BX vs P210 vs Hokas -Comparo

[QSHIPQ@aol.com]

Paraphrasing last years BX vs 210 post, here (>> = 97 edit/update) is the
more recent comparo BX vs Hokas vs 210's:


Subj:	Steamboat Tire Comparo - BX vs 210's  
Date:	96-02-07 20:57:57 EST
From:	PDQSHIP
To:quattro@coimbra.ans.net

.......
Brigstone hypes these tires to the frenzy, lots of B* words when at the
school (sponsorship an all), but the bottom line is that they might be too
good in some respects at a great expense to others......    

The BX (that's what I will call them here) looked more like an all season,
but closer inspection proved that this was the least they were....  A
thumbnail into the tread would sink a good 3/8 inch, whereas my 210's for
example, you couldn't stick a bread knife in...  Soft these are, however,
that softness has compromises to handling....  Mounting my 210's on 7inch
rims was to maximize the effectiveness of the tread pattern and sidewall
stiffness on my 5ktq.  The more "exact" the tread is, esp in hard driving,
more of it in the
proper "design" (vs convoluted tread pattern under stress).  My car has
little wander on the road, and a more exactness in turns and driver inputs.
To drive the BX's like that, yeilded the shortcoming of the tire design
philosophy, that is they tended to wander a bit on the tread, or squirm, to
be more specific.  More pronounced on the Explorer than say the probe, but it
was there on every car I drove.  And a common assessment by others at the
track.
>>  The Hakas also demonstrated the squirm, albeit not as bad as the blizzax,
but what I do think was happening under boost was that the tread blox on the
Hakas would tend to squeeze together, creating little room for "bite".  At
partial throttle or off boost, the hokas were at least the 210 equal, esp on
initial bite.  I found the tire wander on dry pavement excessive on the Hokas
and the noise level truck like.  The stiff sidewall made the squirm feel of
the tread really pronounced.

I will say that the weather could have negated any true evaluation of these
tires, cuz the snow was very dry, and neither tire slipped all that much in
this stuff.....  What was more pronounced on the BX was when you were sliding
sideways on the ice, then hit "traction", the BX had an easily identifiable
"grip" character, the 210's much more subtle.....  However, neither tire was
anything but goofy on ice, the BX prolly had more grip, but significant would
be an exageration.  Even Scott Davis (Haltec/Garrett 20v turbo urq) tended to
"walk" his car over the icey spots, find the snow, then punch the gas.....
So the key to the track and the tires was to ease over the ice, then smoke em
once traction was available.  I figgrd this technique pretty quickly, and
when in the snow, neither tire really had a "traction" advantage.....   The
cars got tail happy under power, and speed gains were about the same.  
>>  NO changes really here.  The technique was still to creep across 7-8, and
thru 5 and 3, find the traction, lock the diffs and shoot for the next turn.
 The hokas had a little better initial bite than the 210's did last year, but
the 210 retained a linear bite right thru the boost, where the Hokas started
the tread sqeeze routine.  This squeeze was one of my major complaints with
the BX, but found the same phenomenon at the higher boost levels of driving
the hokas.  For cornering the Hokas were equal to the 210 in the snow, and
both better than the BX's....

On straight ice, my education tells me that the super-hydrophylic BX should
be better than anything.  Was it?  Can't say for sure, my thinking is that in
the real world driving on city streets maybe, but in a highperformance
environment, my supposition is, that the BX tended to convolute their
intended footprint shape, so the gains were not readily apparent.  Lots of
ex-210 owners at the track said WOQ that I will have wished for the BX by the
end of the weekend, and I'm here to report that, it just didn't happen for
me......  On the track, drivers skill and chassis dynamics could easily make
the BX differential, and on the street, I'm not convinced that this isn't
true either.
>>  Ditto 97.  That last statement can't be emphasized enough.  This school
is the key, tire comparos aside.  There were some on BX tires that got smoked
by some of the more "sticky challenged."  Knowing WHAT to do on these
conditions is more important than on what tire you exercised.  The icey
conditions of this years school certainly would put the BX in the advantage,
but this author observed driver skill as the first component, then the
car/tire combo.

The Summary:  Maybe the zero degree temps and more snow than normal on the
track didn't favour the BX to their best abilities....  Are the BX good?  You
bet.  Are Lawson's Gislavs good?  Sure.  Are Vreds, or Hokas, or 210's good?
Me thinks so.....  Are the BX a "far" better snow?  Not convinced....   Are
they a far better ice tire?  Maybe, but I refer to driver skill again, and
for that, I would encourage the braking and chassis handling techniques
before considering the BX a "superior" tire.......   Are there compromises to
the BX?  More than I would have expected.  Was I ready to buy a set?  Yes for
my wife's car at the beginning of the weekend, but after driving them, no....
I'll prolly get some Hokas for the serious snows on our MI travels......
And definitely stick with the P210's on my car and work harder on practicing
on slippery stuff....  A couple more Steamboats should do the trick......
Buy your favorite snow, and drive them to Steamboat, go thru the school, most
of the traction available is in your feet, your hands and your head....  And
for that, this track/school demands the best of all these abilities to drive
quickly in the slick......
>>  Well there it is, got the hokas, will go back to the 210's next year.  I
might stack the deck some with the 210 ices, but only for this event, all
around, 210 is a tire to respect, more so now that I tried the hokas.  210's
do nothing exceptionally, everything well, for that, it deserves serious
consideration, no squirm and predictable handling 100% of the time adding to
the credibility.  Hokas in snow are hard to beat, the stiff sidewall and
tractor like traction deserve accolades for those of you in real snow
conditions.  I found them above reasonable sound levels on dry, and very
squirmy there as well.  Initial bite on the hokas are in the BX levels on
everything but ice, and massive boost conditions.  

>>BX's:   I feel that your gains in traction are at the expense of control.
 They are phenomenal at 1 thing, ice.  Everywhere else, driver education can
easily equalize their argument.  My own assessment of them is to put them on
the widest wheel possible to keep the sidewalls from the propensity to roll.
 

End of Report 97

Scott
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