Just had a set of wheels refurbished for the winter and got some new tyres to go on when I picked them up. Decided to go for Eagle F1s since the majority of people say that winter wheels are not really necessary in this country (and I struggled to find the right size too).

Anyway, when the guy at the refurb place fitted them he said they didn't seem right to him because they were heavy, hard, difficult to balance (needed a lot of weight - 50 and 80 I think was mentioned but I don't really know what that means...), and difficult to inflate (don't really know what he meant by this other than they needed a lot of inflating to reach the correct PSI). He also hadn't seen any made in China which these are.

Now I know he is probably not a tyre expert but will have fitted enough of them to know when something isn't right, so wanted to ask people on here their thoughts. I've tried to look into this a bit and found they are now made in China, but it is difficult to find out about the rest. Could it be because they are the extra load version?

I have come across this before > http://www.wheels-inmotion.co.uk/forum/ind...?showtopic=1230 hope that helps mate.

Eagle F1s are made in China and Thailand and used to be made in Germany I think. If the tyres have an E number on them they should be fine, since plenty of people have used them without any complaints.

I was going to go for them myself but had conflicting info about how reliable the Chinese\Thai makes were - and the retailers I spoke to couldn't guarantee the country of origin when placing an order - so I opted for Falken 452s instead.

I've asked around and extra load doesn't seem to make much difference unless you're regularly carrying 4+ people and a lot of gear in the boot. The Bridgestones I had on before were XL and didn't hear any complaints about them from tyre-fitting place.

Thanks for the replies.

I've read that thread before Tony, but those were made in Thailand and not China, and not e-marked whereas the ones I have have the e-mark on them. Goodyear obviously claim the quality of the tyres made in china are of the same standard as before but most people don't seem to agree.

I have had them on the car for a few days now and they feel perfectly fine to me but have been driving very gently to wear them in and with the cold weather we currently have.

They are the ones that were posted up in this thread that I got, anybody else got them from here and got any comments from fitters or any problems?

It's possible the fitter was being sneaky. They make their profit from selling tyres, fitting itself doesn't make them much money. Maybe he was hoping that negative commentary on the tyres would convince you to buy from him instead.

Good year have been manufacturing in China for over a decade now so I'm surprised he hadn't heard of them. I think the tyres made there are designed for hotter and more humid climates than northern Europe though.

I got my Falkens from that site and it's early days but I've have had no problems with them.