Random tire thoughts.

I just got back from walking the dog around the neighborhood and was paying attention to the types of tires that were on the cars. 95% of the tires were no name cheapie chinesium made junk. The only exceptions were cars new enough to be on the original tires and the cop cars. It's obvious that like much of everything else the general public only cares about the least amount of money they can pay.

I've been out of the business for about twenty years now but with the exception of fleet and government vehicles, if the majority of the people are flocking to the Chinese tires how much longer until the name brand manufacturers really start feeling the squeeze if they haven't already?

Which begs the question,  if the big manufactures are not selling their bread and butter everyday tires how long will they be able to, or willing to sink  R&D money into the development of an extremely niche performance enthusiast market?

What do you define as cheap Chinese tires?  eg. Hankook, Khumo, Nexan are all Korean brands that have been expanding their market share and are even found on new cars from he factory.  I would tend to agree that most people put no research into their tire purchase decisions and don't understand the differences.  They also don't perceive much difference between various tires.

I work at a high line car dealer and it kills me how cheap people are on tires. We will only sell what's approved by the manufacturer, but people always come the cheapest option or go down the street for some " may-pops".  You're driving a $80,000 car and you want save $200 by getting the cheapest tires you can find? The other shocker is how often cars come in with tires that are under rated for load. More so on SUV's.

Gearheadotaku said:

I work at a high line car dealer and it kills me how cheap people are on tires. We will only sell what's approved by the manufacturer, but people always come the cheapest option or go down the street for some " may-pops".  You're driving a $80,000 car and you want save $200 by getting the cheapest tires you can find? The other shocker is how often cars come in with tires that are under rated for load. More so on SUV's.

Common case of “I want to appear wealthy, but I’m actually swimming in debt”

Hardy Har! I bet you did notice a lot of tires walking the dog.

I had a customer come in with some Blacklion Vorachio tires on their car. I have determined that shall be my new pornstar name

I've always notice the cheap tires on cars at cars shows. Seems to me if you spent lots of time and money building your dream car you might splurge and buy decent tires to put on it. I do understand the economics of a college kid and a beater car wanting $20 tires but if you  have a decent car it isn't that much more to get good sneakers.

Cheap tires seem to be one of the many many things in the world that there is little incentive to objectively test, so people just assume they are guilty of being crap until proven innocent. 

Note: Not saying there aren't E36 M3ty tires out there. 

In reply to Vigo :

I’ve always wanted a cheap china tire shootout. GRM staff, are you listening? 

In reply to NickD :

I wanna know the old name. Lol. 

Ever since the wheel wars got rolling tire prices have exploded.  I remember in the '80s everything rolled on 13", 14", or luxury cars got 15".  A set of cheap 13" tires was always advertised in the paper for $80 ($19.95 each) and the most expensive ones were $49.95 each (baller to spend $200 on a set of tires).

Now a freakin Camry starts on 18" wheels and probably has an option for 20s.  A new set of rubber is gonna set you back $800.  I put Michelin LTX M/S tires on my Sequoia in 2009 and it cost me a grand on sale.  

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

Big tires aren't all that more expensive than small ones.  Yeah, when I bought 15" winter tires a few years ago, in the cheapest size available in the cheapest brand available, they were only $80 apiece.  But I bought 18" winter tires last year for about $130 a piece..  That isn't too terribly bad considering that the traditionally low-buck offerings don't exist in a 225/45-18, so I had to go "upmarket" out of necessity.

You don't see $20 tires anymore because of the tariff on Chinese tires put in place some years back.

I have brought shame upon my family back to the beginning. Milestars on both my car and truck. I swear, once I get a better job, I'll do better.

Gearheadotaku said:

I work at a high line car dealer and it kills me how cheap people are on tires. We will only sell what's approved by the manufacturer, but people always come the cheapest option or go down the street for some " may-pops".  You're driving a $80,000 car and you want save $200 by getting the cheapest tires you can find? The other shocker is how often cars come in with tires that are under rated for load. More so on SUV's.

When I was a tech at an Audi dealer, maintenance was included for something like the first 36k miles (not sure if that is still the case but in the mid 2000s it was). Anyway, we would regularly see customers come in with Krazy Larry's Discount Oil Changes and Wallet Flushes stickers on their windshield.  Even the A8Ls would have them.  You bought a car pushing 100 grand, you get free maintenance, and you still take it to the 12.95 oil change.  So of course those cars would have 3 OEM tires and one Super Round Fun Eagle brand tire.

