With budget tyres getting ever closer to premiums in raw performance, we take a look at how a cheap set of tyres can alter the subjective balance and behaviour of a powerful car like the Mercedes C63 AMG.
The tyres on test? The extremely well regarded Continental Sport Contact 6, and the "rather good for a budget" Rotalla RU01 S-Pace.
Watch the video of the test, or read below for our what we found.
Braking
As promised, the Rotalla budget tyre wasn't a million miles away from the performance of the Continental during wet and dry braking tests, differing by just one EU label wet braking score (A vs B). Even with this small overall different in stopping distances, the residual speed of the budget tyre was still high , at the point the premium tyre would have safely stopped the car, you'd still be doing 20 km/h on the budget tyre.
| Avg Distance (m) | Premium | Budget |
| Wet (80-0 km/h) | 26.5 | 27.6 |
| Dry (100-0 km/h) | 33.7 | 35.4 |
How has the budget tyre managed to get so close to the premium? While we didn't get the chance to do extensive wear testing, the shore hardness of the rubber, which was much softer than the Continentals, is a good tell. Softer rubber generally means more grip, especially in the wet, but at the expensive of wear. This theory was almost certainly confirmed during the "camera driving" at the end of the proper test, which resulted in the budget tyre tearing into chunks and appearing to wear much more quickly than the premium.
Wet Handling
When testing the premium vs budget tyre in the wet, the gap was again around 5%, which is impressive.
What the 5% doesn't tell you, is just how difficult the car was to drive quickly. Where the Continental was balanced, predictable and fun, the budget Rotalla was unpredictable, had huge amounts of understeer, yet would snap into oversteer unexpectedly. It also provided much less feedback and precision through the steering wheel, meaning even when you weren't sliding, you were second guessing where the limit was, and when you'd start to slide.
Dry Handling
As with most tyre testing, we found the gap between the tyres closer in the dry than in the wet. The grip on the budget was largely there, and objectively the budget once again finished just 5% down on the premium.
As we found in the wet, the Mercedes had a more controllable and predictable balance on the premium Continental, but the gap was closer. If you tried to push to a second lap, the budget tyre became noticeably slower, with the feedback and controllability of the tyre dropping further.
Wear
Unfortunately we didn't have the time to do objective wear testing, however after the testing program the budget tyres looked distinctly worse for wear. Where the Continentals tyres had worn evenly and smoothly, the budget tyre had chunks of rubber missing throughout the tread. Admittedly, these tyres were treated in a way you never should on the road, but it highlights the softer nature of the cheaper option.
Purchase Price
No competition here, with a set of the budgets costing £329.76 VS a set of the premiums costing £613.84, even with the apparent wear disadvantage of the budget tyres they're still better value for money.
Conclusion
Are budget tyres getting better? If you just look at the numbers you'd be forgiven for assuming a tyre which stops within 5% of a tyre which costs 40% more is amazing value, but when you drive them side by side, you realise the extra effort premium manufacturers make when developing tyres, and the resulting all-encompassing ability.
Tyres, especially on performance cars, are so much more than just figures. They affect how the car is balanced, how the car reacts to inputs, and the enjoyment you get from driving. In this example, the premium tyre was leagues ahead.
One other thing to keep in mind is not all budget tyres are created equally. These were exceptional budget tyres, usually the gap in tests such as wet braking is over 15%, not just 5%.
Interesting video. As a self-confessed tyre geek and garage owner (who spent three days at Michelin learning just about everything you can about tyres) I'm just about to embark on my own similar test.
I've been running my (tuned) Golf R Estate on CSC6 for the last 10k summer miles (TS850P in the winter) and find them an utterly brilliant tyre. Recently however I put some Nankang NS-2R track tyres on my Megane R26.R (as sadly Conti have stopped making the Force Contact) and have to say they really surprised me at Brands Hatch. Not ultimately as good as the CFC, but given the price point they held their own (not withstanding the fact it sounds like all four of your wheel bearings have failed when running on the road).
On that basis I thought it was only fair to try a set of their UHP road tyres on the Golf - so next week we're fitting a set of Nankang AS-2+ to see how they are. I'm not expecting them to be anywhere as near as good as the CSC6 - but I feel I have to try them so I can advise clients correctly. It's all too easy to say something's rubbish when you've never actually tried them yourself. Given for years I've told clients I wouldn't even fit cheap tyres to my wheelbarrow I'm going to potentially have to eat a large chunk of humble pie if they're actually 'OK'...
I look forward to your results :)
Well they've been on for a week and they're coming off already. Never before have I experienced a tyre that has changed the characteristics of a car so much (for the worse).
To start with they weigh a ton which was never going to be a good start. They make the car feel like I’ve fitted run flats. But the real change is in the precision and feedback from the steering which has just vanished. Turn in is vague. The accuracy around the straight ahead is woolly at best and as you increase steering angle they weight up hideously. All confidence in the front end has gone and I'm going round corners noticeably slower than I was on the Contis as I simply haven't got a clue/don't trust what's going on underneath me.
