H1ppychick
We all prisoners, chickee-baby. We all locked in.
posted
Just a quick question for you here - my Mazda 6 Sport needs new tyres (existing ones are Dunlops 215/45/ZR17 91Y). I can either:
a) get something like Pirellis or Dunlops again, which'll cost me £120-ish each to supply and fit, done by KwikFit or similar, or
b) get a local garage near my mum's place to fit some Hankooks at maybe £70 each.
Have you heard much of Hankooks, are they a decent budget alternative? Obviously I don't want to compromise my safety or that of other road users for the sake of a few quid, but equally I don't want to shell out unnecessarily for something merely because of the brand.
Cheers for any thoughts!
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posted
I think they're meant to be one of the better budget brands, along with stuff like Uniroyal. I've not tried them myself.
Personally I'd probably go for something like Toyo T1R tyres because they're a bit cheaper than Pirrelli and the like but offer very good dry and wet grip.
You'll save yourself some quids by going onto mytyres.co.uk or blackcircles.com and ordering them to a local tyre place and just paying to have them fitted there. Tyre places charge a pretty hefty markup on tyres.
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posted
Toyo T1-Rs are £71 delivered from Black Circles. I usually have them delivered to me and then take them to a local tyre place who will fit them for like a tenner a wheel. But they also have a partnership scheme where they have garages who will take delivery of them and then fit them for you and it's all included in the price you pay to black circles.
posted
Probably a bit late, but if you're still vacillating I can recommend both the BlackCircles franchise set-up, and the Toyo Proxes Ringo mentioned. I've just changed from the Gooodyear Eagle F1s to the Toyos, can't tell the difference and they're £30 a corner cheaper.
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posted
The only thing I found with the Proxes rather than the Eagles is that the Toyo tyres have a slightly softer sidewall. Outright grip is about the same, but I think the Goodyear gives better feedback and a sharper response. Though I use a 195/50/15 tyre so it's possible that on a larger tyre with a lower profile this effect would be less noticeable. I've probably also been spoiled by using R888s which have really strong sidewalls so most sports tyres feel a bit dull by contrast.
I got round this by using a 195/50 tyre on an 8" wide wheel which stretches out the sidewalls slightly and adds to the rigidity.
If I have a criticism of the Proxes T1-R it's probably that they're a bit noisy. But then you get that with all directional tread patterns.
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