Goodride Tyres - Initial Impressions

[amazeer]

(Polo 6R with Boavistas)

At 49,500km my Continentals just about hit the tread wear indicator. I ran 34psi in them from new and have rotated them twice. The wear was very even across the tread face, a little more on the outside edges which are to be expected. I reckon they're a great tyre, with excellent grip and good wear. I know other people aren't as impressed with them as I am but I've always struggled to get 40,000 from my other cars with goodyear/yokohama/khumos. A guy I work with got over 90K from his set but mostly freeway driving and without any heavy cornering.

I probably left them on the car a little too long. Had a couple of instances where the traction light came on in the wet. But I couldnt bring myself to pay Continental prices and couldn't decide on anything else because its such a subjective area. One thing that has always annoyed me with my car is the speedo error so I have also been considering going to 45 series. That put an extra dimension of doubt.

But I know a guy... and the guy can get me Goodride tyres at cost price. 4 of them fitted and balanced for less than the cost of one Conti so I didn't have much to lose. If they're rubbish, I just flog them off on ebay. I went for SV308 in 215/45/17. Looking at them on the ground unmounted, the outer edges arent as square as a Conti. The sidewalls are actually thicker. Rolling on them for 200kms I've found they are surprisingly very good. The first thing I noticed was the softer ride over bumps. They're equally as quiet as Contis. Grip is a little interesting. Is it just my perception? Pushing hard in sharp corners they are probably about 10% less that the Contis, but in fast corners they only a shade behind. They do make a bit of soft squeal approaching the limit where as the Conti just made scratchy sounds. I haven't had them in the rain yet.

They fix the speedo error, its perfect now when measured against the GPS. However it has stuffed the MFD fuel range. I didn't think of that. Checking against the freeway odometer check signs I am losing 200m per 5km. I dislike that more than the speedo error because I cant just add 7%.

If you are on a budget and are looking for something thats pretty much as good as Continental Premium Contact 2 then you could do a lot worse than Goodride SV308. Get them in the standard size. If they last half as long as the originals then you're a long way in front.

[brad]

Wow, 4 tyres for $140 - amazeballs!

[nat225]

If you are happy with the budget tyres, that is all that matters. But for me, i would never touch tyres outside the mainstream brands. For me safety and grip are very important, else i would be driving a $500 car with zero airbags and no stability control at all.

A while ago my flatmate had a charade he had bought for $800. He kept it for a while and we went to places alright and are still alive.

However, if we had been t boned by a landcruiser or something else big who saw red = go faster, i dont think we would still have our limps or life right now.

[amazeer]

Wow, 4 tyres for $140 - amazeballs!

I paid $70 each

[2muchcoffeeman]

Pass. I will not economise on tyres. 4 small patches of rubber on the road = my safety and that of my family. Not negotiable.

[brad]

I paid $70 each

ContiMaxContact MC5 in that size are $140 from my local supplier. So your statement "4 tyres for less than the price of 1 Conti" is somewhat skewed or you just aren't great at maths.

Pirelli Cinturato are $120
Toyo Proxes are $125
Goodyear Assurance (great tyres) are $130

Pay $200/set extra and over the 2 year life it's $2/week.

I'm glad you are happy with them but from my experience of tyres:

Good grip

Long Life

Cheap Price

Pick 2 of the 3

[amazeer]

I actually expected more negative comments than this. Wondering how hard it is to be negative about something you havent tried (I assume). If anyone can find some evidence that the tyres are unsafe I'd like to see it, I'd consider taking them off. One measure of quality is how easy they are to balance. Well it may surprise you that I have less balance weight on the wheel than I had before. Surprised me.

Found myself in the middle of a storm this afternoon and the tyres never had a problem with the water streaming across the freeway. So I can tick wet/dry/price boxes.

I wouldn't get the 45 series again. For such a small difference in height it seems to mess with the gearing a lot. Cant go up Mt Ousley in top anymore, and dropping back to 5th doesnt seem to get me back up to speed like it used to. And the stupid upshift arrow (which I dont take notice of) is on a lot more often. The benefit of having an accurate speedo isnt worth it.

