Good Cheap Long Lasting Tyres?

Good post.

The choice of tyre is becoming more difficult too - I wonder if normal (summer) tyres are becoming more summer focussed - especially with the many group tests and, particularly, winter tyres.

Add in the higher mileage that many people now regularly do as cars have improved and business demands it. I do 22k+ of personal miles every year, so tyres that only last 10k aren't an economical proposition.

So essentially we end up with a trade off between 'grip' and longevity. There's a third factor too, of course: price.

Within the term 'grip' there are many facets. For example, braking and cornering subject the tyre to completely different forces. This is also influenced by the wet and dry, the temperature.... it's a difficult balance.

Now, I don't think anything I've written above is controversial in any way. Most, if not all, of us can grasp those concepts. However, when you translate that into which particular tyre to buy, almost everyone has a different suggestion. The waters are clouded by a number of things - not least that people are subjective. They can only give opinions, and none of us know how qualified or informed that opinion is. E.g. let's say someone has a car for three years (pretty average?) and changes the tyres once a year. Well, that gives them three tyres to compare between. Useful? Not when you consider that when you change a set of tyres, you go from a knackered, worn out set to some shiny new ones with lots of tread. Suddenly the newer tyres are so much better at aquaplaning than the old ones; and the extra 6mm of tread is completely forgotten, it is (often) because the tyre is "better".

I need to buy a pair of summers soon, and I'm not looking forward to deciding which ones to buy.