Brand Vs. No Brand Tires???

[lesnar]

In general, are there significant difference in terms of quality between well-known brand Vs. No name brand tires???

When i purchased my car, they gave me 4 new tires. However, the tires were called "Hercules", a brand i never heard of before.

What are the significant difference between Brand Vs. No name brand? because so far, i haven't noticed anything wrong with the No name brand tires. And i might just continue to purchase these kind of tires in the future because of the huge price difference where the Branded tires use these extra cost to invest in marketing/advertising. IMO. What do you think?

[sshe11]

use the Internet to do some research before buying it ... websites like www.tirerack.com , www.tiretrends.com , www.1010tires.com are good resources ...

[afici0nad0]

many of the "generic" tires are actually subsidiaries of the large tire manufacturers.

i.e. fierce -> goodyear, general tire -> continental

i'd say, if you haven't had problems with the tires you're running, i don't see a need to question the quality of them now.

i have specific tire requirements, dictated by my driving style. the tires i was looking at were all over the price range and brand names.

[MrDisco]

In general, are there significant difference in terms of quality between well-known brand Vs. No name brand tires???

i would say yes. consider that some 'no name' or dept store brand tires are still made by some of the larger companies out there. like everything, there is a price point and they make the product to fit that price point. so whether its a lower speed rating, difference in warranty, etc. you're paying for it. Even models from the same company that appear to be the same could be different (i.e. a tire sold at costco vs a tire shop).


When i purchased my car, they gave me 4 new tires. However, the tires were called "Hercules", a brand i never heard of before.

Hercules isn't a 'no name' brand.

There is a regular column in the Toronto Star wheel's section dedicated to tire reviews. There is more than just the marketing. There is the R&D that goes into rubber compounds and tread patterns.

[nolimtzel]

some of the best tires are unknown. for example look at the tires that come stock on lambo merci.. its not goodyear or michellin.
marketing aside u want tires with sticky compound for summer and more hard compound for winter. never get all seasons. all seasons give u crappy traction in wet and dry conditions. i run michellin pilots for summer and artic alpins for winter.

[D-3vil]

some of the best tires are unknown. for example look at the tires that come stock on lambo merci.. its not goodyear or michellin.
marketing aside u want tires with sticky compound for summer and more hard compound for winter. never get all seasons. all seasons give u crappy traction in wet and dry conditions. i run michellin pilots for summer and artic alpins for winter.

You mean the other way around...

And all-seasons are perfectly fine for wet and dry conditions... depending on which tire you choose, of course. I'm sure there's a ton of summer tires that offer crappy wet and dry performance as well.

[timv]

I do agree with others statements that some no-names are made by various popular manufacturers, but with different names on the sidewall. Having said that I also think that you do get what you pay for most times. Tires are just one area I have a hard time skimping on due to safety and handling. I'm running goodyear eagle f1's right now on my car and having known the difference I won't go back to a cheaper tire. I'd just watch the internet for deals as I got my Goodyears last summer for $88 US a tire and the goodyear dealer in town wanted $269.

[cereal83]

some of the best tires are unknown. for example look at the tires that come stock on lambo merci.. its not goodyear or michellin.
marketing aside u want tires with sticky compound for summer and more hard compound for winter. never get all seasons. all seasons give u crappy traction in wet and dry conditions. i run michellin pilots for summer and artic alpins for winter.


Your so wrong. Lambo runs Pirelli and Ferrari run BFGood's :!:

[curtis]

Not yet 16, are we.

some of the best tires are unknown. for example look at the tires that come stock on lambo merci.. its not goodyear or michellin.
marketing aside u want tires with sticky compound for summer and more hard compound for winter. never get all seasons. all seasons give u crappy traction in wet and dry conditions. i run michellin pilots for summer and artic alpins for winter.

[McLaren]

Your so wrong. Lambo runs Pirelli and Ferrari run BFGood's :!:

I thought Ferrari's frun Bridgestones, at least the Enzo does.

[BartBandy]

Off-brand tires are often subsidiaries of larger tire companies. They generally use older tread designs and rubber compounds to meet a price point. Nothing terribly wrong with them, and you can find no-name and name-brand tires with defects. You generally give up a little noise, traction, and/or tread life in exchange for the lower price, but not always.

[Andro]

i say non brand name tires are fine.....however if I need to buy summer tires i would only go for brand names, and if I need all-season or winter i'll probably get non-brand name tires.

[spamblockers]

Personally am not an expert in this subject however I recently bought a set of 4 Michelin HydroEdge tires for my 2000 Civic...Tires from the get-go have been nothing but pleasure. Things you may want to investigate or read up on are how it functions in different weather conditions or just the comfort of driving on a sunny day.

Keep an eye out for: mileage, speed rating, dry, wet, snow, comfort, noise, treadwear, and overall rating from other customer reviews. Investigate before actually buying the same set of tires or just any brand tires in general. Good luck!

