Tyre snob

[AlS3BE]

I’m beginning to think I’ve become a tyre snob.
Mate has a new ish s4 and it came with Hankooks and I’m just at the dealers and almost everything from the q8 down to a1 all seem to have hankooks with only one or 2 on the showroom with continental or Pirelli.
Hankooks at least to me are your middle of the road type tyres and not premium like contis etc.
Don’t get me wrong the Hankooks are probably great tyres but on an expensive premium car, like q8, I expect something a bit more premium.
I would expect most new cars come with premium tyres. My old ford came with contis out the factory.
I always go with good tyres on my car as I found it false economy not to. In my old golf tdi I would go through a cheapy tyre in 8k and found with good year, Dunlop’s etc I would get 20-30k. That was when I was doing 50-60k a year.
Am I just a snob when it comes to tyres?

 

[Paul finch]

My late dad bought a Renualt Laguna brand new in 2000 with Michelin.He drove like a snail but enjoyed driving.They lasted 32000 slow miles.I told him to get some cheap ting tong ditchfinders as a replacement due to his slow driving.After 6500 miles the fronts were on the wear bars.Like you say,cheap tyres,false economy.
Got a S3 due next month,don't know what to expect tyre brand wise.

 

[AlS3BE]

My late dad bought a Renualt Laguna brand new in 2000 with Michelin.He drove like a snail but enjoyed driving.They lasted 32000 slow miles.I told him to get some cheap ting tong ditchfinders as a replacement due to his slow driving.After 6500 miles the fronts were on the wear bars.Like you say,cheap tyres,false economy.
Got a S3 due next month,don't know what to expect tyre brand wise.

I got Pirelli’s in my s3 3-4month ago. Seems a lot of folk on here have Pirelli’s.
Maybe Hankook has moved up in the world and now classed as premium and I’m just too picky.
I can handle the Pirelli’s giving me less mileage as long as it gives me more grip when I need it as I didn’t buy the s3 to be my mile munching commuter machine.

 

[Gazwould]

My late dad bought a Renualt Laguna brand new in 2000 with Michelin.He drove like a snail but enjoyed driving.They lasted 32000 slow miles.I told him to get some cheap ting tong ditchfinders as a replacement due to his slow driving.After 6500 miles the fronts were on the wear bars.Like you say,cheap tyres,false economy.
Got a S3 due next month,don't know what to expect tyre brand wise.

Name and shame .

 

[Kuku]

I’d just expect it’s more of whoever tenders the best deal gets the contract...

My current or previous Audi’s have been either Conti or Pirelli

 

[Peter123]

Mate has a new ish s4 and it came with Hankooks and I’m just at the dealers and almost everything from the q8 down to a1 all seem to have hankooks with only one or 2 on the showroom with continental or Pirelli.
Hankooks at least to me are your middle of the road type tyres and not premium like contis etc.
Don’t get me wrong the Hankooks are probably great tyres but on an expensive premium car, like q8, I expect something a bit more premium.
I would expect most new cars come with premium tyres. My old ford came with contis out the factory.
I always go with good tyres on my car as I found it false economy not to. In my old golf tdi I would go through a cheapy tyre in 8k and found with good year, Dunlop’s etc I would get 20-30k. That was when I was doing 50-60k a year.
Am I just a snob when it comes to tyres?

Yes you are a snob. It is only a rubber compound and it appears that Hankook have the contract at the moment! You do realise that it is all about contracts don't you?

 

[AlS3BE]

Yes you are a snob. It is only a rubber compound and it appears that Hankook have the contract at the moment! You do realise that it is all about contracts don't you?

I completely understand it’s all about contracts but as I said you would expect them to get a companies like continental to make them a cheap tyre instead.
I’ve owned fords, vw, Hondas and Audi’s and they all came with conti, Bridgestone, etc
It’s like me selling you a Rolex and shoving it in a brown cardboard box with bubble wrap instead of the shiny Rolex branded box that’s lined with something like silk.

 

[Jassyo06]

The facelift at launch most 18s where shod with Hankooks or Dunlop .... These filtered out soon after launch then normal service resumed to either Conti’s and pirelli, l am a utter tyre snob and if l ever got a new car that was fitted with Hankooks ... They would be whipped off soon after.... They've upped their image but all the same their mediocre tyres at best
Ps most sporty Audi's at launch seemed to have been fitted with Hankook ventus at launch in the last 3 years or so

 

[AlS3BE]

Maybe Hankook is sponsoring the launch cars.
Dunlops I would fit up there with premium tyres and wouldn’t mind these at all but Hankook....

