Gremlin Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Just been having a little tyre debat on our local forum.................. Simex clones, fedima, silverstone and the likes.........the centipede tread pattern. Has anybody ever compared performance between the clones out there with the original?? Grip, wear, etc etc etc............like a head to head test?? Just curious. Thanks Grem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks90 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Probably not. Certainly not an objective one anyway. Difficulty is that retread carcasses can vary, such as a light truck carcass being very stiff against a 4x4 tyre carcass. So when its made into a retread you can get varying results when you use the tyre to its extreme - like aired down to 5psi on a rocky side slope. So it all depends on what carcasses where used for the retread. So you would get more consistency with a simex at least. However you then get the argument about rubber compounds and the size of the gaps in the tread etc. Noone is gonna spend £1000 and then say they're rubbish..........and people who spend £600 are always going g to try and justify what they bought is cheaper AND better than a simex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluespanner Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I think the insa turbo tyres are good value although they do have very thin side walls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I agree that I doubt you'll find a true objective comparison. By that's true of most tyres. Othe things to consider, Simex's are readily available in large sizes 33-36"+. With many remoulds you often struggle to find better than a 235/85. Also some Simex sizes can be had as crossply rather than radials. With bead lockers and super low pressures they will perform differently to a remould. This isn't to say remoulds aren't any good. I like them and have run many types/brands and will be buying more. But my Simex's (Jungle Trekker II's) have been brilliant. They've been used hard on the road for 20,000 and still have a brilliant edge and loads of life. Fairly smooth and will sit at 70-75mph fine, grip better than BFG AT's on the road and are better than any other tyre I've used so far off road. Would I buy Simex again? Sure thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon White Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Er......correction...........Simex are no longer available in any sizes whatsoever. Therefore your only option will be remoulds going forwards. Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmerboy_y2k Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Yep Simex are banned due to noise regs, but remoulds are exempt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19MART82 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 silverstone mt117 arent remoulds and are still for sale on ebay,tyres direct online ect,and the simex are still avilable on d4x4 website,personally i think the silverstone are just as good if not better than simex,the silverstones on 15" rims stand nearer to 35" whereas the 16" only stand 33.5",the simex are almost 35",tread wise and performance theres not much in it at all,the silverstones are a damn site cheaper though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19MART82 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 ive also had insa special tracks (265's and 285's) and fedima (285's) which are both remoulds,the insa's are cheap and grip well off road but are noisy on road and dont handle well,the 285/75r16 insa's stand nearly 34" tall,the sidewalls are thin and are prone to cracking,the fedima sidewall is a lot stronger and they are quieter/handle better on road but off road they dont grip as well as the lugs are slightly chamfered,again they are prone to cracking,the 285/75 r16 stand 35.5" tall,im now running the silverstone which grip loads better than both but they seem to wear a lot quicker on road as there a lot softer compound which is also a big problem with the simex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DefcoL Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 if you can get fedima sirocco 285/75 r16 that stand at 35.5'' Rolling Diameter then they would sell all day every day............ they dont. they do stand at 33.5'' and the 35/10.5r16 stand at 36'' measured today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 if you can get fedima sirocco 285/75 r16 that stand at 35.5'' Rolling Diameter then they would sell all day every day............ they dont. they do stand at 33.5'' 75% of 285mm is 213.75mm x 2 = 427.5mm convert to inches = 16.83" + 16" for the rim means it should be 32.83" tall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19MART82 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 thats correct^^^^^ but they do stand exactly 33.5" tall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19MART82 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 This is with the silverstone mt117 35/11.5 r16 which only stand 33.5" my mates got the exact same tyre but on a 15" rim 35/11.5 r15 and they stand 34.75" tall,the only difference is mine are on 8j rims and his are on 10j but you can clearly see his are taller (green 90) tyre sizes compared to the actuall size are carp,when your buying a 35" tyre that only stands 33.5" in my eyes its false advertiseing and a rip off but unfortunatly thats just the way it is,fedima are probably the only tyres i know off that actually stand taller than stated on the sidewall,the yellow 90 on the right has my old fedima 285/75r16 fedimas on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19MART82 Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 just to add i allways measure across a tyre (3 - 9 o clock) to account for tyre pressures Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicks90 Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 I would expect a remould to be taller than the stated size, especially something like a simex clone. If the stated carcass size is 32.8inches and you add on 18mm tread depth (times 2) then you should be be knocking on 35 inches tall when new. I personally think thats why there is some real disparity in overall tyre sizes, as i'm sure some manufacturers think overall tyre size inc. Tread should be the stated size, whereas others will use a carcass of the stated size then add tread depth to that. Not an issue really on road cars with road treads - but very important when you can be having 1.5" of tread across the diameter of the tyre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Drumstick Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 Is there any standard on how tyre heights are measured? i.e. should it be total height or height from the wear bars, or the caucus not the outer tread? That said, if Silverstone claim 35" and it's no where near on the biggest measurement, then I'd certainly not be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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