Re: Tires of different types

["Linus D. Toy" <linust@interramp.com>]

At 02:06 PM 3/15/96 -0500, Nick Deutsch wrote:

> I find it interesting that not one of you mentions Michelin tires in 
>this discussion. I had Mich. XGT H4`s on my 90 20valve, and was quite 
>happy with them -in the dry. They were dangerously slippery in the wet. 
>However, my local tire-supplier is very high on Mich. XGT V4`s and claims 
>they are better then Dunlop 60 and Comp TA`s
>I`d love to hear some opinions on Michelins.

I've had the following in recent years:
'87 4kcsq:  Pirelli P6-HR, Kleber C24 m+s, Michelin XGT-H4
'89 Honda:  Michelin (?), Michelin XGT-H4
'91 200q:  Pirelli P600-ZR, Michelin XGT-V4, Dunlop D60A2 (non-jlb)

My comments:  
P6:  195/60-14  OE on the 4kcsq, lasted about 35k.  Decent tire for dry,
so-so for wet, awful in standing water, "i thought i had a quattro?" in the
snow.

C24:  175/70-14  squishy tire in the dry & noisy.  good in wet, "so this is
what a quattro is s'pose to be like" in the snow.  had these mounted on
steel rims, did the winter/summer change thing back then.

XGT-H4:  195/60-14 (for both 4kcsq & accord).  good tire in the dry, decent
in the rain AND standing water, until the tread wears to about 30%.  NEVER
got stuck with these in the snow, and never used chains for the q.  The
honda spent two winters in Anchorage with these too, didn't use chains there
either.  never pushed real hard on the honda--those tires are at 45k right
now! but starting to slip in the wet (wife says i should slow down--she
might have something there)

P600:  based on my experience with the P6, i dumped these within a month of
getting the car, even though they were practically brand new (in another day
and age, i had a bit of $).  noisy.  firm ride.  didn't really push them.

XGT-V4:  215/60-15.  good tire in the dry, rain & standing water.  only m+s
tire to ever require chains on the quattro, though this is w/ a torsen
center diff car.  only lasted about 15k miles, but that's because i got 4
track days out of them, too! 

D60A2:  quieter than the XGT-V4.  rain & standing water is good.  haven't
really pushed them yet--first track day is next month!  problem:  these
tires seem to be hard to balance.  As one porsche list member noted, these
tires seem to take more weight adjustment than other brands;  his tires were
on a 944.  my steering wheel is shaking a bit still--going back for another
balance in a few weeks.  Generally, these are ok tires--i'm not perfectly
happy with them but they are only half the cost of the XGT-V4 while
delivering close to the same thing.  Since I did the mail order thing, i'm
kinda stuck--try these locally is my suggestion.

summary:  I'll probably put XGT-H4 on the accord again when it needs tires
in the next 6 months.  I'm gonna try to sell my D60A2 to my dad--he needs
new tires for his '92 100s.  My replacement?  The XGT-H4 or V4 if I can
scrape up the $$$.   my 2 pennies--YMMV as they say
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* linus toy           email:  linust@interramp.com                   *
* "...it's stuff that does things people want, but they don't know   *
*     how it works.  But if they did look inside it would probably   *
*     have lots of wires."                                           *
*                            --4 year old explaining 'technology'    *
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