Re: Snow Tire Recommendations

[zm@mhcnet.att.com (Zafer Mehmood [209])]

> 
> What tires would you suggest (ie., 205/55-16, etc) for a 5000 Q?  Or is yours
> an 80/90?  I can't seem to find this info in my manual...

Mark,
	Dan has already given a good summary of snow tire options. I can
give you some info on the size to get. Your 88 5000TQ most likely came with
205/60-15 tires (my 87 5000TQ has these). Unless you changed the
wheel/tire assembly (you mention 205/55-16 above) you have 15" wheels.
Given that you have 15" wheels you can go with either 195/65-15 or 185/65-15
for snows. Its always best to go to a one-size narrower tire for snow use.
Here are the dimensions of the factory size and the two alternatives:

Specification  Sidewall  Radius  Diameter  Circumference  Revs/Mile  Difference
205/60-15         4.8in  12.3in    24.7in         77.6in        817        0.0%
185/65-15         4.7in  12.2in    24.5in         76.9in        824       -0.9%
195/65-15         5.0in  12.5in    25.0in         78.5in        807        1.2%

All these tires have about the same diameter and so would not alter the
speedo readings significantly. I would suggest going with 195/65-15 since
185s may be a bit too narrow for the type of driving one does with a 5000TQ.
One needs to keep in mind that most of the time you're driving on dry/wet
roads even in winter. This is the size I am thinking of getting myself.

BTW, I have a small C program that calculates the tire dimensions - got
it off the net a while back. If people are interested, I can send it to
Dan to put up on swiss.ans.net.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Zafer Mehmood				   AT&T Bell Laboratories
zm@mhcnet.att.com			   Murray Hill, NJ