The owner’s manual usually won’t tell you which brand to purchase, but you won’t go wrong sticking with the brands you know and trust. You can always choose to buy the same tyres that the car was fitted with originally.
Car makers will have done enough of the research to choose tyres that will work best with your car in terms of braking, efficiency, road noise, handling, wear rate and ride comfort.
If you decide to go out on your own, you might be tempted by cheaper tyres from lesser known brands. However, if the brand is lesser known, there’s no guarantee that they have put the same integrity, experience and investment in technology into their tyre.
Usually, you can assume that the leading brands will give you the absolute best quality, which is an investment that you should want to make.
When it comes to tyres, look to the history of the brand to know how it’s made. If they have a small name and little history and are offering cheap tyres, chances are, they are second rate. If they are a brand that your mechanic or dealer trusts, there’s a good chance that you can rely on them too.
Compromising on quality of your tyres means compromising on the quality of important safety functions, like accelerating, steering and braking safely in all road conditions. If you settle for second rate, you could be putting yourself, your loved ones or others at risk.
No matter which brand you choose, it’s important that all four of your tyres match in size and brand. If you are just replacing two, your best bet would be to put the two new tyres on the rear wheels over the front wheels.
