Has anyone tried Chinese made tires? My XK8 is an '01 and I hate to spend near $1000 to re-tire her.Mostly around town driving. I have seen Chinese tires on "Tires-easy.com" in the low $100 range. These have excellent UTOG ratings, W and V speed rated, and AA-A heat? ratings, as well as interesting tread patterns.

 

Every little aspect of your car's performance must be transmitted to the road surface before it means anything. The only avenues for that transmission of performance are the four contact patches of your tires.

I would suspect that going the cheapest possible route and installing Chinese tires on a fine car such as yours would bring predictable results.

If you were shopping for any other performance-related part...and one that you knew would contribute directly to your feel and enjoyment of the car...you probably wouldn't consider going the cheapest possible route.

So, just my opinion, but I wouldn't do it. Some members of this forum have been relatively happy with Hankook performance tires...on the less expensive side, but more proven than the Chinese doughnuts you might be considering.

On the other hand, know that high-quality tires (Michelin, certain Continentals, Bridgestone, certain Pirellis) really DO make a huge difference in your driving experience...in noise, road feel, grip and wear over time. Quality is usually worth the price.

 

Several of the on-line tire stores have a user comments area associated with the listed tires and survey ratings of the various makes, models and sizes. If lots of folks are happy with their choices I would take that over tire specs and ratings.

Everyone seems to be putting 540 on the wear rating these days but the tires do not seem to be lasting twice as long as the 300's of a few years ago.

 

Tyres and brakes are the two things I never hesitate about 'wasting' money on. OE spec' every time for me (although I can understand you frustration about spending $1000 on tyres!).

 

Tire Search Results

Conti extreme contact and Hankook Venus same price $770.00. I am going with the Conti as I have read mostly positive reviews.

 

No Chinese tires will be installed on any of our vehicles. Simply not worth the risk. Then again, I'm not willing to pay Michelin prices when other premium or near-premium tires deliver similar performance and longevity at much better price points....

My wife's XK8 will be needing two new rear tires soon (255/40/19). I want an all-season tire, not a summer tire. I've done significant XK8 tire research since mid-November, and I'm going with the Yokohama YK580 from Discount Tire. They will cost me just shy of $500 out-the-door, but they may very well deliver twice the mileage that the current Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tires will wind up getting. We'll see....

 

Could be pretty costly, good tires are an extra insurance for yourself and others on the road. Watch also the tires performance in the wet, even some good tires in the dry could be bad performers when wet. I rather pay a little more to enhance safety then the other way around obviously.

Here some feedback found from a Chinese tire:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Sunew/YS618.htm

 

sgparnes, since you are looking towards the lower end on price, I suggest Riken Raptor ZR. They are a (relatively) inexpensive summer tire with decent wear, great grip, and low noise. I, and a few other members, are running them.

 

Glad you added the 'certain' to that.

The Pirelli Asimmetricos were probably the worst tyres I have come across, for everything apart from grip.

 

The Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tires on our XK8's rear axle will be lucky to do 22,000 miles tops. Ridiculously expensive as well. On the other hand, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires on our XK8's front axle may do 40,000 miles or more. But they're also pricey....

Big difference in longevity between summer tires (the Pirellis) and all-season tires (the Michelins). I'll stick to all-season tires, thank you....

 

Had two XK's with p zeros on and couldn't wait to get them off each car. Latest are Toyo's and they run excellent. We'll see how long they last since they are only 400 for wear but you can't have both. I'm told they are a near match for the Continentals.

 

I bought Michelin Pilot A/S set from Costco about a month ago, total for all 4 was 1200$.

The previous original owner of my 2001 XK8 never changed the tires from what it was sold with, ContiContacts so it was time even though the car only has 56k miles on it. With my 5 mile drive one way to work on surface streets those should last me for a long time. I'd rather spend more and get better then have to go through the hassle of replacing sub standard tires every 2 years, etc. Spend the money, you shouldn't own this car if you aren't willing and able to do it.

 

Hi Guys ,
I run Dunlop Sport Maxx on my 20" Sepangs , personally think they behave better than Pirelli's , would not dream of putting Chinese tyres on my pride and joy !!!!!!

Can't imagine them being very good around Silverstone ect

Nik

 

I've looked at the dope on a lot of tires lately, and the Hankook's or Chinese brands are tempting, but knowing that the Chinese routinely (meaning almost always) use inferior materials, garbage added materials, and known dangerous materials in so many of their products.....I'd pass on anything from China that holds you car off the road.

Even Kumho tires, which have very high consumer ratings and reviews for our type and sizes:

http://www.whatsontianjin.com/news-3...jin-plant.html

Here's a good article:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32899266...-buyer-beware/

 

Michelin are manufacturing tires in China along with many other brands so I don't think you can get away from the matter.

