[V8] re: tires

[Roger M. Woodbury]

When I last shod my departed V8, I spent a lot of time researching
tires, and decided to buy Bridgestones.  The tire I chose was the
Turanza LS-H, which is a touring tire in "H" speed rating.  My reasoning
was that these would be the only tires the car would own, and would be
called on to work all year round, in all weather.  The tires were
reasonably priced at around $90 (Tire Rack), were round and true and
when installed were quiet and provided outstanding quiet ride with
overall excellent performance characteristics.  I do not use winter
tires at all, and have never needed them, but if I were commuting in
heavy city traffic.like Boston or New York, then I probably would.or
maybe I wouldn't drive in that mayhem at all.
 
Why the "H" rating?  Well, the truth is that the "H" rated tires will
deliver longer mileage overall than a "V" rated tire.  The "H" rated
tire more nearly represents the kind of driving done legally in the US.
I often read about how this or that tire, with "Z" rating makes the car
do this or that soooo much better, and to that, I say, "hogwash".  If an
"H" rated tire is not sufficient in terms of stiffness and overall
handling, then the car is being driven recklessly in consideration of
the traffic conditions and regulations concerning them.  
 
I did on occasion take my V8 out and "let it out" a bit.  There is a
lovely stretch of road that passes between two big hay fields not far
from here that is over a mile long and very straight and pretty flat.  I
wanted to see what the roll on was like with the V8 as opposed to my
928S4.  (the 928 is MUCH faster).  But the "H" rated tires were fine.
 
Two months ago, we replaced the tires on my wife's 100CS Avant Quattro,
and again, I chose Bridgestones.  These tires are a very new
Bridgestone, the G009.  I chose those because of their pretty aggressive
tread design and then, the price.  The Avant is our primary driver now
that my V8 is gone, and these tires are very quiet (so far), very round,
and provide a very smooth ride with excellent all weather
characteristics.   Next month, I will be putting my 200 20Valve Avant
project on the road, and it will need new tires.  I will be using the
G009s on that car, too.  
 
Again, all of these tires are "touring" tires, which is my primary
interest in "normal" tires.
 
The 215/60/15 tire size is getting to be a hard one to find.  Not a lot
of manufacturers even make the size in any kind of tire, and have been
pleased to find Bridgestone continuing to do so.  Another comment that
I'll throw out here is that I do not plan on keeping tires beyond
approximately 60% tread wear.  That usually ends up being in the fall
for some reason.  Once the tires have 40% of the original tread left, I
do not consider them to be safe with the Quattro system in cold wet
conditions, especially in slushy conditions.  This translates to around
25,000 to less than 30,000 miles for me.  One early winter we had about
four inches of wet snow over night.  It was VERY early for snow
here.right after Hallowe'en, as I recall.and I had to take a cat to her
annual doctor's appointment in Bar Harbor.  It had started to rain, and
the road was not plowed, but covered with about two inches of heavy,
very wet slush.  Just outside of Bar Harbor there is a hill with a
right, slow lane that had not been plowed at all, although the normal
travel lane was just wet and clear of anyslush.  I moved over to the
right to let some idiot driving his truck at 11/10ths past, and when the
worn tires hit the slush, the car started to try to do all sorts of
interesting things.  Clearly Quattro was trying to find what it was
supposed to do, but it was VERY uncomfortable and disconcerting.  It was
the tires, of course, and they were replaced immediately after that
excursion.  
 
FWIW,
 
Roger
 
(Incidentally, I am basically cheap.  I wring the tire buying process
out, searching for the best tire I can buy for the cheapest amount of
dollars.  I still maintain that the best tire that I have ever had on an
Audi Quattro was the Firestone Firehawk Touring LH that is now
discontinued.  The closest that I could find to that is the Bridgestone
LS-H, which might be the same tire..but at around $30 a corner less the
G009 gets the nod from me!)