Budget friendly tyres on performance cars

[DRCraig]

Howzit Fanatics,

Random thought…

You see a nice entry level performance car (330d/330i/340i etc), looks clean, decent spec. Then you notice it’s running a set of budget Chinese tyres.

Nothing wrong with budget tyres if they do the job, but I kinda see tyres as a little window into how someone maintains their car.

If you’ve got a 330d with all that torque, and the cheapest tyre is the deciding factor, I can’t help wondering if that same mindset was used on oil, brakes, suspension, cooling system, etc. Obviously it doesn’t automatically mean the car was neglected. Maybe the guy just had a rough month when the tyres were due. But personally, I’d definitely look a little closer.

What other ‘insignificant’ things tell you how an owner looked after their car?

Regards

 

[AdiS]

I always use the condition of the interior as a proxy for how much care the owner has for their car. It takes a decent amount of care to look after an interior, so if it’s clean, then someone was mindful enough to put in effort


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[TurboLlew]

There is such a small difference in price - literally cents per km if you consider the extra lifespan you get as well- between bad tyres and eg: a Bridgestone Potenza Sport that I instantly judge the owner. If you can't have decent tyres on a car, its definitely a sign. I can understand having a temporary tyre while waiting for stock or something like that.

I feel guys get absolutely milked with these 'budget' tyres that should cost much less than they do. However all they need to do is find that magic % below the usual brands that's enough to convince people. I am convinced tyre shops are incentivised more on them and this 'I've never had a problem' really grates!

The absolute BS I have read from folks on here about tyres over the years is wild, but as you say provides an excellent insight into their mindset, finances and their ability to take care of something as well as themselves.

On overall maintenance: I tend to agree that it is mindset, because you can find GT-Rs and Ferraris and Lamborghinis that are all just as neglected and with extremely patchy maintenance histories... then you have some people who will service the car for R10K every year whether they have done 50km or 5000km.

For me other factors:

1. Types of mods done to the car. I cannot understand people fitting cosmetic items that are absolute crap. This isn't being snooty or 'judging' - this is having the gift of sight and finding ill-fitting, poorly finished parts disgusting on nice cars. In many instances these cars are over R2M

2. Is definitely this:

I always use the condition of the interior as a proxy for how much care the owner has for their car. It takes a decent amount of care to look after an interior, so if it’s clean, then someone was mindful enough to put in effort


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3. Engine bay. There is a lot that an engine bay can tell you as with an interior.

 

[Mytfine]

1.The chinese have a few performance tyre manufacturers that can match european brands.
2. Said manufacturers are rapidly poaching engineers from known brands and soon will surpass european brands.

 

[TurboLlew]

1.The chinese have a few performance tyre manufacturers that can match european brands.
2. Said manufacturers are rapidly poaching engineers from known brands and soon will surpass european brands.

1. These are budget/crap-tier tyres mentioned above. No doubt there are some good brands (as with Koreans). That said I find it very difficult to believe that even the individual good chinese tyre SKUs will match the existing brands like for like. Maybe in a few metrics, but not across the board. If they do they are also unlikely to be cheap.

2. Bridgestone and Goodyear are not European brands. It is also one thing to poach talent and another to catch/surpass. That said, its always good to have competition. A few years ago, it was a Michelin-only show if you wanted the best. Now we have the CSC7, Various kinds of Eagle F1, Bridgestone has returned to form etc. Pirelli has improved (though in my experience still has limited compound lifespan).

 

[gavsadler]

Another angle is because the person is actually selling the car.

The seller (or dealer) may have been told the tyres need replacing, perhaps even if an actual roadworthy was done, lol. In this case, it’s a grudge expense to spend when selling the car, so they opt for the cheapest.

I once saw a M6 getting its discs skimmed, even though they were waaaaay past minimum thickness, but hey, if it looks shiny through the spokes then it must be new right?

And to Llew’s point, there is an ingrained mentality in the local market that if it’s cheaper then it’s a saving, because “the product is the same thing” as from Shop X or Supplier Y, and no amount of education or enlightenment will change that.

