[Barcli]

The discovery needed two tyres ( on the back )... I chose / recommended Nexen as opposed to the Pirelli Scorpions on the front. It was also recommended that the new tyres always go on the back
The Nexens were about £145 as opposed to £180 for the Pirellis , son they werent really cheap options and apparently fitted to Mitsubishi, Porsche Cayenne etc.
basically the vehicle drove like jelly over
60 mph - really unsafe. I checked twice that they had actually fitted the correct size - they had. I am aware of the rolling circumference size differences being disastrous ( winding up the gearbox / diff) for the gearbox if they are different to the front tyres , but other than checking the sizes are identical how would you know ?
Yesterday I jacked the OSR and the wheel " unwound" as soon as it left the ground which made me suspicious of wind up again....
Cant find any recommendations on the LR website and nothing to say they have to be the same manufacturer all around.
As soon as I dug deep ( yesterday) and had two Pirelli Scorpions fitted to the back , all was back to normal ie stable, safe drive
Anyone else had this ? Do you think I have any comeback to the fitter of the Nexens ?
TIA

[Flyin'Dutch']

Interestingly enough I had a similar experience with Pirelli Scorpions despite having them all round; their sidewalls were just softer than the Michelins I was used to.

If the fitter values your custom he may do you a deal on future Scorpions but whether there is a hard comeback I am not sure.

Had Nexen on the Cayenne and they were fine (but again all round)

[Rob P]

Had Nexen on the Cayenne and they were fine (but again all round)

Yes, that's the shape I favour too.

[PeteSpencer]

May be permitted to thread drift briefly please?

My daughter has a 63 plate Ford Galaxy Titanium as she has to cart around three children including 18 month old twins and all their stuff including a twin buggy the size of a VW Polo.

In preparation for an MOT she has had (amongst other things) four new tyres fitted.

The original tyres were Pirelli at £175 a pop but the chap at Kwik Fitsaid as she only does low mileage around town, budget tyres would be fine. Dunno the brand but they were less than half the price of Pirellis so she has the budgets fitted.

I'm sure Kwik Fit would not give unsafe advice, but can anybody tell me just what the difference is in real terms ? I'd imagine they wouldn't do as many miles as Pirellis, but is there anything else of significance?

Peter

[Rob P]

Almost certainly the legendary Nakajima Ditchfinders. Perfectly adequate for bimbling a blunder-bus around town, if a bit short lived.

Presumably subject of a commission incentive for the KwikFit branch.

Rob P

[Flyin'Dutch']

Almost certainly the legendary Nakajima Ditchfinders. Perfectly adequate for bimbling a blunder-bus around town, if a bit short lived.

Presumably subject of a commission incentive for the KwikFit branch.

Rob P

What Rob said.

Tyres and brakes are the most import things on a car and call me a sad -sack if you want but I do carefully review the market when it is time to buy new tyres.

Some of the newer (Asian Brands) are fine but you need to be careful and know what you are looking for to make sure you don't end up with ditch finders.

Kwik fit is renowned for doing unnecessary work and selling those things for which they get commission.

[cockney steve]

In the days when Fort Dunlop still manufactured, there was little choice. Avon, Firestone ,Goodyear,Dunlop and those odd "foreign brands, Michelin and Pirelli about summed it up. Then the hugely fragmented import market sprang to life.

I was led to understand that most fringe-brands used "last -generation" technology, The compound-mixtures were older, the treads harder, the carcass textiles and the "breaker" (belt of fabric or woven wire, underneath the tread) probably an older design.
Net result,- Often harder- wearing, which could have been due to the lower ultimate grip dampening the spirited driving of a lot of us "baby- boomers." I revisited a set of cross-plies on an A55 van I bought from an elderly, retired newsagent. To say it was "interesting" is probably an understatement, no big deal as i reduced them from "as -new" to "bald" in about 2,000 miles " great fun sliding, opposite -lock, round the 40 mph bend, at about 25! Replacement Radials lasted a couple of years (and I wrung as much out of the slug as was possible)

Most people never explore the edges of the handling- envelope. Yes, It's conceivable you "could" skid into a collision, where a better set of tyres "could", just possibly, have.held on and avoided or mitigated the effects of an impact......your call, your wallet. Driving- practice, skill, road-awareness are, IMO, more important. I've used plenty of 2nd. -line (non-Premium) tyres, no problem.

New tyres are coded with their noise, speed wear, etc. characteristics....plenty of tutorials on the Web and E-bay gives a lot of guidance as well as the ability to window-shop and get an accurate feel for a fair price.

The marketing- men appear to have, in the last 5-or- so years, come up with a new wheeze......Your tyres will perish, after 10 years you should replace them, irrespective of mileage.....sure-enough, aset of factory- fresh (yes, there's a date code on the sidewall!) were showing loads of minor cracks after 3 years, despite never having been on the road.

[PeteSpencer]

Thanks:
I must say I was a bit disconcerted when she had cheapos fitted I always stick to Pirellis on my Krauto.

I must be an excessively cautious driver as my tyres (all 4) always seem to need replacing at the same time but I always use a local indy and they were no where near £175: nearer £90 each..., even allowing for them to be smaller.

I shudder at the term 'Ditchfinder' I guess this applies to the user of the tyres rather than the tyres themselves.

Peter

[Barcli]

Interestingly enough I had a similar experience with Pirelli Scorpions despite having them all round; their sidewalls were just softer than the Michelins I was used to.

So although the same size, inflated to the same PSI - the rolling / circumference could be different than the Pirelli,s of the same size? ( on the front in this case)

[johnm]

My policy is to fit the same tyres the car came out of the factory on and buy them from an independent local tyre shop.

[PeteSpencer]

In the days when we used to tow a caravan all over the place with the kids, I ill-advisedly over inflated the rear tyres, but kept then over inflated when not towing.

Result ? Wore the middle of the tread down to the canvas in pretty short order while keeping perfectly legal tread at the periphery.

Only discovered when it failed the MOT and needed two rear tyres only halfway through normal wear life.....

Peter

[Flyin'Dutch']

Interestingly enough I had a similar experience with Pirelli Scorpions despite having them all round; their sidewalls were just softer than the Michelins I was used to.

So although the same size, inflated to the same PSI - the rolling / circumference could be different than the Pirelli,s of the same size? ( on the front in this case)

Yup - that was my experience

[romille]

I know that some 4x4's recommend all 4 tyres be changed at the same time to prevent transmission wear and damage. The rolling diameter on the road of different brands of the same size and the type of tyre can vary, even more so if you compare road to mud & snow tyres.

[Rob P]

My policy is to fit the same tyres the car came out of the factory on ...

Tyres from the manufacturer prepared to tender for o/e at the lowest price so as to snaffle repeat business at a vastly improved margin? There are better buying strategies for replacement.

Rob P

[johnm]

My policy is to fit the same tyres the car came out of the factory on ...

Tyres from the manufacturer prepared to tender for o/e at the lowest price so as to snaffle repeat business at a vastly improved margin? There are better buying strategies for replacement.

Rob P

Possibly but Subaru and Yokohama work together fine. I take the advice of the independent supplier for the winter boots. SLK rides on Michelin because it’s too old to know what it came out of the factory on I confess.