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Well, this is news to me (not having bought a tyre for four years or so). New tyres come with a rating, so you can see how they perform for fuel use, and for stopping. How exciting. What an excellent piece of EU legislation (not often one says that).
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Haven't been keeping up but i believe these grades are self assessed, hopefully by a standard test like er stautory fuel consumptions, so accurate to the nth degree..:-)
However agreed it is a step in the right direction and looking at some of the more expensive offerings doesn't show them to be at the top of the tree in all cases.
The noise figures are handy and my present set are indeed far more quiet as suggested by their db score.
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>> The noise figures are handy and my present set are indeed far more quiet as
>> suggested by their db score.
>>
I *think* the noise rating is the noise as measured outside the vehicle, but I guess it must bear some relationship to that experienced inside.
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Where does one find these ratings?
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The vendors show them. Look them up on say mytyres.
E.g. goo.gl/KUuS6G
They are rated for rolling resistance, wet grip, noise IIRC.
Last edited by: Manatee on Mon 19 Aug 13 at 13:38
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There's a longer-established US rating system too; as with everything publicly funded in the US, the test results for all tyre tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are listed at safecar.gov under the 'vehicle stoppers' heading.
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I wouldn't treat it as absolute gospel because as said above the makers give their own results. But by and large it looks in line with my expectations for different tyres. I used the info as part of my buying process when I put new tyres on the Alfa 8mths ago.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 19 Aug 13 at 14:07
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Funny thing is when I was looking for new tyres some of the ratings changed by two levels even though it was the same tyre but the next size down or up (what I mean is that such a small change affected the rating by so much).
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So as Kwikfit's own brand tyres are almost as good as anybody much more expensive, according to their rating (Arrowspeeds or some similar name) should I buy them?
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>> So as Kwikfit's own brand tyres are almost as good as anybody much more expensive,
>> according to their rating (Arrowspeeds or some similar name) should I buy them?
That sounds logical doesn't it? They tried to sell my wife some a while back, they insisted they were made by Kelloggs* or whoever, just with a different name at half the price.
I imagine it's more likely that people would use them to compare tyres at a similar price point, as I did when I bought the Vredesteins for the MX5.
The one that isn't there is the wear rating. Higher is better. The Vred. Sportrac 3s on the MX5 are 300, the Michelins on the Civic are 400, and the Continental Cross Contact on the Outlander are 420. The last are certainly wearing much faster than the Pirelli Scorpion STR all weathers I use from October to Easter, which are 520s.
That said, I've read that the wear rating doesn't compare across brands so on that basis it would be no use at all.
*I think they told her they were made by Goodyear. The content of this link suggests Nexen have something to do with them
www.tyreblog.co.uk/2010/information-safety-risks-buying-cheap-budget-tyres-517
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When buying tyres it doesn't do to spend too much time researching... Confusion reigns!
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I would normally go for premium brand tyres but, my scooby doo came with 4 x new Runway Enduro tyres and, although I'm quite aware that the breaking/stopping distance would be greater than a premium brand of tyre,
I'm quite happy with the tyres, so far but, if they give me any gyp, they'll go straight in the bin.
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I don't doubt the Goodyears that were fitted to my Discovery (when I owned one) would have got high ratings for all the aspects of highway use that are covered. Dreadful life for a big tyre and were replaced early due to damage and it not being sensible to repair.
But I replaced them with Pirelli Skorpions as these had stronger sidewalls, much better resistance to damage from punctures and didn't lorry rut follow on the M25. The last point I thought was a car issue and to have fixed it with a set of tyres was a revelation.
The grip levels weren't as high, but they were progressive and predictable. So a lot of unrated factors to take into account really.
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Tyre ratings - A-F grading like washing machines - -
