the P Zero's again.

The time you need the best tyre is when you're emergency braking. That 5 to 10m improved stopping distance could be the difference between a "crap that was close" moment or crashing into something. 

 

The only part of the car that connects it to the road is the last part of the car I'd personally consider trying to save money. 

 

The idea decent tyres are only of use on powerful cars or on track is nonsense in my opinion. 

39 minutes ago, maffyou said:

I was chatting to the guy who came to repair my tyre (was going to replace but when he looked at it said it was perfectly repairable). He was of the opinion that most people waste money buying premium brand tyres because they have no need for them. He said unless you’re driving a particularly powerful car or you intend to take it around a track, you’re perfectly fine with even most budget brands these days because they’re not like they used to be 20 years ago. 

 

Have to say the only time time I ever bought pricey Michelin tyres (forget what they were it was over 10 years ago!) they were total rubbish and wore ridiculously quickly. Purely anecdotal I know. 

 

Premium brand tyres are much more than better grip and faster lap times. I'd be slightly concerned about a tyre professional fitting tyres to my car who does not recognise the benefits of premium tyres over budget ones; Better fuel economy through lower rolling resistance, better resistance to aquaplaning, shorter wet and dry stopping distances, lower noise, better longevity and mileage to name a few. All evident in even a low power car and on public roads, not race tracks. 

 

I will only ever fit premium brand tyres to my car, regardless of what the car is. It's all good saving a few pounds per corner, but a few extra metres stopping distance could be the difference between accident or no accident. Similarly, if l buyer cheaper tyres and they last a few thousand miles less, over a few years that's another extra set needed, time wasted with fittings, and extra cost of fitters time, so a false economy.

Edited 24 December, 20187 yr by ahenners

I think it largely depends on how you drive your car. If you rarely drive on motorways and don’t have high mileage, then spending more is the false economy. Throw into the mix that many people buy on PCP then tyres you replace on your car 24-30 months into a 36 month contract are largely wasted money. 

 

The thing is, all tyres sold have to meet a certain minimum standard of safety, regardless of cost. Spending 3 times as much may buy you a few more metres when stopping (especially in wet weather) but so will not driving up peoples backsides on the motorway (or any road for that matter) and so will slowing down when the weather is poor. 

 

Plenty of cheaper tyres will provide as good fuel economy, road noise and wet grip as more expensive tyres. 

 

Take this screenshot from a few seconds search. The ones at the top are Michelin summer tyres which cost almost twice as much as the Avon’s at the bottom, but they match each other in everything except road noise, which the Avon’s are lower for. 

 

Its too simplistic to say cheaper is bad, premium is good. 

Or here’s another comparison...

 

I know which ones I’d rather buy. 

 

Anyway, merry Christmas all!

Bottom of the tree tyres from what some call 'Premium Brands' can be pretty crap tyres.

 

VW Group are using ' Big Name Manufacturers' and regularly just fitting various crap in the 'Premier brands' range. 

Out of interest why are you looking at 225/45R19 tyres for prices when as standard the 19 inch option for the Octavia is 225/35R19? 

 

In the correct sizes the difference from a F1AS3 to a Rainsport 3 is £135 to £125 and I'd be wanting to save a hell of a lot more than that to even consider the Uniroyal over the Goodyear. The PZero (which I think is crap anyway) is only £150 for a normal non BMW approved Runflat tyre that you've shown above. Even the expensive Michelin option are £165, rather than the £220 plus you've found, a much smaller difference. 

Edited 24 December, 20187 yr by Kenai

3 hours ago, maffyou said:

Or here’s another comparison...

 

I know which ones I’d rather buy. 

 

Anyway, merry Christmas all!

 

So we're comparing run flats with non run flats and one is much cheaper? Amazing... Let's compare the same first. Also the Rainsport 3 is known for wearing quickly. I refer to a previous point about time, effort and additional tyre + fitting costs.

 

In 225/40/18, on Blackcircles, 2x Goodyear F1 AS3 are £180. 2x Uniroyal Rainsport 3 are £179.68. You should probably be detained under the Mental Health Act if you'd rather buy the Uniroyals to save 32p. Kumho or Avon would save you around £20-22 per set of 2.

 

The cheapest A grip and C fuel rated tyre would save £32 per set of 2, for an Apollo. Is this really enough of a saving to warrant taking Apollos over Goodyears? Even if you replaced 2 a year, every year, it's less than £3 a month difference. As far as car running costs go, it absolutely pales in comparison to throwing a few hundred away each month on repayments or depreciation.

Edited 25 December, 20187 yr by ahenners

3rd for "that one emergency stop is when you find out how good your tyres are".

 

Note for @maffyou - You are aware that the tyre rating data you quote is all self-certified by the manufacturers?

11 hours ago, maffyou said:

I was chatting to the guy who came to repair my tyre (was going to replace but when he looked at it said it was perfectly repairable). He was of the opinion that most people waste money buying premium brand tyres because they have no need for them. He said unless you’re driving a particularly powerful car or you intend to take it around a track, you’re perfectly fine with even most budget brands these days because they’re not like they used to be 20 years ago. 

