Re: magazine articles

[John Greenstreet <jgreenst@motown.ge.com>]

There has been a lot of discussion lately on which snow tyres are best,
so here are excerpts from the latest German Auto, Motor, und Sport
magazine, in which nine different brands were tested on both front-and
rear-wheel drive vehicles.  The FWD evaluation involved testing size
175/70 R 13 tyres on a VW Golf and a Mercedes E280 represented the RWD,
195/65 R15 format.  Evaluated were tyres from Continental, Dunlop,
Gislaved, Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli, Toyo, Uniroyal, and Vredestein.
Last year's test evaluated models from Bridgestone, Firestone,
Semperit, Fulda, and Nokia, which remain unchanged for this year.  I'll
post these later.

Here are the capsule descriptions of the tyres that are available
in the states.

Continental TS770 91T: Very good traction in snow, somewhat delayed
turn-in, tendency to snowplow with correspondingly high drift-angles,
but good tracking nonetheless.  Remained stable even when pushed.  On
wet streets, it exhibited a tendency towards instability and
oversteer; this required frequent [steering] corrections, however
these could be effortlessly accomplished.  Precise handling on dry
streets, but with a small limit-region.
Verdict: Recommended.

Dunlop Winter Sport M2 91T: Best traction in snow of all tyres, direct
and instantaneous reaction to steering inputs, good road contact.  The
rear of the car stayed put even with high lateral loads.  Exeplary wet
handling, remained stable and could be controlled effortlessly even
when drifted.  Curves could be taken at high speeds.  Braking reserves
and aquaplaning were average.  In the dry, it handled well, with good
steering precision.  Very low noise level.

Michelin XM+S 130 91T: Good traction and cornering in snow, but abrupt
breakaway at the limit.  Shortest braking distance of all tyres.
Tendency to dance along, which was difficult to correct.  In the wet,
good road contact and reaction to steering inputs.  Poorly behaved,
with abrupt breakaway in the limit-region.  Required a very specific,
exacting driving style.  Better behaved in the dry, with very direct
turn-in response.


Bottom line: The Dunlop topped last-year's test as well, and has the
added bonus of the lowest rolling resistance, meaning it's 25% better
than the worst, a very significant amount, and is about the same as an
average summer tyre.  It's also much quieter than the average snow
tyre by a significant amount, i.e. 3-4 db.

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John Greenstreet, Senior Engineer           (jgreenst@motown.ge.com)
Martin Marietta Government Electronic Systems    Moorestown NJ 08057
WPI Class of '75, Temple Class of '94

My new car history:
  1975    1978    1982       1986        1989      1992      1995
   VW ->  Audi -> Audi  -> Mercedes -> Mercedes -> Audi -> Mercedes
Scirocco Fox GTI  4000S    190E 2.3    190E 2.6    100CS     S320

POSSLQ's* new car history:
         1978       1981       1985      1988        1990     1993
       Triumph ->  Toyota ->  Toyota  ->  VW    ->   Audi  -> Audi
       Spitfire    Tercel     Corolla   Jetta GL      80      90S

*POSSLQ = Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters
Note: All Audis and Mercedes above were sold to friends or family.
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