I was a tire snob for some time but with 13 cars, I decided it was smarter to have new cheaper tires then old tires on my cars. So far, I've replaced Toyo's that blew up in hot weather with Federals, Michelins that dry rotted (costco) within 3 months with Nexxen and a couple of older Dunlops and Goodyears with Hercules. I can honestly say that I have not had a negative experience with any of those brands.

 

Ok, here's my take on tyres for my Audi A6 and also recently for my wife's Passat.

My A6 is a big car and generally does a few miles, gets treated really well with a few hot runs thrown in here nt here.
I have 255x35x19 tyres and last had a set of Kuhmo Ecstas ( mid range tyre )...I have to admit I was really sceptical at first but was won round. A decent tyre in the dry and ok in the wet but worth a watching. I altered my driving style slightly as they would break away in the corners / bends in the wet sooner than my Bridgestones / Continentals or Pirelli's would.

I have always used either Bridgstone / Pirelli or Continental on most of my cars doing around 60k miles per year and never had cause to regret that.

The Kuhmo's were ok and if pushed on price I would buy them again as there was a saving to be had against any of the big 3 I usually use.
A set of Conti's recently were around £1200, whereas the Kuhmo's would be about £700 - £800.

Cheap Chinese tyres -
My wifes Passat needed tyres on the back a while ago....she's pushed for price and decidd to go with the Wanli option, a cheaper Chinese make....To be fair they're reasonably on in the dry as long as you don't push them.....don't even think about it in the wet.
Luckiliy she drives around at the speed limits and never goes above 70mph....it'll be 30mph in a 30 and 40mph in a 40.......always leaves a good distance, brakes early etc etc...........with the Conti's on the front I reckon she'll be fine.

Having said that, I was driving her car one evening and we were arguing, as you do.....it was raining and I threw the car into a roundabout a little hard n fast.
Now normally with Conti's or the like you can "feel" that they may be on the edge or about to let go.....not with these Wanli's.....nothing, no warning BAM, theback ends out and I'm looking at the rear of the car out the corner of my eye.......

Well to me , it was just a little fun and I pulled it back no problem, someone who doesan't drive so much or with less experience.....probably not.

TBH - unless money really is that tight, if they're going to be used just to potter about and no more, and you'll be really really careful in the wet and leave a good distance between the car in front of you.......I'd shell out for some decent rubber

 

I use Nankang NS-2 on mine, 255/35 R20 front, 285/30 R20 on the back. Nankangs are Taiwanese company. I guess that counts as Chinese since Taiwan is called Republic of China ... ?

Need a set of summer tires to replace my BF Goodrich KDW 2, they last about 18K miles. I almost never take the car out when it's raining so don't know about wet traction. So far so good, gotten about 600 miles already on it (some city driving, and round trip from Austin to Plano).

I don't plan to keep the car longer than this year, so these Nankangs would help me get through the year. I got all 4 for $614, mounted them at local tire shop for $60 something.

 

Taiwan (aka Formosa) is NOT the same as China. The Taiwanese are the people who escaped the Chinese Communist thugs when Mao took over. He killed over 100 million of his own people, and the freedom-loving ROC made their way to the island. They have been an ally of the US since. They have also been manufacturing products for decades with typical junk-to-quality success.

Now, as far as Michelin is concerned...SOME of its tires are made in China, but with far greater quality control than what typical Chinese management provides. The Japanese tires like Sumitomo/Falken, Nitto/Toyo and Dunlop/Goodyear all seem to be good quality. The Hankook/Kumho can be either China or Korea.

Anyway, if you want to be bombarded and confused:

AUTOPEDIA®: Tire Manufacturers

 

With apologies to the rest of the board members for a bit of discourse, and Taiwanese everywhere - yes, Oldjaglover - I know the history, but Taiwanese are Chinese and since the OP did not list PRC - that's why I posted what I posted. Like I also mentioned on the post - Taiwan is called Republic of China.

FYI - I'm a 5th generation Chinese, still have Chinese name and all. My older brother was actually invited by the Taiwanese government for a 3 week visit as part of their outreach to the Hua Qiao (overseas Chinese) for some kind of heritage tour all over the island. He told me about watching a short government-sanction movie while he was there showing some kind of an evil dragon threatening the island, and the the dragon's head changed into chairman Mao's head.

OK - back to the original topic .......

 

Semi hijack here if I may:

I have Michelin Pilot A/S on the back w/5,000 miles, (4 years old).

The Pzeros in front are shot...should I just stick w/the Pilots or throw on some Conti Contacs? Price diff is about $120 so no worries there