It’s been a while since I last wrote automotive related stuff..
Today, I would like to share something about the thing that I have just replaced on my little puppy (the name of my car) a couple of weeks ago- The Expensive Rubber.
Before I get started, I would like to send my best regards to our beloved government, chiefly the ministry of transportation. If there haven’t been so much of “nicely” paved public roads, whereby the potholes are as easily available as the speed trap cameras that they are implementing in the country and mended as cheaply as KANGKUNG, otherwise you wouldn’t get such an important piece of information from me.
The above photo shows the predicament I was in (indicating that I could go sideways?). The lucky bit was that this tyre didn’t explode right at god-knows-where I hit pothole, which gave my some time to do some survey on tyre selection.
There are a few things we need to look at while choosing the correct tyres- type, size, brand, and of course price. And I will discuss each of them one after another.
Type:
Generally, there are 3 types of tyres- performance tyre, comfort tyre, and normal tyre. Performance tyres are for those drivers who like driving fast on the road at any conditions, be it wet, damp or dry. Comfort tyres are for those people who appreciate peacefulness and comfort while travelling and can’t be bothered to go very fast on roads. And the normal tyres are for normal people.
Size:
Most of the cars in the market would not have any issue with size, as those standard sizes are easily available in the market. My little puppy is going a bit extreme. The rim is the maximum size my car can possibly fit in, to keep the fender to tyre gap as small as it possibly could. That’s just a joke. Having the biggest rim in the world for this purpose is what those ah bengs like to do and I am not one of them. To me, bigger tyres simply mean tons of grip and better handling. For this very instance, size matters when it comes to tyre selection. I have to go very low profile to avoid tyre rubbing against fender. The tyre size that I looked for was 215/40 R17. This size is super odd and not easily available in the market. I was having hard time to look for one; hence, I decided to downsize a little bit to a more standard size- 205/45 R17, for better quality tyres. This size is only 5mm per side narrower and a couple of millimeters taller.
Brand:
Brand is important. Different manufactures produce tyre differently. The products that they are offering give different characteristic and driving experience (only sensitive people could tell the differences). Ones have to try out each brand to know which brand is more suitable to them. My tip on this- always go for reputable brand, even it costs you slightly more.
Price:
Pricing is highly dependent on the aforementioned factors-for the types of tyres, performance tyres tend to be the most expensive, as it requires some serious engineering design on them; follow by the comfort tyres which require some not that serious engineering design and then follow by the normal tyres which don’t require much engineering. While for size, bigger and wider tyres tend to be more expensive and vice versa. Brand wise, reputable brands (such as Pirelli, Michelin and etc.) tend to be more expensive.
I hope this short and concise article gives you the details that you would like to know about tyres.
So, what did I choose in the end?
My choice is Michelin PS3, which is best known as the performance tyre that doesn’t compromise much on the ride comfort. It’s slightly more expensive than other tyres, but I hope it’s worth it. After a few weeks of running it, I can conclude that the PS3 is softer and grippier than the previous tyres it was running. Now, it’s down to how long these goodnesses can last to prove if it’s worth the price…
lifebeginsat24th 