Tyres - price I should pay, best brand, why prices so secret?

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Master Geek

#1210456 8-Jan-2015 11:17

Believe it or not, Hankook's RA08's (a cheaper, lesser known brand) have consistantly lasted us up to 60,000km while Goodyears and other expensive tyres go by the wayside after half that distance.

timmmay

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#1218779 21-Jan-2015 07:43

A little story...

After the two new tyres were fitted to the rear of the car by Tony's Jervois Quay, Wellington, things felt a bit funny. The back felt like when I was steering around corners it was sliding, but the tyres were sticking to the road fine. It was like the rear of the car took time to catch up with where I pointed it. Like the tyres were very tall and flexing.

People told me to check the tyre pressure, but I said "Nah, I've been going to Tony's for 15 years or so, they wouldn't make a basic mistake like that". I did eventually check the tyre pressure and found that instead of the recommended 32psi they were around 28! The ride immediately went back to normal, it's amazing the difference that 4psi made, it was like night and day. I imagine that there's been a little wear and hopefully no damage.

I called Tony's today and spoke with the branch manager. I told him (very politely) I wasn't very impressed, that it was a safety issue. He said "sorry sir it must be a faulty tyre gauge". That was it. I thanked him and hung up.

So Tony's either
1) Both tyres were fitted incorrectly and are leaking (unlikely as they wouldn't go down at the same rate, and they felt the same after a week as they initially did)
2) Tony's has a faulty tyre pressure gauge
3) Tony's has a staff member incapable of doing the basics of their job.

I'm going to raise this with their head office as either scenario is unacceptable.

MikeB4

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#1218783 21-Jan-2015 07:49

timmmay: A little story...

After the two new tyres were fitted to the rear of the car by Tony's Jervois Quay, Wellington, things felt a bit funny. The back felt like when I was steering around corners it was sliding, but the tyres were sticking to the road fine. It was like the rear of the car took time to catch up with where I pointed it. Like the tyres were very tall and flexing.

People told me to check the tyre pressure, but I said "Nah, I've been going to Tony's for 15 years or so, they wouldn't make a basic mistake like that". I did eventually check the tyre pressure and found that instead of the recommended 32psi they were around 28! The ride immediately went back to normal, it's amazing the difference that 4psi made, it was like night and day. I imagine that there's been a little wear and hopefully no damage.

I called Tony's today and spoke with the branch manager. I told him (very politely) I wasn't very impressed, that it was a safety issue. He said "sorry sir it must be a faulty tyre gauge". That was it. I thanked him and hung up.

So Tony's either
1) Both tyres were fitted incorrectly and are leaking (unlikely as they wouldn't go down at the same rate, and they felt the same after a week as they initially did)
2) Tony's has a faulty tyre pressure gauge
3) Tony's has a staff member incapable of doing the basics of their job.

I'm going to raise this with their head office as either scenario is unacceptable.

Or a simple human error, like you and I they are just human. Also the tyre pressures recommended are not usually a single figure but a range taking into account loading.

My father(was motor engineer) always told me to check the pressures a couple of days after new tyres are fitted as the time of day fitted can affect pressures.

dickytim

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#1218785 21-Jan-2015 07:57

my girlfriend purchased some new tyres a fair few years ago now, she got home and one went flat, we pumped it up and it immediately went flat again, long story short the value had not only not been replaced, but they had damaged it while fitting the tyre.

We called them up at about 4:45, we lived about 20 min away and they told us we had better hurry as they were closing at 5pm sharp and if we didn't make it we'd have to wait until after the long weekend! We didn't make it.

We have not returned to that tyre shop again, no it wasn't Tony's or a main name brand.

timmmay

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#1218786 21-Jan-2015 07:59

KiwiNZ: Or a simple human error, like you and I they are just human. Also the tyre pressures recommended are not usually a single figure but a range taking into account loading.

My father(was motor engineer) always told me to check the pressures a couple of days after new tyres are fitted as the time of day fitted can affect pressures.

Sure, human error is most likely. It's a fairly simple thing to do properly, and it could potentially cause an accident.