[thephenom]

Personally am not an expert in this subject however I recently bought a set of 4 Michelin HydroEdge tires for my 2000 Civic...Tires from the get-go have been nothing but pleasure. Things you may want to investigate or read up on are how it functions in different weather conditions or just the comfort of driving on a sunny day.

Keep an eye out for: mileage, speed rating, dry, wet, snow, comfort, noise, treadwear, and overall rating from other customer reviews. Investigate before actually buying the same set of tires or just any brand tires in general. Good luck!
The HydroEdge is a great for all-season tires. Dry and wet traction is great, tolerable in the snow, but far from being as good as true snow tires like their X-Ice.

For me, summer can go with the more generic tires and winter is when I spend the bigger dollars for nice snow tires. Majority of the accidents occur in winter, and more non highend tires are fine in dry and wet with the right pre-cautions.

[warpdrive]

I do agree with others statements that some no-names are made by various popular manufacturers, but with different names on the sidewall. Having said that I also think that you do get what you pay for most times. Tires are just one area I have a hard time skimping on due to safety and handling.

+1

Tires are what makes or breaks the handling of your car. Ultimately it affects the safety of your car. People are too cheap in general when it comes to buying tires. You don't have to spend a fortune but looking for the cheapest tire is like buying the cheapest condom.

You still get what you pay for when it comes to tires. Sure, a lot of the cost of the higher end brands is due to marketing, BUT they do reserve their best tire technology for the upper models. That usually translates to better safety and handling.

[hahn]

if you just commute with your car and don't drive hard, i would say doesn't make any difference whether you get brand or non-brand. But if you regular push your car with spirited driving, you should go on to your car clubs and browse what people there like better for their cars. i think it's more important to make sure your tires have proper tread on them after driving them for a while once you decide on a set of tires.

[ViperZ]

I like how people who buy no-name tires defend them so hard.

We bought set of Motomaster tires once - what a POS - the car was like it's on skates during rain.

I also had fun experiencing cheaper line of Good Year - Eagle - what a piece of sh|t - finished after 30K km.

Now driving on Michelin Pilot Sports for summer and Dunlop Winter Sport M3 for winter. Michelin Pilot Alpin for winter were good, but definitely not as good as Dunlop. Pilot Sport are great for summer, but could be better in terms of price/quality (expensive tires for 18" wheels).

Obviously, these tires were/are used on different cars, but still experience and differences are like day and night!

Also, some tires may be good for one car, but completely bad for another. Someone recommended General summer tires to another guy. Well, that someone owned a light car (Civic or Jetta). The other guy had a heavy Chrysler Concorde. Concorde was floating on the road on those tires - cheap-ass thin side walls really sucked for him - but worked fine on a light car.

[warpdrive]

if you just commute with your car and don't drive hard, i would say doesn't make any difference whether you get brand or non-brand. .
Of course it makes a difference, more traction -> more likely you'll stop faster, or more likely you can avoid that obstacle on the road. If you commute, then you are spending MORE time on the road, thus you are increasing the likelihood you'll experience an accident, thus you should spend MORE on your tires as insurance against getting into an accident.

You don't have to be an enthusiast to take advange of better traction. Cheaper/no-name tires may not have as much development or R&D done. I once bought some middle of the line Sumitomo all-season. They were ok, but they made a lot of noise (as noisy as winter tires), and they definitely weren't as good in the wet. You get what you pay for. I then upgraded to some Dunlops and they were $40 more per tire in a 15 inch size, but they were so much better even in everyday driving.

[rv2843]

Never go cheap on tires and brakes. They save lifes.

[winwin]

I switched to these cheap Fuzion Zri tires made by Bridgestone, to replace my Yokohama ES100. Although, handling is better, the tire isn't very well made. The tires are so hard to get it balanced, I went through 3 shops before the tires are ok. It's still not vibration free like the ES100 so I guess I have to wait until it wears out.lol Definitely going back to name brands from now.

[Kwirky]

Of course it makes a difference, more traction -> more likely you'll stop faster, or more likely you can avoid that obstacle on the road. If you commute, then you are spending MORE time on the road, thus you are increasing the likelihood you'll experience an accident, thus you should spend MORE on your tires as insurance against getting into an accident.

You don't have to be an enthusiast to take advange of better traction. Cheaper/no-name tires may not have as much development or R&D done. I once bought some middle of the line Sumitomo all-season. They were ok, but they made a lot of noise (as noisy as winter tires), and they definitely weren't as good in the wet. You get what you pay for. I then upgraded to some Dunlops and they were $40 more per tire in a 15 inch size, but they were so much better even in everyday driving.

