The Ling Long brand is there to sell to the tight arses customers too cheap to pay for Kingstars.
mm12345,
Jun 15, 6:37pm
I've got a set of 31 x 10.5 x 15 Kingstar ATs on a GQ/Y60 Safari, which I've owned for about 13 years now.The tyres are about two years / 20,000km old.They are as good as any tyres I've used, including wet grip.They are wearing evenly - looks like they'll last about 60,000km.Retail was about $190, but haggled them down to about $160, which was about $100 per tyre less than what I'd been using - and they're not a "compromise" - they seem better than bridgestone and goodyear LT ATs I've used. I don't know about "ling long", but it's easily within my memory when Korean tyre makers were exporting tyres to NZ with bits of bamboo embedded in the compound.Times change.I wouldn't put Kingstars on a high performance car, but wouldn't hesitate to put them on any of the ordinary cars that 99% of us drive.
clark20,
Jun 15, 6:50pm
Yeah because none of us ever need to perform an emergency stop or something. You guys scare me.
mar-mite,
Jun 15, 8:11pm
ling long- noisy on the road
morrisman1,
Jun 15, 8:15pm
Ling longs are great for autocross on grass because they have huge gaps in the tread. Crap on the tarmac though.
supernova2,
Jun 15, 9:32pm
I looked atsome "Dark Horse"a day or so ago.had a rating of 280.I think that means they will wear out in about a week.Cheep is not cheeper!
morrisman1,
Jun 15, 9:42pm
but that wear rating is relative to the manufacturer's standard 100 rating.
If the manufacturer only makes cheap hard tyres then Id expect a 280 rating to last longer than a 280 from a company that only makes semi slick racing tyres
n1smo_gtir,
Jun 15, 10:02pm
everyday tires are meant for everyday driving is it not! and we do have full insurance for the just in cases. there are alot of tire firms that sells these tires so obviously they pass quality control and deemed fit for NZ road and for everyday use. there are way many more factors other than just the tires that helps you get out of emergency situations but a cheaper branded tire with plenty of tread is better than a top end tire with part bald. .
mm12345,
Jun 16, 4:37am
There's nothing wrong with Kingstar tyres for "emergency stops". Your fallacious argument would have people driving $2,000 cars with $4,000 worth of tyres based on some miniscule theoretical advantage.
clark20,
Jun 16, 6:46am
You obviously don't read any tyre tests, and see how even good to average tyres outbrake the cheapies by several metres. Ond $4K ! even my 20s are only $2k. I mean good tyres can be around $160-$200 each rather than $120, not much more to spend. If these tyres are any good (and cheap) why are they not fitted to new cars! They want to save money, however they also have standards to get too. Like I said, you guys scare me. The thought of stopping well with someone behind not being able to do the same does not thrill me.
mm12345,
Jun 16, 3:34pm
I suspect that a $120 Kingstar may be better than a $120 "brand name" budget tyre. I know that the wet grip on the AT's I have are excellent, and they don't go out of round like the Bridgestones I had before. If you want to worry about what's behind you, then chances are you're going to have people driving on bald tyres, mismatched tyres, old used tyres - far more to worry about than the "brand" of tyre they use. Auto-makers buy bulk from tyre makers, at prices which will be a fraction of retail.Many people have the same perception you do - that chinese tyres are crap (TM) so you're not likely to find them on a new japanese or european car - not yet anyway.The same people with that perception would probably have no problem owning a new macbook pro with retina screen - also made in china.
clark20,
Jun 16, 5:02pm
Fine, I will keep wasting my money on quality tyres. A macbook is not a safety device, tyres are. Auto makers do buy at a fraction of the price, but if the chinese ones are so good why don't they buy them! Many chinese products are OK, however I do tend to buy quality over cheap when it comes to me and my families safety.
unbeatabull,
Jun 16, 5:08pm
I've driven some of these Chinese tyres both on road and round a track, and they simply don't compare. They are a cheap, hard compound tyre that are just sufficient for getting from Point A to Point B. They have a really narrow drop off in grip to, in that once they lose grip they lose it a lot quicker then other tyres.
Quality tyres aren't expensive, you can pick up Dunlop Direzza's, Bridgestone Potenza's etc for under $200 a tyre for your average car. Hell, I'd even prefer to have Supercats on my car then those brands, and you can pick Supercats up for under $120 usually.
I have driven on Nankang and GT Radials. They were fine. I like Hankook too and they are reasonably priced. I have used Kumho before and found them good too.
desmodave,
Jun 19, 6:42am
So what do we do here then use a tyre thats a compromise over most conditions or if itshot dry day use a soft sticky tyre or if its a wet day use a tyre that can shift more water or do we just settel for using the brain to control the right foot.
supernova2,
Jun 19, 8:04pm
I think the only answer is to not use a vehicle at all ever then tyres will not become a safety issue.i was going to say take the advice of the tyre shop but then realsied that in most cases the staff there actually don't speak the same language as the customer and in a lot of cases would have absolutely no idea of anything about what they are selling.many many years ago I used Goodyear tyes and on one occassions was offered thge chooice of NZ made or foreign.Foreign cheeper.Goodyear guy said foreign better and I think he was right but they looked exactly the same so for the life of me I dont know how anyone apart from the manufactures would know which tyre is actually the best for any particular customer.If you buy a cheep linglong on nignog or whatever can you take it back under the CGA as not being fit for the purpose and if so how do you prove your point!
clanky,
Jun 20, 6:04am
I remember reading a report in an American Consumer magazine which tested 6 brands of tyre available in the US. The best they could find were Continental, very closely followed by Hankook, at a fraction of the price. You do get what you pay for, tyres are the only thing in contact with the road on your car (stand fast the lowering brigade) and they are the least understood, being non-linear in their behaviour (yes, I know they go round and round, so non-linear - different type of non-linear). The article did not recommend any Chinese tyres, but a German and a Korean one, and definitely no US ones.
horsygirl,
Jun 20, 6:33am
I blame the last Labour Government for signing the Free Trade Agreement with China.We have become a dumping ground for cheap unsafe crap from China.
audi_s_ate,
Jun 20, 6:42am
Its called supply and demand. They wouldn't export it to NZ if there weren't any buyers.
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