164 Tires

["Pierre Jacomet" <pierrj@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi gang, once again coming to this great list :-)

I will need to change my tires soon and wanted to ask your advice:

I have several concerns on tires which I would like to share or discuss
with you:

- - Tire Size -- Can I change it?
- - How Hard the tire should be
- - Tire Profile
- - What should be the best tread design?
- - Speed rating V or H?

- - Tire size -- Can I change it?

I do not want to change wheels, I like the 15 Rim size, I have an auto
gearbox,  so I believe I cannot play much with this because changing 
sizes
would affect the shif-up/shift-down behavior of the gearbox. Also, as 
per my
readings on this list, you cannot go over 215mm tire width or else I 
will
end up rubbing at less than ful lock. So taking this restrictions into
account, my possible sizes are: 195/65 R15 , 215/60 R15 and 205/60 R15?

- - How Hard the Tire should be?

I live in Argentina, where roads are pretty bumpy and even exercising 
your
best driving, you still meet with unplanned holes, so under the
circumstances, I think I prefer soft tires, so that I protect the 
mechanical
parts from receiving much of the road impacts.

I do think also, that a higher shoulder should make the tire softer, so 
this
would thoretically indicate that 215/60R15 would be best.

- - What should be the best tread design?

We get a year round weather with no snow, min temp 0C (32F), max 35C 
(95F)
and 1000mm precipitation, which is not so rainy. So my thinking is that 
I do
not need the Best water draining tire, but a rather good compromise.

- - Speed rating V or H?

Well, V should be optimal, because it allows me to go at sustained 
speeds up
to 240 Kmh (150Mph), but I have been told that in general H rated tires 
for
the same brand/model are both cheaper and softer while guaranteeing
sustained speeds up to 210 Kmh (130+ mph). I love to go fast on the HW, 
my
cruise speed is around 180 Kmh (110- mph) so I figure H may be a good
tradeoff between speed and softness.

With this in mind, I have been seeing several Tires in 195/65R15 and 
205/60
R15, have not found many 215/60 R15 around here:

Bridgestone Conselfa
Bridgestone Potenza
GoodYear NCT3  touring (german)
Hankook 856 Optimal Sport (corean)
Pirelli P6000
GoodYear Aquatred
Yokohama AVS
Yohohama TWI
Wynstar
Michelin MXVT


Michelin's are grossly overpriced locally for V ranges (U$S 215 each), 
so I
just dropped them.

The one I like the most from a "tread" standpoint is the Pirelli, 
because I
think it is a good tradeoff for my weather conditions. Also price is
attractive (aprox. U$S 150)

My next second choice are the GoodYear NCT3 which do not have as 
beautiful
a tread design as the P6000 but seem to be ok and also have a good price
(aprox U$S 145).

Concerning the Hankook tire, they are better priced at U$S 105 for a V 
range
195/65R15 but I have been told that they do not last as long as the 
other
tires. However, they seem to be OK for me... if anyone is interested 
check
the tire products at their website
http://www.hanta.co.kr/english/default_3.htm in particular the 856 seems 
to
be a good tradeoff. If anyone has experience with this tires, I will
apreciate comments.

About the Wynstar tires they are the cheapest U$S 80 but only offer H 
range.
however, I do not trust them much, they are from asia, but I could not 
find
a corporate Web site anywhere, so I do not know whether they are serious 
at
all...

So, if you have any comments that may help me with my tires I will turly
thank you :-)
Pierre



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