Seeing a theme premium oil cheap tires

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mco30mco

Joined
May 22, 2021
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119
Location
Michigan
Just found this interesting. There are many threads on this tire section asking about thoughts on off brand tires and even used tires. Most everyone is also into the best Possible oil.
Tires are the only thing between you and the pavement that touch the road. Most off brand tires take many many more feet to stop than the best in class tires. That’s more important than hths crank main bearing wear correlation.
Maybe we should use the cheapest oil and never change the oil filter an we could save money on tires since the car will die when the tires wear out.
A little sarcasm
 
I have foreign made LT tires on my truck that are approaching 10 years old and they perform just fine.
It turns out other people on the planet can make a quality product. Imagine that.
 
The OP’s premise is wrong. Most on BITOG are shopping for the best oil at the best price. You’ll find plenty of enthusiasm for Supertech, Basics, Kirkland, regular QS full syn, valvoline plain, Castrol GTX, Pennzoil among many other high quality oils at good prices. You’ll find posts where I outline my assertion that for regular folks, the bogey is to acquire the oil and filter for less than $30.

Tires are a little different, and the big question, or one
of the bigger questions, concerns willingness to save a ton by going with lower priced Chinese tires. Most on BITOG are careful consumers who work for a living and know the value of a dollar. Most are also concerned about safety.

It is certain that folks here spend a lot of time, maybe too much, weighing oil and tire purchases.
 
Do whatever you are comfortable with.

For me, 100% of the cars on the road this morning were on used tires... 100% of the vehicles over 5 tons have much worse performance than the average car on average tires.
Yet I didn't see any accidents?
How you drive, pay attention, adjust speed for changing conditions and situations, is a much much bigger factor than 20% shorter stopping distance.

If you are serious about being on "good tires" for the conditions, you need to be on AA traction high performance tires in the summer, switch to all-seasons for spring and fall, and get new winter tires every winter. Almost no one does this as the cost/time to risk reduction ratio is pretty large.
 
I definitely don’t cheap out on either my oil or my tires, but I shop wisely and get good deals that allows me to use higher quality tires and oil without spending too much.

I have Nokian WRG5s on my Civic and Continental DWS06+ on the Vette, those aren’t too expensive but they are in the category of better quality tires for sure.
 
Decades ago, my now deceased father used to buy one cheap tire at a time for his "commuter car". And he was so cheap, he would mount them himself in his driveway, so as to not pay the tire shop for this job. He would often be driving on four different brands of tires in four states of wear. At least he got the nominal size of all four tires the same.
I remember, in the mid 1960s, he bought an "Able Label" tire at a R&S store. To save storage space, the tire was tightly wrapped and folded on itself. It looked more like a mummy wrapped washer than a tire. When you took the wrapping off, it slowly returned to tire shape. He paid $8 for this tire at the time.
For motor oil, he would go down to a Chevron motor oil distributor, and buy a 24 quart case of diesel truck 30 weight oil. He would pay about $6 for the case.
He was "morbidly thrifty".
 
TomYoung said:
...Supertech, Basics, Kirkland, regular QS full syn, valvoline plain, Castrol GTX, Pennzoil among many other high quality oils at good prices...
Click to expand...

You lost me there. Common API oils, with their weak standards and brands in a race to the bottom, aren't what I would call "high quality." If 15% Noack and 50 ml of foam is your standard for high quality, then what do you consider low quality?
 
I don't know what 'specifically' qualifies as "off brand". That said, I've purchased for myself or helped enable multiple purchases for family and friends of Tireco tires. Specifically purchased Milestar and Nankang, all from DT. Never have I felt unsafe or believed I put others in danger. Beyond that the tires performed well during their useful life. In the case of the Nankang where they didn't meet the rated tread life for a family member, DT gave a very fair proration towards a new set of Milestar MS932 tires. Then helped an elderly neighbor purchase same MS932 tires. Both of those sets, still in service on a Rogue and a Civic. And a set of Milestar AS710 which happen to be made in US, in service on my 7th gen Accord.

As for the comparison to buying/using oil, at the least seems a real stretch. More appropriate imo, a poor one. And, I don't put buying "used tires" in the same category as buying new tires similar to/same as those previously mentioned. I'm fortunate enough that I don't have to consider that as a tire purchase option.
 
