Tyres aren't ditch finders bad drivers are!

jej_knowles

jej_knowles

jej_knowles

Associate
Joined
15 Nov 2008
Posts
485
I read on here all the time and there's been many many threads about tyres and many people label tyres with less grip as "ditch finders"
Well I would like to set the record straight. When you jump in a car you drive it gently and build up confidence in the grip available by building up corner speed etc until you feel the point at which the Tyres start to break grip and you remember this and drive the car within that limit.
You would have to be an idiot to jump in a new car or your old car with new Tyres on it and drive it into corners hard without re-learning the level of grip available!
Hence my statement Tyres aren't ditch finders BAD DRIVERS ARE DITCH FINDERS.
 
YHrK2Au.gif
 
jej_knowles said:
I read on here all the time and there's been many many threads about tyres and many people label tyres with less grip as "ditch finders"
Well I would like to set the record straight. When you jump in a car you drive it gently and build up confidence in the grip available by building up corner speed etc until you feel the point at which the Tyres start to break grip and you remember this and drive the car within that limit.
You would have to be an idiot to jump in a new car or your old car with new Tyres on it and drive it into corners hard without re-learning the level of grip available!
Hence my statement Tyres aren't ditch finders BAD DRIVERS ARE DITCH FINDERS.
Click to expand...

Ditchfinders don't tend to be very progressive so when you find the limit, it's often too late. Aquaplaning too. Bye.
 
Last edited:
It takes me considerably longer to stop when I'm driving a transit van than my own car but I still manage not to crash the transit every time I drive it because again a good driver adapts his driving according to the vehicle and grip available
 
Cheap tyres help bad drivers find ditches.

I'm going to have this 're-finding the limit of grip' adventure soon... Going from cheap, part worn, mis-matched 165's and limp 12 year old suspension to expensive, nearly new, 215's (on new wheels) with new suspension... :p

I imagine it will be easier than the other way around.

And bye bye lift off oversteer in the wet. :rolleyes:

Janesy B said:
Ditchfinders don't tend to be very progressive so when you find the limit, it's often too late. Aquaplaning too. Bye.
Click to expand...

I have to drive so slowly in the wet to avoid aquaplaning that everyone overtakes me going about 20MPH faster. I have also experienced the 'plenty of grip, plenty of grip, HOLY **** NO GRIP' scenario once, that wasn't fun.
 
Last edited:
With cheap tyres, what you're actually doing is driving slower than what you could safely do with a good set of tyres on.

You're taking the "ditch finder" thing too literally too. You've even admitted yourself that cheaper tyres have less grip, hence why they get labelled in such a way. /thread
 
I guess my point is there are endless car/tyre combinations available all of which will offer a different level of grip so to blame a tyre because a driver doesn't recognize the limits is dumb
 
Nah, OP has a point.

I have had some dreadful cars.

A Fiesta 950 with 145/13s

Wet grip was dangerously non-existent.

Guess what I did to fix it?

I drove slower in the wet and left a larger gap.
 
The original Mini was another one.
Awesome grip in the dry and great fun to drive, but the rear wheels both had negative camber and toe-in.

Driving in the snow or really wet roads it felt like the back of the car was steering itself.

Very challenging and 'dangerous' by todays standards.

Oh and lets not forget drum brakes all around that despite my best efforts to adjust them always pulled one way or the other after a few weeks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
jej_knowles said:
It takes me considerably longer to stop when I'm driving a transit van than my own car but I still manage not to crash the transit every time I drive it because again a good driver adapts his driving according to the vehicle and grip available
Click to expand...

How exactly do you react to an emergency stop?

That's the whole point. You haven't been giving the usual time to adapt to the situation - you just need to stop as quickly as possible. Something ditchfinders wont let you do as well as good quality tyres.

Also, surely a good driver ensures the road worthiness of his vehicle by fitting high quality safety components, like tyres that aren't crap.

Hope you're a troll, and not really this stupid.
 
It's just not an area to skimp on, when its such a critical component.. It doesn't make any sense at all to knowingly use tyres that perform significantly worse than the competition to save a tiny amount of money, relative to the overall cost's of running a car.

There are much better things to skimp on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom