They say west lake is a “cheap tire” but the word “cheap” passes the wrong idea that these are low quality tires which they are not. After eight months driving a set of RP18’s through streets with lots of pot holes and poor or good quality asphalt, I’ve noticed that these are just typical touring tires, the same as Pirellis, Continentals and so on. They generate low noise level and after 10,600 km the treads look like new. I’m well impressed about their performance on dry and wet roadso. I had Dunlops, Michelins and Bridgestones installed in my cars before trying the Westlake and I everyone to stop criticizing this Westlake brand just because their tires are a Chinese brand. After all Chinese products are being criticized (pure nonsense) the same way as the Japanese products and cara were criticized when they arrived in western markets on early sixties and seventies. Now take a look on Japanese brands image and customer’s perception at the present time. Let’s wake up my friends!!!

I actually have RP38 on my Camry 2005. It is very affordable that's why I bought it. It is quite stiff and smells like a rubber ball of a basketball which I find is unusual. The dry performance is great while the wet performance is decent. The wear is also very good. My 2 complains are it is quite stiff unlike its competitors and is noisy. There is a humming sound at 40kph. Overall, I would still recommend this to thise who are looking for really cheap brand new tires.

Bad confort

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The tires seem to grip and handle alright but they are the noisiest tires I've ever had in my life. I'm 62. I can't hear myself think. The tires have about 5,000 miles on them. They are so noisy I hate to have to drive the car. LOUD!

I agree with the comment saying that “cheap tire” is somewhat unfair because this word passes a perception of poor quality product. I’ve driven 20 thousand miles with my westlakes in all kinds of roads and terrain and they are quite good in any aspect, specially wear. They still look like new. Will buy again. Definitely.

I needed tires for my autoX competition car when I am not racing it. Primarily during winter months.

I purposely run a slight upsize to aid in ride comfort to help dull out the stiff suspension.

Price drove the decision. In all honesty I really like these tires for what they are. Surprisingly decent in the dry. Wet traction does suffer but as long as your mindful with your inputs its work able. I actually found myself driving around on these quite a bit this year chasing some tuning issues and I didnt want to cycle out the race tires.

Would absolutely consider again if I need another budget tire for a similar, non-primary driving situation.

Im surprised by the excellent cost/benefit of this tire. Very good treadwear (looks like new after 12,000 km) very comfortable ride, low noise. I drive my Toyota Corolla about 60% of the time on the road and 40% within cities and could not be happier. I do recommend this tire. Instead of being classified as cheap tires, they should be classified as low cost tires. This sounds much better and is more respectful for both the manufacture and the customers.

Decided to try the RP18, and has been gotten by surprise. Although it is classified as a cheap tire -which usually means low quality- it performs the same as Continental, Goodyear and other famous brands. No way they produce excessive noise nor that wears fast, are not comfortable etc. It’s an excellent and reliable tire. What is the problem to be made in China? After all most of the computer and high tech stuffs like Apple and Lenovo computers are almost totally made with Chinese parts. My four Westlake RP 18 are performing very well after over 12,000 miles after replacing Continentals and still look brand new.
My driving style: mixed from fast to slow in several roads and mixed streets, some in farms full of potholes.

I only have less then 100miles on these. So far much nicer then the 10yo Falken 912s they replaced. These are a slight oversize for my car to help cope with the race spec suspension on my car which is set up for competitive autocross. The tires might see 1000miles a year. So I did not need anything special. Just something for the offseason and inbetween races. The car is not driven much beyond racing it, if I do its to work on it or the occasional cars and coffee. I might do some race stints far away next season so these will be my travel tires to avoid anything happening to the Falken 660s I race on. So far the ride is most excellent. Like disturbingly good. And the grip is actually decent given the design criteria. The few times I purposely pushed the car in the wrong places to see what they would do resulted in fine dry grip and manners. No rain or snow yet. Steering inputs are smooth and direct. I run the tires at 28psi front, 26 rear...car weights 2100lbs. Fwd turbo. I do not hoon much on the street the car is numbered and stickered up so generally pretty average other then some WOT pulls when I am working on ECU tunes.

One off the best tires. Cheapest price.

Real noisy tire. Cheap made, Won't buy again

This was the first time I switched to West Lake after using bigger brands like Bridgestone, Goodyear, etc. The West Lake tires are good in dry and wet conditions for regular every day drive. Actually, I felt very confident in my VW beetle with these tires. Having said that, the tires were so uncomfortable and noisy. I swapped them out after using for 6 months. My wife was pregnant and said that the baby might come out sooner if I continue to keep these on. STAY AWAY.

Tried these after my original Goodyear's last for about 60.000 km, so far at 30.000km seems it reached half life or so, not sure if it will last another 30k, probably 20k. Fits good, but wet performance is poor, I don't trust them above 100km/h. You get what you are paying for. I'd look for another brand on next set, probably would go Goodyear again.

The best tires I ever bought... the return every penny on safety, comfort and efficiency

Have had these tires on my mitsubishi asx fronts from when I bought the car in Aug 16. Got original Yokohama aspect on rear and car is a 62 plate. Grip in the dry is pretty good. In the wet they are ok but tend to skid/ front end first on corners/roundabouts. I live on a hill and my drive is also steep onto the hill sideways. The slightest bit of hail/snow inhibits grip and the car will slide and skate like a fridge. I appreciate that they are summer tires but would expect them to grip better in the wet. I agree with comments made about noise levels- bit loud like hail on a tin roof. I'm a little immune to it now but it was the first thing i noticed on my motorway drive home when I picked it up. They do however wear well but you have to put that into perspective with costs of better graded tires which will cost a bit more. I previously had a mondeo and fitted michelin xclimate on them at Costco. Costly but brill. Don't think they are made for my asx car size. Looking a maxxis ap2 all seasons as a compromise for cost and safety.