recommended, decent mid-range tyres

[PCM]

I fancy some new all-season tyres for my RX.

My Michelin HP Tours have lasted about 4 years and about 30,000 miles, and seem ok still.

I'd probably go for Michelin Cross Climates now...

But... if I keep my car for another 2 years, I'd rather get the benefit now...

Good prices currently.

I fancy buying the tyres (camskill?) and then getting them fitted.

Q. Does anyone have a view on garage vs. mobile fitters? Anyone able to recommend somewhere in Herts at all?

Regards as always.

 

[Herbie]

Have a look at Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 2

Performance-wise these tyres and the Michelin Cross Climates are almost identical in every way but I'm not sure about price of either brand.

If buying online don't forget to go through https://www.topcashback.co.uk/home as you may get a few quid back from there.

[olliesgrandad]

39 minutes ago, PCM said:

I fancy some new all-season tyres for my RX.

My Michelin HP Tours have lasted about 4 years and about 30,000 miles, and seem ok still.

I'd probably go for Michelin Cross Climates now...

But... if I keep my car for another 2 years, I'd rather get the benefit now...

Good prices currently.

I fancy buying the tyres (camskill?) and then getting them fitted.

Q. Does anyone have a view on garage vs. mobile fitters? Anyone able to recommend somewhere in Herts at all?

Regards as always.

 

If you don't need tyres urgently  and want cross Climates why not wait around until Michelin are next doing their cash back offer. I've done it twice now and they give you a preloaded debit card. Usually do these offers twice a year. For 4 tyres on both my GS and RX I got £100 back both times. Ended up costing £650 for 4 Cross Climates from my local independent dealer Chris Mullins in Gloucester. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Blackcircles have the 19" CrossClimates listed at £169.99 each, fully fitted at various local dealers (I have four to choose from in my local area). Apparently there's a 10% discount code that can be applied, which brings it down to just over £300 a pair.

Asda's online tyre thing sounds similar to the above, they're listing them at £167 each (but no mention of any discount code).

[m4rkw]

On 6/6/2019 at 6:56 PM, Mr Vlad said:

To the average driver the only difference between an expensive tyre and a budget one is the price.

Not true. Stopping distance varies significantly, as does wet grip. A good tyre can be the difference between crashing and not crashing, a good tyre might even save your life. There are many things you can get away with scrimping on when driving a car but imho tyres should not be one of them.

[olliesgrandad]

On 6/9/2019 at 12:04 PM, Spottedlaurel said:

Blackcircles have the 19" CrossClimates listed at £169.99 each, fully fitted at various local dealers (I have four to choose from in my local area). Apparently there's a 10% discount code that can be applied, which brings it down to just over £300 a pair.

Asda's online tyre thing sounds similar to the above, they're listing them at £167 each (but no mention of any discount code).

£300 a pair sounds good👍

[Spottedlaurel]

19 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

£300 a pair sounds good👍

The Lexus dealer couldn't get anywhere near that price, £426 vs. £309 for a pair!

Gone onto the Blackcircles site today and the 10% offer on individual tyres has gone, replaced by £40 off a set of four, so it was good that I bought them when I did. Still might be worth seeing if the "mich10" code works though?.......

[m4rkw]

On 6/6/2019 at 12:12 PM, olliesgrandad said:

They claim that Cross Climates Last 11,000 more miles than the competitors

If that's even partly true then they're a much better deal than the competitors if price is your motivator. I've seen some reports of cheap tyres only lasting 8000-10000 miles which actually makes them far more expensive then the premium tyres. I buy Goodyears as they have the lowest noise rating and are still very good tyres, maybe they don't last as long as the michelins but I'd rather have less road noise.

[m4rkw]

 

There is no wet braking test required for tyres to be sold in the UK. The above video is perhaps biased to promote Continental but I think it would be foolish to assume that budget tyres will perform the same as premium brands. Not worth the risk imo and since the premium brands are likely cheaper in the long run anyway it seems like a no brainer.

[Lost it]

Ahh. The "problem" with these types of reviews is that they are very situation specific.

I don't think any driver, whether careful, experienced, long distance or even plain lunatic, goes out looking for situations where they can do a crash stop in the wet. And I will still maintain that a top notch premium tyre with only 1.6mm of tread on 3mm of water won't be as good at clearing water and stopping the vehicle as one fitted with "HooFlungDung" chinese ditch finders with 7mm of tread in the same situation. Should you ever find yourself in that situation. Because what stops you is rubber on the road, not the rubber sliding on the water.

In the same way that very few of us ever test the tyre's limit of adhesion "on the limit" in the dry or the wet.. We are car drivers, driving a luxury barge, not Ayrton Senna in an F1 car. Driving in that manner would soon bring you to the attention of someone, even if it was only the ambulance crew.

I am a big believer in putting 4 season rubber on though. But as I've only just got my RX, and as I don't know if I'm going to grow to love it, I went for a set of mid range/budget tyres for the now. The tyres it came with were three different makes and frankly dangerous.If these lower budget things don't last long, it will be long enough for me to decide if the car is the right move for me.

The cost of the tyres whilst it might be a consideration, really isn't depending on your values. It depends on the state of your bank balance at the time of purchase.

When I do decide, I'll be fitting Goodyear Vectors because I've run them for years on my Jaguar's and besides a little bit of tyre thrum, they have never left me thinking they are more than adequate for the car's performance. I even put a set on my wife's Fiesta because I need to make sure she can get home to make my tea.

I can "light the Vector's up" with the V8 S type, but only if I really am in the right mood. Which isn't often these days.