The difference between premium tires and budget tires

Premium tires are made by big well-known tire manufacturing companies while budget tires are made by lesser-known tire manufacturing companies. Premium tires have a bigger price tag than budget tires, but for a reason. Premium tires have been tried and tested to the highest standards. The ingredients and components slightly differ from budget tires, but they are still manufactured the same way. They are better designed than budget tires in terms of the tread pattern and have special tread grooves that will handle water on the road better and will also deal with the heat generated by high-speed driving. They are more durable, have better handling, and have lesser braking distance.

When should I buy budget tires? When you have a car that seldomly gets driven or only covers short distances at a time. Budget tires are better for non-aggressive driving, they will wear down fairly quickly with hard cornering and frequently reaching high speeds. In fact, normally these tires aren’t designed for very high speeds. Premium tires have a higher speed rating than budget tires. When you drive mostly in dry conditions, budget tires will perform fairly well.

Examples of companies manufacturing premium tires include; Pirelli, Michelin, Dunlop, Hankook, Continental, Firestone, Goodyear, Bridgestone, Cooper and Yokahama to name a few. Some of the best budget tires include; Cooper, General, Toyo, Kumho, BFGoodrich and Hankook. Cooper and Hankook aren’t the cheapest in the bunch and I named them with the premium tire as well, but they are still affordable.

How do I know how durable my tires are? Look on the sidewall of your tire for the words Treadwear, Traction and Temperature. Treadwear; this rating tells you how long your tire will last under ideal conditions and is the rate of tire wear. The higher the rating, the longer the tire will last. This rating can be between 200 and 800 plus. Traction; traction is rated as AA, A, B and C rating. These ratings correspond to the tire’s ability to stop in wet weather where AA is best and C worst. Temperature; temperature ratings include A, B and C. This rating correspond to the heat resistance based on the speed. An A rated tire are designed to handle higher heat build up generated by higher speeds.