You talk much sense and I really agree with you. Cheap tires have gotten me into some hairy situations (namely Motomasters in the wet), running Kumho's now and I feel a lot more confident that I can do emergency braking/manuvering without risking life & limb.

[ViperZ]

You don't have to be an enthusiast to take advange of better traction. Cheaper/no-name tires may not have as much development or R&D done. I once bought some middle of the line Sumitomo all-season. They were ok, but they made a lot of noise (as noisy as winter tires), and they definitely weren't as good in the wet. You get what you pay for. I then upgraded to some Dunlops and they were $40 more per tire in a 15 inch size, but they were so much better even in everyday driving.

What do you mean 'as noisy as winter tires'?? Noise really depends more on rubber quality (longer km warranty = harder material = more noise), size of the wheel (if you have low profile tires = higher pressure in tires = more noise). My 17" winter Dunlops are sooo quiet, I am just amazed (summer 18" Michelins are noisy). (overall diameter of the wheel remains the same, rim + tire).

[warpdrive]

What do you mean 'as noisy as winter tires'?? Noise really depends more on rubber quality (longer km warranty = harder material = more noise), size of the wheel (if you have low profile tires = higher pressure in tires = more noise). My 17" winter Dunlops are sooo quiet, I am just amazed (summer 18" Michelins are noisy). (overall diameter of the wheel remains the same, rim + tire).

Alright, to be more specific, they were as noisy or noisier than my Michelin Pilot, Blizzak WS-50, Toyo G-02Plug, Nokia Hakkapellita 2 winter tires I`ve owned. All of which in turn are noisier than Goodyear RS-A, Michelin MXM4, Dunlop SP5000, Falken Z512, all of which are all season tires I`ve owned. I agree most summer tires are noisy too.

[gheart008]

Never go cheap on tires and brakes. They save lifes.

+1,000,000

[stealth]

I dunno some of the bigger name brand tires I've had on different vehicles have been horrible (Goodyear and BFG's).
Others with lesser names were far better e.g. Sumitomo's, Firestones.
You have to expect some of the cost is driven up by expensive marketing campaigns, so you dont always get what you pay for.

[stealth]

On that note, I just bought a set of Hankook's today that already feel smoother than the Goodyear Wrangler's I previously had. Of course, the true test is after a yr or 2.

[CRXGSR]

I install tires all day long, so take my advise.

Generally with the no-name brand tires, I see a lot of "bad" tires (meaning out of round or high runout). These are almost guarenteed to give you a vibration. It's like they are made that way from the manufacturer.

However, with most expensive tires, I rarely see this. Most are perfectly round, and run straight and true (as opposed to all wobbly).

But basically it depeneds on what the needs of the customer are. If you don't do a lot of highway driving, and aren't to demanding of your vehicle (ie. highspeed turns, quick acceleration, etc.), no-name brand tires will be fine.

But the worst (I think) is when many customers (who drive mercedez/bmw/etc) come in and ask for such "economy" tires and buy the cheapest set. I guess they're all in it for the looks....http://www.vvdrienerlo.nl/smileys/no.gif

[hahn]

Of course it makes a difference, more traction -> more likely you'll stop faster, or more likely you can avoid that obstacle on the road. If you commute, then you are spending MORE time on the road, thus you are increasing the likelihood you'll experience an accident, thus you should spend MORE on your tires as insurance against getting into an accident.

You don't have to be an enthusiast to take advange of better traction. Cheaper/no-name tires may not have as much development or R&D done. I once bought some middle of the line Sumitomo all-season. They were ok, but they made a lot of noise (as noisy as winter tires), and they definitely weren't as good in the wet. You get what you pay for. I then upgraded to some Dunlops and they were $40 more per tire in a 15 inch size, but they were so much better even in everyday driving.

i can see where you are coming from. it was my fault as i wasn't clear in my post. by all means, if you can afford the extra cash, buy a nicer set of tires. But comparing equivalent tires with different brands (no name vs brand; not comparing $50 motomasters with pzeros) for an average driver. The difference in outcome due to your tires are not significant in normal everyday driving. Your assumption is that brand names have better traction than generics and thus it's better. I cannot say if that's true nor can i say if the reverse is true. Having a better set of tires with better traction to avoid accidents is always a good insurance, but knowing to drive defensively and properly in different conditions is a even more important to avoid accidents.

[Avatar]

You got what you paid for. Tires are part of the car that are really important to safety if not the most. Considering your life is riding on those 4 points.
You might not be a demanding driver but you are not the only one driving on the road either. Good tire with better tread and traction will help you avoid accident/obstacles. It saves you once and it worths every penny you spend on it.
I'm not a demanding driver also. So I don't put winter tire because of the hassle (changing twice a year) and cost. But I put in a set of best 4 season on my cars. Michilin Hydroedge and Goodyear Tripletread. Been through so many Winters, rainny days. In couple with manual AWD, perfect all year round.