Budget Tyres / Small Car

[JimM169]

Our Toyota Aygo went in for a MOT today and the tyres were picked up as an advisory, tread wasn't too bad but they're perishing all round. Car only does less then 3000 miles a year, mainly for a 3 mile round trip commute (I'm too lazy to walk!)
It currently has Conitentals on it but BlackCirlces have their budget option of iLink LGrip 55 at £30 a corner cheaper. Never heard of the make but how bad are they really going to be given the usage of the car?
If it was something a bit sporty that I was ragging around then makes sense to spring for something a bit more premium but presumably all tyres have to meet a certain standard so these won't self destruct at the sight of the first roundabout?

[RSTurboPaul]

JimM169 said:

Our Toyota Aygo went in for a MOT today and the tyres were picked up as an advisory, tread wasn't too bad but they're perishing all round. Car only does less then 3000 miles a year, mainly for a 3 mile round trip commute (I'm too lazy to walk!)
It currently has Conitentals on it but BlackCirlces have their budget option of iLink LGrip 55 at £30 a corner cheaper. Never heard of the make but how bad are they really going to be given the usage of the car?
If it was something a bit sporty that I was ragging around then makes sense to spring for something a bit more premium but presumably all tyres have to meet a certain standard so these won't self destruct at the sight of the first roundabout?

Do you want to stop before the accident in front or join in with it for some excitement?


Have a look at tyrereviews.com - there are no reviews for what I presume is a similar tyre to that referenced:

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/i-Link/L-Grip-66....

but an alternative from them is hardly overflowing with praise...

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Tyre/i-Link/Multimatch...


At £120 extra for Continentals, you're looking at 33p per day extra over a single year, or half that if they last 2 years (which presumably they will - and then some - at 3000 miles/year).

[loskie]

why look at far ends of the spectrum? Get a decent mid range tyre from one of the big manufacturer's other named brands. You don't say what size.

[RSTurboPaul]

155/65/14 iLink are about £62 on mytyres:

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rshop/tyre/Ilink/L-Grip-...

For £66.50 you could have Continental All Seasons:

https://www.mytyres.co.uk/rshop/tyre/Continental/A...

[JimM169]

I was looking at BlackCircles, the I-link are £48 and Contis £85 so actually a £37 price difference and that's fully fitted. By the looks of it MyTyres are supply only?

Think I'll probably go with Kumho Ecowing at £58 fitted, I'd consider them a reasonable mid-range brand (or at least I've heard of them!)

Was just curious about how bad the Ilinks could be, but like you say I'd rather not be doing my own crash testing to find out!

[John D.]

Personally I think buying cheap tyres you've never heard of is part of the fun running an Aygo. I've got ditchfinders all round on mine.

[loskie]

Please try to support your local indi tyre shop rather than B Circles. The indi will be there for you when you need wee things done.

[InitialDave]

There's no point in buying cheap, crap tyres. They're just bad.

If the argument is that it's a cheap, basic car with small tyres, the small size just means it's not much more money to have something at least mid range.

[Smint]

I'd be sticking Uniroyal Rain Experts on it, A rated wet and they mean it, cheap as chips and last time i looked they came with over 8mm new tread.

[loskie]

I got laughed at here for buying Davanti Alltouras for my golf. £95 v £150 for a "premium" brand. They've done me well.

AND they have "Free" puncture insurance.

When I burst one on a pothole recently (it was quite a thud) the tyre place replaced it with a new one for £20. It was around 2m and 2000m old.

They are pretty robust tyres I'd be v surprised if other tyres would have not had damage.

Bought from my local tyre place

[E-bmw]

loskie said:

I got laughed at here for buying Davanti Alltouras for my golf. £95 v £150 for a "premium" brand. They've done me well.

Nah, not for me £95 is WAY too much for something that sh!t that your life or the life of others COULD depend on.

[loskie]

well I'll have covered 20000m on them so far and they have been fine. It's a 150bhp diesel 4motion Golf so not setting any records

[John D.]

loskie said:

well I'll have covered 20000m on them so far and they have been fine. It's a 150bhp diesel 4motion Golf so not setting any records

No one died?

[RSTurboPaul]

John D. said:

loskie said:

well I'll have covered 20000m on them so far and they have been fine. It's a 150bhp diesel 4motion Golf so not setting any records

No one died?

What's that saying?

Past performance is not indicative of future performance?

[Countdown]

Outside of PH most people don’t drive to the limits of their tyres. Buying the “ultimate “ tyre would be like insisting you need to wear a suit of armour to go to the shops “just in case…..”

[InitialDave]

Countdown said:

Outside of PH most people don’t drive to the limits of their tyres.

Not intentionally.

[E-bmw]

Countdown said:

Outside of PH most people don’t drive to the limits of their tyres. Buying the “ultimate “ tyre would be like insisting you need to wear a suit of armour to go to the shops “just in case…..”

Just quoting the negatives of that particular tyre to put your statement into context.

"Poor grip and dangerously long braking distances on wet roads. Little safety in aquaplaning situations."

Nobody is suggesting "ultimate tyres" like you seem to think we are, just saying don't put the cheapest sh!t you can find on the 1 tonne lump of steel you MIGHT need to stop in the wet in an emergency.

[Pebbles167]

I use these tyres on our old Qashqai. They're fine, and haven't worn too badly over the last 4k or so. They have a very flimsy sidewall so I'd rule them out for any kind of spirited driving (though they do grip okay wet & dry) but it means they're fairly absorbent of bumpy roads.

For a runabout they won't be a problem.

[Countdown]

E-bmw said:

Just quoting the negatives of that particular tyre to put your statement into context.

"Poor grip and dangerously long braking distances on wet roads. Little safety in aquaplaning situations."

Nobody is suggesting "ultimate tyres" like you seem to think we are, just saying don't put the cheapest sh!t you can find on the 1 tonne lump of steel you MIGHT need to stop in the wet in an emergency.

And equally I’m not saying “put the cheapest st you can find on your 1 tonne lump of steel “. You should buy the tyres that do what you need from them.This might be tyres from the cheaper end of the market, it might not. We all have different driving styles so it’s quite possible that cheap tyres might be sufficient for what you need. And catering for the “what MIGHT happen in a worst case scenario “ is ludicrous.

[paul_c123]

There's an argument for worse tyres, in that if you're going to lose grip, better to do it at a lower speed anyway. A better, grippier tyre could give the driver a false sense of security and when they get into a skid situation, everything is faster and happens quicker, resulting in a more serious collision.

And given that there's millions of motorists who DON'T have expensive tyres on their car, yet keep it on the road, mainly, maybe the driver is the more important thing than the tyre grip level. Statistically, pistonhead forum users 4 wheel sliding around the single track roads of Wales are more prone to crashing than Janice in her Nissan Micra on the trip to Aldi.