Terry Smith
-----Original Message----- From: Jay Laifman <Jay_Laifman(at)countrywide.com> To: alpines(at)autox.team.net <alpines(at)autox.team.net>; laifman(at)flash.net <laifman(at)flash.net> Date: Thursday, December 03, 1998 6:45 PM Subject: Tires
>This is a question not for my Sunbeam, but could be equally applicable.
>How does one tell the real differences between tires? We need new tires
>for our Volvo 850T. I've gone to Michelin's, Pirelli's and Goodyear's web
>sites. They all have nice things to say about the abilities of their
>tires. But, all of their tires sound like they glue your car to the road
>in wet or dry conditions, and even the lowliest tire is made to sound like
>a performance tire. None of them specifically suggest one is better or
>worse in wet or dry. Carefully reading the adjectives they use gives some
>indication, but nothing solid.
>
>And, as to the speed rating, certainly our Volvo will not be doing
>sustained speeds over 100 mph. But, is there another benefit to a tire
>that is rated to go well over that speed, other than ego? There is also
>the "Tread", "Traction" and "Temp" rating. Our current tires are Michelin
>Pilot HX MXV3A's with 240, A and A, respectively, and V rated. There are
>some Pirellis (P4000 Super Touring) that my local shop suggested that are
>320, A, A, in either V or H. But I don't know.
>
>Lastly, I am alone in not trusting salespersons to honestly tell me if I
>need new tires or to have the brain capacity to tell me the difference
>between the tires? My wife thinks I am paranoid and too distrusting of
>salespeople.
>
>Thanks for any thoughts.
>
>Jay
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