 

[Paul finch]

Name and shame .

Sorry,don't understand, name and shame what?

 

[Matt Titanium]

The facelift at launch most 18s where shod with Hankooks or Dunlop ....

My FL came with Bridgestones. They were pretty much shot after 12k and nowhere near as good as the PS4s on now.
Avoid Sunny tyres, Evans Halshaw fitted two on a Fiesta my wife had years ago, they were so noisy the car sounded like the wheel bearings were shot

 

[Jassyo06]

Maybe Hankook is sponsoring the launch cars.
Dunlops I would fit up there with premium tyres and wouldn’t mind these at all but Hankook....

I would class Dunlop tyres as medium range tyres nowadays
tyre brands that l consider premium are
Michelin
Pirelli
Continental
Goodyear
Yokohama

 

[AlS3BE]

I would class Dunlop tyres as medium range tyres nowadays
tyre brands that l consider premium are
Michelin
Pirelli
Continental
Goodyear
Yokohama

No Bridgestones?

 

[Jassyo06]

No Bridgestones?

Not now in my opinion mate although they use to be a few yeats back, think l had reo50s on one of my cars

 

[TYb]

Mine came with Dunlop Sport Maxx on, replaced them with Sport Maxx 2’s.

 

[AlS3BE]

Not now in my opinion mate although they use to be a few yeats back, think l had reo50s on one of my cars

Most of my Hondas had bridgestones and I think the re040 or maybe re050 was the ones fitted to the type r. Awful tyres in the wet but in the dry nothing I have tried can quite match them on my old Honda.

 

[Jassyo06]

Most of my Hondas had bridgestones and I think the re040 or maybe re050 was the ones fitted to the type r. Awful tyres in the wet but in the dry nothing I have tried can quite match them on my old Honda.

That's right l had them on my FN2 then swapped the 18s soon after for the 19 rages that had Yokohama Advance Sport fitted
I had Michelin pilot sport on my RCZ and they looked ****** after 13k miles best wearing tyres l have had where the Goodyear assys 2 on my Focus and the Conti’s on my last S3 preference would be with the Goodyear tyres

 

[AlS3BE]

That's right l had them on my FN2 then swapped the 18s soon after for the 19 rages that had Yokohama Advance Sport fitted
I had Michelin pilot sport on my RCZ and they looked ****** after 13k miles best wearing tyres l have had where the Goodyear assys 2 on my Focus and the Conti’s on my last S3 preference would be with the Goodyear tyres

Assy 2 was brilliant on my second a6, quiet, comfortable and most importantly gripped well in most conditions. Preferred them to the mich ps3 on my last a6.

 

[Ron240]

Have to agree with what's been said on the "premium" tyre brands, so rightly or wrongly I wouldn't be impressed with a brand new Audi on Hankook tyres.
Pirelli probably have the highest profile image from their F1 association, although not necessarily the best tyre they are in the top 3 for me.
My last 3 performance cars have had factory fit Continental, Michelin and Good Year.....all top performers but I have been put off Continental due to horrendous wear rate on my last car.
I remember when Yokohama was a cheaper option tyre that was popular with the boy racers, but they appear to have shaken off that image now.

 

[AlS3BE]

Have to agree with what's been said on the "premium" tyre brands, so rightly or wrongly I wouldn't be impressed with a brand new Audi on Hankook tyres.
Pirelli probably have the highest profile image from their F1 association, although not necessarily the best tyre they are in the top 3 for me.
My last 3 performance cars have had factory fit Continental, Michelin and Good Year.....all top performers but I have been put off Continental due to horrendous wear rate on my last car.
I remember when Yokohama was a cheaper option tyre that was popular with the boy racers, but they appear to have shaken off that image now.

Think this is where I was going with this thread. The new q8 was £70-80k all loaded up and it had Hankooks. I wouldn’t be impressed personally. Maybe on a Kia or Citroen but not on that q8. Saying that I wouldn’t be impressed if that was on a Skoda which is meant to be the cheaper end of the vag group.

Last set of yoko I had was the a046. Awesome track tyre. Useless for day to day driving.
Can’t remember them being cheap though.

 

[scoss]

I’ve had two sets of Goodyear Eagle asy 3’s and rate them highly. Cost around the £95 mark per corner.