Ive run bfg, falken, nexen, and federals on my junk foe years.

The worst tires ive ever owned (as in actually paid for) have to be the sunni(?) Tires on the miata. I only paid for 2, because 2 new ones were on the wheels when i bought them. Horrible wear, no feedback, etc. Federals were lots better, and that ain't saying much. Trucks getting continental tires based on my experience with the dws on my last protege5. And tgeyre not much more for a 235/60/18

In reply to logdog :

Meanwhile, I have customers who replace tires in sets of four on Corollas after a single tire failure, because the rest of them are three-four years old.

I put Radar tires on my cx-5 and have been very happy with them. Much better than the Coopers they replaced..

Snrub said:

What do you define as cheap Chinese tires?  eg. Hankook, Khumo, Nexan are all Korean brands that have been expanding their market share and are even found on new cars from he factory.  I would tend to agree that most people put no research into their tire purchase decisions and don't understand the differences.  They also don't perceive much difference between various tires.

Hankook, khomo and nexen are all recognizable names to me. Although I'm not a fan of nexen, khumo and hankook make some decent tires.  No these were all the cheapest of the cheap. Of the new cars that likely had the original tires I saw one set of khumos, the rest were Goodyears. 

I'm guilty as well. I put some no name tires on the back of the Civic which don't match the no name tires on the front in brand or size. Come new tire time it will get a proper set of 195/50/15s. I just needed it to pass inspection at the time.

My favorite is either "Triangle" (complete with triforce logo) or "Goodride", both were found on E36 M3ty stopgap used cars I've had. The Goodride was a spare that I never installed, so I can't comment on it's ride characteristics.

In reply to BrokenYugo :

My new truck came with Goodyear’s  and they really aren’t very good.  This fall they will be replaced with Bridgestone Blizzacks  and next spring I’ll buy a set of Michelin’s for summer driving. 

I was a loyal defender of and purchaser of Goodyear’s all of my life. But the last decade has shown me how static Goodyear has been on their R&D 

Once Firestone had their issues with Ford  I’ve found little reason to insist on the American tires I’d been  using. 

dxman92 said:

I put Radar tires on my cx-5 and have been very happy with them. Much better than the Coopers they replaced..

Most Coopers are Chinese tires now.  That is why  I stopped buying them. I will never install a Chinese tire on a car I own.

I like my tires like I like my women, Scandanvain.

Nokian or bust. (Or with them in the case of the women). 

In reply to BrokenYugo :

I can comment on goodride. I put a set on the last E21 I bought. Because 13's are not common, I needed them that day and they were in stock.  Dry grip was low. I could easily break traction at will even with the massive 100hp it was producing. They were dangerous in the wet. And when I say dangerous I mean they would hydroplane at 25 mph at anything more than a light drizzle. It was like driving on ice all the time. If the road was even slightly damp the car was all over the place. Driving to work I felt like I was working harder than Tommi Makinen at the rally Monte Carlo. But not in a good way. I only put a couple thousand miles on them before I couldn't take it anymore and ordered some Khumos from tire rack. Those things felt like fricken Michelin SuperSports after the goodrides. 

I've noticed the same thing, lots of cheap tires. Then I had the thought that unless it's winter or there's lots of standing water, the vast majority of drivers will never notice anything other than wear and noise, since they'll never even get close to the limits. So really, why would they buy anything but the cheapest, longest lasting junk they can find? That said, there may well be a long term benefit to spending more up front if they last longer, especially when you factor in the cost of more frequent mounting and balancing.

When I look at a car, at a C&C, the track, or in the wild, tires are one of the first things I look at.  Tire choice will usually tell you a lot about the owner.  I first got in this habit when I was riding motorcycles... tires tell you the story of how a person rides.  One of my local favorites is a Nova that shows up to the local hot rod cruise... 6-71 blower sticking out of the hood, sounds like a top fueler.  And rides on skinny BFG Radial T/As.   If that guy ever musters up the gumption to stomp on the loud pedal he's just going to go up in smoke.  Or backwards into a guardrail.... 

The truth is, most people don't care, as long as the tires are round and hold air.  Even on their expensive sports car, because they never drive it anywhere near the limit anyway....