Given
28%
while driving a
Toyota Corolla
(205/55 R16)
on
mostly town
for 1,000
average miles
I had these tyres fitted on a second-hand car I recently purchased, and I must say they are the worst-performing tyres I’ve ever encountered. The overall feel is stiff and plastic-like. Given they’re budget eco tyres, I didn’t try push them beyond their intended performance range. That said, in dry conditions, they provide an acceptable level of grip, but the real trouble begins when the roads are wet. Using these tyres in wet & cold conditions is literally a safety risk.
In such conditions, even at low speeds, below the speed limit, it isn't hard to break the tyres' adhesion level to make them skid & slide. From a standstill, accelerating without any front load will have you struggling to get any form of decent grip. Trying to navigate a roundabout at ~30-35 km/h, with some weight transfer to the front axle via trail braking, causes significant understeer.
While I understand that my previous experiences are with touring/UHP category tyres like the Continental UC6, Michelin Primacy 3, PS3, & PS4, the performance gap with the Radial RP28 was shockingly huge. I don't expect them to perform anything even close to touring tyres, but I at least expect them to be safe. I am genuinely surprised tyres like these are still allowed on the market, considering their abysmal performance in the wet & complete lack of emergency handling capability.
