Tyre Question

B

Bernie

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I have been offered Sumo Firenza tyres at R890 a tyre. 205x50x17.

I havent heard of this brand before, what are they like. This is for a Mazda 5, no racing around just a family drive around car.

Does the price sound reasonable. The only other option I had was Continentals as R1800 per tyre - thats just way out of my price range.

I cant get Dunlops, I have to wait for these to be ordered.

I'm just a bit worried about getting a brand that is not common, well not common to me.


Thanks
B.
 
if you want crappy tires, go for it, but Dunlops are just as bad.

try some Nankangs, they are 'decent' tires.
 
CaTcH21 said:
if you want crappy tires, go for it, but Dunlops are just as bad.

try some Nankangs, they are 'decent' tires.
Click to expand...

Nankangs are not bad. For continentals don't but it from the Continental Dealership, they charge too much, rather check other tyre/mag shops as they are sometimes cheaper than the dealers.
 
I have always been a Bridgestone man.

One day I bought four India something tyres........ They where brilliant. No name doesn't mean it's crap. New maybe but not crap by default. At that price, what do you have to lose ?
 
Pitbull said:
I have always been a Bridgestone man.

One day I bought four India something tyres........ They where brilliant. No name doesn't mean it's crap. New maybe but not crap by default. At that price, what do you have to lose ?
Click to expand...

Agreed... if the tyre is cheaper than some popular name brand, then it doesn't mean they are cr@p... my focus got 225/40 R18 wheels, they average from around R2400 - R3300 per tyre for "name brands" (ie R9600 - R13200 per set).

Currently I'm running with a "cheap" tyre and they are giving they same amount of driving pleasure and very good grip plus they cost R890 per tyre.

Just because we don't know the name that well, doesn't mean it's crap tyres, I did some research on some of these "cheap" tyres, and sometimes a lot of them get better review ratings than the name brands...
 
Firestones are also generally very good cheapish tyres and alteast a proper brand.
India is made by 1 of the big company' if i remember correctly.

Dunlops are really bad and unsafe especially on a big car, they came std on the 2003 camry and if it felt a bit of mist they wanted to run away.
 
I just got tyres for our Corsa Utility, and since I am planning on selling it around the end of the year, I didn't want to spend a fortune on tyres. I eventually went with a brand called "Achilles", which is imported and supported by Yokohama. I don't know whether they do the size you are looking for, but I was pleasantly surprised with the price and performance.

They seem to be getting popular, and a couple places are starting to sell them. They have a decent looking tread pattern, and are directional. I haven't tried them in the wet yet though, but don't believe there would be any problems.
Might be worth looking into for you car.

I fitted four 185/65/14 "Achilles Platinum" for R380 each, which was alot better than the R500 odd for Dunlops... figured they can't be worse than Dunlop :D

EDIT:
Just found a link. I see they don't do a 205/50/17 like you are looking for, but they do a couple 205/45/17. Shouldn't affect the speedo too much.
http://www.yhicorp.com/tyre/tyre-achillies.php
 
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Sumo is used on some korean cars.
India = Firestone
I just got some Barums' for my old Camry as Conit stopped making the size my rim takes and they are not at all bad. They are produced in the conti factory.
 
Have a look at the Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE001.
They are much better priced than the Potenza GIII that is being phased out.
For price and product - this is not a bad option IMO - 205/55 15 inch - R950
I had cheaper Yoki's A539's and they were not worth the hassle.
 
Gunny said:
Sumo is used on some korean cars.
India = Firestone
I just got some Barums' for my old Camry as Conit stopped making the size my rim takes and they are not at all bad. They are produced in the conti factory.
Click to expand...

mmmm nope India = Dunlop
 
CaTcH21 said:
I loved the ride the A539's gave me on my VR6, way better than the Pirelli P-Zero Nero's i had.
Click to expand...


I found that they slipped alot in wet weather. Also the rubber compound is alot softer than the other brands hence quicker wear and tear.
 
My nankangs are far better than the bridgestones i had and about half the price
 
I buy Dunlop. It's a cheap tire and if you have kuk with it, there are a whole number of accredited dealers around whom I've never had trouble with. They even swapped my 17,000KM used Dunlop's for brand new ones to sort a vibration I had on the steering.
 
after lots of investigating and getting opinions from people who've driven them for 20000km's plus, I bought a set of Achilles (out of Yoko's factory) 225/40/18's today.

R800.00 each!!!!!!

The closest 'big name' tyre to that was the Yoko advans at R2400.00 each or the Bridgestone Potenza's at R3000.00 each.
 
Firenza Tyres are very good i have used them for 3 Years with no problems and the price is very reasonable
 
Give Malas in Pretoria a buzz 012 357 7700 got a spare GT 205-55-16 for R550.00 After

some dick used a brick for a handbrake and left it on the road, destroyed front left, tyre

only had 700km on it. GRRRRRR i could murder the dumb fuscks who left it there, no

doubt one of our highly educated brethren. (Julius u there)
 
Yeah, def.. I have Dunlops on my Merc and they're great.... wet or dry...
 
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