Tyres, Cheap vs Expensive

[rich83]

Yes you can put budgets on... but why put budgets on a hot hatch. 100quid a corner isnt that much money really.

[stealthwolf]

If your just commuting and not driving fast budgets are fine

If I bought a car just for commuting, I would not buy a GTI.

Long and short is that tyres are important. If you have to do an emergency stop, the best brakes in the world aren't gonna stop the car in time if you have no traction. I would rather spend less money elsewhere and spend more on tyres for grip.

Might get shot down for this but a couple of mates have used nankangs on their BMWs. Not awesome but reasonable.

[Scottymon]

When you consider how many miles a set of tyres gets you compared with the price of fuel to propel you there; even premium brands are cheap.

Its in the wet when you really notice the difference between budget and premium tyres (racing patterns aside).  Then again how many people use summer tyres in the depths of winter with freezing rain/Snow/ice/slush Etc... That's worse than using budgets in the summer as far as safety is concerned.

[Gene Hunt]

And to all the people saying buy part worns that is the worst advice ever  
yeah lets buy tyres that have potentially come from a crashed car.

............total bollocks. Most part worn come from Germany where the tyre laws are more strict,i.e tread depth. Have a good look over any part worn & check for any damage/repairs etc before you buy it & there wont be a problem.
As above i would use a quality branded part worn over any ditch finder.

And just to add to all of us who got our GTI's second hand are we all not driving on part worn tyres which we have no history for?????.

[Gasman]

I've got Falken 452's on mine and they're great.  Got a very good reputation on the BMW forums.  About £100 a corner as well 

[sub39h]

I've got Falken 452's on mine and they're great.  Got a very good reputation on the BMW forums.  About £100 a corner as well 

they are AWFUL in VAG fitment 225/40R18. i had them on my car for about a year and thought they were great. then i switched to proper tyres (Conti SportContact 3s) and the difference is like night and day. The Contis grip as well in the wet as the 452s do in the dry. avoid like the plague! (they are very hard wearing though - they still had nearly 7mm of tread after about 20k miles of motoring when i sold them on.)

[M7AXB]

Never understand why someone would scrimp on tyres, especially a performance one .

They are the only point of contact between you and the road. My mate had a set of wanli's or similar on his a3 and they were shocking. Under steering like crazy in the wet even a low speeds

Even premium tyres @ 225/40/18 are quite cheap considering. Goodyear F1's are around £94 a tyre and are very good.

[john87]

talking about 452's for around £100 a corner...

you can get eagle F1 assy 2's for £99 a corner on Camskill at the moment! One of the best tyres you can get 

[rich83]

452s dont grip well to be honest.

[M7AXB]

Had 452's on my old golf, very overated imo! Much better off with the goodyears or even the hankook evo.

[Frodo-anni]

Agree with many posts above.

When i bought my Eddie through a VW dealer they had fitted budget BCT ditchfinders, they were:
- noisy
- harsh ride
- front end would wash out in a corner
- under heavy braking the fronts would just lock up and slide

As soon as i changed them to Goodyear eagle F1 asy 2's, i instantly thought 'thats better, just as the car should have felt', they were quieter, gripped far better and didnt lock up when braking.

For me the biggest difference would be similar in comparision to summer vs winter tyres. Its not only about traction but braking.

With winter tyres you have far more confidence, under braking, even just approaching a junction at 15-20mph, summer tyres would lock and skid, winter tyres you come to a controlled stop.  Using cheap budget tyres under heavy braking felt the same.

 

[GrayMK5GTI]

the sunny tyres are crap in the wet and the stopping distance is a lot longer

My Rocco came with a "Sunny" on the front 

It really is a terrible tyre; Dry grip is average, wet grip is down right dangerous and it doesnt hold air very well compared to my other tyres.

No rim protection either.

Best avoided IMHO

[Andy]

I fit tyres for a living and i got sent a video clip of a 2 identical bmw on a start line..one fitted with sunny tyres and the other fitted with conti tyres..in dry conditions stopping at the same time the bmw fitted with sunny tyres stopped 30 yards futher forward than the one with contis on..In the wet well dont ask :signLOL:You get what you pay for but budge tyres are better than illegal ones

[Gene Hunt]

I fit tyres for a living and i got sent a video clip of a 2 identical bmw on a start line..one fitted with sunny tyres and the other fitted with conti tyres..in dry conditions stopping at the same time the bmw fitted with sunny tyres stopped 30 yards futher forward than the one with contis on..In the wet well dont ask :signLOL:You get what you pay for but budge tyres are better than illegal ones

........they did this on one of those rip off tv programs a while back. Bloke from Conti showing just how crap a rip off copy was compared to the orginal. Very scarey the rip off ones carried on much further &  smashed straight into the back of a mock up H.G.V they had placed on the test track.

[Veee-dubber]

It would seem my question has been answered...

I posted this thread to ask an opinion and seek advice, the majority of you have been kind and  given me that advice that I asked for and I will utilise that advice and steer well clear of these tyres which sound tragic! - and as stated give my mate a slap round the face for owning them!

To the rest of you that accuse me of not being a worthy owner.... F*ck you    I was simply asking what made them so bad, as I don't, or well didn't understand the differences between a £100 tyre and a £50 tyre as I assumed they all passed vigorous testing thus rendering them safe for use...

So again, thanks to the majority of you, helpful as usual.