Very cheap looking rear tyres with unusual tread pattern...

I bought a set of RMs a couple of months ago, two with Bridgestones, two with cheapo tyres I'd never heard of called Achilles ATR-K's. I put the Bridgestones on the front and the cheapos on the back... but since then I've been noticing the car hasn't felt quite planted on the road.

Have a look at the tread pattern


Now the tyres have a massive amount of tread depth left on them, but could the fact they are a) uber cheap Indonesian budget tyres, and b) have little horizontal or diagonal tread pattern down the centre of the tyre, be a factor in a feeling of a lack of grip?

The car went tail out once on a damp roundabout, but hasnt since. But I do get an imperceptible feel of slight slipperyness? Almost like a slight sheen of frost on the road? I'm hoping it' just these tyres and not bushes or suspension as it's only recently felt this way...

 

Yup cheap tyres are a no no.... I did a 360 in one of my golfs with cheapo chinese tyres (fitted by the seller) and hit a rock wall on the way home causing front end damage. Since the car was repaired it's now running Vredestein Quatrac 3's. I will never ever trust a cheap tyre.

 

If you've payed out for RM's, do the decent thing and get some good tyres on 'em! Not that the type of wheel should make a difference. Not worth trying to wear them down to get your moneys worth. I've twice replaced tyres that had life still in them for the same reason and never regretted it.

 

Yeah I usually don't like having an unmatched set of tyres, but money was/is needed elsewhere. Guess I'll have to spend some cash then!

Anyone else think the tread pattern looks a bit useless for anything but bone dry tarmac?

 

I'am not rich enough to buy cheap !

 

the tyres are the only part of your car that touches the road, they do accelerating, braking and cornering, you could have a squillion BHP or the worlds best suspension setup, it aint worth anything without decent tyres.

personally i would ditch them, i just dont trust cheapo tyres, one day you may call on those tyres.... hopefully it wont be too serious when you do!!

 

Those tyres will be the Achilles heel of your car

 

Budget tyres should be banned, not even joking either, how with all the health and saftey in the world car tyres get overlooked is beyond a joke.

 

How much are rms?

 

I've often wondered which is more dangerous on a wet road, a decent tyre with the legal minimum tread or a cheapo tyre with loads of tread?

When I bought my wheels they had 2 yokohamas with about 2.5mm and two Acceleras with about 4mm. I replaced the Yokohamas first as they were rapidly becoming slicks

 

**** tyres are **** whether theyre new or not.

i once had a set of no brand tyres on a 1.2 16v clio which would be able to spin up and inside front wheel exiting a roundabout and spin all the way to the top of 2nd. these things provided practically no friction what so ever and they had loads of tread, looked brand new.

 

Deathtrap ditchfinders. Avoid!

Generally made of a rubber compound very similar to wood, in terms of the grip it delivers. They last a lot longer too, as by lasting for 50k miles, they have more chance of killing you.

 

personally i thought they were made of bakelite

 

You have done what many people do and put the best tyres on the front. You should have done the reverse.

You should always put the most worn, or worst tyres on the front especially in a FWD car.

This is the reason you went sideways on that damp roundabout.! :-))

 

Any idea why this is the case? You're right, this was my logic when I got the wheels. Along the lines of putting the best rubber on the wheels I do my steering, accelerating through, and most of the braking happens...

However when my new Bridgestones are put on, the slightly worn ones will stay on the front this time.

 

Put the best ones on both ends!

The theory is that if you put the lesser tyres on the front, your car tends to be predictable and understeery rather than snap into oversteer. However, if the tyres are really bad you end up with no traction, little grip, and useless brakes.

Appreciate times might be hard, and money tight, but you want to get rid of those as soon as you can afford it. In the meantime you could try them on the front, or just make sure you drive carefully.

 

Because there is significantly less weight over the rear axle. Less weight means that the tyres will grip less effectively.

Id go with Mikes suggestion of no running any budget rubber. I had some falken 452s on the front of my car a year ago and they were shocking bad in term of grip and feel.

 

Just waiting on the new tyres to arrive

Found the car loses it's skatey feel when there's a full tank of fuel in it. So does suggest it's otherwise lacking grip at the back unless extra weight is pressing down on it.

 

I'll vote for the latter - I have spare set of BBS Solitudes that have ditchfinders with plenty tread... swapped them onto the car so I could have the exisitng shoes replaced which where baldy KU31s.
Same road every day to work... nearly shat myself when trying to overtake and the car went straight on and nearly piled into the back of the car in front and that was me taking it easy and making exception for possilbe poor grip I now tiptoe around with the Solitudes should I have them fitted.

 

I wouldn't have classed Falkens as budget tyres - more mid-range. I used to run them with no issues. I guess that's partly down to the individual car / driving style, etc.