Is it a good tyre?

All things considered then, why should you buy the premium or budget tyres when you can buy the really cheap tyres? Joe du Plooy, marketing executive of Tiger Wheel & Tyre answers that, "The difference between premium, budget and cheap tyres lies not in what you can, but in what you can't see. So while some of these cheap tyres may have the identical tread pattern to a premium or budget tyre, to reinforce the notion that the tyres are identical, they really aren't. The differences essentially come down to the polymer of the rubber compounds that are used in the tyre and the complex and critical design and construction elements that are not visible to the naked eye.

Comparing tyres

"Tyre manufacturers can easily copy a premium tyre's tread pattern, but without the benefit of the extensive research and development, rigorous testing and scientific and engineering skills that premium tyre brands invest in compound development and tyre construction, you can bet the cheap tyre's performance is far from equivalent. The true test will always be a direct comparison between the two."

Continental Tyres ran such a comparison using one of its premium tyres and a cheap tyre that had been artfully designed to look identical to that tyre, from tread pattern to sidewall graphics. The Continental team took the tyres to a test facility with a banked oval track in Hanover, Germany. Here they fitted each set of tyres, in turn, to the same vehicle and ran tests at 70mph (112.6 km/h) to compare stopping distance, while a control system ensured an even 1mm spread of water across the track surface at all times.

It looks like a tyre and turns like a tyre but....

Each tyre was tested seven times for control purposes and stopping distance was measured by the vehicle's on-board GPS system. The results were frankly alarming. On average, at the point where the premium Continental tyre had come to a complete stop, the vehicle with cheap tyres was still doing 31mph (49.9 km/h) and took an extra 14 metres to come to a standstill. It's a chilling fact that a pedestrian hit at a speed of 31mph only has a 27% chance of survival.

"While some low-cost brands are better than others, in general you can expect a vast difference in performance between premium, budget and cheap tyres. Premium tyres usually have shorter stopping distances and offer better lateral grip when cornering- all critical differences and sometimes life-saving factors that absolutely justify the extra expense," says du Plooy.

So is it worth spending a few bucks more on a premium or good quality budget tyre to ensure better handling, safety and performance of your tyres? You bet it is.