I’ve had my Kia Cee’d long enough to experience a few different tyre brands. Starting with Delinte’s at the front and Goodyear’s at the rear when I got the car, I’ve moved through to mix of Delinte’s and Yokohamas, all Delinte’s, and currently run Vredestien’s on the front with Delinte’s on the rear. Here’s a run down on what I think of them. All were of the same size (205/55R16) and all were normal summer rated tyres. As a disclaimer, speed and load ratings may vary between brands/tyres used, and some tyres were second hand (either on the car when I bought it a 6 years old, or on a second hand set of spare alloys purchased).
The following article is not sponsored by any brand or business mentioned within.
I’ll get Goodyear out of the way first. These were from the EfficientGrip range and were originally on the rear of the car when I bought it, with the Delinte tyres up front. After a year or so of ownership, I rotated the tyres around and tried the Goodyear’s up front. So far, they’ve been the worst tyre I’ve had on the car. Pulling out of a junction in the dry (quickly to take advantage of a gap in traffic, but not excessively heavy footed), I managed to get wheel spin from the tyres. They are the only tyres I’ve managed to get wheelspin from in dry conditions with this particular car, and for a premium brand, I think they’re vastly overrated.
The Yokohama’s (BluEarth range I think) performed without drama. These came fitted to a second hand set of alloys originally bought for winter tyres, but weren’t in that brilliant condition so have kept as spares. I had a pair of the better treaded ones on the car for a while, and couldn’t find fault with them. Fine, in the dry, fine in the wet, no noticeable change in fuel consumption. Pricewise, they’re still available and come in around £70 to £75 fitted, which seems reasonable. Certainly a good option if you’re not willing to try a budget brand, but don’t want to splash out on a high brand either. I’ve been tempted a couple of times to buy new (though that’s unlikely to happen soon as I’ve since bought some Dunlop’s to hold in reserve).
Moving on to Delinte, when I bought a new set of alloy wheels (re-using the originals for winter tyres). I opted to go for a full set of Delinte DH2s, knowing they were a good tyre and at a good price (around £50 a tyre fully fitted back in 2023). They’ve proven to be a good allrounder. Good in dry and wet conditions, great fuel economy, and long lasting too. They’ve got quite robust sidewalls, which is handy if like me you’re bad for clattering into kerbs. Unfortunately, these tyres aren’t currently available to buy in the UK, which is a real shame, as they’re a favourite of mine.
Last but not least are the Vredestien’s. I’ve had great results with their Windtrac winter tyres, so when I need a new pair of tyres up front, I decided to give their Ultrac summer tyre a try. They’re good, really good. In wet weather, whilst taking a bend at a steady pace due to the conditions, I actually ended up with slight lift off oversteer, as the Vredestien’s found a little bit more grip than the Delinte’s on the back. Think they were about £75 a tyre (fitted), which is similar to the Yokohama’s. The tyre sidewalls are a little weaker though, with one developing a bulge from either a pothole, kerb, or speedbump impact resulting from me trying to keep to a tight schedule a former employer gave me. The tyre had only done 700 or so miles, but I was convinced enough by Vredestein to replace it with another Ultrac which has remained intact and done well over 10,000 miles and counting of fault free running.
Next up to try is Dunlop, of which I’ve purchased a full set of 4 to hold in reserve, they’re getting good reviews and I’ve had good experience of the brand on my Suzuki Alto (helpfully they’ve discontinued the size for that car, but I’ll cover more on that in a future blog post). The Dunlops are from a particular online retailer that I won’t name, but also won’t buy from again, as they delivered a week late and their customer service whilst prompt and friendly was about as useless as a punctured tyre.
So the verdict as it stands is Delinte takes the top spot for value, with Vredestein in a close second. I’ll wrap this post up with a wee mention of my usual tyre supplier; Ryton Tyre and Autocentre, who I’ve bought numerous tyres from, including the Vredestein and Delinte tyres mentioned above. Their service has been about as spot on as you can get every time I’ve been there, and hopefully they’ll be kind enough to fit the Dunlop’s when the time comes.