175/70R13 from Kauffman tire for $36/tire

[sketchman]

They do the same thing with off brands in other things too. I don't know that the quality is any different, and in fact I KNOW from personally working with some of them at my job that they are the exact same product with a different label on them. Wal-Mart brand milk is the same exact milk as the name brand that my store sells, for instance.

I think the rationale is that if you cover more price points with your products you get both cheap and brand finicky crowds buying your stuff, so it is better in the grand scheme, rather than lowering the price on your name brand merch to compete with cheaper stuff.

[Zanzer]

^^ That right there!

Michelin knows that there are some folks out there who will only buy name brand tires and are willing to pay extra to get "Michelin" on the sidewall. But if they put all their eggs into that basket then they are ignoring a large part of the market. It's better for their bottom line if they offer a broader spectrum of choices. So why doesn't their economy tire say Michelin on the sidewall? Because they don't want to alienate the loyal "Michelin only" customers who pay that premium for brand recognition. So in the case of Michelin, they went out and bought the name of an old recognized brand (Fisk) that had long gotten out of the business and then started offering their economy tires under that name. The loyalist can still get their name brand without it being watered down and Michelin can still make sales to the economy shopper....everyone is happy.

Private labeling is nothing new and there is a huge segment of privately labeled products in every market. When I was in the cable industry we used to make cable for commercial customers and print their name on it all the time. The welding industry is another place where this happens quite frequently. There's many "economy" or "hobbyist" brand welders and plasma cutters on the market that are just re-badged Miller, Lincoln, Thermal Arc, etc, machines for a much lower price than the name brand. Why? Because both Miller and Lincoln know there are people out there who will only buy a "blue" or "red" machine, but at the same time they need to consider what keeps the company in the black.

[htchbck]

My brother bought some Negotiator 205/50R16s for the Enkie RP01s we put on his MX3 GS. I think he paid about $65/ea for them. I have driven his car a few times, and they are great tires.

[TominMO]

OK, I see now that re-branding might mean that the off-brand tires made by the major manufacturers are just as good as the big-name ones. But I would still be willing to venture that all the 12" stuff we have access to is Chinese crapola, even the Kumho 12"ers, so at least upgrade to 13" where you can find good off-brand tires.

Edit: looks like Kumho is not even offering 12" tires any more. Just checked their website.

[Zanzer]

^^ I wouldn't go as far as to say they are just as good because typically with their cheaper brands you are going to get less mileage out of the tire. But I knew going in that I was only buying a 40k tire, so there is some "you get what you pay for"... but at least they are up front about it LOL

One of the reasons I opted for the cheaper tire is because I haven't settled on a tire size/rim style I like for the car yet. Once I settle on a size and rim I like I will probably go out and get a set of good quality Michelins for the car. I've ran Michelins on my F-150 for years and have always gotten excellent service out of them. The cheaper tires just allow me to "try some things on" before making a final and more expensive purchase.


12" tires are the most dangerous thing on a Festiva and I urge anyone who runs them to upgrade to 13" tires for many safety reasons. 2 of the main ones being handling and quality of available tires. But again, you need to be an informed shopper. I looked at a set of 13" Wanli tires a couple of weeks ago and those things are total crap, the epitome of bad Chinese tires. If you look at their reviews the one you keep seeing over and over again is "DANGEROUS! DO NOT BUY!"



@ Joseph - I hope to have a set of Negotiators in the next couple of weeks and I'll report back my opinion after some use. Festevil3 has them on one of his cars and likes them, he's the one that turned me onto them. I looked over the set on his car really well and they looked like a decent tire, especially for the price. But the proof will be when the tire meets the road...literally LOL. If they are as good as the Fisks I have on the car then I'll be a repeat customer

[htchbck]

Just FYI I found another tire chain that has a few more of the Solus KR21s in stock, for $35/ea. Kumho must be closing them out. I'll probably pickup a spare set next payday, $152.40 for a set of 4 tires after taxes and state fee isn't a bad deal.

http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/findTireDetail.do?ra=searchTiresBySize.do&fl=&tc=KUMPT4&c=18&rcz=30533&pc=33684&ar=80&rf=true&rd=13&rc=GAAINT&cs=155

[htchbck]

If I was a better businessman I wouldn't have posted any of these lol, and just quietly bought up all the Kumhos at $35/ea and then later turned around and sold them on here for a profit. Oh well. At least the KR21s are rated at 85k, that might make some of ya'll a little happier.

[sketchman]

Strange. For me it is showing $59 each and free shipping with a $50 (total order) discount, so $186.00 shipped for a set.

They seem to be upping the price of their stuff to cover the "free shipping" thing. Oh well.

Tires-easy has the KH17 in 155/80/13 for around $154 shipped. At least they seem more honest about it.

[Zanzer]

That's the thing I hate about Discount Tire, that exact same tire is $45 each here (just looked them up on the site). Many times I've even seen a $10 difference between the same 2 tires at locations that are only an hour apart here in NC : /

[htchbck]

Wow well I guess I will go ahead and buy them all up then since they are cheaper here. I wonder if it is the same kind of thing as gasoline taxes. Driving price differences between states. Here in GA there is only a $1 state fee per new tire sold, and the companies are not required to show that in their pricing (meaning the $35 Kumho actually costs $36). But I bet some states are higher, and may require that the fee be added into their advertised price. Could be wrong though.