Remoulds

Assuming you mean my ones, they're V rated. So well above the actual maximum of the car concerned. Let alone the practical maximum, licence wise.

Hmm. People do, though. And I'll bet you don't fit the most expensive tyre you can find to every car you've ever owned. Besides, cost isn't necessarily an indication of grip. And as I said I'm quite impressed with the grip.

..apart from those doing HGV tyres..

Or travel by Bus or Taxi. over 70% of bus fleets use remoulds, and over

Where do you get your figures for that? I bet you will find 95% of london cabs on Austone / Maragoni / Dunlop or Michelin, none of those are remoulds.

Just that used engine components are better than new ones. If you're building a "new" engine it's usually better to use old parts. Except for wear items like bearings and rings etc which are the equivalent of the tread on a tyre. The remoulds I had a long time ago were very soft so I'm sure they stick to the road like glue. Probably better than the teflon coated Marshalls that I had on one car.

Since 'growing up' I have always fitted known major brand tyres on my own and customer vehicles. 99 per cent are Michelin. The difference between cheap tyres and Michelin when it comes to braking grip is astonishing, you won't believe the difference in stopping distances on a wet road till you try it !!! Since it is unusual to actually try for minimum stopping distance, most drivers will not realise the difference till they have hit something.

I also find that there is no actual saving made by buying a cheap tyre all things considered (excluding accidental damage) ie lifetime, increase in mpg, comfort, grip and especially that stopping distance.

and yes, I recently put a 500 pound set of Michelin tyres on my wife's Lexus (I admit I hated the cost, but........)

The last Colways I bought (Landrover about 20 years ago) fell apart, so there is no way I would ever touch those again.

Mrcheerful

But I'll guarantee you'll find a make with better wet road grip than Michelin - they rarely come out top in every way in tests.

Given I've never run into the back of anything in over 40 years of driving there might be more to it than tyres. Oh - and not all cars brake the same either from speed. Especially an older one like I'm on about.

But I'm saying I *am* impressed with the comfort and grip. And my other car is a modern one with expensive tyres reckoned to be a very good handler.

Did you investigate why via Colway? I had a set of high priced Pirellis fall apart too - and they were replaced by the factory. Again, some years ago.

Well yes. But this is uk.rec.cars.maintenance, and I was discussing car tyres.

Avoiding running into the back of something isn`t the only reason to stand on the brakes though is it?Something suddenly swerving infront of you for example, or a young child running out from behind a wall/car/bush/anything the bugger can hide behind? Cars pulling out infront of you at junctions that misjudge it - there are plenty of valid reasons for needing an emergency stop that can`t be entirely removed by leaving a big gap between you and the car infront.

Of course. But most of these happen at low speeds where other factors will come into play other than just the grip of the tyres in the wet.

What I'm trying to say is they seem to have an adequate grip in the wet. And maybe as good as some tyres costing several times as much - who knows without proper testing? And if wet braking performance was the only criterion for choosing a tyre there'd probably be only one make on sale.

A wagon having a blowout while you`re overtaking it? That`s at high speed, and the ability brake or swerve would be a great advantage here, those tyres are bloody heavy! :-)

Speaking of which...

I couldn't be bothered to ask about the colways, I just put it down to experience and learnt from it.

You can drive round perfectly safely on bald bullock cart tyres, but when problems or greater demands are made?

Good tyres are now so cheap in relation to income and other costs that there is really no need to 'save' by buying something cheap. If all or some cheap tyres are honestly just as good as the brand names then they would all sell at the same price and be equally desirable.

I just do not think that tyres are an item to 'save' money on, buy a cheapo battery perhaps or even cheapo petrol, neither of those are likely to endanger your life or others if they fail to perform as well as a top brand.

Mrcheerful

Sounds like they may have been to the wrong spec or abused then? Most would complain if a set of tyres disintegrated regardless of cost. If only because they were annoyed about the possible safety implication.

Got any more stupid comparisons to make?

That applies to everything motoring, then. Do you apply it to things like oil? Petrol? Insurance? etc?

I was making a comparison to budget brands.

You must be an advertiser's dream.

No, I just have a lot of experience, I drive hundreds of cars a year, I know that cheapo tyres 'can' feel fine, but when you need that extra bit of bite, they just do not have it, fool yourself if you want, but you won't convince anyone that has had a car slide on, when good tyres would have gripped. I have seen umpteen cars damaged by cheapo petrol, never by good. How does that make me an advertisers dream? I would not buy supermarket petrol unless I absolutely have to, due to bad experience of its consequences..

And I would apply the cheap is not always good approach to insurance quite definitely. and to tools, and to makes of car, household appliances, etc. etc.

Don't save money on stuff that you really need to work well, as nearly always the cheap stuff will let you down in extremis.

I do agree that some stuff is hyped up and that the most expensive is not always the best, but some things are cheap for a reason, and that reason is never because it is the best at anything.

Mrcheerful

Maybe Colways have improved over the years. I fitted a set to my Vitesse some years ago. V rated, and IIRC, about a third of the price of the Eagle NCT's they replaced. I was a little strapped at the time, and they seemed to be good value. Never again.

They were terrible. They squealed when cornering, unless I drove like an old maid. The sidewall stiffness seemed quite poor, which affected the cars stability at speed, and when cornering. Experimented with tyre pressures, without any noticeable improvement..

Grip under braking and cornering seemed OK. That is apart from the squealing and wallowing from the weak sidewalls.

Before they were fitted, the car was a pleasure to drive. Very stiff and responsive to steering input, with an excellent feel of the road. Afterwards there was no comparison. Wooly steering, and very little feedback. It felt like a different car.

Couldn't wait to get rid of them, and get some decent tyres on the car. Checked them while they still had 3-4mm of tread, and got another set of NCT's.

AIUI, one of the problems with remoulds, is that a set of tyres could be remoulds on 4 different makes of carcass, so the slip angles, and sidewall stiffness could be different on all 4. Even though the carcasses are all of the same type. Mike.

"Colin Wilson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net...

Very impressive. not as impressive as the last set of wagon tyres I saw go pop though - 4 wheels on 2 axles on an abload - carrying one of those huge dumper truck things. Big chuknks of tyres all over the place!

Why? He`s saying that there are places to save money, and places not to save money. What`s the price difference between a set of el cheapo tyres, and a set of good tyres, for your car? For mine, with a quick look on blackcircles.com, it`s about £180 fitted for 4 value choice tyres, and £280 for the most expensive tyres they have listed (Michelin Pilot Primacy), with lots of other premium tyres just below that price level. I`ve currently got Continental Eco Contacts on my car, had it 14000 miles now and the two front tyres need replacing (and they where work when I got the car), so lets say I get 20,000 miles per set of tyres on average. The cost per mile of the tyres then becomes:

Ignoring the fact that you`re likely to get more miles out of the more expensive tyres of course. Considering that the only thing holding my car to the road are those 4 little patches of rubber, I`d much rather pay that bit more to have better grip, than save a few quid and have a greater risk of the car deciding it wants to go exploring a field. If you need to save money, put cheap fuel in, use cheap oil and parts for servicing - if they go wrong then it`ll just cost money to fix. If your tyres fail, then it costs money and risks your life too - I know which is more important to me.