|
was shopping around for tyres , federal 175/70/r13 £23.50 each fitted balanced new valve, or does any one know a better deal? Midlands area... thanks
|
Federal are a Taiwanese company who manufacture tyres in China. They sell them under loads of brand names including 'Federal', 'Hero', 'Maxon' etc etc. They are very much a budget tyre.
I would investiagte whether you can get a Kumho or Hankook tyre for similar money. These are South Korean companies and their recent tyres seem to be quite well regarded and quite low priced. Kumho is OE fit on some VW's and Hankook on Fords - so can't be too bad.
|
|
thanks aprilia, funnily enough ive got a south korean car
|
thanks aprilia funnily enough ive got a south korean car
I didn't know that Fiesta's are made in South Korea.
|
|
the fiesta is my other car
|
|
|
|
|
I have 'Linglongs' on my Mondeo. They look good-ish with their chevron tread patterns - has anyone had any good / bad experiences with these? When they wear out should I get some Good Year Eagles or Continental premium contacts on there or can anyone recommend anything better?
|
|
VW also fit Hankooks on new vehicles.
|
Not on any of the fast variants they don't. Buy a quality tyre forget these rubbish brands you'll pay more, get more grip, less noise and better all round safety. I really can't understand for the life of me why people are prepared to compromise on the only contact their cars have with the road.
|
VW also fit Hankooks on new vehicles.
I can never help thinking that tyre name was the result of a mis-spelling or transliteration by a Korean marketing agency looking for a suitably European-sounding name under which to sell the tyre. I will stand to be corrected if someone assures me 'Hankook' is quite a common name in S.Korea.
|
Hankooks developed a partnership with Michelin about four years ago to use some of the latter's technology for its tyre production; Michelin also bought a 10 per cent stake in Hankook.
Ford Mondeo tyre supply agreement:
www.tyres-online.co.uk/archives/newsjun04.asp
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
|
|
|
"Not on any of the fast variants they don't."
Not sure what this means.
The VW I drove with them on was capable of about 110 mph - plenty quick enough to cause a problem should the car be fitted with dodgy tyres.
|
It means that a car these days with a top speed of 110mph is slow.
I didn't say they were 'dodgy' the word I used was rubbish although I was referring to the 'Federals' rather than the Hankooks.
My point was that on any of the decently quick VW's they use Bridgestones or Michelins. There's a reason for that I'll leave you to work it out.
|
|
In TUV tests in Germany Chinese made tyres came out disasterously and the advice was do not buy,its like their Passat copy the Brilliant that would not pass a European crash test.
|
Nothing wrong with Hankook or Kumho tyres these days, they have come on strongly in the last five years. Michelin is a significant shareholder in Hankook and license their technology. Continental have joint R&D agreement with Kumho (and Bridgestone) and they share test facilities and some technologies.
BMW now using Kumho on certain options (e.g. the 330i uses Bridgestone RE050's as a RFT, but if you order non-RFT then you get Kumho ECSTA ASX, which many reckon is a better tyre than the 050). Hankook rated well above several European premium brands in a recent Which? tyre test. The world is changing. Just like Samsung and LG used to make cheap transistor radios and little TV's - now they make some of the best large LCD panels.
I would not yet personally use one of the Taiwanese (Federal), Chinese or Indonesian (e.g. Aurora) tyres, but no doubt in 10-15 years they will be making some good tyres. Its not that long ago that Bridgestone and Toyo were considered third-rate tyres, now they are premium brands.
|
>BMW now using Kumho on certain options (e.g. the 330i uses Bridgestone RE050's as a RFT but if you order non-RFT then you get Kumho ECSTA ASX which many reckon is a better tyre than the 050).
RE050's aren't great so that doesn't surprise me- they were original equipment on our Golf GTi and like most Bridgestones are a relatively hard tyre, not very compliant, relatively noisy and the wet weather performance was average at best. I switched over to the new Goodyear F1 asymmetric and the handling of the car was improved, tyre noise was down and wet weather performance is fantastic.
Re the Kumho on BMW go and take a look at BMWLand.co.uk to find out what owners in the real world think of them. I'd question the wisdom of owning a 30 grand car and running it on budget tyres- even good ones.
|
|
|
|
|
|
and Hankook on Fords
Our work Transit Connect has Hankook's fitted. They are only just under 2 yrs old and already have more cracks in the rubber than some makes of other tyres I've seen that are over 5 yrs old.
|
|
To be fair that could be down to the conditions the vehicle has been used in or the way it was treated.
|
To be fair that could be down to the conditions the vehicle has been used in or the way it was treated.
