Tyre recommendations – worth going premium?

[alyssagrey]

Hi everyone, I’m trying to decide between premium and mid-range tyres for my Clio and could use some opinions.
I’ve been browsing around comparing different brands and sizes (including on sites like TyreSavings), but it’s hard to know if the extra cost of premium tyres is really noticeable in normal driving.

• Is there a big difference in grip and comfort?
• Are mid-range tyres good enough for daily use?
• What are you currently running?

Appreciate any input

 

[Cub.]

What clio is it?

I’m always of the view, no matter what else you do to your car, your tyres are the only thing connecting your car to the road, so I don’t scrimp on them.

That said, on a non-performance car, most mid-range tyres have reached a point in terms of performance that they’ll be more than adequate.

On a performance orientated car, then high end tyres for me.

 

[charltjr]

For UK road driving some of the high performance summer tyres are worse overall in metrics like wet braking than “touring” tyres. A Clio isn’t going to be testing the limits of tyre grip like a two tonne 400bhp+ car.

I’m absolutely a tyre nerd but horses for courses. Don’t get kidded by the “ABC” ratings for grip, wet braking etc. Check out tyrereviews.com

A tyre with a bit less outright grip can feel more fun to drive. Anyone who’s hitting the limits of any decent tyre on the road in a Clio is an absolute mentalist.

 

[R3k1355]

What are your options and what's the cost difference? Have you seen what offers are on, sometimes you can get a good chunk of a set of 4 Michelins.

Just put some Kumho's on the Mrs car and they're good, to be honest there were quite a few 'budget' options that were priced on a similar level.

 

[R3k1355]

A tyre with a bit less outright grip can feel more fun to drive. Anyone who’s hitting the limits of any decent tyre on the road in a Clio is an absolute mentalist.

I prefer to look at it as the amount of grip that's going to be available in an emergency.

Like when someone pulls out in front of you, in the wet. I want a tyre that can stop then, not let me down.

 

[charltjr]

I prefer to look at it as the amount of grip that's going to be available in an emergency.

Like when someone pulls out in front of you, in the wet. I want a tyre that can stop then, not let me down.

Yep, they’re all a compromise one way or another. Hard data is difficult to come by, and the same tyre in a different size can perform quite differently to a tested tyre of a certain size.

 

[alyssagrey]

What are your options and what's the cost difference? Have you seen what offers are on, sometimes you can get a good chunk of a set of 4 Michelins.

Just put some Kumho's on the Mrs car and they're good, to be honest there were quite a few 'budget' options that were priced on a similar level.

Yeah I’ve noticed the same tbh — some mid-range tyres aren’t even that much cheaper once you start comparing properly. I was looking around at a few options and came across TyreSavings while checking prices, and it actually made it harder to decide because there’s so much choice

Kumhos sound like a good shout though, might look into those https://www.tyresavings.com/kumho

 

[alyssagrey]

What clio is it?

I’m always of the view, no matter what else you do to your car, your tyres are the only thing connecting your car to the road, so I don’t scrimp on them.

That said, on a non-performance car, most mid-range tyres have reached a point in terms of performance that they’ll be more than adequate.

On a performance orientated car, then high end tyres for me.

That makes sense to be fair. It’s just a standard Clio, nothing performance-focused, so I’m leaning more towards a good mid-range option rather than going all out.
Just trying to find something that’s decent in the wet as well

 

[RSRowe]

As @charltjr said, look at https://www.tyrereviews.com/ and make an informed decision from actual 3rd party testing data.

 

[MRBILLYUK]

That makes sense to be fair. It’s just a standard Clio, nothing performance-focused, so I’m leaning more towards a good mid-range option rather than going all out.
Just trying to find something that’s decent in the wet as well

I've been running Avon 7V7s on my 182 for a few years now.
I live in the North West of England where it's wet all the time lol. They're good in the wet and dry when pushing on, good wear rate and won't break the bank.
Look on Camskill for prices. They're always the cheapest for me. I order them, then get them fitted at a local tyre place.

 

[Whitetac]

I’ve got Kumho Ecsta Sport PS72 on my 330D and really rate them. Have always gone for MPS5 or similar but in day to day driving I’ve not been able to tell any difference. Were about 50% cheaper than Michelin/Contis.

Kumho Ecsta Sport PS72 - Tyre Reviews And Ratings

Find The Best Tyre For Your Car Kumho Ecsta Sport PS72 Reviews And Ratings. Reviews And Road Tests Of The Kumho Ecsta Sport PS72 Tyre.

www.tyrereviews.com

 

[Flob]

For most drivers people wouldn't even notice the difference between a budget tyre and a premium tyre.... until they needed to do an emergency stop in the rain at 8deg C.

