Tyres are the single most important thing you can fit to your car. Why? Because they are the solitary bit of the vehicle which makes contact with the road surface – hence tyres provide grip, they provide traction and they (hopefully) provide security in poorer weather conditions.

But the best tyres are expensive and, as they are consumables, you will have to replace them on your car on a regular basis – so is it safe to save a few euro come tyre-change time and opt for a budget brand? Or should you just fork out for the best you can find? Here’s all you need to know.

Is there any difference between budget and premium tyres, aside from price?

Yes, this is not just a conspiracy by the tyre manufacturers to get us to spend more money on products which are no different.

Premium tyres have the latest technologies and developments built into them, and they typically have greater grip, better abilities in the wet and they usually last longer than an equivalent set of budget tyres, as well.

Hence, in terms of the long-term cost implications, while they might be a little more expensive to buy at first, premium tyres could work out to be no dearer per-kilometre driven than budget tyres, if you’re replacing the latter on your car more frequently.

But when you’re looking at tyres in the fitting shop which are 30 or 40 per cent cheaper, it’s hard to resist if you’re on a budget.

So are budget tyres unsafe, then?

Absolutely not. You can fit them to your car quite happily, as they are still designed and built to conform to all the necessary safety regulations.

However, they are typically made of harder materials than premium tyres, so that gives them less grip on the tarmac. And this, in turn, translates into longer stopping distances in wet-weather conditions.

It won’t be much of a difference, as the best budget tyres are getting ever closer to the standards set by premium tyres in such testing circumstances, but just a few car lengths of extra distance in an emergency-stop situation might make all the difference on that one morning you’re not paying attention behind the wheel.

Why should I go for premium tyres at all?

It depends very much on your financial circumstances, your enthusiasm for driving, your typical motoring week and on what car you have as well.

If you can afford them, we’d always recommend going for the best tyres you can possibly get for your car, for all the reasons we outline above – your stopping distances will be shorter, the vehicle will be even more capable in the wet and you should also get better rolling refinement from them when you’re travelling at speed (harder tyres tend to be noisier as they roll along).

It’s not for no reason that car manufacturers almost always ship their vehicles with premium tyres fitted from the factory.

Also, if you have a high-performance or sports car, or you own an SUV with four-wheel drive and you need good rubber for driving in wintry conditions because you live in a remote part of the country, then you should always aim for premium tyres.

However, if all you’re ever doing is pottering around town at low speeds and you’ve got a small, affordable runaround, there’s nothing wrong at all with going for a budget option, because you won’t notice any difference in operation if you go for a mega-expensive tyre instead.

Can you outline a few of the brands in each category, please?

The big names are the most famous of tyre companies, such as Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop, Goodyear, Michelin or Pirelli. These are the top-end brands in the market, and they are frequently the OEM suppliers to the major car companies – all new Porsches, for example, tend to come on either Michelins or Pirellis from the factory.

At the other end of the scale, some of the reputable budget brands include Landsail, Nankang, Davanti, Maxxis, Laufenn and Rovelo. These all make perfectly acceptable tyres for the needs of everyday motorists, and they have significantly improved the standards of their products over recent years.

There is a third way, which is the mid-grade tyre. These are more expensive than budget but not as dear as premium tyres, yet they offer some of the latter’s attributes above the most basic rubber. While many of the mid-grade brands are well known Asian manufacturers – Hankook, Falken, Kumho, Toyo and Yokohama, to name the key players – some of the others are actually subdivisions of the premium tyre companies.

So, Uniroyal, known for its tyres having good wet-weather qualities, is a subsidiary of Continental. Firestone is an adjunct of Bridgestone, Goodyear owns Avon, and one of Michelin’s secondary brands is Kleber.

To sum up, then – if you can afford to buy them and you’re a keen driver who does lots of kilometres annually on a variety of roads, including country back lanes and cruising along motorways, and you drive a more powerful or prestigious car, you should go for premium tyres.

If you live in a city and run a small hatchback around at lower speeds, day in, day out, and you want to minimise your annual outlay for motoring costs, then budget tyres are fine.

And if you’re unsure, try a mid-grade brand as a way of saving a few cents; if you’re not happy with them, then when the tyres are due for replacement further down the line, you can always step back up to a premium brand.