15,000 miles so far. Some on-site stop / start short journey stuff, but the majority of the miles accumulated on the A34 and motorways.
|
I've got Hankook K105 tyres on my car; they are as good as any other tyres I've had, and I'm going to get some more next week. The tread pattern is a very similar to Michelin Pilot Primacy. They have equal grip in wet or dry to the Dunlop SP Sport 9000s they replaced, but were about £20 cheaper each, last year. They have lasted 17k miles; the Dunlops had to be changed at 12k miles.
I bought them because they were a higher load rating than all the 'big name' manufacturers produce in my size. I thought I'd give them a go and if they were rubbish I'd put it down to experience, but they are good IMO.
That 225mph Brabus Rocket police car from last year had Hankook tyres on it.
See close-up of wheel: www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/default.aspx?carID=128...9
I heard they were going to be OE fitment on Golf Gti's this year, dont know whether this has been the case or not?
My tyres only last a year (9 months if they are Dunlops) so they dont get chance to start cracking.
;o)
|
|
Can't recall seeing any Hankooks cracking, but Uniroyals were always notorious for cracking the sidewalls; it was only the outer surface and not dangerous.
|
Aprilia,
The cracks are in the tread grooves. None on the sidewalls.
|
|
That sounds odd, and unusual. I wonder if its been driven through some sort of 'spillage' that's attacked the tyre?
|
|
That was precisely my point about the conditions the vehicle had been used in. Of course it could be a manufacturing fault just as easily.
|
I wonder if its been driven through some sort of 'spillage' that's attacked the tyre?
Not that I'm aware of. There are only 3 assigned drivers (including me) for said vehicle, and I'd be very suprised if the other 2 would knowingly drive through a 'spillage'.
Next time I use it, I'll try and remember to take a couple of photos.
|
|
I've got Hankook Optimo K406's on my Almera and they're fine - done 8k since they were fitted and they still look new. Quiet and grippy enough - definitely up with the best of them when it comes to bog-standard small/medium car tyres.
Fitted Federals to my old Sunny and never had a problem with them - in fact they were quieter than the Pirelli P3000s they replaced. No idea how long they lasted because they were still on the car when I sold it. I buy the cheapest tyres I can get hold of - my current Hankooks were £28 a corner fitted, not bad for 185/65HR14s!
|
|
|
|
|
|
A bit like wine, I think there's a bit of snobbery about tyres!! Used Federals for a while now and no problems. the fitter at the garage uses them on his Imprezza.
|
|
|
|
I have Federals fitted to the fronts of my Fiesta, the fitter who had to balance them told me they're a top brand in Australia.
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
|
I had a pair on the front of my old mk2 Cav SRi. The rate I would go through fronts on that, it wasn't worth buying "premium" (I was young and foolish - and skint!).
Reasonable tyres and good value from memory.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
|
anyone got any reccomendations for my ford focus 1999 hatch tyres are 195/55/15
i really dnt want overly expensive but just some which are good value for money but give the benefits of a good all round tyre?
|
|
Why don't you look at decent budget brands like Kumho and Vredstein. Toyo Proxes if you can stretch to £50 a corner, offer a very good blend of price/performance.
|
I am still happy with my budget Interstate IST Touring tyres, from Black Circles, on the Passat. Done a long camping tour to the Lot region of France and back- heavily laden.
Tested by a Dutch lab with E4 marking so presumably these, Chinese made tyres, did pass the relevant tests.
Anyone got a link to the TUV test failures of Chinese made tyres?
|
|
|
|
Interestingly my recent set of Goodyear NCT5s are made in China. In my mind, I prefered the last set 'made in Germany', but I can't really detect any difference whatsoever. Too early to review wear rates, but I suspect they are the same. This is my third set of these, and I keep hearing they are being phased out, but I see them everywhere even on new cars. At £48 all in for 195x65x15 I also agree I can't see a really big advantage of budget brands.
I certainly agree with Aprilla that times are changing, and much of the Eastern stuff is great, but it probably needs a strong watching eye over quality control, that comes from fear of a scandal or a product recall.
I am amazed that Matell Toys did not have 'their man' on the job. If the Chinese are putting out suspect goods in the name of a top name, the name must take the blame for not insisting on the top quality levels. Remember that when you next fly in your Boeing or Airbus, that are filled with an increasing number of Chinese bits.
|
Glaikit, the test results that Andy refers to were carried out by AutoBild - I don´t think the TüV did them.
I think I´ve got the copy somewhere. To access the test results on line you have to pay ?1.
