- Good morning, afternoon, evening,
whatever it is for you.
I'm Sam and today we're gonna ask the question,
is it worth it to cheap out on tires?
And you know what?
We Fitment Industries know a thing or two
because we sell a metric (bleep) ton of tires.
You can pair those tires and wheels
to have them mounted, balanced,
and shipped for free at fitmentndustries.com.
To a lot of people, myself included a few years ago,
tires are really boring.
Honestly, they're just like these round rubber chunks
that you have to put on your cool wheels
and then drive around on that.
I used to honestly hate buying tires
because I frankly didn't know Jack about them.
Now, honestly, I do.
And that's come with burning through a few sets
every couple weekend in the summer at the track.
I also know what it's like not to have good tires,
what it's like to have bad tires that delaminate on you.
And honestly, that kinda sucks.
What makes a tire cheap though?
Or let's go through what makes a tire expensive,
because that's the thing a lot of people ask.
It's like why is this tire more expensive than another tire?
There's a lot that goes into tires
and it's honestly a pretty interesting subject.
You can go on Google and search to a whole bunch of stuff,
look at some videos, read some forums, read some blogs,
and find out there's a ton of science
that actually goes into making and designing tires
and a lot of trade secrets, kinda like the Coke recipe.
They keep that (bleep) on lock.
- Soda! - It's a secret.
There are two main things
that really matter to the everyday person
when it comes to tires.
That would be tire compound and tread pattern.
Don't worry, I'm not get super nerdy here,
but I do wanna talk about this a little bit.
Tire compound is really what the composition
of your tires is.
That's the secret sauce that goes into making the tire.
Speaking of secret sauce,
I always find it kinda odd
when your restaurant says they have a secret sauce
'cause it just sounds kinda weird.
Like, why is it a secret?
Just tell us what the sauce is.
When it comes to tires, though,
there are a lot of secrets
on what makes them a certain compound.
These different opponents react different
to the road surface and your driver inputs.
while you're in the car, filling the gas
cleaning really sharp, all that stuff.
Some tires are super soft and grip like hell on the road
while others are hard as a rock,
make you slide all over the place
when you put your right foot down
Tread wear raring comes to a play here
with a lower rating,
meaning the stickier the tire and also the less life
you'll typically get out of that tire
since they wear faster.
These tires are considered soft.
(man sobs)
Harder tires, they'll wear slower,
but they won't be as grippy
when you're really tossing that car around.
Simply you're gonna slide around a little bit.
You get some tire noise.
They're slippery. (tires screeching)
A good rule of thumb though,
is that grippier lower tread wear tires
are usually more expensive.
Just to be honest, they're more expensive
because the compounds are soft,
are allowing you to get the most mechanical grip.
This is great when you wanna get the most
out of your car performance-wise,
but kind of gets expensive if you're just commuting.
You don't need the stickies tires ever
if you're just driving from your home to work
vice versa though, for the harder tire compounds
with a higher tread wear.
There's absolutely balance in the middle,
but the tires that do that balance well
are usually on the higher end of the price range
'cause it's harder to compromise
and do both of the those things well.
See, I'm not getting too nerdy here.
We're keeping it pretty high level for you folks,
but let's talk about tread pattern now.
Not all tread patterns are created equal
and not all tread patterns do the same dang thing.
Something like a drag radial tire, for example,
have almost no tread on it.
Just enough tread to let you drive on the road
without breaking the law in some places.
Just like tire compounds,
different tread patterns will be better for different uses.
A winter tire, for example, will have a tread pattern
specifically designed to help toss snow, ice, salt,
all that crap away from the tire
and give you the most grip possible on a snowy surface.
An all-season tread pattern
will be pretty good at driving in a variety of conditions
you'll see throughout all the seasons.
It's called an all-season.
It's just kinda good in all the seasons.
Honestly, it's kinda like okay in all the seasons
Living in Wisconsin, I do enjoy the change of seasons.
It's gotta be weird for you Florida boys though,
that you go from summer to winter
and the only thing you change
is like you wear a hoodie instead of a -shirt.
I know it's like 50 degrees you
and you're all wearing Pacas.
It's kinda crazy.
The then honestly let's talk about tires again,
you got my favorite.
The ultra high performance summer tires
have a tread pattern to help you drive in the rain
and channel water away from the contact patch of the tire.
And even though dry,
they're super grippy and you get the most performance
out of your car that you can get.
So that's enough explaining and talking about design stuff.
That's as nerdy as what we're gonna get.
Now it's story time, right?
We always go through some stories here
because what better way to talk about
if it's worth it to cheap out on tires
than to kinda go through my own experience.
