[Vwdiesel] RE: T or H tires

[greg rich]

Well, here is my story/opinion
I have two 2000 Jetta tdi's in the family, one is my wife's, one my Mom's.
One car had Michelin's that are H rated-Energy series (factory). They 
suck-good overall but terrible performance (car feels like it will roll on 
the sidewalls/tire off rim plus lots of squealing) and they wear out quickly 
(even slow/non aggressive driving). Maybe 40k miles if your very lucky. The 
other car had them but I installed Goodyear Eagle LS right away (new car 
take-offs, used the other wheels for winters). Great performing tire, but 
the tread got feather edged and noisy very fast, they lasted at least 60k 
miles. I now have one car on the factory Michelin Energy series (which were 
stored for a couple years) and the other car has a set of Michelin Pilot 
XGTH4. There is no comparsion, the Pilot are so much better, even with 
bigger injectors (automatic running 205s) I can floor the car off the line 
with little wheel spin IN THE RAIN! You can  corner much faster with 
confidence and no squealing plus great feel-these tires totally changed the 
dynamics of the car-nothing else changed (alignment/suspension all stock). I 
would highly recommend these tires and cannot wait to get a set on every car 
here. Yes, the cost alot (twice what a S ot T rated tire would cost) but the 
security in the rain plus the stability is unbelievable, even compared with 
the factory H rated tires. The really reveal what the car can do, it feels 
much more like the mk2 cars now, amazing what a good tire can do. So far 
they seem to wear okay, only had them one summer. All these tires are 
195/65/15 stock size.
Greg

>Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] T or H tires
>To: val at swamps.roc.ny.us, vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>Message-ID: <1c8.29c7a79d.2fcbd074 at aol.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
>
>I'm pretty sure you'd be OK with T rated.
>H are probably a little rounder and internally more uniform.
>Maybe stay balanced a little better, too.
>If you do a lot of highway driving, even below speeds indicated for H 
>rated,
>you're better off with them, IMO. Better ride and less vibration to wear 
>your
>suspension.
>
>Bob
>
>***********
>
>
>In a message dated 5/27/2005 6:27:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>val at swamps.roc.ny.us writes:
>
> > Subj: [Vwdiesel] T or H tires
> >  Date: 5/27/2005 6:27:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time
> >  From: val at swamps.roc.ny.us
> >  To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> >  Sent from the Internet
> >
> >
> >
> > On an 2003 TDI, the charts at Sam's, for tires, say H rated tires.
> > I have T rated tires.  Can anyone comment further?  Is there that
> > much difference for someone driving in the snowbelt (cooler climate),
> > who seldom hits 85 mph?  Most driving is in the 45 to 75 range.
> >
> > Val
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Vwdiesel mailing list
> > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> >
>
>
>
>------------------------------
>
>Message: 4
>Date: Sun, 29 May 2005 22:58:11 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Val Christian <val at swamps.roc.ny.us>
>Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] T or H tires
>To: SLATERSFB at aol.com, vwdiesel at vwfans.com
>Message-ID: <200505300258.WAA10142 at swamps.roc.ny.us>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
>Here's my history:
>
>2003 Jetta TDI, driven year round, nominal commute 45 to 85 MPH, sometimes
>hard acceleration and braking, but usually driven as if a 48 hp 1.5L IDI.
>
>When car was new, very unstable front end.  Dealer indicated within spec.
>Found to be borderline unsafe in icy conditions.  I had them realign
>front end for zero toe.  Better performance, but not as good as 91 Jetta,
>and clearly not as good as a snoot full of Rabbits.
>
>Factory  tires wore out in 30kmiles.  Replaced with "T" tires.  After
>20kmiles, uneven wear across treads, minor imbalance.  Dealer (Sam's)
>saw them and offered to replace under warranty (I didn't ask).  After
>considering options, I took them up on it.  Their literature says "H"
>tire needed, but dealer says "T" is just fine.  I'll try these new "T"s
>and see how they perform (life-wise).
>
>I'm interested in any group experience.
>
>On the old Rabbits, I just ran Michelon (sp?) XZX tires, and got 45 kmiles 
>more
>more per set.  Zero toe, to 1/8 toe out, and zero camber.
>
>Val
>
>
>
>
>
> > I'm pretty sure you'd be OK with T rated.
> > H are probably a little rounder and internally more uniform.
> > Maybe stay balanced a little better, too.
> > If you do a lot of highway driving, even below speeds indicated for H 
>rated,
> > you're better off with them, IMO. Better ride and less vibration to wear 
>your
> > suspension.
> >
> > Bob
> >
> > ***********
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 5/27/2005 6:27:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> > val at swamps.roc.ny.us writes:
> >
> > > Subj: [Vwdiesel] T or H tires
> > >  Date: 5/27/2005 6:27:33 PM Eastern Daylight Time
> > >  From: val at swamps.roc.ny.us
> > >  To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> > >  Sent from the Internet
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On an 2003 TDI, the charts at Sam's, for tires, say H rated tires.
> > > I have T rated tires.  Can anyone comment further?  Is there that
> > > much difference for someone driving in the snowbelt (cooler climate),
> > > who seldom hits 85 mph?  Most driving is in the 45 to 75 range.
> > >
> > > Val
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Vwdiesel mailing list
> > > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com
> > > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel
> > >
> >
> >