Exploder passes MOT shock!!! Now demands tyres

[Des]

 

I threw the thing at an mot place yesterday, not had time to do anything to it and with T&T running out soon I just wanted to see how much work it might need in order to decide if I motor it a bit longer or get cracking on replacing the engine in my usual car. Local station round the corner is now doing a £40 MOT and even better, no pass = no fee, GR8 for finding what needs doing with minimal effort, (my usual place, who I've used for about 15 years charge me full whack pass or fail, retests full or partial, do me no favours whatsoever, and I used to work there). I thrashed it up and down the M1 link just prior to test, to give the cats a chance, sat in the waiting room and perused a local rag, wondering how many pages of fail I might be presented with until the guy pops his head in to say all done, making our way to the car he hands me the paperwork, this is the first time I've seen the new plain mot cert and I think it's a fail cert, I'm browsing it as we walk, find a box listing tyres, brake pads, mirror, as we reach the car I mention my surprise at how little I need to do, he points out that it's passed and I'm reading out the advisories, I might have told him to shut the fuck up in my surprise / thinking he was taking the piss, but it's all good.

In fairness I shouldn't have been so shocked, I'm very impressed with the car, everything that matters works, It's a more than reasonable drive, handles far better than expected and goes like shit. It's one of those cars that doesn't make sense, torsion bar and cart spring suspension like a Marina yet it works well, and a bored out old donkey Granada engine buried under a wheelbarrow load of over-complex pipes, gears, wires, and all that old emissions rubbish, half of it plastic, making the engine bay look like the insides of a betamax, but again, it does its job admirably.

It needs some fresh rubber, it's a couple of years since I bought a set and they've shot up in price since, I think I paid around £300 for a set of Dunlops, or they may have been Pirellis, but now it's looking like £300 - £400 for brands I've never heard of, names like Infinity, Nexan, Kenda, and Nankang, should I assume these are all Chinese crap that will kill me should I dare use the brakes in the wet? I've come across Barum, sounds familiar, but is it a widowmaker brand?

The things are 255/70-16, I wonder If I can go skinnier, maybe sharpen up the handling, improve mpg, I hate deviation from correct sizes but they do seem ridiculously wide and look like water wings.

[scooters]

I don't know if they make em for trucks but my fave best Eva pov spec tyres are Mumbai's finest CEAT...had a set on the 940 sport and they saved my life in a torrential storm just north of the Millau Viaduct in 2008

[michael1703]

Nexan are the best of that list, with ningnang in second

 

16 inch is disco size, so you find decent part worns on ebay for pennies because the saddos that profess to have "one life,live it" attitudes dump perfectly good road tyres for mud plugging tyres, i got 4 part worn maxxis for my mingerover for £40 with 8mm of tread

[dieselnutjob]

I have Nexen tyres on my 607 and they seem good to me. Sort of top end of budget I think.

[254575]

gr9 news on the test!

[CIH]

How about firestones lol ?

[Guest]

How about firestones lol ?

 

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL.

[Des]

Thanks for the heads up on the Firestones chaps, nice tyres, I'm dead chuffed with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or I was until I changed lane at 60.