See if you can find some premium contact tyres for $140, because that is what I'm comparing to. I do agree with the grip/life/price to some degree but I dont think it has to be directly proportional. I'm more than happy with grip and price. Time will tell how the mileage goes.

[JustCruisn]

So you fuel economy has gone out the window ? You might end up paying more in fuel than you saved on the tyre. Its good to try something new. I though the Kumho tyres that came on my Tempe wheels would be crap, I was wrong. 45,000km life and I'm on my 3rd set, I really rate them.

See how long they last, watch the fuel, pay attention to the noise. Then review at 5,000km and again at 40,000km. New tyres regardless of brand will appear better than the worn old ones that they replaced.

[brad]

I actually expected more negative comments than this. Wondering how hard it is to be negative about something you havent tried (I assume). If anyone can find some evidence that the tyres are unsafe I'd like to see it, I'd consider taking them off. One measure of quality is how easy they are to balance. Well it may surprise you that I have less balance weight on the wheel than I had before. Surprised me.

I can be negative because I've sold plenty of crappy tyres in my life and have tested them and found that in the majority of cases cheap no-name tyres don't perform as well as more expensive tyres. Like so many things in life, you get what you pay for.

Also, I didn't say they were unsafe. I implied that there will be a kpi that they won't achieve.

There was a time when I was driving 10-20 different cars a day and you'd corner or brake & think "what a bucket of puss" only to look at the tyres afterwards & realise they were cheapies.

Found myself in the middle of a storm this afternoon and the tyres never had a problem with the water streaming across the freeway. So I can tick wet/dry/price boxes.

Excellent. Hopefully this will continue right through the ownership experience. I think wet weather performance in our often bucketing down Sydney basin weather is of paramount importance. Todays storm was epic - hope you weren't caught in the hail.

I wouldn't get the 45 series again. For such a small difference in height it seems to mess with the gearing a lot. Cant go up Mt Ousley in top anymore, and dropping back to 5th doesnt seem to get me back up to speed like it used to. And the stupid upshift arrow (which I dont take notice of) is on a lot more often. The benefit of having an accurate speedo isnt worth it.

Theoretically you've added about 23mm (3.5%) onto the diameter but as a direct comparison of new tyre to new tyre you may have added more depending on the manufacturing tolerances (the Conti might be at the lower limits & the Goodride at the upper limits. Add the fact that your Contis were down near the wear bars and you've effectively added 35mm (6%) to the tyre diameter without taking into account case size differences. It's no wonder it feels like your gearing is a bit high.

You do realise that at the moment you are possibly contravening NSW RMS VIS-09 for tyres?

The outside diameter of the wheel and tyre combination must be no more than 15mm over the largest diameter
wheel and tyre combination specified for the vehicle

I run +25 myself so it's no big deal for me but it might not suit your risk profile.

The reason why the DTE and your economy appears worse is because you've altered the apparent odometer reading. Even if your actual consumption is totally unchanged the fuel consumption will read worse. In reality, you might actually be getting better economy.

I assume you use 98ron so that the timing isn't being pulled back going up Ousley?

See if you can find some premium contact tyres for $140, because that is what I'm comparing to. I do agree with the grip/life/price to some degree but I dont think it has to be directly proportional. I'm more than happy with grip and price. Time will tell how the mileage goes.

No I can't find Premium Contact 2 for $140.
You said:

4 of them fitted and balanced for less than the cost of one Conti

which left the choices open and I supplied a price for a ContiMaxContact5 (as I stated) at a local Sydney supplier fitted/balanced/valve/disposal for $140. They had 8 in stock on Friday but have sold them all during the weekend.

[amazeer]

Yeah I know about the legalities. If I get questioned about it I'll plead ignorance/insanity/triviality if thats a word.

its only the MFD range that is affected. There's a theoretical possibility I guess that it will be slightly better with the small reduction in rpm on cruise. It wouldn't be an issue except that I have recorded every litre of fuel that has gone into the car and now it wont be an equal comparison. I use 95RON. I used 98 exclusively up until April. Switched to 95 and couldn't tell the difference in power or range so stayed there. But thats a debate for another forum.