For reference, the Michelin TRXs on my Mondial were made in Serbia. Would it make a difference if they were made in China? No. What if they were Chinese copies? Yes. Get it Klink? Image Unavailable, Please Login
They said that when I looked,phoned Stuckeys and Tempe and none there,that's when I contacted Longstone. Same as the diff debacle,both GTO and Superformance list the CW&P but nil stock.
I think you need to cast your mind back to the 60s when Japanese cars first appeared in Australia - there was a VERY loud contingent of people who were 'never going to buy Jap crap'... It took quite a long time for the average buyer to realise they were way better than the Holden/Ford/US alternatives.
You need to differentiate between 'local' Chinese factories and those which are actually OWNED AND OVERSEEN by foreign companies. Pirelli for example have Italian quality control staff onsite in China at all times (I know because I met one of them on a flight in China). I doubt there is actually much difference between the Euro and China made tyres (except perhaps the profit Pirelli makes ). There is also a whole industry of Euro certified quality controllers working on a consultancy basis in China. You can get anything made to what ever standard you want - IF you're willing to pay. I have had custom work for 5star hotel interiors made in China to a standard we can only dream of in Australia. What you see in the $2 shops is just the tat that people demand for a minimum price.
Thank you, that is exactly the point that was being made. Simon’s “how would you know what happens behind closed doors comment” was not based on fact. There is a HUGE difference between Pirelli made in China vs Chinese brand copies. The latter bought by QLDERS being “tat that people demand for a minimum price”
Unless under other countries' control ANY other product produced in CHINAH is RUBBISH, remember these are people that eat dogs !
Well, I've had my first back-to-back drive. The Michies are noisy! But he compound is definitely stickier than the Chinese ones. That said, the Michies are new, and the Chinese ones are a few thousand K's old. I'll wait for rain.
I'm carefully pottering around in the new one, so no idea. Once I get some PPF on the front and a few more miles under it, I'll flog them both up my favourite mountain twisties and see.
I used to be involved in tyre testing back in the day of the tyre shop. We'd head off to Phillip Island with usually a current 911 of some description and truck full of the sizes appropriate to the vehicle. And a professional driver. I recall Kumho had not long introduced their KU19 and they were pushing hard to get into the aftermarket performance car market. We pitched that against the Pirelli P-Zero Rosso, Continental Sport Contact, Michelin Pilot Sport and a Yokohama of some description. Then the stop watch came out. The Kumho was about 0.7 second slower than all the Porsche approved tyres. Not much, but it had less grip. It actually felt OK on the car IMO however wet braking was considerably longer than the Porsche approved tyres. Something like 3m extra from a 100 km/h stop. They were under half the price of the others however. Is that important? The engineer explained to me that whilst these Kumhos were acceptable new, you'd have to change them when they were half way through their life. The reason is these cheap Chinese, Indonesian and South Korean tyres suffer from the compound going hard after three years. Of course all tyres should be changed at six, but he explained after three years these tyres were unsafe. The traditional performance manufacturers did not suffer from this issue. Coupled with a high TWI like 250 to 300, against the manufacturer approved tyres of 140 to 160, you can see these cheaper compounds are simply not appropriate for a performance car. Moving on to your classic, bang on all day about how awesome it was you saved money over the correct tyre, and that you're smarter than everyone else. The fact remains your tyre choice was made simply on price. You have no data to back up your outrageous claims except the cobwebs still in your Rabbi wallet. Had your Wing Wong Red Star Chop Suey compound been the same price as an XWX, you would never have bought them. Alf Costanzo did a 1:59 in my 308 at Phillip Island on a new set of XWX tyres however he was almost 3 seconds a lap slower on a set of cheapies. The TWI is 100 on the XWX, it was 400 on the cheapies (I think they were Maxxis).That's a huge difference. You think about that next time a truck pulls out in front of you. You owe it to yourself, your family and other road users to simply equip your vehicle to be appropriately safe on the road. I still test tyres, now only the classic range for the vehicles I'm into and maintain, I can assure you, nothing has changed.
I use the Pirelli CN72 in the factory correct size, 205 R 15: https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/205-15/205vr15-pirelli-cinturato-cn72.html As you know the S/S has been subjected to a fair bit of suspension development and that was the most appropriate tyre due to it's low TWI. Had it not been available, I would have fitted the AVON Turbosteel: https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/tyres/205-15/205r15-avon-turbosteel.html When I bought the S/S it had cheap rubbish fitted, and drove as such. It would lock the front wheels easily in a hard stop.
Not me ,I always put the best tires on my cars . Corniche Avons as per the factory Silver Cloud 111 Avons as per the period book (cross-ply) The E=type Avons for years Macan -Michelins .
15k car and they were on the car when I bought it and have serviced it well,I don't drive that car quick due to its age and oil consumption if pushed. If i was to spend the money on tires for the t Series it would be Avon Cross-plys as per original fitment
