Re: Re[2]: Bridgestone tires

["Barton P. Chambers" <bchambers@atlantic.nos.noaa.gov>]

> > No offense intended, John, I'm still smilin'...
> 
> No offense taken!  Now I hope you're not offended! :^)

No danger, I enjoy corresponding with you.
> 
John Greenstreet <jgreenst@motown.ge.com>  writes:
> >  The Dunlops are adequate tires, but I *personally* don't
> > find them as communicative as the Pirellis were in the dry conditions I
> > usually try to limit the Pcar to. OTOH, the Dunlops *are* superior in the
> > wet, but see the preceding sentence.
> 
> But how do the D40M2s compare to the Comp T/As?  

I can't make the comparison fairly.  The Pcar is so different from either of
the  cars I have with BFGs, and I've never used BFGs on the Pcar, that
there's no legitimate basis for me to make a direct comparison.
Furthermore, the Pcar uses Z rated Tires, and Z rated (or higher) tires are
"supertires", and are not directly comparable to other tires (even in the
same series), which further muddles things.

But try this:  The Ds are reasonably sticky, but I don't find them very
communicative, so I doubt that I'll replace then with Dunlop products.  I
may, however, use BFGs.  (I don't use Z rated tires on my VW/Audi
products).

> My experience with both was like night and day, and having the D40M2s 

You haven't said what your experience was WRT the Comp T/As.  What was
your experience with them?

> stock Uniroyal 340s, which, BTW, are an OEM tyre for the BMW M5.
> And the D40M2 is already one generation old.

> > do know that the considerations used by a manufacturer to select OEM tires
> > for a particular car are not always those the consumer would use.  
 
> No, but they will generally fit the best tyre for the car's intended 
> purpose, e.g. Goodyear GAs for touring cars; 

I disagree.  Considering the subjective nature of "Best" as you used it, my
earlier observation holds.  Mfgrs choose a tire that satisfys *both* design
requirements (and whatever those may be, there are *usually many* tires
that will satisfy them), and other factors (primarily cost).

Only when the the performance envelope of a new design exceeds the
capabilities of the existing market, thus requiring a new tire design to
meet the vehicle's needs, can you reasonably say that the OEM tire is the
"Best" available.  Even then, the competition catches up pretty quickly and
invalidates such a claim once more.

<Ahem...>  Before anyone starts jumping up and down about taking this
off-line, I'd like to say, "Go ahead, the exercise'll do you good..." er,
no, ...what I meant to say is "I guess we all recognize the subjective
nature of this whole discussion.  I think, however that the debate covers
an area of interest to all. (so there!)
 
> I find that most of ams' comments regarding cars and their associated
> products correlate with my experiences, while many of the domestic rags
> are hit-or-miss.  

I can't argue with your experience, and I agree with your second point.
 
>   Finally (the crowd roars it gratitude),
> > tire technology is so good today that the differences in test results isn't
> > worth the Position of Vice President of the US (i.e, a bucket of warm
> > spit).  
> 
> I drove S4s with three different types of rubber and there are
> significant differences between them.  The grip of the Dunlops is
> nothing short of phenomenal, and these were all top-rated tyres
> of the newest generation.  However, I liked the ride of the Conti CZ90s
> better; that with the Dunlops was quite punishing.
> 
Hmmmm, that sounds vaguely to me like you are reinforcing, not disputing,
my point.  They are all excellent choices, with different trade-offs.  The
prelude the the sentence you left said that you had to test the tire and
decide which fit your needs.


Cheers,

Bart Chambers
'77 Feline Varmint Felix, Gray Tabby
'86 Carrera Cabriolet, Indischrot
'87 Syncro (Stealth Quattro)