I fit Michelin CrossClimates to all our non sporty cars by default now. They are a little more expensive however they are all seasons which actually work well in mud and snow, they also last a really long time!

 

[Cl10]

If you’re still looking we found Halfords the cheapest for four Pirellis for my son’s 208 (£300 total!) Halfords has taken over National Tyres by the way

 

[Martin_172]

For me, Michelin on everything, even if you disregard the difference in grip/safety...
Steering feels is better
They look better
They wear brilliantly
I've never had one blow out during a pot hole (said it now 🙄)

Of course other premium brands are available that will be as good/better/close, but I always stick to Michelin... And Chris Harris agrees 😂

 

[Brigsy]

Premium all the way. Michelins on any of mine, pilotsport on performance, crossclimates on daily.

Crossclimates will generally do double the mileage of most mid range and grip loads better.

 

[Adamm.]

My view is if you're on this forum and asking this question then always go premium. As someone else mentioned tyres is the only point of contact between the car and the road so why skimp. Not to mention a lot of premium brands will probably last longer while also offering better performance so the original cost probably pays for itself long term anyway.

 

[NickJD64]

I run a tyre business and supply motorsport tyres for a living.
Everybody will have opinions about tyres. There is no such things as a "best" tyre, only ones that did the best job on the day for what you wanted. Be that stopping sort of the accident in the wet, or even having saved you enough money to have a pint with your mates later on.
What I find however, in the rush that people have to buy tyres on line, they never ask the fitting station direct, what they would have charged if they had ordered direct with them.
On that "Buy cheap Kumho tyres" site they are charging £77 for a 215 45 17 PS72. Their model is to convince you that you are buying tyres far cheaper that if you went to Kwik Fit or National Tyre. They are, of course, making a profit on that tyre that they sell yo you. If you then bought the tyre to me, I am going to charge you the money I would charge you to fit a tyre. So there is the selling companies profit, the delivery companies profit and then the tyre fitters profit.
If you buy a tyre direct from me, or many other garages, you pay the money I pay for the tyres, plus my profit for fitting it. In the case of the "cheap" Kumho above that you then need to take to the fitter, I would charge £57 for the tyre, because that is what it would cost me.

 

[Flob]

I run a tyre business and supply motorsport tyres for a living.
Everybody will have opinions about tyres. There is no such things as a "best" tyre, only ones that did the best job on the day for what you wanted. Be that stopping sort of the accident in the wet, or even having saved you enough money to have a pint with your mates later on.
What I find however, in the rush that people have to buy tyres on line, they never ask the fitting station direct, what they would have charged if they had ordered direct with them.
On that "Buy cheap Kumho tyres" site they are charging £77 for a 215 45 17 PS72. Their model is to convince you that you are buying tyres far cheaper that if you went to Kwik Fit or National Tyre. They are, of course, making a profit on that tyre that they sell yo you. If you then bought the tyre to me, I am going to charge you the money I would charge you to fit a tyre. So there is the selling companies profit, the delivery companies profit and then the tyre fitters profit.
If you buy a tyre direct from me, or many other garages, you pay the money I pay for the tyres, plus my profit for fitting it. In the case of the "cheap" Kumho above that you then need to take to the fitter, I would charge £57 for the tyre, because that is what it would cost me.

I've not met a tyre supplier who didn't also make money on the tyre they were selling as well as the fitting of said tyre. I am quite friendly with my local tyre place, friendly enough that they show me their cost price for tyres and it certainly isn't what people pay when ordering tyres through them... however their prices are basically inline with what you can buy a tyre on black circles for, the margin isn't great but they aren't supplying tyres at cost.

Even so - I've bought a tyre machine, with fitting prices the way they are the machine pays for itself in 5 sets of tyres.

You should advertise on here, you would probably find a lot of customers.

 

[NickJD64]

I've not met a tyre supplier who didn't also make money on the tyre they were selling as well as the fitting of said tyre. I am quite friendly with my local tyre place, friendly enough that they show me their cost price for tyres and it certainly isn't what people pay when ordering tyres through them... however their prices are basically inline with what you can buy a tyre on black circles for, the margin isn't great but they aren't supplying tyres at cost.

Even so - I've bought a tyre machine, with fitting prices the way they are the machine pays for itself in 5 sets of tyres.

You should advertise on here, you would probably find a lot of customers.

If someone want to buy a tyre, then, naturally, there is a mark up. But people want to buy fitted tyres. The tyre fitter down the road is paying the same price for the tyre, why would I think I could put money on the tyre and them money for fitting? I do charge more to fit bigger and more expensive tyres, for many reasons, but that is simply what is charged, a fitting price on top of the tyre.

