Team-BHP - Ling Long & other Chinese Tyres: Any Reviews?

Surprised by the title? Even i was when i heard there is a Chinese brand of tyres with this name lol:

A friend owning an old Honda City (OHC) wants to sell his car in 6-8 months and is looking to change his current tyres which are totally bald. He is looking for the cheapest option to upgrade the tyres.

He was suggested by a dealer in Hyderabad to go for a Chinese brand called "Ling Long" :D

175/70/R13 for Rs.1850 per tyre. They are brand new and sealed.

Do you guys recommend them?

Quoting the Tire Guru

Quote:

Originally Posted by iraghava (Post 382541)

4.Quality - Also be very aware of what quality tyres & alloys you use for your car since this can be a deciding factor. Always use the best possible components so as to minimise any chances of failures. And please stay away from Chinese tyre brands like Wanli, Ling Long etc. if they are cheap there is a good reason behind it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 1315983)

True,but if you see the requirement it is required only for 6-8 months of city driving. Can they be that bad?

Jks / MRFs / Apollos would be a better option than those Ling Ping Pong tires.:)

There was a recent article on MSNBC which I quote here

"But that was seemingly not the case for the Chinese-branded Ling Long tires tested by Car and Driver magazine. The Ling Longs wore a tread pattern identical to that of a popular Yokohama tire, a visible semblance that could cause consumers to assume similarity of performance.
That assumption would be wrong. The magazine found the braking distances and cornering grip were much worse for the Ling Long tires than for any others in the test, requiring an extra 22 feet — one and a half car lengths — to stop from 50 mph than the best tires."

read the entire article here - With Chinese tires, it's buyer beware - Autos- msnbc.com

Quote:

Originally Posted by kpzen (Post 1316609)

Jks / MRFs / Apollos would be a better option than those Ling Ping Pong tires.:)

haha you forgot to add ding ding and sing a song! lol:

Ling Long Ping Pong Ding Dong to Sing a Song

Ling Long Brand Tyre, seen on Feris in Kashmere Gate, Delhi. Moreover, in addition to this Ling Long Pong Mong tyres, we have Nankangs (are they better if not good?:uncontrol), some Duron etc.

People tend to put their lives in danger to save on that little money. Moreover, any idea about the pricing. We should analyse how much people save on buying these tyres, even JK Tornados for Swift cost around 1400 bucks and the same from a brand new Swift retail for 1100 bucks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsk13 (Post 1500741)

I agree that it's better to keep off china brand tyres - for 2 reasons
a - because we don't know how they perform
b - the build quality is not upto the mark (generally)

but I'd not say the same for JK stock tornados on swift I agree their build quality leaves a lot to be desired - but that's a known fact and an informed and sensible bhpian will not take these tyres beyond it's limits...

However - if one plans to sell off his car and if tyres have to be changed - then these ling longs/ping pongs/durons etc can be used...

However safe the car you drive, or the roads you travel on, your life depends on those 4 little palm sized tyre patches that are your ONLY point of contact with the road. I choose to trust the larger name brands (over the types of ling long) primarily because their R&D budgets alone will be more than the net worth of such manufacturers. Thanks but no thanks. I'll stick it out with the Michelins, Bridgestones, JK Tyres etc. for now.