Re: BFG or Nokia?

[Andrew Duane USG/PE <duane@zk3.dec.com>]

Hairy green toads from Mars made Zafer Mehmood say:

> Andrew,
> 
> 	How do you find the ride quality of the stiffer side-walled VR4
> especially over the pot-hole ridden New Hampshire roads? Although stiffer
> side walls are better for cornering, and might a big factor if you
> auto-x, I'm wondering if the ride gets much harsher for every
> day use. The roads in New Jersey are pretty bad too and I currently run
> H-rated tires on my Audi. I bought the V-rated Pirelli P4000 SuperTouring
> tires (rave reviews from several mags) for my MB 560 SEL but find that
> they are quite stiff and make for a rather jarring ride over bad roads.
> Also, in places where you can get by with an all-season tire year round
> (some, but too much snow), don't H rated tires provide better snow traction
> than V-rated? I have been leaning towards H rated tires for these reasons.
> Do you run your VR4s all year round or switch to snows in winter?

I find them just right. The 100Q is a big, heavy car, and needs the
stiffer sidewalls. The H-rated tires make it lean too much in the corners,
and generally behave like a beached whale. The overall handling and
crispness of the car is 100% better with the V's.

I'm also used to NJ - my family lives in Watchung, and I travel the
roads there often. They are worse than in NH, but not much. Even there,
the sidewalls are not a problem.

H versus V shouldn't make difference in snow per se. The Comp T/A's
are all-season, M+S rated. I haven't used them in winter yet, but
they get my friends 320HP RWD Bimmer around, so they have to be
pretty good.  I do not normally switch tires in winter.

-- 

Andrew L. Duane (JOT-7)			duane@zk3.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation		(603)-881-1294
110 Spit Brook Road			http://www.zk3.dec.com/~duane
M/S ZKO3-3/U14
Nashua, NH    03062-2698


Only my cat shares my opinions, and she's waiting for snow, too.