RE: Tires...

[Tim Irwin <timi@Interlinq.com>]

FYI, my experience:

Criteria (in no particular order):
Reasonably quiet (carrying a new baby around)
Decent autox tire
Good wet traction
Reasonable lifespan
Summer only
Stock size

Tire choices:
Bridgestone RE71
Dunlop SP8000
Yoko AVS-I
Mich. Pilot SX GT

After querying the local autox list, the AVS-I was ruled out as too loud,
the RE71 didn't look like it would have the tread life of the SP8K, and I
heard about the SX-GT after I had ordered the SP8K's.

After many good comments about the SP8ks, I ordered them, then I heard that
several local autocrossers were running times with SX GT's that were very
close to their R compound times. Oh well, I'll look into the Michelins for
my next set. I may also look into the new Bridgestone RE730.

Due to their helpful website (and in stock availability), I ordered the
SP8k's from Tire Rack on Thurs., received the tires on Monday (2 day
shipping, but they don't deliver on Sat.). Had a bit of a time running
around finding some place to install, but that was the only problem I had.
If you order from Tire Rack and don't have a place that you know will
install, use one of their installers (listed on the website), you can even
have the tires shipped directly to the installer.

Cost:
$90/tire
$38 shipping
$12.50/tire install (same as if I had bought the tires at that shop)

Aggrevation factor - moderate, due to some incorrect information (not from
Tire Rack) on where I could get them installed.

See further comments below --


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Khan Klatt [mailto:khan@mediaaccess.com]
> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 7:09 PM
> To: jettaglx@igtc.com
> Subject: Tires...
> 
> MY CRITERIA
> -----------
> 
> My criteria for tires to purchase were based on the following factors:
> 
> 1. Considering I live in a very rainy part of the U.S. (Washington 
> State) I wanted all-season tires, with good wet traction, and 
> resistance to hydroplaning.
> 
> 
> 6. I wanted tires ASAP.
> 
> This narrowed things down to the range of what are commonly called 
> "Performance All Season Tires", or "Ultra Performance All Season 
> Tires" in the 205/50-15 range (stock size for A3 Jettas).
> 
> 
> THE FIELD
> ---------
> 
> The first set of tires I considered were the following:
> 
> Pilot XGT Z4
> Pirelli P7000 SuperSport
> Toyo Proxes FZ4
> Dunlop SP8000
> 
> THE COMPETITION
> ---------------
> 
> And the other reason why I eliminated the Toyo Proxes is that I think 
> Les Schwab is a scary man with a scary company (I bet he gets a lot 
> of truck drivers buying tires from him though-- plus--- FREE BEEF!), 
> and that is the only vendor of Toyo tires in this area. Also, his web 
> site MASSIVELY sucks. Combined with the negative comments of how the 
> tires wear, I (conveniently) eliminated the Toyos.

Actually, my experience with Les Schwab is that of a good business plan
(pays cash for all stores), treats the employees well, and excellent
customer service.

> 
> I selected Discount Tire as my preferred vendor, for the 
> following reasons:
> 
> a) They carried Pirelli, Dunlop, and Michelin.
> b) They had a good web site.
> c) There are stores locally I could go to.
> d) Friends of mine had good experiences there.
> 
> 
> Doing some more research that night on the Tire Rack web site, I saw 
> review after review after review of people RAVING about the Dunlop SP 
> 8000's. ......

I just mounted a set of SP8k's. Seem to be a good tire, but not all season
(see criteria #1).

> 
> The next day, I went to Discount Tire and they didn't have any of the 
> tires in stock. .....

So much for instant gratification.

> THE GRISLY DETAILS
> ------------------
> So, I ordered the tires on Monday from Discount Tire. They said they 
> were on backorder 4-6 weeks, but when I asked if they could get them 
> from another store, and they mentioned that I could with no shipping 
> charges in a couple days, I said "great, let's do that". Remember to 
> ask if they can order the tires from another store-- they may come in 
> more quickly if you do that.
> 
> Well, today I called back (just three days after ordering) to find 
> out when they would be in, like Monday or Tuesday next week or what? 
> They guy that took my order mentioned that he had to run out on some 
> emergency, and that he gave the order to someone else to fill, and 
> apparently it never got done, so he'd have to reorder the tires, and 
> "sorry about that". I said "fine" knowing that there really wasn't 
> any alternative, secretly totally pissed off that my order got lost.

There goes my business, there are better alternatives to waiting for people
to loose your order.

> 
> Right after hanging up, I started to call any tire store within a 30 
> mile radius. Call after call after call, to at least a DOZEN stores, 
> NONE of them had four Dunlop SP8000 in stock. ...

That would be because they are essentially discontinued.

> 
> On the 13th call, I reached the best and most knowledgeable person I 
> had ever spoken to in this experience. He said "No, I don't have the 
> SP8000, but did you know that tire was discontinued? It's being 
> replaced by the Dunlop SP5000, which, for a dollar more, is as good, 
> if not better a tire. And if one gets destroyed somehow you can 
> always easily find a replacement!"

So why didn't you go back to this person? A knowledgable/helpful salesperson
can be worth quite a bit, and would have saved you some later running
around. Although I must say that he was incorrect. The SP5000 is not a
replacement for the SP8000. The 8000 is a summer only tire, and has been
replaced by the 9000. The 5000 is an all season (which fits your criteria,
but is a different animal altogether than the 8000).

> I said "I'll look into it", and he responded "Yeah, there are lots of 
> sites on the Internet, check them out." So I did, and sure enough the 
> SP5000 on Tire rack's site looked to be an even better performer than 
> the SP8000. I had overlooked it for some reason, perhaps thinking 
> that the higher the number on the tire, the better a tire it was. 
> Silly me. That's what I learned today NUMBERS MEAN NOTHING IN TIRE 
> BRANDS.

See above, the 5000 is an all season, 8000 isn't.