Car tyres. Tyres are not all the same.
Always bought cheap brand makes of tyre called things like 'Kumho' and 'Jingzboing' just to get through the MOTs. Then one week after an unexpected bonus in the pay packet, treated myself to some Bridgestones for the driving wheels (FWD).

Holy crap. What a difference spending an extra 50% on the boots makes.

All this time I've been blaming the lazy ass designers of my car for cheaping out on the suspension geometry, the garage for fucking up the tracking, the road menders for not resurfacing and the engine makers for lightening the block by casting in aluminium (less weight on the steering and driving wheels), that Rover 216 was a fucking handful in the wet and more than 5 degrees either way in a downpour would result in slidey understeer straight towards the nearest tree or crash barrier.

Nope. Me and my cheap ass tyres. You're attached to the road by four hand-sized patches of rubber anchoring a ton/ton and a half of metal at 70-80-90mph, sometimes in rain. Get decent tyres. Even if it's on a cheap ass car like a Rover 216. Might save your life.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 26 Jun 2014, 17:57, 22 replies)

Yep.
Your last paragraph is the important one. That rubber has got a pretty small surface area to try and grip the road and push tons of metal about. Combine that, with the fact that it is inflated with internal pressure, has centripetal force pushing it outwards, and every single part of it undergoes hundreds of thousands of cycles of compression and tension very very fast.

Good tyres are probably one of the most sophisticated and complicated components on a car.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 18:12, closed)

they're bundles of wire bound up in vulcanised rubber
if any other moving part of your car is less complicated or sophisticated than that then I'll lend you two hundred quid to buy a better car
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 18:25, closed)

A colleague of mine got some run-on-flats for his beamer,
and told me that, thanks to this miracle of tyre technology, he'd never need buy tyres ever again.
Bet they were really sophisticated.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 18:41, closed)

are retards allowed to drive nowadays? it's political correctness gone mad

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 18:45, closed)

YES
they drive beamers.

haven't you ever been on a motorway?
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 18:49, closed)

fuck no
I take my Bentleys up the wiggly roads ... I don't pay the driver to point it in a straight line and queue amongst the plebs
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 19:23, closed)

As it happens I don't have a car right now. Can I still have the cash?
Incidentally, the sophistication to which I referred was the materials science that goes into the tyre. Obviously the actual construction of a tyre is pretty basic, but there is almost unlimited scope for complexity in the manufacture of the materials used.

Good tyres will increase the comfort of your ride, your fuel efficiency, your acceleration and top speed (marginally), your handling, your breaking distance... All due to the quality of the materials used. And they're the cheapest and easiest thing to upgrade.
(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 19:00, closed)

the reason they're the cheapest thing to upgrade is because they're the simplest mechanical part of the car
which is what I just said ... I'm happy to say it again a couple of times if you're in the mood for a pointless interweb argument ... but I'm already at the pub
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 19:21, closed)

Please do.

(eViLegion Chief Commissioner of the Scottish Lunacy Board, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 22:10, closed)

pollen filter
is vying for that crown.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 26 Jun 2014, 22:12, closed)

I don't think changing that is going to help my performance or safety in the wet

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 27 Jun 2014, 11:42, closed)

This is really dull.

( brb Learn Ukrainian and prepare for a referendum, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 20:23, closed)

I'm 42. I'm divorced and an engineer.
Your point is?
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 26 Jun 2014, 20:30, closed)

I don't think the cat's mother is listening
you don't need to pretend to be only 42
( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 23:17, closed)

there is still some brown in my beard
about 10% I'd reckon.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 26 Jun 2014, 23:47, closed)

OK, 8%.
OK, 7.75%
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Thu 26 Jun 2014, 23:54, closed)

he didn't even see any alternative comedians in a service station

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Thu 26 Jun 2014, 20:41, closed)

And no real reason not to what with the availability of cheap branded mail order tyres these days, can't quite tell how they cost three quid a go to post though.
(Benzyl, Fri 27 Jun 2014, 12:28, closed)

Not thought about that...
.. can you buy good tyres online these days? Any recommendations on where?

How do you get them fitted/balanced (I assume you aren't equipped for that yourself). Will a garage do that for you if you just roll up with new tyres in the boot?
( Ugi , it's a game of give and cake, Fri 27 Jun 2014, 16:55, closed)

Blackcircles.com seems to cover all the varieties and
you book them online to be fitted locally.
Never used them so can't speak for service.
( edjogs Collared doves are shit., Fri 27 Jun 2014, 21:54, closed)

Most of the chains will fit them on the side for cash although if the boss is looming over them not as they much prefer to sell their overpriced ones to fit themselves. Local garages will generally fit, valve and balance at about £10 a corner which still makes a good saving. I bought Uniroyal Rain expert 195/60R15's which were well reviewed for about £35 (+£3 p&p) from Camskill.
(Benzyl, Sat 28 Jun 2014, 18:11, closed)

Are there people who carry out tests and publish results?
I ask because as everyone knows a higher price does not automatically mean better quality. In most things ther's a "sweet spot" for price and performance and in some cases anything over a certain price is no better. I wonder how it works for tyres?
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Fri 27 Jun 2014, 17:44, closed)