Locally made tires quieter, not safer than European ones

China-made tires are quieter compared to tires from Europe but lag behind their counterparts in safety-related tests, according to the latest tire test conducted by Auto Bild, an authoritative German auto magazine.

The test examined 10 locally made tires in a professional testing field near Hanover, Germany.

The final ranking is dependent on an index of a variety of factors, including handling, comfort and safety. Tires of a certain European brand locally made in Europe were used as a frame of reference.

The Goodyear tire made by the US brand's wholly owned subsidiary in Northeast Chinese city Dalian performed best in the noise test on a dry road, emitting 63.2 decibels when running at 50 kilometers per hour, and 69.9 decibels at 80 km/h.

Placing second was the Linglong tire by a domestic brand in Shandong province. Its noise level was measured at 63.4 decibels at 50km/h and 70.2 decibels at 80 km/h.

The European tire tested lagged behind all the China-made tires in the noise test, with 65.3 decibels at 50 km/h and 72.4 decibels at 80 km/h.

"Our German experts said they have to admit that tires made in China do have the best performance in noise control," noted Wang Yin, executive publisher and chief editor of the Chinese version of Auto Bild magazine, at the news conference for the test results on July 30.

He added that this is to cater to Chinese customers, who traditionally have higher demands for comfort and quietness in car.

Although the China-made tires provide more comfort for passengers, they still fall short in terms of safety, the test showed.

An important measure of tire safety is braking distance.

On a wet road, the European tire's braking distance was 45.8m at a speed of 100 km/h.

The next six rankings were occupied by China-made international brands, including Goodyear, with a breaking distance of 53.3 meters; Bridgestone, 53.4 meters; Yokohama, 53.9 meters; Pirelli, 54.4 meters; Giti, 56.1 meters, and Michelin, 56.3 meters.

Domestic brand Linglong was among the bottom three, with a braking distance of 57.4 m.

On a dry road, the results for locally made tires were not optimistic, either.

The European tire again had the shortest braking distance - 36.1 meters at a speed of 100km/h. Bridgestone's breaking distance was 38.5 meters; for Goodyear, it was 38.5 meters; Yokohama, 39.5 meters; Pirelli, 39.6 meters; Giti, 39.7 meters; and Michelin, 39.9 meters.

Linglong was also among the last three in this category, with 40.3 meters, and another domestic brand, Chaoyang, was tested at 40.6 meters.

By the time the car equipped with European tires stopped, the cars with China-made tires were still moving at speeds ranging from 24.9 km/h to 38.1 km/h on dry roads, and from 37.5 km/h to 58.4 km/h on wet surfaces.

Because of China's complicated road situations, all the tires made in the country have to make localized changes to provide more comfort for passengers in car.

Thus, they are normally 0.5 to 1 kilograms heavier than the same rated tires made in other countries, according to the test, which contributed to the poorer performance of Chinese tires in handling tests.

But Wang Yin said this is not an excuse for such a gap in safety between locally made tires and the European ones.

He suggested customers choose big international brands and higher rated tires when budget allows.