 

[TurboLlew]

“the product is the same thing” as from Shop X or Supplier Y, and no amount of education or enlightenment will change that.

Yeah this bit is also very interesting because it shows up how ignorant the average person is of how anything is made and how contract manufacturing works. There are certainly some things that are highly regulated where it MIGHT be true that a name brand is the same as the one "made in the same factory" but the truth is TONS of stuff is indeed made in the same factory but to wildly different specifications.

The converse is also true of course: There are many very expensive items positioned as premium and with hours of R&D that are very clearly from Aliexpress. However, tyres are not one of these categories

Many of the factories being labeled as "Temu wheels" or "Alibaba Wheels" as well as those selling exhaust systems from "third shifts" are actual OEMs and in some instances the actual designers of "boutique" wheel manufacturers in the US and Europe. There are some that are even contract manufacturers for BBS forged wheels, Vossen and HRE. There is a guy that recently found the source of hypercar/supercar bodykits and did a tour (very impressive operation, I'll see if I can't find the vid).

 

[tamgoem]

Oh a combination of things.

1. Is the car on a set of the same brand tyre or 4 different ones.
2. Are the keys and owners manuals present?
3. Interior condtion?
4. Curbrash
5. Mods done and how tasteful, well executed they are.

 

[DRCraig]

Red flag

A faded, discoloured cigarette lighter plastic knob indicates the (previous) owner probably smoked inside the car. (The car is usually deeply perfumed upon viewing).

 

[zabbo]

Red flag

A faded, discoloured cigarette lighter plastic knob indicates the (previous) owner probably smoked inside the car. (The car is usually deeply perfumed upon viewing).

On this ... what is the best way to get rid of that cigarette smoke smell in a car? Apologies for the derail.

Ps. I agree with the tyre statement to a degree because for the last 8 years I have only run Vitour tyres on all my cars because they offer great value - Cheaper than your Michelin and Bridgestones and provides good performance albeit a bit noisy. In my mind they are a good middle ground between your cheap Chinese brands and the better known "premium" brands.

 

[AdiS]

On this ... what is the best way to get rid of that cigarette smoke smell in a car? Apologies for the derail.

An ozone machine should do the trick


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[DRCraig]

On this ... what is the best way to get rid of that cigarette smoke smell in a car? Apologies for the derail.

Ps. I agree with the tyre statement to a degree because for the last 8 years I have only run Vitour tyres on all my cars because they offer great value - Cheaper than your Michelin and Bridgestones and provides good performance albeit a bit noisy. In my mind they are a good middle ground between your cheap Chinese brands and the better known "premium" brands.

Replace microfilter too

 

[rodga]

Also remember Hankook was the unkown cheapy a few years ago
And nexen is OEM on some porsche, but its still a kak tyre lol

 

[TurboLlew]

Ozone works well. If anyone around JHB North/Midrand needs help with Ozone, my machine is seldom used for my own cars. You just need to leave the car overnight as you can’t drive it immediately after the treatment.

 

[TurboLlew]

Also remember Hankook was the unkown cheapy a few years ago
And nexen is OEM on some porsche, but its still a kak tyre lol

Hankooks were poor until the V12 came out. I tried that on my S2000 probably over 15 years ago and even drove Kyalami on them. The few years ago is actually “many” I feel 😆

Not crap but Definitley not what guys were talking about at the time. It was heavily over hyped. People have this tendency to be pleasantly surprised by something and then take an extra step claiming it is better than something objectively better but perhaps worse value.

Kumho is on the new G90 as a factory tyre but they seem to have switched to Michelin and Pirelli P Zero R. They didn’t allow journos on track in the Kumho IIRC. Nexen was standard for the diesel macan I think… or base Cayenne… but I remember the claims when that happened 🤣🤣 suddenly ANY nexen was legit and “Porsche approved” nevermind that most N rated tyres are substantially different to what you find off the shelf.