 

[Evil Derboy]

I’ve never had Hankooks but their Ventus model is meant to be very good. Pirelli PZeros are the worst tyre I’ve had on any car and I’ve also changed them for Conti’s or Michelin’s. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are my first choice latterly but have had good experiences with Conti SportContact 6s. These are a fair bit quieter than the 4S’s

PZeros had terrible tyre scrub and inner wear on my Maserati, lasted 5 minutes on my M6 and felt skittish on my Golf. They’re my least favourite tyre.

 

[Chris S 1245]

I’m beginning to think I’ve become a tyre snob.
Mate has a new ish s4 and it came with Hankooks and I’m just at the dealers and almost everything from the q8 down to a1 all seem to have hankooks with only one or 2 on the showroom with continental or Pirelli.
Hankooks at least to me are your middle of the road type tyres and not premium like contis etc.
Don’t get me wrong the Hankooks are probably great tyres but on an expensive premium car, like q8, I expect something a bit more premium.
I would expect most new cars come with premium tyres. My old ford came with contis out the factory.
I always go with good tyres on my car as I found it false economy not to. In my old golf tdi I would go through a cheapy tyre in 8k and found with good year, Dunlop’s etc I would get 20-30k. That was when I was doing 50-60k a year.
Am I just a snob when it comes to tyres?

My S4 Came with continental sport contact 6 tires when I bought it brand new in April However a family members New S5 SB was delivered with Hankooks Which are quite frankly terrible Very poor grip in the wet And don’t grip as well as the contis on my S4 when cornering.

 

[Evil Derboy]

My S4 Came with continental sport contact 6 tires when I bought it brand new in April However a family members New S5 SB was delivered with Hankooks Which are quite frankly terrible Very poor grip in the wet And don’t grip as well as the contis on my S4 when cornering.

That’s funny my mate has a new S5 coupe which came with Hankooks and he swears by them. He’s just bought a new set. One mans meat is another mans poison and all that.

 

[Ron240]

I’ve had two sets of Goodyear Eagle asy 3’s and rate them highly.

I had what I assume was the original Eagle F1 tyre on my 2014 Focus ST and they had a large rim protector similar to Pirelli P Zero, so I am wondering if the 3 has this large rim protector because it's a tyre I would consider fitting?

 

[AlS3BE]

I’ve never had Hankooks but their Ventus model is meant to be very good. Pirelli PZeros are the worst tyre I’ve had on any car and I’ve also changed them for Conti’s or Michelin’s. Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are my first choice latterly but have had good experiences with Conti SportContact 6s. These are a fair bit quieter than the 4S’s

PZeros had terrible tyre scrub and inner wear on my Maserati, lasted 5 minutes on my M6 and felt skittish on my Golf. They’re my least favourite tyre.

I wouldn’t go as far as the worst tyre I’ve had but I do find them a bit noisy and you need to work some heat into them before they grip well.
Even going from the pzero to the Sottozero winters was night and day. Fair enough I’m not driving it as hard with the winters but the quietness and ride is so much better. Originally I put it down to the s3 with hard suspension and sporty ride but the winters have pretty much told me it was the pzeros. With the mileage I’m doing now and with wintersnon for a few months i doubt I would need a new set to replace the pzeros in the 3 or so years I own it.

 

[Ron240]

My S4 Came with continental sport contact 6 tires when I bought it brand new in April

How do you find the wear rate with these tyres?
My Civic FK8 had them and they wore about 1mm per 1000 miles with gentle driving, which is what has put me off these tyres completely.

 

[AlS3BE]

I had what I assume was the original Eagle F1 tyre on my 2014 Focus ST and they had a large rim protector similar to Pirelli P Zero, so I am wondering if the 3 has this large rim protector because it's a tyre I would consider fitting?

The assy 2 had a massive rim protector like the pzero not sure about the Assy3

 

[Gazwould]

Sorry,don't understand, name and shame what?

The Chinese ditch finders .

 

[scoss]

I had what I assume was the original Eagle F1 tyre on my 2014 Focus ST and they had a large rim protector similar to Pirelli P Zero, so I am wondering if the 3 has this large rim protector because it's a tyre I would consider fitting?

Yeah the 3’s have the rim protector too!

 

[Paul finch]

The Chinese ditch finders .

Nexham/Nexam? I believe.

 

[AlS3BE]

Nexham/Nexam? I believe.

Nexen, matador, and whole host of others. Not just Chinese, think some are British/European.
Budget tyres I found acceptable in the past has been uniroyal, vredestein and Toyo. Uniroyal rainsport was by far the better of the budget lot. My sis just got a set and they are comfortable and grip really well in wet and dry conditions.

