Tyres aren't ditch finders bad drivers are!

My MK1 XR2 weighed about 800 Kg which is featherweight by todays standards.

It was totally original with standard Pirelli 185/60 13s tyres

The wet grip on the motorway was so bad I struggled to do 60 mph and watched helplessly as 1000cc Nissan Micras cruised past effortlessly.
 
SkodaMart said:
My MK1 XR2 weighed about 800 Kg which is featherweight by todays standards.

It was totally original with standard Pirelli 185/60 13s tyres

The wet grip on the motorway was so bad I struggled to do 60 mph and watched helplessly as 1000cc Nissan Micras cruised past effortlessly.
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Try driving a mini 1000 with Dunlop Denovo tyres on with low tread!
 
SkodaMart said:
I had one! :D

The Mini was the only car I drove that felt more direct than the XR2.

I fell in love with them despite being 6'3"
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They were superb cars to learn in, proper go kart and so simple to look after. I am 6'1 but back then I was about 2 stone. Now that's the weight of my right nut :)
 
I also had an Orion Injection Ghia.

I drove that faster than I should and hit a patch of standing water on the motorway.

I was 'a passenger' for a few terrifying moments until I passed the standing water.

Was that the fault of my tyres? I think not, I think it was the fault of a heavy right foot.
 
You are talking nonsense OP. You are confusing two separate things. Even if everyone drove super sensibly and super slow, a person with better tyres on will still stop considerably quicker, especially in the wet, than a person that has fitted their car with rubbish cheap ones.

The distance in the difference they can stop could be the difference between life or death (yours or the kid's that has just run out in front of you)
 
A lot of people are missing the main point here that i made in the title....
At no point did i say cheap tyres are as good as branded tyres neither did i say they will stop you in the same distance as branded tyres......
 
jej_knowles said:
A lot of people are missing the main point here that i made in the title....
At no point did i say cheap tyres are as good as branded tyres neither did i say they will stop you in the same distance as branded tyres......
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You can adjust your driving style to suit poor tyres.

However, it takes willpower to drive 20 mph slower than everyone else to remain 'safe' and not all drivers are aware that they are reaching the limit of their tyres.

Fit the best you can afford stands as good advice.
 
SkodaMart said:
A Porsche will stop far better than any car I have ever owned but that doesn't make it safer for one moment.
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Really? Please explain how you came to that conclusion? :confused:

To the OP - surely you could apply that same logic to any aspect of the car though?

I mean, if you're not going to drive very fast, then do you really need brakes that work?
 
Housey said:
His argument is predicated on the fact that the driver always controls his/her circumstance when in reality it's not that simple. We can all drive defensively, we can all leave gaps and follow appropriate speed. We can all drive within these constraints but sometimes we can come across a circumstance, let's use diesel around a blind bend as our example, when no matter how well you drive you can get caught out. At which point the effectiveness of your kit has a greater impact than your ability behind the wheel.
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/thread
 
I am pretty broke, so I had a set of Westlakes stuck on the Fiat and to be honest the performance is better than the rather worn Bridgestones that came off.

No doubt however as they wear the performance will be worse so I don't aim to keep them on for too long.

New cheap tyres in my opinion will be better than worn premium tyres but when they start to wear will show their true colours.

The bridgestones were slipping and sliding round the roundabouts in wet weather but the Westlakes are holding fine, at the moment. I bet in a couple of thousand miles the reverse will happen.
 
There have been at least two occasions this year where I'm 99.999% convinced that decent tyres have saved me from stacking it, once at decent speed.

Am I a bad driver? Probably tbh as otherwise I wouldn't have been in that situation - more importantly both me and the car came away unscathed so ill happily continue buying decent tyres thanks. I've experienced reasonably powerful cars with ditch finders - the day you end up inexplicably facing the wrong way or very nearly aquaplaning into a barrier isn't a fun one.

The van/truck example is valid to a point, but you'll also find a van with decent rubber does a whole lot better than one with any old rubbish. Adding variables like a completely different weight /distribution and less effective brakes just muddies the water for no real benefit
 
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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
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This is also a really bad example to give, as I'd consider the vast majority of transit drivers to be utterly terrible drivers ;)
 
Third Opinion said:
New cheap tyres in my opinion will be better than worn premium tyres but when they start to wear will show their true colours.
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There's 4 aspects to consider in this respect, tread depth which you mentioned, but tread pattern, structure and rubber compound also play a considerable part.
 
mattyfez said:
If a tyre lasts for 5 years, a £100 tyre will cost you 83p a month more than a £50 tyre.

Small price to pay for an 20 meter saving on wet stopping distance from 60mph, hardly formula 1 speeds..
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How many tyres last 5 years? You must drive about 2000 miles a year?

Also, a 5 year old tyre on a car will be pretty knackered regardless of how much grip is left, i wouldn't trust a 5 yr old tyre on my car.

However, i would not buy cheap tyres either, i want to feel safe in the wet as well as the dry, iwouldn't feel safe with cheap tyres.
 
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
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Are you such a great driver than you can can always predict other drivers behavior and things like animals and children running into the road so that you never, ever need to stop or maneuver as quickly as possible? If so, then you have a valid point, and you are truly a unique person.

If not, then you sound very much like a cheapskate who feels they need to justify their purchase of poor quality tyres. Most car enthusiasts put safety before penny pinching, so good luck with that.

SkodaMart said:
You can adjust your driving style to suit poor tyres.

However, it takes willpower to drive 20 mph slower than everyone else to remain 'safe' and not all drivers are aware that they are reaching the limit of their tyres.
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Driving 20mph slower does not stop other people doing stupid things, in fact it almost certainly increases the chance of other drivers doing stupid things.
 
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OP your brakes are only as good as your tyres, 99.9% of driving you would be fine on triangles but that one time the A kid runs out on you or you need to stop suddenly on a wet motorway is the time it pays to have spent the money on tyres.

IIRC there are no specific set of parameters tyre manufactures have to adhere to with regards to stopping distances and weather performance, basically as long as it looks like a tyre its fine to sell.
 
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I once drove a Clio 1.2 16v that could happily wheelspin away from a wet junction/roundabout in second. Not just a chirp, all the way down the road.

Id have hated to stop in an emergency in that car. Youd have stopped but at the next solid object
 
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