All-season tires for 5kcstq

[Mike Veglia]

In a message dated 12/31/2002 Wallace White writes:

<< It's about time to replace the Dunlop SP4000's on my 5kcstq. I've been
happy with them overall. They've done almost 50k miles and have a bit
left. Handling and traction have been good, noise fine. >>

Almost 50k miles is much better than I have ever gotten from a set of tires
on a 5ktq, ya done good! I normally get ~35k or so.

I'm not sure what I would suggest these days. One of the best all around
sets of tires I have had on my 5ktq was a set of the no longer available (in
our sizes anyway) Toyo Proxes Z1. I replaced them with Pirelli P6000 Sport
Veloces--which have worn well, handle pretty good, were sorta okay in snow
when they were new, and were very inexpensive for a VR rated all season
tire. They have gone the typical "squarelli" way as they are approaching
worn out though. (Something the Toyos did not do...)

I now have a set of Nokia NRWs mounted on the flat face 5000 rims I bought
from a friend for next to nothing. We used these for our family snow trip
last winter on the 5ktq (and will use them in February on the A6q). They
were amazing in the snow, yet with a HR speed rating I didn't feel afraid of
pushing the car on the trip across the state to get to the Sierras (all the
way up to Lassen last Winter). I got lazy, and wasn't driving the 5ktq every
day since it splits time with the 4kq, and left the NRWs on for a few
thousand miles and noticed that they really are not all that bad for regular
use. They are a bit noisier than the Pirelli P6000s, but dry handling didn't
seem that much different (and they are 195/65/15s vs. the 205/60/15 stock
size Pirellis BTW), and the noise is not obnoxious. They didn't seem to wear
much for the few thousand (5-7k, or so) miles I left them on.

If you really insist on all season rubber (and I can understand why--I did
too for my 5ktq prior to scoring these extra wheels with these psuedo winter
tires) I would give the NRWs a serious look. Local service may be an issue
though.

Our '95 A6q Avant came with America's Tire exclusive Yokohama all seasons
(HR rated) that despite being tiny for the car (195/65/15) are not all that
bad either. They have replaced them with a new version (again, sold only at
America's Tire) that are pretty reasonably priced. Despite this obvious tire
handicap, the A6q Avant handles unbelievably better than the '94 ovloV 850
turbo wagon it replaced--which had fresh (and *very* expensive) 215/55/16
all season Michelin Pilots.

The real trade off is what way do you want to bias your "all season"
performance for? There are several good choices for a more summer biased
version from all the major tire makers. If you want really good winter
performance the NRWs are amazing though. My own personal bias for tires
leans towards Bridgestone's and Yokohamas, but I would not rule out the
SP5000s either.

HTH and Happy New Year!

Mike Veglia
Motor Sport Visions Photography
http://www.motorsportvisions.com