Tires and A/C

[Ed Kellock]

My tire recommendation is first, stay with the stock size 215/60-15.  There
aren't as many choices, but there are some good ones, and going with an
alternative size just isn't necessary.

Having said that, using Tire Rack as my base, I'd choose... well, I'm not
finding a clear choice.  The ones that stand out are Dunlop SP Sport A2
Plus, Bridgestone G009, and Yokohama AVS ES100, probably in order from all
around use with some sportiness available to more sport and less comfort,
Dunlop to Yoko.

Actually there are many more choices in this size than there used to be.
The Dunlops are cheapest but there's a rebate for the G009's which makes
them net cheaper.  The Yoko ES100s are more money.  I also might consider
the Yoko Avid H4S or the YK420.

I'm a tire junkie and I tend toward cheap or new, ignoring Goodyear,
Michelin, Pirelli, Firestone, and BFG.  I find that some of the cheaper
tires are good performers that have been around a while and Tire Rack has a
lot of back stock of.  Then I tend toward the newer offerings if they seem
to offer some new technology that doesn't seem to be pure marketing hype.

I think someone on the list has the G009's.  Many either have or have had
the ES100's or Dunlops.  I predict that the ES100's might be characterized
as harsher and noisier, the Dunlops as soft but quite with the G009's in
between.

It all really depends on what type of driving you want to be prepared for
vs. how much money you want to spend vs. how you want to buy them, locally
or online.

Have fun,
Ed

On 4/27/06, Mark Trank <MTrank at albemarle.org> wrote:
>
> Fellow listers:
>
> (1) The time has come to replace tires on the trusty 200q.  Believe it
> or not, I am still running the OEM 15 inch wheels.  Current rubber is
> the old Michelin XGTV4 (215-60-15).  At this point I do not want to
> incur the expense of upgrading wheels so I need to stay with the current
> sizes.  Any recommendations regarding tires to use are welcome!
>
>