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Hey JS, why have you left my name in Colin’s quote?
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Apologies - that’s what the system left in the quote…
Now corrected.
JS
[quote=Dickturpin]
I did say that I had always expected to use known branded tyres on my vehicles ( bikes and cars) but simply sought views on an alternative… perhaps optimistically hoping that someone may have experience of this tyre brand and model.
Sorry - didn’t read your post properly the first time - appologies for red mist. I have managed to eliminate this whilst driving, must try harder when going on the forum
Anyhow - now I’ve read it properly - here’s my feed back from two week old Jinju 205 45 17s fitted to the rear of my 2.0 Launch Edition Roadster :
Damp evening, just started to drizzle after a weeks dry spell, exited a roundabout near home - maybe gave it a bit too much right foot too soon, but nothing I’d not done before in my previous MX5 ( Fitted with OE tyres). Lost the back end in an instant - went from full grip to zero grip, did a 360 , hit the kerb and a small tree - Beautiful car written off. I fully accept I only have myself to blame, whatever the contributary factors the fool behind the wheel is ultimately responsible after all, but I am still affected by this and it is a very raw nerve. The Jinjus were fitted by the dealer I bought the car from, and I was going to get them changed at the end of the month - just didn’t make it that far .
So that’s one personal experience of Chinese tyres I don’t want anyone else to repeat. Regards, Colin
I too have learned that tyres fitted by a typical car dealer will be the cheapest available to get the vehicle through an MOT.
When I purchase my next car if it needs new tyres I will either specify what they fit or negotiate a lower price.
IM no expert on tyre but I can share my tyre experiences.
Nankang EX500 - Had these on a Hyundai Coupe, IMO cracking tyre
Pirelli P4000 - Bloody horrible on my XJ40 4.0S…Cant understand why Jaguar fitted them from the factory
Pirelli P6000 - Even worse than the 4000, factory fitted to my Jaguar XJ8, all sorts of wobbles shakes vibrations. First thing my Jaguar Guru said was junk these…replaced with Falken 912.
Falken 912 - Fantastic tyre on my XJ8 until they get to 4-3mm then increased road noise and get slippy in the wet. These about to be replaced with Goodyear F1s.
Yokohama (whichever was standard on the 1.8NC) After 4yrs loads of tread but badly cracked on the side wall and between the treads.
Mitchelin PS3 - Good tyre, wore well on the NC but strange drumming noises on some road surfaces
I’m sorry only the Nankang that are Chinese but my reason for posting was to show I had problems with what I would call premium tyres (both Pirelli and Yoko) but no problems with the Falkens or the Nankangs.
I must add when talking to to guys at Three Sisters Race Circuit they were big fans of the Nankangs
Now you may ask would I fit Chinese Tyres to my cars…I think the only one I would consider is the Nankang N2R.
Landsail 288’s here on all four corners. They were brand new on the car when I bought it going on 2 years ago. I changed to 16" 10 spoke chrome alloy wheels in OEM size to replace the original 5 spoke wheels. Swapped all tyres over to new rims and my opinion ( for what it’s worth ) is they are fine! I don’t drive in the wet unless caught out generally, I don’t do track days and try to drive sensibly. I like having matched tyres, I like to see plenty of tread on them too, so these fit the bill for me! It’s all very subjective though as my driving style is going to be very different to that of other folk. When they start to wear, I’ll change them even if there’s a few mm left. Would I go landsail again? Yes, why not?
Barrie
Don’t tyres have to pass some sort of standard to even be allowed in europe.
I’ll probably get shot down here, but I feel that a lot of it comes down to driving style.
I’ve been driving for almost 40 years, I had 20 years on the road as a service engineer, and I’ve never once had a tyre let go on me, other than in snow.
I personally believe that if you drive within normal limits, then a tyre is a tyre, it’s black and circular.
If your’e going to drive aggressivly, throwing a car in to corners, with harsh acceleration and braking etc, or taking the car on a track, driving to it’s limits, then maybe one might want to consider something soft and grippy.
Whilst I agree that the tyre is your only contact point, the tyre is only as good as the surface that your driving on.
Similar to BettaBuilda, I rarely drive in the wet if I can help it, my driving style is pretty sedate, I’m out for the view and open air motoring.
I think any tyre in good condition will far out weigh what I expect it to do, personally, I’ll cave in before the tyre does.
I was that man - 40 years driving, never suffered any loss of control - got quite a shock when full grip became no grip in a split second. I just think it’s prudent to lessen the chances of a repeat , and yes driving style has been addressed - but no matter how good and careful you are you still need good rubber !
