CHINESE TYRES vs BRAND NAME

[The_Hawk]

Good feedback.

Did you measure the tread depth? How much left on them?

That's probably the more important factor (although age is the other). I've got a set of tyres which have <20,000 on them and the rears look near new vs the front which aren't legal anymore... yes it's front wheel drive but it's also about how you drive it... (the answer to my situation is "on the track ")

[Lucas_R]

starting to experience wheelspin in the wet when putting too much throttle from a turn / wheels turned.

Where are you getting rain? I must go there. Hasnt rained here for about 7 weeks.

[amunra]

Where are you getting rain? I must go there. Hasnt rained in Newcastle for about 7 weeks.

we've been getting some a few hours south from sydney.. the animals and their feeders are desperately needing it !!



as for tread depth will have to have a look when i take the tyres off on next service which will be soon... they are still a fair bit away from the wear markers but the wheelspin has become really significant in the last 1000km but only when the steering wheel / wheels are turned and throttle given... gotta be careful at intersections when turning in the rain.


doesnt seem like any wheel spin from a standing start in the wet with a centred steering wheel / wheels with full throttle. ... in saying that.. im starting to take it easy with how i drive in the rain now , dont want to take any chances now that i know they arent as grippy as early - mid life.


will continue to see how they perform in the dry... still going well enough.. minimal traction loss here and there on gravelly / dusty roads but nothing major and still performing well on dry normal roads.

[tigger73]

as for tread depth will have to have a look when i take the tyres off on next service which will be soon... they are still a fair bit away from the wear markers but the wheelspin has become really significant in the last 1000km but only when the steering wheel / wheels are turned and throttle given... gotta be careful at intersections when turning in the rain.

doesnt seem like any wheel spin from a standing start in the wet with a centred steering wheel / wheels with full throttle. ... in saying that.. im starting to take it easy with how i drive in the rain now , dont want to take any chances now that i know they arent as grippy as early - mid life.

It's not even unusual for higher end tyres to "go off" as they wear. I had similar issues with a set of Pirelli P-Zero's and others have said RE-003 were pretty average at half-life. And yes off-centre traction going is the first indication that grip is not what it used to be.

[amunra]

It's not even unusual for higher end tyres to "go off" as they wear. I had similar issues with a set of Pirelli P-Zero's and others have said RE-003 were pretty average at half-life. And yes off-centre traction going is the first indication that grip is not what it used to be.

quick update..

tyres are still going strong in the dry....

i've also been giving the car a few squirts around town now thats its been raining for a few days and surprisingly i cant replicate the wheel spin from a turned wheel standing start like i experienced the first time.


im not sure if i was standing in a puddle of water which caused the wheels to spin so dangerously and fishtail out but ive been making sure to come to a stop before a turn... and giving it full beans while commencing the turn........ no noticable wheel spin and no traction loss light.


there is also no wheel spin or traction loss light on a standing start with a straight line launch in the wet.


will be trying again in heavy downpour and in manual mode to try and recreate the first situation just to be 100% sure..




so in summary... im pretty impressed with the longevity and performance of these chong rollaz...

however, after looking into a 2nd and possibly 3rd set for the track.... the wholesaler said he will look after me and has given me a very special price of an extra $30 per corner WITHOUT install on the original price that i payed from tempe with install... so with the rise in price i might be looking at goodyear f1 assy3 for the next sets after having such a good experience with the f1 assy2.


unfortunately price increases (FROM A WHOLESALER) for returning customers willing to give their product a try and even a decent plug is not a good way of doing business in my books and they potentially have lost my business.



peace and safe driving.

[brad]

Doesn't Tempe sell them anymore? What about his cousin up the road?

[amunra]

Doesn't Tempe sell them anymore? What about his cousin up the road?

they havent had kf550 size 235 35 19r for a while.... maybe the wholesaler jacked the price on them too

[Shadow_Rusty]

I've recently had to change all the tyres on my 3 cars...
Tyroola still have the KF550's, and I've been very happy with them.