Sayjac said:
I don't know what 'specifically' qualifies as "off brand". That said, I've purchased for myself or helped enable multiple purchases for family and friends of Tireco tires. Specifically purchased Milestar and Nankang, all from DT. Never have I felt unsafe or believed I put others in danger. Beyond that the tires performed well during their useful life. In the case of the Nankang where they didn't meet the rated tread life for a family member, DT gave a very fair proration towards a new set of Milestar MS932 tires. Then helped an elderly neighbor purchase same MS932 tires. Both of those sets, still in service on a Rogue and a Civic. And a set of Milestar AS710 which happen to be made in US, in service on my 7th gen Accord.

As for the comparison to buying/using oil, at the least seems a real stretch. More appropriate imo, a poor one. And, I don't put buying "used tires" in the same category as buying new tires similar to/same as those previously mentioned. I'm fortunate enough that I don't have to consider that as a tire purchase option.
Click to expand...
Well to put things in perspective. As someone above in the comments my father also would only buy one lowest priced tire at a time as they went bad in the old days. Had cracked old truck tires and 20 year old tires on the boat trailer. I will say all those vehicles handled like crap and prolly we’re not very safe. They did get us to the destination 98 percent of the time. I learned what not to do. When friends or family need tires they always come to me and I make sure they get the good stuff. Years ago when I bought a brand new boat (boats cost too much-it’s gone) I had the trailer rated tires replaced with Kevlar good year e rated tires. Much safer and handled 100 times better. Till this day when I buy a brand new car I trade the oem crap tires in to put safer better handling stopping tires on.
Year ago on a brand new focus I switched to Michelin pilot sport all season tires and in the first week I thank those tires for saving my wife and I life. A truck in front of us was not paying attention and swerved at the last minute no brakes no warning at all. They were swerving to avoid a stalled semi truck that we were unaware of since we could not see through their truck. Needless to say young quick reflexes at about 60 miles an hour and AA traction tires and lots of luck prolly saved our lives cause a focus at 60 miles an hour running into the back of a stopped semi truck would not have worked out to well. I was also a motorcyclist and you would never find one of them looking for cheap Chinese tires. If a friend needs a cheaper set I would prolly say a few bfgoodrich or generals or something in that class. Never knock off foreign tires. They are always built with fewer layers in the construction and generally inferior materials. I’m not talking about pirellis made in Brazil or anything. I’m talking about these bottom basement brands that sell for next to nothing. Friends don’t let friends drive on inferior rubber.
 
Dad's girlfriend has a 2011 Town and Country that they keep around as a second vehicle. It has nearly 200,000 miles on it, and is worth about $2000. It needed a set of tires in the worst way, and they asked me for my opinion.

There's a reason why Wal-Mart offers the lower priced "Douglas Touring" line of tires... and this vehicle is it. There's no reason to put a set of Michelins or Continentals on a vehicle like this, that will end up costing nearly 50% of the value of the vehicle.

For less than $400 out the door, they ended up with a set of safe, affordable (and made in the US) tires for an older higher mileage vehicle, that might outlast the vehicle at this point.
 
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My father is exactly opposite. He will extend oil changes till he feels like it and buy the cheapest oil and filter he can find. He may not be the cheapest man on the planet, but he's working towards that goal. But tires and brakes are always top brands, matching, and in very good condition at all times.
 
crashz said:
My father is exactly opposite. He will extend oil changes till he feels like it and buy the cheapest oil and filter he can find. He may not be the cheapest man on the planet, but he's working towards that goal. But tires and brakes are always top brands, matching, and in very good condition at all times.
Click to expand...
that’s a much safer way to be for the family and everyone on the road.
Much better than running Amsoil with Nanking tires👍
 
Just to drill down on previous listed Tireco tires, ALL are A rated both temperature and traction. For true comparison, identical rating to the Michelin MXV4 Primacy I have on another Honda vehicle. Those made in Canada. Fwiw, the Nankang were made in Taiwan, MS932 tires made in Vietnam. So I'm very relieved to know none of them are "cheap Chinese tires." I'll now rest easy. 😀
 
Not here. Vehicles are running Bridgestone (OEM), Pirelli, Michelin and the truck has Uniroyal.
I had two choices for the truck, Uniroyal or some no name. Hard to buy anything 225 70 R15 these days.
Oil wise, the Hondas are running Castrol, the Mustang is running Pennzoil, and the truck is running Valvoline.
The Castrol was chosen because that is what my independent Honda mechanic uses. The other choices were determined by the sale ad or the clearance rack.
All name brand, appropriate choices.
 
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