Lo good people and drivers of the world
I'm running a 15 year old 2004 Skoda Octavia 130bhp and before that the 20 year old shaggy 1998 Polo 1.4
Plus my family has a 2011 Subaru Forester and before that a 2007 Civic 2.2 DTI
Before those I was driving an 05 Saab 150 TiD, and for a while we owned a 1990 Civic 1.6 VTEC Del Sol on Winter tyres!
And what I have been doing is running the CHEAPEST CHOICE ALL SEASON TYRES that I can possibly find.
Now I'm not here to tell you to buy cheap tyres - in fact I'd suggest you don't tbh. As you will see the risks are .. variable! But I'm happy enough on these cheapies, doing 22k miles per year in al weathers, 50% motorway, 50% country lanes.
I buy nearly all of them online and have a friend fit and balance them, and over the years I have come across some real surprises, good and bad
Now a Subaru Forester is a very very different car for tyre wear to a front wheel drive scrabble wagon and it shows in tyre wear. That Subaru is big and heavy, with a lot of grip and tyres last really well.
I change all tyres in pairs on the same axle and keep the Sub front and rear axle dimilar tread depth, though not always same brand.
I tend to put new ones on the front, wear them to 4mm and then put new on the front and the 4m to the rear. Nothing goes below 2.5mm in summer or 3mm in winter
Here's the list and the surpises:
Kleber Quadraxer - my all round favourite, but steadily becoming more expensive as their popularity grows. Good tyre wear and good grip in snow, great on gravelly roads and quite acceptable all year round. Had them on Saab and Civic and they rock
Kumho SOLUS VIER KH21 - no where near as good but still acceptable and better value. Not much use with larger BHP
Mastersteel All Weather 225/55 17s - there are still on the Subaru and are great all round... BUT I list the size on this because.... read on
Mastersteel All Weather 205/55 16 - on the Skoda - the worst pair of ditch finders I have ever had the missfortune of having to drive
I shall expand - I had them fitted to the rear of my Skoda and on the way home, in mild rain I had 2 sideways, omne substantial... I moved them to the front, turned off traction control and roughed them up which helped a tad and then drove them for 13,000 miles, They are stilll the worst tyres I have ever had and while looking just like the 1" largers ones on the Subaru, are so bad I would never let my wife drive it. They are gone now. Never ever again. I'd not trust that brand now as I think they got popular and changed compound.
Ling Long Green Max All Season - on the Skoda, excellent in every respect except that they start quite shallow when new, so maybe the factory saves money by using less rubber. However, utterly dependable in all seasons
Good Ride SW608 Winter tyres - these are awesome on the Subaru and not bad in mud either! They have lasted over 30,000 miles in all seasons even though they are close to the end now, I love these. Hard to get in the right size though
now because those Goodrides are so good I then chose
Goodride SW602 All Seasons for the Skoda and they are brilliant. I have no idea about tyre wear yet as they are new on last week but at £40 each for 16" delivered, I ordered another 2 yesterday for when the Ling Longs are down.
Fate Antartika's which were on the VTEC 8000rpm missile and even in Summer they were progressive and smooth to break way. Fate are, again another value steady brand
So, there you have it - lots and lots lots of miles (well over 100,000 between Saab, Civic, Polo, Forester, Octavia) on mid... to cheap..... to ultra budget tyres and so far only 1 really bad cock up WHICH should not have been bad as the previous were so good (and still are)
Now I know many of you spend lots of money on tyres and do you know what? I agree.... it's a good thing to justify, because they are the only 4 things touching the road. But budgets are budgets and my cars are all maintained heavily, with constant fettling. And I have saved a lot of money with tyres that millions of people across Europe trust in snow and ice. And on the whole.. they're right to do so!