TIRES

[Vittorio Bares]

Hi Ben:

I also agree with Ben in that there really is not 'good' compromise tire
for summer/winter - my question though is what will the primary use of
the tire be?

I've used Kumo Ecsta's on my 200 tqa - wouldn't use them in snow, good
in wet conditions and very good in dry. Wouldn't hesitate to put them to
the test in an autocross or track day.

I believe the potenza's are std issue on the Subaru's - they're ok - not
great - but that's an all-around tire and I believe the 89's which are a
R rating tire.

I've also recently put General Exclaims on the Subaru - seem to be
excellent both wet and dry - would also track these if need be - but
wouldn't run them in the snow.

Of course, my definition of 'snow' and yours may be different - we've
had *lots* of snow in NH this year - wouldn't even think of going with 1
set of tires all year round. You may have the occasional dusting to
contend with where you live, in which case I'd go for a tire w/good wet
traction for that.

Snow tires stay soft in colder conditions. All weather tires harden to
varying degrees (especially high mileage tires, they harden to hockey
puck status) in sub-freezing temperatures.

I also look at the trade-offs in tread design, for wet traction you want
the tire to be able to dissipate water away from the tire to allow it to
stay on the road - this sometimes translates to some type of snow
traction but not always. If you deal w/ice - nothing but a soft siped
winter tire will do. Deeper snow would require more of a *block*
pattern. Slush would behave relatively well with a good rain tread.

HTH


V-

> Message: 4
> Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:14:42 -0500
> From: "Ben Swann" <benswann at verizon.net>
> Subject: TIRES
> To: <200q20v at audifans.com>,	<quattro at audifans.com>
> Cc: benswann at verizon.net
> Message-ID: <005201c872ad$f44991f0$0201a8c0 at swansong>
> Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Which are best?
>
> I?m not trying to compromise on price this time since a good set will 
> last me several years, I don?t want to skimp, especially on safety.  
> At the same time, if I pay more, I want to make sure that what I?m 
> getting is worth it.  I don?t need dedicated track tires or summer 
> tires.  I need all around the best most forgiving tire available for a
tire that get driven hard all year round.
>
> I?m looking for 225/50ZR16? to fit on 8? BBS wheels.  I need a tire 
> that will handle very high speed in the dry and pretty fast in wet and
no surprises in winter conditions.
> Don?t get enough snow to get dedicated snows, but enough dicey weather

> that I need it to be M&S rated.  So basically if I have to compromise,

> it will be in paying more.  What is the best tire or of top two or 
> three that suit an all around purpose and might even do OK on a track,

> but moreover be good safety-wise and handle all weather conditions for
a generally aggressive driving style.
>
> I seem to have narrowed selection down and am looking at Bridgestone 
> Potenza RE960AS Pole Position 
> <http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireMode
> l=Potenza+RE960AS+
> Pole+Position&partnum=25WR6RE960PP&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes
> Pole+&place=3&speed_rat
> ing=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&mi
> nSpeedRating=H> , Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 
> <http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=P
> ilot+Sport+A%2FS&p 
> artnum=25YR6SPORTAS&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=7&speed_
> rating=V&speed_rat 
> ing=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H>

> .  safety-wise. I currently have Avon Tech M550 A/S 
> <http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Avon&tireModel=Tech+
> M550+A%2FS&partnum 
> =25WR6M550&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=0&speed_rating=V&
> speed_rating=Z&spe 
> ed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H>  and 
> they were not too bad at first, but as they aged got rather noisy and 
> even with some tread left aren?t the best in all-weather.  I heard 
> about the same of Continental ContiExtremeContact 
> <http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireMode
> l=ContiExtremeCont 
>
act&partnum=25VR6CEC&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=4&speed_r
ating=V&speed_ra
>
ting=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H>
.   I did not
> like the Yokahama DB series, and Pirelli P6?s just seem kind of hard
and boring, and I
> hate Dunlop GT Qualifiers..   So even though there seem to be some
pretty good rubber
> for the money in the$ 80-100 range, it would be nice to get the best I
can.
>
> So which are best?
>
> Ben
>
>   
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