Colin
oooh matron
I have a feeling that your wipe-out was caused by several ingredients, tight turn, too much wellie, a damp road surface, as you said, and the great un-mentioned one, fuel oil surface slick, so very common on roundabouts, and with that combination I doubt many tyres would have held. Just my opinion. I’m not preaching. I’ve been in a similar situation years ago in my Pug 205 1.9l on it’s Pirelli P600 OE’s, luckily I ended up on a grass verge with no hard kerb or anything else, so no damage done, but it certainly scared the ---- out of me!
Some years back I worked in China on commissioning a steel works. One thing I discovered was that the Chinese were able to achieve very high standards with a minimum of up to date equipment. I also discovered that industry was more interested in the figures on how many items they could get out of the factories than whether they were any good. Little seems soave changed today. Buy something cheap made in China and it may be good quality and great value but it may also be dead on arrival. It all comes down to quality control. Companies like Apple, Dyson and many others build great products in China as they have control over the quality. Buy something with Ooh Flung Sh@t as the brand name and you may not be lucky.
I would be a little apprehensive about buying an unknown make of Chinese tyres as I would be concerned about poor ones getting through the system. If I was aware that my Pirelli or other known make tyres were made there or they were being marketed by a reputable UK company I would not be so concerned.
Quality control! Nail on the head!
Some interesting thoughts aired here. The tyres don’t need to be made in China to be dreadful.
The worst tyres I’ve ever driven on were a pair of own brand Blue Star (made in NI) on my old Triumph 650, I put these on because the old Dunlops were losing all vestiges of tread. As an impoverished and foolish student I knew nothing, and the BS were cheap. I soon learnt they were no good because of a total lack of grip (broken ankle at 10mph going round Fiveways in Erdington) and was very happy they lasted less than 2,000 miles. The Avons (I listened to advice) I replaced them with (1967) had more grip in the wet than the BS had in the dry, and the Avons lasted and lasted, I sold the bike having done almost 20,000 on the Avons in two years and they still looked OK.
The Avons were twice the price but lasted at least ten times as long and they had grip by the bucket load.
I’ve never bought anonymous ‘cheap tyres’ since then, because they are usually cheap for a reason, and I don’t want to be the unfortunate finding out what that might be.
Even good tyres go off with age. When I bought my NC the six year old OE Bridgestones were ditch-finders despite 5-6mm tread; only the DSC was keeping the car on the road, and I was driving it as gently and carefully as if it was on ice. Four new Dunlops from NickD and suddenly the car was a joy to drive, secure and stable and no hint of the DSC light even under heavy right foot operations on twisty roads.
I regard choosing good tyres as being an investment in my continuing future, a form of insurance.
Which does a lot of testing, and I respect their results when it comes to tyres. Which members can see the detailed results in the links from the article below as well as the more general info
http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/cars/article/how-to-buy-car-tyres/which-car-tyres-should-i-buy
Well, after much deliberation I went ahead with Dunlop Sportmaxx, being tempted by the low tyre noise they claim…and wet grip but I try to be a fair weather mx5er
Should last around 5 years if my mileage stays similar to current levels.
Thanks for all the comments posted.
Hi
this is such a contentious issue on here that all I can contribute to the discussion is don’t buy cheap tyres. Bought a Mk2 couple of years ago with a new set of Chinese tyres fitted. Rubbish! Can’t remember the make, maybe Autogrip? Within 24 hrs got them taken off and Michelin Pilots fitted.
The cost saved between cheap and premium tyres will be more than wiped out the first time you lose the car or rear end someone on a wet road and have to cough up the insurance excess to get it repaired, assuming it is repairable!
Mx5’s handle great but a lot of that is down to decent tyres.
If cheap tyres were up to scratch someone like Ford would probably be buying them in the tens of thousands at a tenner each and fitting them at the factory saving millions a year.
Of course there might be a problem in the show room when more savvy potential buyers looked at the sidewall brand to see that their potential new car was fitted with something like ‘Happy Boy Sticky Grips’ or something like that.
Decent tyres only, you owe it to yourself, your passengers, other road users and the car!
You can spend your money on a chrome filler cap, chrome vent rings, and a host of other ‘nice to haves’ available to tart up your MX5 and nothing wrong with that. They just might not save you on a wet icy dark night when you give it a bit too much welly coming out of a roundabout! Been there, done that! Question of priorities.
Cheers
PS, just dug out the invoice for my 4 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 tyres which came to £62 each fitted, balanced, nitrogen fill and VAT. Also got the invoice for the budget tyres fitted by the previous owner. £55 each inclusive. Bit of a ‘no brainer’ ?
I think you will find the current price difference between a PS3 and something like Autogrip will be about £25 per tyre.
Thanks Nick
Maybe I got a good deal on the PS3’s and previous owner overpaid on the Autogrips. Personally even at £25 price gap I’d still not go for the budget tyres. That’s my choice and it’s up to others to choose what suits them. Have to respect other folks’ decisions at the end of the day.
Cheers
10 reviews, most of them misspelt - I could add these in as many minutes!