Has anyone ever heard of counterfeit tyres being offered for sale, I am worried about buying what seems a too good to be true offer on some Michelin Sport Pilots.

TIA

 

Are they Pilot Sport or Pilot Sport 2 ?

 

Gert,

I think they are just Pilot Sports, see attached pic, they are new and for sale for £85 each, the seller had over a dozen.

 

Poon,

If you dont mind me asking, who are they from.
Sounds around half price. Whats the usual price for them.
Also you will need to check how old they may be.

 

Counterfeit or not, those are dangerous tires.

 

Viken,

Why do you say that? How does the picture relate to your statement?

 

Simple!

Michelin Pilot Sport = no grip and control = possible wreck (as in the picture)

Now, imagine if those were really counterfeit of an unknown origin...

 

Well, there's nothing like having all the facts before making a statement.

I prefer:

Red fleece jacket = bad driving= loss of control= possible wreck.

Speculation belongs in the National Enquirer, not here.
Unless this is comedy hour, of course.

 

The guy in the Red jacket is not the driver. The driver was wearing a blue/white driving suit.

Blue/white driving suit = good driving.

It was the tire's fault.

 

Yes. I am still looking for facts in your post, though.

Fact: The driver of that car was en route to the hospital when that pic was taken. The guy in the red jacket is an onlooker. You really thought someone could get out of that Cobra unscathed, didn't you?

Exactly! But, why are YOU speculating then?

It is always Comedy Hour on these boards as long as we have comedians like YOU posting speculation.

 

I would doubt that they are counterfiet, more likely they are factory defects or stolen

Jon

 

In my humble opinion, I would suggest only buying new tires from an "official" tire dealer of that particular brand. If there is a problem with the tires, you may, and I only qualify with may, have some recourse.

If you want to have some fun, request the sellers of these bargain tires to send you the serial numbers off a set of tires. Next, e-mail the serial numbers to the factory and ask if the tires/tyres are legitimate. Or, have your local distributor of that particular brand do the dirty work for you. They will probably get a response quicker than you will.

And as is written many places in the world, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. The amount you spend on a set of 18" tires, approximately $800 US, is pretty much a given. Also note, I have had really good luck with Kumho Ecsta MX tires. I actually did a run session at Sears Point (Infineon Raceway in N. California) with these tires and they hooked up very well considering 1., they are street tires, and 2., the track was pretty cool that day.


And finally, as much as I hate to admit that a person is always right, most of us have found that this is the case with a post from Viken.

 

Viken, DJ,

What did happen to the tire(s) that caused that Superformance crash?

 

Bins, they are off ebay.

MartinS, you have probably summed up best how I feel about them, they are about £120 each cheaper than new, I will track them and didn't want to spend the £200 plus that each tyre will cost, hence the look on ebay. Like you I have had experience driving track cars with Kumhos and Toyo's and am considering this cheaper route. Mind you I think nothing of spending £2,500 on uprated suspension.

For an idea of the cost of rubber here in the UK see this list:

Kumho ECSTA 712 265/35 R18 Z _ £113.73
Falken GRB FK 451 265/35 R18 Z _ £141.99
Kleber DYNAXER 265/35 R18 Z _ £156.75
Toyo PROXES T1S (WR) 265/35 R18 Z _ £158.47
Goodyear EAGLE F1 GSD3 265/35 R18 Z _£178.95
Pirelli PZERO ROSSO N4 265/35 R18 Z _ £179.63
Bridgestone S03 265/35 R18 Z _ £185.04
Dunlop SP 9000 265/35 R18 Z _ £186.39
Michelin Pilot Sport 2 XL 265/35 R18 Y _£213.65
Michelin PILOT SPORT 265/35 R18 Z _ £215.24

I am currently running Conti Sports and they are hard wearing but don't seem to grippy, on a recent trackday round Silverstone the front end would not turn in well. I have just had a Roock spring and damper set installed along with a full alignment. I have also fitted a front strut brace but left the sway bars stock.

What I want is a decent compromise between cost, grip and wear. (have my cake and eat it! Hell why not!)

I had SO2's on my 964 and they were excellent, as were the Eagle F1's on a previous Golf VR6, tyre choices are so confusing.

Viken, everyone here in the UK raves about the Sport Pilots, even the well known Car Mags (P911W etc), was that Cobra's problem tyre specific and if so what? Do you know of other incidents or is it isolated?

 

Poon , those prices seem a little on the higher side,
check out blackcircles.com

ps, youre a local....