Given
35%
while driving a
Hyundai Tucson
(215/65 R16) on
a combination of roads
for 450
average miles
Four of these tyres were fitted to my Tucson by the previous owner just prior to me purchasing the car. Initially I was pleased that the car came with vitually new tyres. However it soon became clear that HIFLY HF201 tyres have some severe limitations when it comes to basic roadholding and build quality. In short, THESE TYRES ARE DANGEROUS.
The first thing I noticed was the large number of balance weights that had been used on each wheel. This led me to take a close look at the tyres and I immediately noticed a variation in tread depth across the width of the tyres, it varied from 8mm to 4.5mm on all tyres (hence the need for all those balance weights). I used to work for Michelin (Stoke-on-Trent) so I understand how tyres are made, but I can't figure out how the folks at HIFLY have managed to do this. Maybe their vulcanising moulds are just poorly manufactured or unevenly heated. The side walls had a few lumps, nothing too serious but I was suprised to see this on virtually new tyres.
The second thing I noticed was the general poor handling of the car and severe lack of grip on dry roads. Lots of low speed tyre squeal and unintentional wheel spins at junctions. This led me to check the tyre pressures but they were found to be fine (30 psi each). I don't drive like a maniac but I do expect tyres to at least perform to a reasonable standard. Wet roads proved to be even more of a challenge with the final straw being a 180 degree spin at around 25mph on a rounabout near Edinburgh.
Changed all four of the HIFLYs for Uniroyal Rallye4x4 street tyres and the car was immediately transformed into an enjoyable and safe ride.
The lesson here is that you get what you pay for, or in my case you get what the previous owner paid for.
There may well be good tyres out there at the cheaper end of the market but I'm affraid the HIFLY HF201 is NOT one of them.