 

 

My first thoughts on reading this was that he doesn't know what he's talking about - sorry.

 

I ran budgets all round once on a Vectra SRI once and the car understeered like a pig on a roundabout in the wet from the moment they were fitted, and that wasn't with enthusiastic driving either.  3 months down the line 2 were replaced under warranty as they started to crack and roughly a month later the other 2 started to crack.  I binned the lot and went onto Toyos and never fitted budgets again.

 

10 hours ago, ahenners said:

 

Premium brand tyres are much more than better grip and faster lap times. I'd be slightly concerned about a tyre professional fitting tyres to my car who does not recognise the benefits of premium tyres over budget ones; Better fuel economy through lower rolling resistance, better resistance to aquaplaning, shorter wet and dry stopping distances, lower noise, better longevity and mileage to name a few. All evident in even a low power car and on public roads, not race tracks. 

 

 

Completley agree mate .

Edited 25 December, 20187 yr by ScoutCJB

Opps re post

Edited 25 December, 20187 yr by ScoutCJB

9 hours ago, maffyou said:

The thing is, all tyres sold have to meet a certain minimum standard of safety, regardless of cost. Spending 3 times as much may buy you a few more metres when stopping (especially in wet weather) but so will not driving up peoples backsides on the motorway (or any road for that matter) and so will slowing down when the weather is poor. 

 

 

For me it's more the unexpected things, cars pulling out of side road etc ... things that you aren't in control of no matter how good a driver you are.

 

Personally I don't scrimp on tyres or brakes as even 1 extra meter could make all the difference.

 

Shopping around can pay dividends, I've just managed to save nearly £28 a tyre on new decent boots for the Wife's Mini 

On 25/12/2018 at 07:57, ScoutCJB said:

I ran budgets all round once on a Vectra SRI once and the car understeered like a pig

Based on the examples I've driven, I'd say that was about being a V*ctr@...

Funnily lots of accidents seem to be Parking Incidents, in Car Parks etc so tyres not a factor and look at 'Salvage Scrap' new or newer cars and many will be a sporty ones with Premium OEM tyres or even 'Upgrades'.

 

Odd thing this 'Premium tyres' and Budget because the cost of tyres on cars and the cars that can not stop in an Emergency or that are involved in accidents needs thinking about.

 

What a shame so many cars in the UK that are Fleet / Business / Lease etc might come on Summer Tyres that Manufacturers call 'All Season'  but not All Weather.

Vans also, and the drivers have to drive with what they are given or pay out their own pocket to have 'Winter' or proper 'All Season / All Weather' tyres on in winter.

I find it quite funny reading some of the above comments because there's something nobody has asked - define Premium?

 

I'm willing to bet all those who advocate the benefits of 'Premium' tyres are those who fall prey to the power of advertisments and have done little or no research. From reading the above, basically what folk are saying is the more money you spend means the more 'premium' the tyre i.e. the better it is. One person even suggests that when it comes to safety they wouldn't even consider trying to save money.

 

I hope you'll all forgive me pointing out the irony in this, but the above comments come from Skoda owners which is generally considered a budget brand.

 

Merry Christmas everyone.

Edited 25 December, 20187 yr by Guest

 

2 hours ago, Scot5 said:

I find it quite funny reading some of the above comments because there's something nobody has asked - define Premium?

 

I'm willing to bet all those who advocate the benefits of 'Premium' tyres are those who fall prey to the power of advertisments and have done little or no research. From reading the above, basically what folk are saying is the more money you spend means the more 'premium' the tyre i.e. the better it is. One person even suggests that when it comes to safety they wouldn't even consider trying to save money.

 

I hope you'll all forgive me pointing out the irony in this, but the above comments come from Skoda owners which is generally considered a budget brand.

 

Merry Christmas everyone.

 

It's fairly clear that we don't need to define premium; no one in this thread thinks we are talking about Nankangs or Linglongs. We are talking about the top tier of tyres - Continentals, Michelins, Goodyears etc. Anyone who has ever shopped on a tyre website will know which the premium brands are, the same brands fall under this category on most sites.

 

Generally, the more you pay for a tyre, the better tyre you will get, up to a point. Happy to see evidence to the contrary, but a Goodyear F1 AS3 at £90 will perform better than a Rainsport 3 for £89, both will perform better than a Nankang for £66. However paying £110 for a Continental Sport Contact 5 doesn't necessarily warrant the extra over a Goodyear F1 AS3, or perform better in all areas.

 

I'm also missing the irony... Is the suggestion that because we own a budget brand car, we should only ever buy budget tyres?!

 

I can't speak for everyone in this thread, but I must have spent weeks reading tyre reviews and results of tyre tests from various magazines (tyrereviews.co.uk highly recommended) before making a decision on which tyres to buy for my VRS. I didn't simply buy the most expensive because "most premium".

 

Merry Christmas 

Edited 25 December, 20187 yr by ahenners

2 hours ago, Scot5 said:

 

 

I'm willing to bet all those who advocate the benefits of 'Premium' tyres are those who fall prey to the power of advertisments and have done little or no research. 

How much do you want to bet?