Re: M&S (...or S&M?)

[Robert Phillips <r3rfp@dax.cc.uakron.edu>]

On Mon, 11 Dec 1995, Psychos 'R Us wrote:

> I see many people's mistake is that when someone mentions all-season 
> tread, they assume it's usable in snow. Bzzzzt! If the place you will be 
> driving through snows, make sure the tire is M+S rated! Even if it's M+S 
> rated, it may not be a good performer is snow (or mud).

I hate to step on anyone's toes, but I've used some cheaper tires (when I 
was young(er) and stupid(er) ) that had "M&S" emblazoned, as big as you 
please on the sidewalls and they were horrible is the snow.  Just because 
they say "M&S" doesn't mean dootle to me!  

Here's the way it goes folks:

If you want a good set of snow tires, buy a good set of snow tires.  
There are many out there.

If you want a killer set of summer "street" tires, buy them.  There are 
plenty out there.

But don't go lookin' for a set of tires to pull maximum G's in the dry, 
that will trudge through 15 feet of snow, and work well when it rains!  
You must compromise to some degree or another.  AWD will invariably help 
in all low traction situations, but it can only go so far.  If you want 
to go one step further, buy an extra set of wheels, mount the snows, 
mount the killer summer tires, and switch them as the season dictates.  
Or move to Arizona and get a killer set of summer tires....

Robert Phillips
The University of Akron Sociology Department-------Akron, Ohio