Wade

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#1218806 21-Jan-2015 08:51

I can ever only recall once being asked what pressure i want in my tires at a tire shop, i always check/change it shortly after. Different pumps read differently and shops wont always check the tires they didn't service so the age old adage, if you want it don't properly do it yourself

nakedmolerat

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#1218819 21-Jan-2015 09:03

What was the recommended tyre pressure on the car manual? front n back? it usually gives you range rather than one specific number.

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Bung

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#1218821 21-Jan-2015 09:07

timmmay:
KiwiNZ: Or a simple human error, like you and I they are just human. Also the tyre pressures recommended are not usually a single figure but a range taking into account loading.

My father(was motor engineer)
told me to check the pressures a couple of days after new tyres are fitted as the time of day fitted can affect pressures.

Sure, human error is most likely. It's a fairly simple thing to do properly, and it could potentially cause an accident.

I don't have a Corolla but find it hard to believe that driven sensibly 4psi would make that much difference. New tyres do need to wear off the film of "newness". Many a motorcyclist has slid on his Rs giving new tyres too much gas.

Tyre pressure changes at about 1psi per 10 degree F.

timmmay

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#1218833 21-Jan-2015 09:22

Bung:
timmmay: Sure, human error is most likely. It's a fairly simple thing to do properly, and it could potentially cause an accident.

I don't have a Corolla but find it hard to believe that driven sensibly 4psi would make that much difference. New tyres do need to wear off the film of "newness". Many a motorcyclist has slid on his Rs giving new tyres too much gas.

Tyre pressure changes at about 1psi per 10 degree F.

I find it hard to believe as well, but pumping up the tyres took the car from bordering on unsafe to normal. It may have been more than 4psi low, we just checked using the pump at the garage, so it may have put air in before it took the reading.

Batman

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#1218918 21-Jan-2015 11:11

in high profile tyres mounted at the rear could make a big difference.

mainly because you could alter the shape of the tyre significantly compared to low profile tyres, and the rear of the car has very little weight to push the tyres on the road (increases friction, friction provides traction)

but that's a guess ... as i've never let it do that pressure at the rears before. one front, yes ... slow puncture, valve failure, etc :D

the alternative is the way it was driven has worn in the tyre and rubbed off the slippery film and now it's good to go ...

timmmay

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#1219083 21-Jan-2015 13:44

195 60 15 tyres, fairly average I'd have thought, moderately high profile.

Wade

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#1219166 21-Jan-2015 14:46

Bung could well be onto it, tires have a release agent on them form the mould which takes a few km's of driving to scrub off, maybe by the time you pumped the tires up you had already scrubbed the tires clean hence the placebo of +4psi 'fixing' the problem?

I've had a slow leak in my last car (a corolla ironically) and around town over Auckland's typically crap roads it really had to get to nearer 20psi before it started to feel a bit dodgy (i normally ran the tires at 36psi)

timmmay

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#1219189 21-Jan-2015 15:03

It was a really significant change that happened as soon as I pumped the tyres up. While I guess it could be something like that I don't think so - they tyres are over two weeks old now.

Jase2985

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#1219344 21-Jan-2015 17:33

i struggle to believe that at all. something else is going on. or you are absolutely thrashing your car round corners, pushing the tyres to the limit.

from factory the tyre pressure would have been 28-32 psi of that size tyre.

so really i have no idea?

i run my tyres at 36psi

timmmay

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#1219363 21-Jan-2015 17:58

Jase2985: i struggle to believe that at all. something else is going on. or you are absolutely thrashing your car round corners, pushing the tyres to the limit.

from factory the tyre pressure would have been 28-32 psi of that size tyre.

so really i have no idea?

i run my tyres at 36psi

I'm typically driving in moderate to heavy traffic, you couldn't thrash it if you wanted to. I drive relatively sedately. Happy to hear alternate answers, but I would swear in court to the statement that "when I pumped up the tyres the handling improved markedly, the back of the car felt much more connected to the front and the strange wallowing motion stopped".

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