Whenever you are looking for tires, picking out a brand can be extremely difficult, perplexing, and annoying. With so many possible choices, it is hard to figure out what you want and what you don’t want. Today, we are going to be looking at a brand within a brand as we examine all things Crosswind Tires.
Crosswind Tire Company Background
Sometimes when you look at tires, it is difficult to figure out where they are really coming from and who is manufacturing them. There are companies that have multiple brands within their organization, and Crosswind is one of those that is in this sort of spot. Crosswind is a spin off of a larger company known as Linglong tires. Linglong tires, as you can probably guess, are based out of China and are designed, in most cases, to save people a lot of money. However, Crosswind is their self admitted ‘premium’ brand, as it attests to by taking one look at their website. With a plant that is based out of Thailand but having headquarters in Punjab, India, this is an international company right off the bat.
It’s clear to see as much with that alone. They operate under the banner of ‘Soit Autos’ in India, with that organization leading their marketing and distribution efforts for the Crosswind brand. Again, this brand is intended to be there for people looking to go the next step up, if you will, from the rest of the offerings from Linglong tires, who have created a huge empire of their own in China and are rapidly looking to expand their reach as far as they possibly can. In the past few years, Linglong has really been attempting to make their way into the North American market space more and more, and one of the main ways they have started to scratch and claw their way in has been through this very idea.
Crosswind Tire Cost and Pricing
One of the things that come along with Chinese tires, in general, is the fact that they cost much less than their counterparts from elsewhere. This can also be said of many tires that come from other Asian countries as well, including these, in fact. Linglong tires, who are, again, the originators and the overarching company that heads up this enterprise, offer a large fleet of cheaper tires for all kinds of vehicle types. Crosswind, though, is their answer for turning up the notch a bit with their quality.
Rather than remaining in that same range of price and quality, they have taken it up a few levels with these tires. These tires have more put into them, from R&D and designs that push the envelope more. Plus, the fact that they are made in a state-of-the-art, new facility in Thailand. This means the price for these tires is going to be higher than the other cut priced tires that Linglong usually offers to you. With that said, we find that these are still quite competitive in terms of price with other tires that exist in this market. It’s really hard to compete with brands coming out of China or thereabouts, and that certainly rings true for this one as well.
Crosswind Warranties
A lot of information is stored online, and that can confuse people at times. We have found places where it was stated that Linglong doesn’t do any warranty programs. While that may or may not be true, there is good news for Crosswind tires because they indeed do have a pretty good warranty to them. You don’t always see this with tires that are coming out of a lesser known brand, so this should be viewed as very good news for you. They have a 55,000 mile limited treadwear warranty, it looks like, and they also have other options as well. They will replace them if they are damaged within a year, provided, of course, you have been using them properly. This is a really good, especially for the money, as so, so many of these brands just don’t give you a lot of customer service at all. Check and make sure with the dealer or website you are buying from just to be sure, but this information should be close to correct for all of their offerings. They could be slightly different, based solely on their desired uses.
Tire Options
One look below at the models and styles available might leave you a little bit disappointed. But again, this is basically an off shoot for a much bigger brand, so that has to give you a little bit more understanding of why they don’t have so many options. On top of that, we also find that it’s usually a good thing to see fewer options from these types of companies. A lot of cheaper made and lower quality tires companies will produce all kinds of ‘skews’ for tires, making one type after the next to the point where it is confusing for you to pick out the differences from one to the next. On top of that, though, we have found that it causes problems because the people making them don’t get used to working on a specific set, therefore seeing the amount of quality go down.
With Crosswind, you only see six options listed below. It’s even fewer than that, really, however, as you don’t have very many selections to turn to if you are driving a car, for example. You just three choices, while those that are driving ‘light’ trucks only have two potential picks. It’s easier to pick, that is for sure, but for some folks they just will not represent as much selection as they would like to see. There is a fine middle ground where happiness lies, and it is different for everyone. Personally, we appreciate the smaller variety, but we can also see where it can be annoying if you don’t see something you want. As far as finding these tires goes, we don’t think it will be the easiest. These tires are not nearly as hard to find as they would have been five years ago, but the chances of you coming across them at a local dealer is very unlikely. Your best bet is to probably go online for them, which seems to be a decent choice.
Crosswind Technologies and Features
In terms of technology and extra features, you can count on Crosswind to go above and beyond what you see with the others from Linglong tires. Having that new facility in Thailand helps, but also having R&D that is dedicated to helping them grow and expand on their tires is also helpful. Still yet, this is not the same kind of level you see with Goodyear or any of the other major players, so don’t expect to see groundbreaking stuff come to the table. What we can say, though, is that they do a very good job at staying in their lane, so to speak. They have made very good, high quality tires (for the price) that will keep the noise down considerably. This is a common thread you see online about them, and we think it is one of the main things that will attract you. The fact that they also offer a smooth ride will also no doubt help you make up your mind and find happiness with the decision you made.
Crosswind Tire Durability
Durability is always a factor that you have to think about with tires, and that proves to be the case with Crosswind. The good thing about them is that they are going to be a much better option than their counterparts from Linglong. As they have admitted, these are better made. A higher quality means longer lifespan, assuming that you take care of them, of course. If you are treating them very roughly and use them in off road or poor driving conditions , then they won’t last as long, but that is common sense, or should be.
While we don’t know how well they are going to last up against the traditional bigger makes, and we suspect it will be less time than those, we also have no reason to believe they will be poor, either. They should represent very good value for the money that you pay, seeing as how you haven’t paid a ton them and also are getting a fair amount of life out of them.
Summary & Final Thoughts
Finding tires that are of a decent quality and a low price can be quite tough. With so many brands claiming to be good enough to garner your support, it’s very tough to cut through it all and make a decision. With Crosswind, you get more quality than most out of China, and you get a brand with a good backing and reputation. They are still not the biggest players in the game, but they will keep you in it and make you happy to get plenty of bang for your buck.
Crosswind Tire Models
All Season Tires
Crosswind Eco Touring
All Season Performance Tires
Crosswind HP010
Ultra High Performance Tires
Green Max
Touring SUV Tires
Crosswind 4X4 HP
All Terrain SUV/Light Truck Tires
Crosswind A/T
Traction Light Truck Tires
Crosswind MT