CHINESE TYRES vs BRAND NAME

[amunra]

hey guys, reference. ** driving stock golf r mk7 **

after having my original bridgestone potenza (terrible from new, poor traction and durability) followed by 2x sets of goodyear f1 assymetric 2 ( great tyre even when bald and highly recommend).

i've decided to put the old chinese brand vs brand known tyre debate to the test and see if i could find something that resembles a good chinese TYRE while i have the feeling of GOODYEAR F1 fresh in my muscle memory..

after doing a bit of scouring on the internet based on what was available for my tyre size...

i decided to go with KINFOREST KF550 which surprisingly gets great reviews on performance cars by just about everyone on the internet unlike all the other 'major' chinese tyre brands which you'd want to keep clear from performance cars....

Kinforest KF550 Tire UHP Review

for 1 / 3 - 1 / 4 of the price of goodyear assymetric 3 or michelin PS4S for a set of 4x they could turn out to be a great budget tyre... especially for these horrible sydney roads which are extremely punishing and probably dont let you really appreciate a great tyre.


will let everyone know how they go over time with feedback on (handling, aquaplane, loss of traction on haldex) e.t.c and if anything bad arises.


feel free to post if you have any similar experiences with these tyres in particular or chinese tyres... good or bad

[LibraR]

What car are you driving? If it's a performance model and knowing how well they respond to good tyres compared to poor ones, why would you risk it to save a few $$... maybe...? Four small patches of tyre is all that stands between smiles and tears.

Good tyres get rave reviews for a reason. Cheap ones must have corners cut somewhere. And shopping around allows some great deals to be found on some awesome tyres.

If it were me, I'd work out how many cups of coffee is the difference between the best price on good tyres and the Chinese ones, and set the goal to cut down coffees...

Just my opinion, which I gather is what you were seeking - others' views...

[Kachingg]

Please keep updating the thread 1mth in 3mths ect ect
I will be vry interested to see how you go as i have 235/35/19smyself a good cheap tyre would be a find
How much are they per tyre?

[Transporter]

I prefer to stay safe and would always go with a proven known brand. No Chinese tyres for our family own cars.

[ope126]

I prefer to stay safe and would always go with a proven known brand. No Chinese tyres for our family own cars.

That there is the truth, ruth!!!

[gldgti]

Assuming your car was fitted with the RE050 (marketed as high performance tyre, but its really more of an all occasions tyre) then there are lots of tyres to give you a better experience, and its not likely any of them are going to be no-name brands.

Even among the Potenza lineup, the best tyre is going to be the RE003, much different in reality than the RE050.

Cheap tyres feel good on the day you buy them, but in my experience they leave you dissappointed in the long run (or worse).

The best tyre advice is - buy the most expensive tyres you can afford at the best price you can find them.... - i.e. shop around for the best deal on the best tyre.

[IsDon]

Don't go near them.

I thought along those lines. Once.

My wife's Mazda3 needed new tyres. The old Bridgestones weren't even worn out, the car was used so infrequently they were showing signs of cracking but they still had half tread.

I thought, for the shopping trolley, that Chinese tyres would be perfectly ok.

In truth they were so much worse than the old cracked Bridgestones they were replacing I almost swapped them back.

I drove the car around for a few months but then came my first drive in the wet with them. They were like driving on ice skates. When they totally lost grip at slow speed on a roundabout and I all but ploughed into the gutter, enough was enough!

I drove straight to a tyre shop and put a set of Pirellis all round.

I chalked the money wasted on the Chinese crap up to experience. I only lost a few hundred bucks. I could have lost my life or that of my family's.


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[amunra]

great response so far .. yet noone has named WHICH brand chinese tyre they are saying are bad or whether they've had them on their GOLF GTI / R .. i think that would help bring more clarity or integrity to this discussion.... thus why i started it. maybe we could all learn something or just HELP someone who might not have $1000 - 1400 for a set of premium tyres for whatever reason but still want to enjoy their car or simply use it for day to day or goto work.

i've actually read on a sister site to this that these tyres in particular are some of the best BANG FOR BUCK tyres for track and are really popular in canada which has horrible weather compared to here...


for those who missed it.. ive clearly stated at the top im driving a STOCK GOLF R Mk7 for a reference point to all this testing.

the tyres ive bought in particular are KINFOREST KF550 UHP 235 / 35 / 19 for the stock 19" cadiz as they get great reviews for higher power cars & high performance applications... all over the internet . unlike all the other chinese companies... they have worked along side and had associations with other big tyre companies over the years in terms of technology and materials ( CONTINENTAL & FIRESTONE).... as good developing companies should.


so thanks for all the internet dads out there with the " dont go near them " comments who probably did 0 research and probably just wanted to save a buck.. but i've already got 4 of them on my car and ill be near them everyday on the road as i've already stated..

back to the review..

the drive home from the shop was OK. i dont necessarily like the feel of new tyres but these were no better or worse than the last sets of new tyres ive bought...

2nd drive last night.... after inflating all 4 tyres to 42psi i found the ride quality ALOT better as one was down at 36psi from the store.. this is a good sign as it was noticable in the same way with my GOODYEARS ALSO..

for the next 20 - 30 min of drive i found.

0 loss of traction at all points of the route that i took ( im yet to test at certain points where i lost traction with potenza 100% of the time even in dry) . takes bumps well . feels good on the freeway at 100km/h.. no swaying or twitching and good response.

my main concern is to see if the quality of the rubber compound deteriorates and how it will hold up over the months ..... i think thats the main issue for all these chinese tyres and if this company happens to source its compound and uses similar procedures from the same places as the more higher end tyres i think we may be onto a winner.

[amunra]

heres some more feedback..

just spent 3 hours in the light but continuous drizzle under different driving conditions (mix of city traffic .. bit of open road and different speeded roads , turns / roundabouts.... car definately feels good and stable... good under light and also sharp braking.. and no unusual movements and most importantly NO WHEEL SPIN under a good amount of throttle from N to 1 to 2

they heated up and nicely and evenly.. were all 42psi when i pressure tested them after 2 hours

i will next feedback when i've experienced heavy rain and also heavy braking situations.

but for the initial 5 hours ive spent in the car they've been good... for a layman like most would be on this forum it would hard to distinguish between these and with goodyear assymentric for out of the shop for ride quality and characteristics. Definately keen to see how they wear in and will be performing after 1000 - 5000 KM's

[pocketpunch]

Tyres are a thing you dont cheap out on.
Im glad they're working well for you but with past exp cheap tyres will work magic for 5,000 ks and then they'll be slipping st every opportunity.
Atleast you have awd tho.

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