Gislaved Tyres?

[John_V85]

I've just had the front divers side type replaced due to a non repairable puncture and asked the guy to put on a tyre of equivalent spec to what was already on there (Firehawk I think).

I fitted it today and it's a Gislaved Speed 606, which I can't say I had heard of before. Looking around though, it seems to get some fairly decent reviews for what it is (medium range). Does anyone have any experience of this tyre?

 

[John_V85]

Wow. I can't say I expected quite the number of replies, but did expect some of the comments.

I did not want to have the expense of fitting premium tyres, particularly as I was only replacing one, which is unlikely to make any difference in isolation.

Yes, I know tyres connect you to the road and are a big factor in safety, however, weighing up the way I drive, risk, safety bonus, etc. I am content with mid range tyres (i.e. nothing that's rolled off the back of a lorry, but not £100+ a corner either). Perhaps you don't share this view and would rather have premium tyres. I have no problem with that; we just have difference attitudes to tyre purchase at the moment.

http://www.tyretest.com/pkw_sommerreifen/gislaved/speed_606/index.html
http://www.viking.co.uk/gislaved.asp

It seems to get a reasonable (albeit limited) review and placed as a mid range tyre, so I'll hold off updating my will just yet.

I will let you know how I get on. If you don't hear from me you can assume I'm in a ditch and you were right.

Plus, the bear is pretty cool!

 

[John_V85]

mixing tyre types/tread patterns on the same axle is a no no.

Not the opinion of my local tyre fitter who I trust and have used in the past, who in giving be such an opinion missed out on the sale of another tyre.

I think I will take the word of his over a layman.

 

[John_V85]

Ok, I'm still here, thankfully...

There appears to be two issues here; the intended subject of the thread and a tangent (although probably more interesting).

1. The initial question: what do people think of Gislaved Tyres?

Yes, I was a little surprised by these too as I had not heard of the brand and wondered exactly what had been fitted. However, on doing some subsequent research they appear to be a reasonable mid range tyre, priced as such, and I have no problem with having it on my car.

Is it a Eagle F1, etc? No. Did I go in with the intention of getting one? No. I wanted a like for like replacement being happy with the performance of my original tyres and I am content that that's what I have ended up with.

If your principles, driving style and assessment of the relevant merits and risks requires you to buy a premium tyre that is fine. It is not one I share, and I would appreciate if you would stop inferring that these tyres are some bargain basement rubbish. They appear to be perfectly competent mid range tyres.

2. The tangent: is it right to replace one wheel on the same axle only?

Probably the more interesting point of debate. I have no doubt that at the far edge of the spectrum you may see some sort of demonstrable performance difference. How much? I don't know. Nonetheless the other tyre is not exactly old and has plenty of trim, so it's not like having a bald tyre and a tyre with full grip.

 

[John_V85]

Fox]Why? They are.

Is this your subjective opinion or is it based on either facts or first hand experience?

Simple unfounded statements of opinion like "They are." are an endemic problem with this forum and one reason why I don't post much.

Fox]Do you realise the difference in wet braking performance from the speed limit, ie not hooning around in a sports car, that tyres make?

Please point me in the direction of some results. If I think a premium tyre warrants the increased price in its tested performance over an average, run of the mill mid range one at the time I will consider it.

Fox]Fifth Gear did a test a number of years back. They drove a normal hatchback around on mismatching tyres. The results were interesting and justify our hatred of people who consider motoring something where corners are to be cut to save a few pence.

How mismatched were the tyres? What were the conditions? How was the car being driven? You know nothing about me, so to make a statement such as "corners are to be cut to save a few pence" is rather outlandish. In every aspect of life you can buy something rubbish that won't last (generally best steered clear from), something reasonable that will do the job required, or something premium. I typically switch between the later two depending on the priority I put on that product. Towards the premium end of any market you will typically pay exponentially more for a steady increase in performance. I wish I could buy a premium everything, but sadly at the moment I can't; nor I suspect can most other people. So, who are you to tell me where my priorities should lie?

]A tyre fitter is among the lowest skilled workers in the country. There is no reason to trust his advice any more than you would a salesman in a mobile telephone shop. He fits tyres, why would he be qualified to appraise their performance any more than anyone else?

You're correct. Clearly this person must be the dumbest person in the world, because they successfully managed to talk themselves out of a sale.

 

[John_V85]

]In each test, tyres such as those which you describe have a very poor result.

My point is that you are automatically putting this brand/model of tyre into your preconception of what you think it is (bargain basement rubbish), without any objective basis for it. I don't know if it's great, I don't know if it's not. The only reviews I have found, albeit limited, are fairly positive. So, because of that I will give it chance before commenting on it. What I wanted was to see if anyone had or previously used this brand/model of tyre.