The Chinese tyres were absolutley slaughtered in the test, came bottome for just about everything.
|
tinyurl.com/366qpa
is the ADAC test results table, ADAC is roughly equivalent to the AA/Rac. Hope this helps.
|
|
|
auto.aol.de/Sommerreifen-Test-Masse-statt-Klasse-1...l
Found a summary of the test. The Chinese tyres that performed so badly were made by Wanli.
|
Last post....
www.autobild.de/mmg/mm_bildergalerie_27979.html?ta...2
|
|
ive had a pair of gerutti fitted recently (budgets) seem ok ,quite , i think there chinese but on a good note the only lead are the balance weights
|
|
|
I bought a set of Federals - had no end of trouble with them. I thought initially that the tyre place hadn't balanced the wheels properly, so I asked for a re-balance, and the guy spent ages trying to get them to balance. After a while, the wheel wobble came back. I went to another garage for a balance, and was told that the tyres were not exactly round, so couldn't be balanced.
These tyres were made in Morocco.
Never again.
Peanut.
|
|
My current tyres are Hankook - Korean company, but tyres have "made in China" written on them. Never a hint of a problem, although the fronts aren't wearing as well as I expected. The rears are still as new. Had a pair of Avons on the last car that were made in China, again no problem whatsoever.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Be very careful with Federal Tyres. I purchased 4 x Federal Couragia Treadwear 420?s for my Shogun, from Hartlepool, and on the return journey to my home town, I was experiencing vibration at 60mph.
I called into an ATS site thinking it was the balancing, but was informed that 2 x tyres had tyre swell ( slight egg shape ).
I emailed Federal when I got home and was contacted by someone from Group Tyres who are the sole Uk importer for Federal Tyres, and are actually under the same umberella as HiQ Tyres.
They told me to contact the local HiQ depot, who told me that one tyre had swell, (although the reputable firm of ATS told me two had swell ) and HiQ said that they would send it away for assessment, but I would have to pay for the replacement, but would be refunded the £78.84 incl VAT. once the defective tyre had been examined.
The refund i have been offered is £36;00 because i didnt buy the tyres from their HiQ depot,
so why send me there in the first place ?
The bottom line is, I have now purchased 5 x Federal Tyres, ended up with 3 X fit for the purpose they were purchased for, 1 x still with swell and a refund offered of £36;00..
I will not be giving any business to Federal Tyres, Group Tyres or HiQ, I thought they wanted to put things right,and trusted them to do this, but infact they just wanted to sell another tyre. so be careful
|
i bought four from 'mytyres.co/com' 2.5 yrs ago (oct 07) for £230 delivered and have been very pleased. i ran eagle nct's prior and aside from the cost saving, the noise reduction was very apparent.
prior to eagles i had michelin primacy. again very noisy, and very pricy.
they are on a Grand Voyager so there's not a chance to really try them out for cornering/grip, (i tell a lie- well we did do a track day once - yep in a grand voyager) in the wet they are very good. i did a lot of reading on these tyres, grip levels; rolling resistance; longevity etc and will buy a similar set next time around. i've done only 14,000 and there's 6mm left, (right foot is very light) though mindful of the problems listed here i'll go to my local HiQ for the complete service, (supply/fit) just in case there is an issue. that way there's only one point of call to 'discuss' the problem. this is what i would recommend if you want to go with federals. don't be put off by the 'obscure' name; dunlop made india tyres; goodyear made kelly springfield etc i've yet to discover who if anyone is behind federal. maybe they are independant.
|
|
Just remember when you see"Made in Germany" on your tyres that can cover what was once "East Germany"!!
|
I notice that the great and much missed Aprilia and the not so great milkyjoe both stopped posting 2 years ago.
Does anyone know what has happened to them?
|
I can vouch for Kumhos, the oe fitment on my XJ8 were Pirelli P6000s, I never liked them unlike the excellent PZeros on my XJR, the P6000s weren't much cop in the wet and were fairly noisy, I switched to Kumho KH11s, they were half the price of the P6000s, quieter and much better in the wet, dry performance was similar as was longevity - I like to press on a bit round the bends and Kumhos worked well for me.
On my current car I'm using Nexen N3000s which are surprisingly good wet or dry and are good value to boot, they look really pretty too with their V shaped asymmetric tread - which is nice!
|
|
fairly recently i bought a van fitted with FEDERAL VAN tyres. 3 of the tyres were almost bald, but had worn down quite evenly which is a good sign so i purchased new federals ,£40 each ,and i have had no problem with these. i might add my van is not fast so i cannot comment how they grip under fast cornering. My gut instinct is they are not a very grippy tyre but more of a hard wearing type of tyre
must admit i bought Federal as it sounded an american name ! now realizing on here they are far from being made by a good old american firm
Edited by jonnyald on 17/07/2010 at 09:02
|
|
|
|
|
I would advise against any truly cheap and unknown brands of tyre especially made in China.
At best they will be or get out of shape making them impossible to balance.
At worst they may blister or blow out putting your life at risk.
I am speaking from recent experience with some new but chines made tyres.
|
|
|