All right, first of all, I used to own a Jaguar XJ8,
and I bought it with some basically brand new
Michelin Pilot Sport All Season tires.
My mind at the time was blown
when I looked up how much these tires cost,
but I was like, well, it's a Jaguar.
It should have tires that matched the look of the car.
Let me tell you though,
those tires were the absolute best tires I have ever had
for all seasons.
I drove on them for almost 70,000 miles
through summers and winters
and they still had okay tread on 'em when I sold the car.
Needed to be changed, but you could still drive on it.
That was a super heavy car being a Jaguar XJ8,
and it wasn't friendly on tires, but they wore really well.
The ride quality on them was also amazing.
They were super quiet on the highway.
I rode in someone else's German luxury car
when I had the Jag,
and that German car had some cheap tires.
Honestly, they were really loud
and the ride quality kinda sucked.
And the owner didn't get nearly as many miles on them
as I did with my more expensive tires.
After the Jag, I bought a Mustang, big change of pace here,
with some middle NT triple fives,
that's how I'd say it.
They had an insane amount of grip
and I used all of that grip on some back roads.
Even with a heavy foot in that Mustang
I never had to replace those tires
in the four summers that I drove the car.
In the winter, I still drove that car honestly.
I drove the Mustang in summer and winter.
It was awesome.
And I drove that on some Continental WinterContact tires
and had an absolute blast with tons of grip in the snow
that made a rear wheel drive car easy to drive
when it got slippery.
And if any of you guys out there
are driving a rear wheel drive car in the winter,
you do know how much fun it is
since you can just slide around if you want,
but a good set of winter tires does make a huge difference
'cause you can actually drive the car in the winter
and be safe.
Now, when I take my IS 300 I currently have to the track,
I've experimented with quite a few different tires
to get the most out of the car
while still racking up laps without needing to change tires.
Doing some research
and honestly really experimenting with different tires,
tire pressures, all that stuff
has shown me some huge differences
when it comes to the drifting application.
Just taking your car to the track and using tires
to the maximum performance level.
I've also had some cars with super cheap tires
and was happy not to spend much up front,
but honestly I found myself buying tires more often
and not being able to push the car nearly as hard
as I probably could have on some better tires.
My integra, honestly it would've been way more fun
if I just had some better tires.
It was kinda fun 'cause the tires on were terrible
and they just squeal all the time in crazy torque steer
and it was kind of a mess,
but better tires would've made it
more fun to drive in general.
What does this story time all mean?
It means I've had some experience,
especially with some pretty decent tires
and I absolutely love it.
But is it worth it to cheap out on tires?
That's the question we're here to answer.
I really don't think so.
I don't think it's worth it to cheap out on tires.
I 100% get that sometimes you're buying a new set of wheels
and you don't have a budget left for tires.
I've been there, I've done it,
I'm probably gonna do it again,
but go ahead and buy the cheap tires
so you can start rolling on your new wheels
'cause that's what's most important.
But remember, save up though
and buy some better tires when you can
and you'll more enjoy the car more when you go that route.
And if you can up front,
save right away and buy some better tires
and pair them with your wheels.
You'll really enjoy the car more with a proper tire.
Also for true enthusiasts
that know a thing or two about tires,
a good set of tires can be equally as impressive
as a set of baller wheels.
Whenever I see Alex Alar's cars
and they're absolutely Gucci tires,
I think the cars look even cooler
'cause you know what those tires are made to do
and you know they're not cheap.
Just like when you see some Volks,
it's like those aren't cheap wheels.
The same goes with tires.
Whenever I've spent more on tires,
especially when on the track or driving hard,
the benefits far outweigh the cost.
Yes, it might not be the most exciting thing
to spend a bunch of money on tires,
but, man, does it make big difference.
If you're not driving hard
and just want a cool looking daily driver,
then a proper set of tires will help with road noise,
ride quality, and even your gas mileage.
To fancy boys out there,
you also know what it's like to wear through tires
with a lot of camber,
and proper tires for that application
will give you a longer life
and possibly save you money in the long run.
In conclusion, it's not worth it to cheap out on tires.
Buy good tires.
And if you're looking around,
we have a ton of videos talking about tires
right here on the "Fitment Industries" channel.
I really appreciate you guys watching
and don't forget to subscribe,
like this video, and drop a comment below.
Tell us your story and experience
with buying cheap tires, expensive tires.
Let's get that comment section popping.
I'm Sam, take care guys.
- [Man] No, just sign off as Jerry.
- Jerry? - You know you're very.