There is no point of advertising on here unless people are prepared to come to me to have tyres fitted, otherwise I would just be buying a tyre, putting a mark up on it and then charging for the delivery as well. Customer then has to pay someone to fit it, which is precisely my point.

 

[NickJD64]

Even so - I've bought a tyre machine, with fitting prices the way they are the machine pays for itself in 5 sets of tyres.

That is either a seriously cheap bit of kit, or you have some seriously high tyre prices!

The "buy tyres on line" places want tyre fitters to fit tyres for "up to" £15 per tyre. A few years ago, Deltacom (My Tyres) wanted fitters to do it for £4 per tyre. That is the reality of many of these places. Then people wonder why they don't take care.

 

[Flob]

If someone want to buy a tyre, then, naturally, there is a mark up. But people want to buy fitted tyres. The tyre fitter down the road is paying the same price for the tyre, why would I think I could put money on the tyre and them money for fitting? I do charge more to fit bigger and more expensive tyres, for many reasons, but that is simply what is charged, a fitting price on top of the tyre.

There is no point of advertising on here unless people are prepared to come to me to have tyres fitted, otherwise I would just be buying a tyre, putting a mark up on it and then charging for the delivery as well. Customer then has to pay someone to fit it, which is precisely my point.

But also if you have access to track tyres which are often out of stock or hard to buy I am sure you could do exactly that! Buy at a good price and sell with a markup. Or have people come to you for fitting.

Lots of people here would be using the same size I would think too. Just a thought.

That is either a seriously cheap bit of kit, or you have some seriously high tyre prices!

The "buy tyres on line" places want tyre fitters to fit tyres for "up to" £15 per tyre. A few years ago, Deltacom (My Tyres) wanted fitters to do it for £4 per tyre. That is the reality of many of these places. Then people wonder why they don't take care.

Depends really mate, south London its £20-£25 per tyre fitted and balanced. You can buy a Chinese machine and balancer for £1200, with a track car and a few normal cars it doesn't really take you long to pay for the machine even for private use.

Im a mong so didn't do that, I bought a broken Hofmann and spent way too long repairing it, but I share it with a mate - £500 well spent as I wouldn't fancy changing large sizes on a shitty machine. Balancer is still a work in progress 😂 But nearly there.

 

[Flob]

I will also add that its a lot harder than people think! Changing tyres all day is no joke.

 

[MLB]

I run a tyre business and supply motorsport tyres for a living.
Everybody will have opinions about tyres. There is no such things as a "best" tyre, only ones that did the best job on the day for what you wanted. Be that stopping sort of the accident in the wet, or even having saved you enough money to have a pint with your mates later on.
What I find however, in the rush that people have to buy tyres on line, they never ask the fitting station direct, what they would have charged if they had ordered direct with them.
On that "Buy cheap Kumho tyres" site they are charging £77 for a 215 45 17 PS72. Their model is to convince you that you are buying tyres far cheaper that if you went to Kwik Fit or National Tyre. They are, of course, making a profit on that tyre that they sell yo you. If you then bought the tyre to me, I am going to charge you the money I would charge you to fit a tyre. So there is the selling companies profit, the delivery companies profit and then the tyre fitters profit.
If you buy a tyre direct from me, or many other garages, you pay the money I pay for the tyres, plus my profit for fitting it. In the case of the "cheap" Kumho above that you then need to take to the fitter, I would charge £57 for the tyre, because that is what it would cost me.

Interesting you say that, I've just had two Kumho PS72S fitted and ATS Euromaster were cheapest by a decent margin over just buying tyres and getting them fitted.

As for the premium vs budget question, on my wife's Civic Type S we've had really cheap tyres, then Falkens and now Continental tyres.

Difference between ultra cheap and Falken was immense, noticeable difference within the first couple of miles and miles ahead in the wet whereas I can hardly tell the difference between the (worn) Falkens and Continentals.

 

[Flob]

I might have a winter set of wheels with winter tyres on for your Civic MLB - free if you want them? Will need to see what state they are in.

 

[MLB]

Very kind, as always, but already have a set of winters for the Civic!

 

[NickJD64]

Depends really mate, south London its £20-£25 per tyre fitted and balanced. You can buy a Chinese machine and balancer for £1200, with a track car and a few normal cars it doesn't really take you long to pay for the machine even for private use.

That is what tyre fitting cost needs to be to make a viable business. The thing is the customer ascribes value to the tyre, I ascribe value to the fitting because that is the job. It takes the same effort to fit a Double Coin tyre as it does to fit a Michelin. It is not the tyre that makes the money, but the service.

And I am the dealer for MRF and the latest version of the ZTR tyre, which we worked on a lot last year, is really good.