Cheap tyre choice.

I'll fourth that - BFG's are superb value and very good in all weathers. I'll also agree with using an independent dealer rather than a major chain for better value.

Nankang (or it could be Cheng Shin or Woosung) as referred to by the OP are all crap. Ford are now fitting Hankook tyres on some new Mondeos and Transits. A mate recently took delivery of his new company Mondeo TDCi LX and was appalled to find it shod with Hankook tyres. After some use, he's now quite complimentary about them.

Yes, but neither of those are a hot hatch, or sticky Yokos?

The Goodridge and the Marshalls are good known names. Not as popular=20 over here as in the US, where they are big name brands, but competant.=20 Michelin make BF Goodrich tyres for europe. They are a fairly hard=20 compound, but grip well in the wet and dry, but might be a little=20 noisier than some. Don't know if Marshall still make their own for=20 european distribution, or license out.

All the "Chang Chang" or "Ning Nang" type stuff are usually close to=20 dangerous, with the exception of NanKang, some of their tyres are pretty=20 well rated. Normally, suggested wisdom is avoid remoulds like the pox on=20 society that they are. But Colway are a very well respected tyre in=20 motorsport

and they have=20details on their of the very good warrenties etc they include on their=20products. Never used them myself, but I know rally drivers who swear by=20them, rather than at them.--=20 "Sorry Sir, the meatballs are Orf" The poster formerly known as Skodapilot.

Unless you happen to drive a taxi, bus, lorry or aeroplane. All of which use Remould tyres to significant levels, without difficulty.

Ture, hence the large floppy mounds of rubber at the side of the motorway.

The message from Sleeker GT Phwoar contains these words:

Which when you consider how many truck/bus miles are done up and down the motorways every day you see remarkably rarely.

True, not as bad as it used to be. used to think as a kid that truck tyres shed their skins like snakes ;)

Following the earlier note about Ford now using Hankook tyres - a friend has just bought a brand new Polo 1.4 from a local main VW dealer which is shod with Kumho tyres. I was genuinely shocked!

That really is extracting the urine - and if it was mine I'd have refused to accept it until real tyres were fitted. My one foray into Kumho tyres was about 15 years ago when they proved to be really scraping the pit of excrement - I really hope they've improved! I couldn't wait to get mine changed.

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Doctor D" saying something like:

Budget car, pikey tyres.

Some of the older, real cheapy makers have improved, true. The last cheapy tyres I bought were Passio - they gripped ok, they were ok in the wet, but the fronts only lasted 5k miles. Utterly false economy, as it turned out.