 

[msdmjb]

In simple terms yes you are but too a point.
The big boy mainstayers of the industry are being caught up quickly by upcoming brands (e.g. Falken on the wife's car) no differently to how every car manufacturer has improved quality and are breaching the gap between lesser brands and perceived better brands (that are deemed better without any evidence of less breakdowns and better reliability). In some cases I do not understand how a Bridgestone tyre (some of which I think are pants) at 200euro a corner can be twice the price of other perfectly reasonable road tyre brands.

OE tyres can be different compounds to buying the standard tyre in the market place (even if badged the same), been going on for years in the bike industry particularly with Dunlop (those made in Japan were distinctly different to those made elsewhere despite being the same model and guess which ones the Japanese manufacturers used). Be honest about how you use the car and tyre it accordingly. Uniroyal rainsport3 for example are rated very well for normal road use particularly in damp/wet conditions.

Compound wear rate is a compromise between grip and longevity, you don't need to use a soft tyre hard to still wear it quickly - the tyre still has an inherent rolling resistance regardless of the cornering speed you use.

I use MPS on my S3, decent tyre most of the time but when using on hot tarmac (say 40deg +) they squirm and have little bite......quite disappointing. In the winter I use Dunlop Wintersports and think they are excellent even in mild temps and in many ways are more predictable than the Michelin.

So far haven't been that overly impressed by either Conti SC5 nor MPS4, my wife however finds them both fine. Might throw a set of FK510s on the S3 and see how it goes.

 

[Sparks43]

I’d just expect it’s more of whoever tenders the best deal gets the contract...

My current or previous Audi’s have been either Conti or Pirelli

You're are right that the factory fit whatever is the best deal at the time

I did have Hankooks on 1 of my Audi's but it's been Conti's and my current S3 has Pirelli's (Rim protectors are better on the Pzeros than the Conti's)

 

[RS3 S.]

Never been one for cheap tyres. 20+ years ago when cash was tight i used to buy ''named'' part worn tyres for my mk2 GTI golf rarther than ''new '' ditch finders. And before the ''part worn'' argument starts again i've never had a problem.

 

[Damo S]

I’ve had two sets of Goodyear Eagle asy 3’s and rate them highly. Cost around the £95 mark per corner.

I might try these next as lots of people have said the same thing.

Im an advocate of Toyo proxies, arguably a budget tyre, and rate them above the contis that seem to come on a lot of cars. Ive had contis on 2 different cars before and they are utterly pants tyres. I dont care what tyre reviews or ratings say, sport contacts are some of the worst tyres Ive ever driven on. The Toyos seem to last 25 k miles and cost about 300 fitted for 4 from the right place. They are a little noisy, especially when they start running low, but they are predictable in the wet unlike sport contacts which will just let go with little warning.

 

[Chris S 1245]

How do you find the wear rate with these tyres?
My Civic FK8 had them and they wore about 1mm per 1000 miles with gentle driving, which is what has put me off these tyres completely.

Their still going strong even with 8000 miles of mixed driving motorway and local. Plenty of tread left on them I’m expecting to get close to 20000 miles out of them hopefully. Will be switching the fronts to the back and backs to fronts as The fronts have less tread than the back.

 

[cuke2u]

Hankooks are the chosen tyres for motor sports and also a major sponsor in a number of them. This year they also made a bid to become the tyre of formula 1 in 2020. They are most definitely a premium brand...
https://www.hankooktire.com/uk/motorsports.html
https://www.motorsport.com/general/news/hankook-tires-75-years-of-excellence-805674/805674/
https://www.racefans.net/2018/09/21/hankook-confirmed-pirelli-rival-2020-f1-tyre-contract/

 

[Ron240]

Their still going strong even with 8000 miles of mixed driving motorway and local. Plenty of tread left on them I’m expecting to get close to 20000 miles out of them hopefully. Will be switching the fronts to the back and backs to fronts as The fronts have less tread than the back.

This is very strange..... I can only assume that even though the tyre is the same brand there must be some difference in the compound that was specific to Honda.
I swapped front to back(first time I've ever done it with any car) at 2400 miles when my fronts were down to 5.5 mm.....my idea being all 4 would need replacing at the same time and I could change to a different tyre. I estimated this would be around 6500 miles and the fronts would be down to 2.5mm, but I ended up trading the car in for my S3 6 weeks later.

 

[Ron240]

Hankooks are the chosen tyres for motor sports and also a major sponsor in a number of them.
They are most definitely a premium brand.

They might have elevated themselves into that bracket, but they are not widely perceived by the car buying public as being a premium brand......not yet anyway.