Add to that every tiny imperfection in the road is transmitted to the cabin making for a less comfortable and more fidgety ride. Some people will say that's feedback, but premium tyres somehow seem to give you what you need and filter out the rest. These just send absolutely everything to the steering wheel and your backside.
I haven’t even driven them in the rain. I can’t be bothered to wait for some. They’ve ruined a brilliant car and on that basis alone they're coming off.
Are they dangerous? I wouldn't go that far. If you have no interest in driving and only ever buy budget tyres then you're not going to notice their dynamic shortcomings. Nankang should also be applauded on their Road Hazard Lifetime Tyre Warranty where they'll replace the tyre on a sliding discount scale (excluding fitting and disposal) dependent on how much tread is left on your non-repairable tyre. However for anybody that possesses sensory receptors in their fingers and backside, these are going to fall a long way short; which is a shame because their track tyres are excellent in my opinion.
Now all I've got to decide is whether to refit the Contis or give the new Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport a go? Or do I try the PZ4? Mmm...decisions decisions...
If feedback and dynamics is important to you, I'd avoid the PZ4, and as the new F1 SuperSport is the newest tyre to market, that's where my money would go!
Well that was easy - four ordered! Now to see how they stack up against the CSC6. Jeez I'm such a geek!
I look forward to your thoughts again, I think you'll be impressed :)
buy the best tyres you can afford simple as that, i have just bought a corsa 1.2 it has sailun tyres on back dealer fitted them, bf goodrich winter on front, but the sailun be getting replaced in the next 3/4 months with either michelin/goodyear/ dunlop or pirelli or if money is a bit tight yokohama / avon or falkens as the fronts will be getting replaced in the next 2 months with one of the said brands
My BMW 116i came with Rotalla's fitted. You had to switch off the stability control or anything more than gentle cornering would send you heading towards the grass verge. The car also lacked stability in the turns when pushing on with the stability off.
When messing around (no stability control on) although I could control slides pushing hard around roundabouts in the dry caused tearing on the edges of the tires. After a few miles I threw tem in the bin and replaced with some old Kumo Ecsta's (in the shed from old car) on the rear and new Hankook Ventus Prime 3's on the front.
Now the stability control lets you corner as fast as you dare and keeps the wheels more or less in line. On roundabouts (wet or dry) I can flick the stability off and cruise around with the back kicked out a few inches under total control with no tearing on the front or rear tires where it was ripping both before.
For normal drivers the Rotallas would probably be ok but what is the point of a car that might be an excellent drive and killing it with rubbish tires? I'd use the Rotallas on a banger that I didn't drive too hard. They would definitely punish mistakes so may not be a good choice for the particularly unskilled. On a car with decent power they would probably be hopeless for making use of it.
I'd say the difference between the Rotalla's I had (they were pretty worn) and the tires I have now feels more like 30% overall. If I did brake tests etc the numbers would probably show around 10% at a guess. O-60 acceleration is down from around 11 seconds to about 10 seconds. Fuel consumption is worst though because I drive faster everywhere now.
These Rotellas were surprisingly good, as you've noticed the difference tends to be much larger in the smaller sizes!
I believe the AMG C63 was probably designed/optimized around tyres like the Continental Super Contact 6, so on a family runabout, the difference is probably even less.
In previous testing we've done on smaller tyre sizes on "normal" cars, the difference under tests such as wet braking have been far bigger. The Rotella was a surprisingly good budget tyre, at the expense of longevity.
I found out in my motorcycling days to my painful cost that it's not worth running on cheap tyres. Buy decent tyres if you want to stay on the road.
Exactly :)
I once had Ford Sierra V6 2.0 with performance Webber carburetor ~150kW and budget tires. In fact that car was given away to me. I had the same neserviruos car behavior in this review. Back when I though that was normal, well difficult to drive (same as in review), but I loved the car so much. Now I know why it was so difficult.
A great excuse to buy another one and put it on good tyres :)
one of your better efforts Jonathon - very enjoyable and enlightening
Thank you, much appreciated. It was fairly rushed as we lost a day testing to bad weather, but at least we got something :)
Maybe you should put some average Joe who doesnt have as much skill behind the wheel then see the difference...
What really bugs me personally is the people who own high end/performance cars that can afford to buy/insure/service/fuel them can also afford to fit proper tyres which dont bugger up the dynamics of the vehicle they have paid shedloads for and potentially prevent them and/or other people getting injured in an rta/rti, but instead fit cheap dairylea... I despair.
And sadly it's all too often the case with cars of this vintage (2012 model.) People stretch themselves to be able to afford their first performance car, and then have to run them on a budget as they're broke!