]A tyre is the only thing between your car and the road surface. Of all the places not to purchase the best you can afford, tyres are not one of them. It's not like buying a poor quality air filter or perhaps a budget brand stereo. They are safety critical and the performance difference between quality (You don't need £150 a corner Contispot Contacts, you just need avoid the no-name rubbish) tyres and the plethora of cheap and horrible tyres on the market is, frankly, scary.

I was talking about products generally (car being a singular) rather than being limited to different car products.

 

[John_V85]

It's about the balance of probabilities. What do YOU think the chance of a very cheap, very unknown tyre offering comparable performance to premium brands is, versus the chance of it offering comparable performance to similarly priced brands of Chinese tyres?

I didn't say it was "very" cheap.

 

[John_V85]

I should have hoped it was, or you've been ripped off.

Again, another quite baseless comment if you actually have no knowledge of this brand and tyre model.

As it happened, it was around £75 inc. fitting which is reasonable for a mid range tyre.

I love that Continental tyre chart with the X scale starting at 30. It's almost as if Linglong is five times worse....

And as far as I can figure out, Gislaved is not a Chines brand. It is a Nordic brand, which would appear to specialise in high grip winter tyres, and a sub-division/group company of Continental.

 

[John_V85]

Obviously the chart scaling has been modified to exaggerate the differences, but the Linglong still takes an extra 8 meters or a 25% increase over the Continental. Frankly that is dire.

I agree.

 

[John_V85]

The point is that comparing continental to linglong tyres does not answer the question of how good are "Gislaved" tyres from an objective view, but that question appears to have got rather lost in this thread.

 

[John_V85]

He doesn't want to say for obvious reasons. He got mugged for a no name tyre.

You shouldn't mix winter tyres and all year tyres on the same axle. I know that much. As these are for cold climates will they not deteriorate and wear much faster in the summer?

If you care to do a bit of research (and I mean just a bit) before posting you will see that the Speed 606 tyre mentioned is actually designed as a summer/all weather tyre; not a winter tyre. The comment I think a fellow poster made was that Gislaved appear to get very good reviews for their winter tyres, so one could assume that they might know a thing or two about tyres and therefore there other tyres might be reasonable.

I can't be bothered to get into an argument of pricing up alternative tyres, etc. as I have no doubt that for £25 or so more I could probably have got a better known brand fitted (particularly if going through a mobile place that comes to you), but that was never the question I asked or in fact am at all interested in.

All I was interested was in if anyone had an objective opinion of Gislaved tyres, and I think only one poster has pointed towards any actual reviews.

Frankly I have no more time to waste on this matter as it would appear there isn't really an answer and only experience will tell.

If it helps you sleep at night and boosts your ego, then yes, I got mugged, poor me...

 

[John_V85]

[QUOTE='[TW]

But who needs safety when you can do things on the cheap without any research and then have a toys and pram moment when everyone points out what you did [/QUOTE]

Clearly.

 

[John_V85]

Yes clearly, further evidenced by the fact you chose to ignore the entire rest of the post, pick up on that, and post a rolleyes

I can't be bothered to get into an argument of pricing up alternative tyres, etc. as I have no doubt that for £25 or so more I could probably have got a better known brand fitted (particularly if going through a mobile place that comes to you), but that was never the question I asked or in fact am at all interested in.

All I was interested was in if anyone had an objective opinion of Gislaved tyres, and I think only one poster has pointed towards any actual reviews.

Frankly I have no more time to waste on this matter as it would appear there isn't really an answer and only experience will tell.

If it helps you sleep at night and boosts your ego, then yes, I got mugged, poor me...

 

[John_V85]

Ask for opinions, get opinions, gets upset.

ROOOOOLLLLEEEEYYYEEESSS!

I asked for experience or objective opinions (perhaps I should have been clearer knowing how most threads in Motors descend) and got a load of unsubstantiated tosh, with the occasional interesting comment.

How can a rather basic question...

I fitted it today and it's a Gislaved Speed 606, which I can't say I had heard of before. Looking around though, it seems to get some fairly decent reviews for what it is (medium range). Does anyone have any experience of this tyre?

...turn into a bashing for apparently "being mugged", "cutting corners", "dim", "being unsafe on the roads". Need I go on...

I didn't ask if what I paid was reasonable, if it was safe, etc. Perhaps it was a natural progression, perhaps not. The recurring theme I pick up from motors is that some users really like to bash others and emphasise the fact that they would have got something better for less, etc. even if it means taking a thread off tangent.

Upset, no. Disappointed, yes.

But in the future I will keep my embarrassingly poor, impulse, non researched purchasing decisions to myself for fear of wrath from the motors community.

lalalala....it does feel better....