Those Chinese tires
Of course, I have to end this article with the Chinese brands. Their prices were greatly increased last year by the cost of the containers that their importers had to pay to bring them into the country. In some cases, Chinese tires can still be affordable but their winter performance can vary by brand.
We tend to blame the quality when the technology should be there. Could it be the choice of materials that prevents them from performing better on ice and snow? I was able to try for a few weeks some Sailuns that could be among the best of the group but I was not impressed. On the other hand, I also met users of Minerva tires who were relatively satisfied with this product.
As a final note, in general, tire prices have gone up in all categories. In some cases, the prices of high-end tires have increased substantially...
In addition, we should expect to see new products appear in the next few years, knowing that the engineers of the major brands are currently working on winter tires for electric cars. These vehicles have motors that deliver torque faster than internal combustion engines and are also heavier. This could start to cause problems for electric motorists. So this is a topic to watch!
(Once again, I have to thank a few agencies that gave me a lot of information on their customers' tires and especially the team at Pneus premier Choix in Laval (especially Étienne) for their help in my research).
