Getting tired of my new chrome 18 Iroc rims sitting in my garage without tires so I pulled the trigger and bought a set of Achilles 245-40 tires new for 380 shipped to my house. I decided to go with a cheaper brand since my ride is not my DD. The way I see it is rubber is rubber!

So what do you guys think? Any good or bad experiences on going the cheap skate way!

 

That is far from the truth. When I first bought my car I replaced the tires with GoodYear Eagles cost me $600 a set at the time. They lasted a long time and never had any problems. 6 years later it was time to replace them. This is a daily driver so I bought a set of Metric brand tires for $200 a set. They was rated at the same traction rating as the Eagles but they didn't grip like them in real life. I could spin the tire all day they would not leave a mark just a fine powder. 3 years later I had to replace them because the tread worn down to much. I don't spin my tires like an idiot the tires should have lasted longer. This time I bought Kelly brand again just $200 a set just 2 years later every tire the inner sidewall was cracking like they were dry rotted but they wasn't. So I went back to the Eagles $400 a set.

 

I recall reading an article in Car & Driver? a year or 2 ago, they tested a bunch of good tires and 1 truly cheap Chinese tire that was supposed to be competitive. They were all supposed to be high performance summer tires, but the Chinese ones were far behind in every test.
If I can't get it from Tire Rack, or Summit Racing, then I won't buy it.

 

At one dealership I worked at, the used car dep. loved putting tires on made by Nangkang (or something along those lines). We had two of their all seasons develop pin hole leaks in the middle of the sidewall within one year. You have to expect that from a $40 tire tho. IMO If a set of generic all seasons can handle your style of driving no problem (just cruising for example), then it wouldn't be too bad to go with an off brand performance tire for the looks. But, if you trully need a performance tire I would go with a better known tire.

 

Fuzion HRIs have been a good tire for me.

 

What about the Nexen N3000 Tires? My car is just a summer weekend cruiser and doesnt see many miles at all. For the price on 18's these seem like a good deal to me.