Cheap 'Chinese' tyres - what goes wrong!

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unclejake, Nov 26, 1:38am
I am somewhat baffled by the available brands of automotive tyres (Sagitar, Fullrun, Goodride etc), but what makes a $375 Toyo better than the same sized Goodride for $169!

What actually goes wrong with these cheap brand tyres!

For the record: I am looking for 235/35R19s

alan1111, Nov 26, 1:42am
Bugger all wrong with them. They all are round and black. I sell HiFly tyres which according to a website that rates all tyres they are up there with the well known dearer brands. Been selling Hi Flys for over a year now and no complaints with them considering they are budget tyres.

pollymay, Nov 26, 1:45am
x1
Compound, road noise. Good tyres are good tyres, there is no cheap imitation for a GOOD tyre. Drive in the rain and play around a bit, then drop the temp 10 degrees and wait for the cheapo tyre to suddenly without warning turn into a plastic crayon with the grip to match. There is how long they wear as well. Also some cheap tyres are low ply and very floppy, good for ride comfort I suppose compared to a high spec brand with lots of good ply and steel belts but the rigidity and hence cornering can suffer.

kingfisher21, Nov 26, 1:51am
As above, plus we have had numerous problems with separation, sidewall cracking etc, you get what you pay for, some of them will turn a nice car into a evil handling piece of junk.

jason18, Nov 26, 1:56am
I have wahli or what ever its called. Bloody loud road noise. But grip is mint.

cocabowla, Nov 26, 3:16am
only in 195/65-14 but i had sunny tyres , they were very harsh, noisy and in the wet slipperier than a sack full of eels.

phillip.weston, Nov 26, 3:18am
I would go with the established cheaper brands - say Falken, Nexen, Kingstar, Hankook, Kuhmo etc. I'm not a fan of cheap tyres, they have to have a compromise somewhere - whether it be grip, road noise, durability or quality control. I find the cheaper tyres are more prone to going out of round etc.

wayne472, Nov 26, 3:27am
x1
I have linglongs on my 4x4 surf.There is nothing wrong with them and they were about half the price of tyres from the other well known thieves!

friendly_prawn, Nov 26, 3:55am
x1
Hi uncklejake, I only ever buy the cheapest brand tyres and I have never had a problem with them and I often drive my cars quite hard.
Funny thing is I find the cheaper tyres seem to have a very good life span and dont wear as fast. Others may disagree, its just my own personal thoughts. cheers.

mm12345, Nov 26, 4:20am
x1
I've had Kingstar 310 AT tyres on my Safari for the past two years / 20,000km or so.Nothing wrong with them, wet grip is fine, they are wearing well, and they took far less lead to balance (and have stayed in balance well/better so far) compared to Bridgestone and Goodyear AT's I've used on the same vehicle.Retail price was about $180 vs $250+ for "brand name" tyres, but haggled without any effort to $600 for four, fitted and balanced.

mm12345, Nov 26, 4:25am
Are Falken, Hankook, and Kumho "cheaper" brands.On one of my cars (MX5) I have Falken tyres, and they are phenomenal, wet and dry grip, good wear rate.Hankook and Kumho aren't budget price in 4wd tyres.

pfemstn, Nov 26, 4:31am
x1
all tyres have to meet our import standards and generally chinese tyres are cheap because of their labour costs which other countries struggle to match!

dent, Nov 26, 4:39am
I have kingstars on my v8 commodore. There wearing well even tho the rear wheels have a lot of negative camber. I dont know what other people are getting out of there commodores but ive got 35000kms so far and still about 3mm left.

angel_25, Nov 26, 4:44am
Well said, I guess it comes down to ''Application''-
; and personal budget aswell. I have new kingstars on the GTB family wagon and new N2 filled bridgestones on my STI, Im happy with the kingstars but could go lower than that on any car i own, but then i suppose a new budget tyre is better than any bald one

unclejake, Nov 26, 4:44am
I must admit that we had Kingstars on my wife's last car and they were fine. I put Kumhos on the Patrol and the rise was very harsh so we swapped them for Hankooks (gasp!) and the problem was solved.

Thanks for the advice team. I will make a decision soon, but I do want a quiet tyre. the Dunlops on her car now are hellishly noisy (but very worn)

unclejake, Nov 26, 4:46am
I think they are. The Pirelli option was $575 each (retail) in a 235/35R19.

electro2000, Nov 26, 4:47am
My v8, sub, and work hilux all have chia tyres noting wrong with them
Got sick of spending moon beams on tyres don't really notice a differance

murph2068594, Nov 26, 4:53am
Cheap brands are just that "cheap" banged out on some factory somewhere, yet all they're doing is just making them to specification to fit the wheel rim of your vehicle.
They don't do what other tyre manufacturers do, we're talking about decades of actually driving tyres through different conditions, race and test tracks and actual roads around the world.
How the tyre reacts to extreme cold or heat, how grip, sidewall, car body roll, camber, toe settings affect vehicle handling etc.
They spend millions on research and development just on making the best range of tyres for all types of vehicles.

I'd stick with Dunlop, Goodyear etc, or a brand name you can actually recognise like Firestone, Michellin etc.
Doesn't matter if your driving a Lamborghini or a Mazda 2, they'll both behave like driving on an ice lake with "cheap" tires fitted.
Sure they're cheaper, but as others have said above, they won't last as long as an "expensive" tyre.
You've got 19" wheels, so my guess is there's alot of money up there riding around on these.
Decision time - this is where "the rubber hits the road" all that is between you and the way your car behaves and the "feedback" you get from the road, comes from your tyres, get the best that you can afford.

You may have to pay them off like i did, but you won't regret it.

Try here:http://www.dunlop.co.nz/tyreselector.aspx

moosie_21, Nov 26, 5:33am
Do a lot of 300km/h+ racing then do you!

angel_25, Nov 26, 5:46am
Nah its not a supercharged commy! But i do ask alot of my car. but really i just wanted the flashy chrome hex green valve caps.
Guy from kats said kingstars are made by dunlop.

sw20, Nov 26, 5:56am
My daily is an ee80 Corolla. It came fitted from previous owner with Goodrides. It rode terribly, had poor grip, the tyres had soft as sponge sidewalls so they rolled every where.

Got some 14" alloys for it s/h. They were fitted with Yokohama S Drives. The car now actually handles, even with 24 year old stock suspension. It was like night and day.

Chinese tyres are cheap for a reason, they are shit.

a.woodrow, Nov 26, 5:59am
One of the main differences between cheap chinese tyres and other more well known brands is that the cheap chinese tyres use a much higher percentage of synthetic rubber. this is a harder less yielding compound which is why cheap chinese tyres seem to last longer. the disadvantages however are poorer road handling, particulary in the wet, as opposed to more well known brands that have more natural rubber and therefore a much softer and better handling tyre. For around town use you wouldn't notice a lot of difference, it's when you push the limits of the tyre that the short comings become apparent. Many of the chinese brands use old moulds brought from more reputable brands, this is another reason they can get the cost down, as they don't have the same r&d costs

ninja_man, Nov 26, 6:03am
depends how you drive. if you putter along like a granny and dont push your car at all then the cheap tyres will do just fine. If your like me and like to throw the car around a bit on the twistys then get some decent well branded tyres.

mm12345, Nov 26, 7:17am
OK, I see Falken at that size for $330, but Continentals at $925.
I think when I need new tyres on the MX, I'll get another set of Falkens.

ninja_man, Nov 26, 7:31am
good choice