[Vwdiesel] tdi tires

[James Hansen]

Well, if you put on miles, Michelins are okay.  If you don't put lots of
miles on, as in if they don't get worn out in five-ish years, then go with a
cheaper tire that will wear out faster.  Doesn't make sense you say?  Bear
with me.
Tires get hard as the softening agents (mostly hydrocarbon solvents) in them
evaporate out of the rubber. Every last michelin I've had that was not a
daily driver got so hard that I wound up changing them, as they were
becoming dangerous. I checked them with my durometer, they were twice as
hard as new, and drove like they were made of plastic spoons. Still well
above the wear bars too. Every time you heat cycle the tire, it loses some
softness,and they just last too long for the application, and had gotten too
hard.

The cheapies like Nick suggests are actually usually pretty good, as long as
they reflect the use they are going to get... realistic speed and load
rating, and should have good grooves for handling liquid.  Nothing is worse
than finding out you bought roller skates the first time you hit rain. If
they are lower on the mileage rating end of things and the tread depth is
the same, then they are generally softer, and will wear out before they turn
to rock, which is exactly what you want. 

You don't really want a tire to last forever- they get so hard that they
have no grip- and I'm referring to stopping distance more than anything
else, not "performance".
Tire rack is pretty good as far as the ability to compare ratings and specs,
shoot for a tire you will wear out in no more than 5 years based on your
driving habits, then shop around for a price.  Tires are a horrible place to
cheap out, and the longest lasting one is generally not the best, contrary
to what most of us think... 
-james 

-----Original Message-----
From: vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com [mailto:vwdiesel-bounces at vwfans.com] On
Behalf Of mikitka
Sent: February-27-12 4:41 PM
To: vwdiesel at vwfans.com
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] tdi tires

Tirerack.com has some good info to look over for whatever tires you are
interested in buy, either by car application or by tire size.  You can break
it down to show reviews and ratings. Depending on your geographical location
and style type of driving it will vary as to what specific tire you might
want.  Michelin has always served me well but the elcheapo Fuzion tires I
have on my 91 Jetta have over 45k on them with plenty of tread life left and
they handle well here in North Carolina.

Nick



On my Golf, I have a set of Michelin 205/65 15's. they were supposed to last
45K miles. They have 65K on them with some tread left. 

I'm buying them again. 

Matt

On Feb 27, 2012, at 4:52 PM, Chris Jude <vegbenz300 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey folks,
> 
> I'm picking up a 2000 Jetta TDI that will need a new set of tires.  I 
> was wondering if folks have any recommendations for this car, i 
> believe it
fits
> a 195/65 15
> 
> thanks,
> chris
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