Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009 at 15:05
Safest
Best road grip
Longest lasting
Resistance to punctures
Handling in the wet
Availability
They are the last thing holding you on the road/track etc. Not your wallet.
I actually didn't address any of those issues.
They are just excuses to continue to ignore the cost effectiveness criteria I addressed and keep buying your "favorite brand" because you've been advertising indoctrinated and don't know any better (or how to think for yourself).
I'd defy anyone here, who isn't in some way involved in tyre manufacturing industry, to actually KNOW, (without extensive unbiased testing of the Choice magazine variety) Which tyres are going to be:_
Safest
Best Grip
Longest lasting
Puncture Resistant
Wet Handling
Availability
Grip/versus wallet
Look at availability?
What influences this?
Is it what the wholesaler sells him that determines what a tyre retailer stocks?
YES
Is it what cash rebates the wholesaler gives him at the end of the monthh that influences the retailer?
YES
Is it what sells the best and turns over quick
Yes
Is it what has the best MARGIN in it for the retailer
Yes
Is it whats advertised most, and as a result is overpriced and undervalued?
No
Is it the most expensive tyre that when the idiot purchaser stakes the sidewall is gonna come back crying about his expensive tyre and want a new one free because it cost so much and NOT because he was an idiot and ran it over some reoh bar at the worksite and tore out the sidewall?
No.
These are all at best a subjective guess.
I could pretty much BET that the respondents above when they buy a car (whether new or second hand) and it has new rubber on it - as they all do these days - that they don't race off to the tyre
shop - to sell (give away) those new tyres to the tyre
shop and pay top dollar for their favorite brand for the reasons stated Safety etc etc etc those points listed.
No - you drive on what it came with till their work out THEN you go pay top dollar for whatever the adverts induced you to believe and thus justify spending $ on.
You don;t do any testing etc of your own - you reply on the adverts.
Yopu MIGHT have hada good run out of a p[articular brand set of tyres in the past BUTare the new ones (out of their new chinese factory) as good as the old ones out of their Korean Factory? You tested independently to know this?
Crapola is what was just posted.
I noticed an attempt even to paint the best c/km tyres as the "cheapest" (hence nastiest) when often that's FAR from the case, with the MOSt expensive (best) being allso the most cost effective..
Lets look just at longevity...versus expense.
The rubber compounds harness and tread depth are what influences longevity - and this costs $ to produce.
Little known fact - tyre rubber compound hardens with age, the best way to get hard rubber and best mileage is to wharehouse the tyres for at least a year - 2 would be better.
That costs $, some of the most expensive (i.e. slow turnover) get warehoused a LOT longer than others that were dripping out of a tree 3 weeks before you put them opm your sled.
It costs$ to warehouse harden rubber - someone has to pay for that store-age - the manufacturer has to get paid for making them - so there's lost interest on the $ purchase cost from the manufacturer, while they sit in a dark storeroom/shipping container somewhere being wholesaled before they go out to the dealer to sell to you.
Quick turnover is what it's all about - time is money and soft tyres grip way better than hard ones -but wear out twice as fast.
Everyone in the game wants fast turnover - the tyres in warehousing a week at most before they are out to the dealer and on your car!
Hence regardless of the brand - you get softer tyre rubber compound these days that we, used too in the old days when the retailer had stock on the shelf maybe up to a year before someone came in wanting that exact tyre set.
"Time's money" as the saying goes.
The most expensive tyre might be the one that is harder because someone paid to warehouse it long enough to harden to compound for you to get good mileage.
Tread Depth also helps longevity IF the compounds hard, BUT it is noisier.
All the other design construction and materials (steel belts etc) have an impact on puncture resistance handling and so on. Tread type influences wet handling and so on.
The very best tyre for c/km might be the most expensive with the deepest tread hardest compound and most steel belts so on IF it gets sufficient more KM's than it's cheaper rivals, when it comes to C/km.
It also might be the best grip, handling, noise, quickest stopping, best wet handling, and so on....
"Cheapest c/km operational cost doesn't necessarily stop a trye excelling in ALL the areas stated as reasons NOT to consider operational costs as a valid part of the whole evaluation process - something most of us have never done.
Transport (trucking) fleets do consider operational costs c'km within their purchase equation for tyres - i have a couple mates who wholesale tyres to trucking fleets & contract fit them etc, and they often (nearly always) fit some of the most expensive tyres on the market - to the trucks purely because purchase cost isn't the consideration - c/km operational costs are (assuming all the other factors are equal (safety tread stopping handling etc etc etc)
There are different tyres go on the steering
wheels (sometimes up to 4 steering
wheels) to the motive
wheels which are different again to the trailer (un-driven & non steering)
wheels.
For trucks and buses etc it's a much different equation with all those aspects taken into consideration.
Its all about staying competitive and in business, and if the trucks off the road due to tyre issues (for example if they don;t handle or stop and the driver refuses to drive on them) everyone's losing $ - the freight co - the driver and the contract fitter who fitted them and now has to remove them and refit something else and the wholesaler who supplied them etc etc.
These guys are professionals at what they do, keep the fleet shod with product that meets the client needs,and keep the
wheels turning with a minimum fuss, that's how they keep their lucrative contracts!
Something they consider is cost per Km in the equation.
If the pros consider all these things and we don't then in tyre selection stakes - we are but amateurs - influenced by tyre co advertising and nothing else.
There are plenty people out there just like you if you fall into that category.
After some coaching from the pros - I've learned to be a little more professional in my approach,
my home fleet runs 22 tyres, and the cost savings have been great so far, and we have zero tyres issues - no flats etc and great wear (longevity) features, and we pay a fair price for our tyres.
We as a rule don't run around with a lot of the highly advertised brand name tyres - because a LOT of what we would be paying for is those companies saturated advertising budgets - I'd sooner put those $ into harder compound warehoused tyres, that get better mileage etc and where all the other issues also stack up.
I just get tired of a lot of the less informed responses sometimes on inane subjects like tyres selection.
We might as
well post "what fotty team do you barrack for and do a count to see who's the best team based on the responses and barracking noise level...because that's the level of info in most tyre thread responses.
I'm suggesting maybe we should have some criteria - like the pros do, for assessing and making recommendations about tyres, in our threads and have introduced just that concept to much ranting and raving!
Maybe some just aren't ready yet to talk intelligently about tyres and as I already posted some tyre co's aren't interested the unnecessarily steep advertising costs games, required to in those type clients, (the ones who shout/barrack the loudest for their pet brand).
They just want to deal with the pros, who know a good tyre when they see it & don't need as much again as that tyre costs to make added to the cost again, to pay for saturated Saturday football TV advertising. Generally speaking they don;t sponsor racing teams either in these tight times - something again I don't want t pay for.
To each his own.
Cheers
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