Volvo S60 170kw 2.5L Turbo 4WD 17" - No wheelspin, just absolutely great handling.
Ford Focus 100kw 2.0L NA FWD 16" - Small wheelspin in the wet under hard acceleration, but completely controllable, and easily predicted.
VW Eos 150kw 2.0L Turbo FWD 18" - Moderate wheelspin in the wet under hard acceleration, but completely controllable, and easily predicted / rectified.

Focus has done 10,000 and is better now than when they were new.
S60 has done 5,000 and I don't think it's ever lost traction...
No dangerous moments in the Focus, or S60, ad they had KF550's all round from the get go.

On the Eos however, initially I had 2x KF550's on the front of the Eos, with the original Supercats on the rear, and in the wet, it was dangerous. It would drive like a rear wheel drive car, and the more throttle, the more the rear would slide. Caught me by surprise the first time it happened. In the end, I couldn't wait to get off the Cats, even though they had over 50% tread left.

And, at $1100 for 12x tyres, I'm more than happy to keep running these.

[brad]

On the Eos however, initially I had 2x KF550's on the front of the Eos, with the original Supercats on the rear, and in the wet, it was dangerous. It would drive like a rear wheel drive car, and the more throttle, the more the rear would slide. Caught me by surprise the first time it happened. In the end, I couldn't wait to get off the Cats, even though they had over 50% tread left.

.

/opens can o' worms

On a FWd the tyres with most tread should go on the rear if possible as there is less weight and a greater propensity to aquaplane on wet roads. The Supercats were probably a bit aged and hard too.

[amunra]

I've recently had to change all the tyres on my 3 cars...
Tyroola still have the KF550's, and I've been very happy with them.

how much did u pay to have them installed and where ? ( also what was your quote for delivery to your house.. it quotes me $0 to my house but $80 to deliver to the place you want installed) near here.

[miicah]

I can't see anywhere that these FF550s come in 17s? Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

[amunra]

I can't see anywhere that these FF550s come in 17s? Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

that would be because they are KF550 not FF550, mr spelling police.

[Shadow_Rusty]

how much did u pay to have them installed and where ? ( also what was your quote for delivery to your house.. it quotes me $0 to my house but $80 to deliver to the place you want installed) near here.

It was $85 to have 6x Tyres shipped here, and ~$30 per tyre for fitment.

So, instead I had them delivered to the AutoCrew Narellen shop for free, and ~$22 per tyre for fitment...
I bought them in 2 lots, so, I put 2x wheels off of the Eos into the boot of the Focus first, and a month later, the S60, and drove up from Canberra to Narellen.
Shipping Saved = $85 x 2 = $170
Fitting Saved = $8 x 12 = $96
2x tanks of fuel = $120
So, I saved about $150 by doing that...

[Shadow_Rusty]

/opens can o' worms

On a FWd the tyres with most tread should go on the rear if possible as there is less weight and a greater propensity to aquaplane on wet roads. The Supercats were probably a bit aged and hard too.

I believe that it was just the 1x SuperCat that was stupidly dangerous. I bought the car off of someone who had damaged the inside edge of one of the front tyres, so I had a local store order in the 'same' tyre to replace it for Rego. It was that tyre that was bad, so I suspect that it was either old stock, or, more likely, a slightly different tyre, although still called the same.
It is interesting to note that it had over 90% tread left, and the other tyre was about 50%. It definately was the 'new' one that was slipping, and even when it was on the front, it would regularly slip in the dry under even moderate acceleration (at that point I thought it was both slipping). When on the rear, it would slide stupidly easily when turning right (bad tyre on the left), but was much better turning left, which is why I now think it was just the 1x very bad, and 1x just bad.
In the end I was over the whole thing, and just wanted them off of my car.

[Shadow_Rusty]

I can't see anywhere that these FF550s come in 17s? Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

They are on the tyroola site too, but I did the transaction through the suprecheapauto site.
KINFOREST KF 550 225/45R17 94W Supercheap Auto