OK, so the other day I noticed that after properly inflating my tires, the sidewalls cracked circumferentially near the bead and also a crack developed all the way around the tread (adjacent to the sidewall). I knew the car had been sitting, but the tires only had 28 psi in them, hence the cracks did not show. Needless to say, new rubber was in my immediate future! My plan was to pull the 15" wheels off my Escort GT and put them on temporarily. Safety, of course, was my first concern, but I was also curious how going from 175/70-13s to 195/60-15s would affect mileage and driveability. I pulled my first wheel off the CRX and nearly flung it up into the air. LIGHT! That pretty much sealed the fate of moving up to a 14" or 15" wheel. I started shopping for LRR stuff in the puny 13" range and found the Michelin Defender. Since Costco is a Michelin dealer in these parts, I stopped in to ask if they could order me a set. Lo and behold, they had 5 in stock (I didn't ask about the 5th one! Orphan?
) With the $70/set of 4 coupon, they were cheaper than TireRack (my go-to tire guys).
The Defenders have a 44 psi max, so it will be interesting to see how they compare to the old, hard Toyo 800 Pluses with 35 psi, mileage-wise. I am tracking my fuel consumption using an app on the ol' iPhone, so will be able to get some good data. Unfortunately, we are entering the (more) rainy season here in WA, so plowing through semi-truck ruts filled with muddy water has been taking its toll on the efficiency numbers.
So far I'm pleasantly surprised with cornering traction. The tires are quiet and do well with standing water at 65 mph. With such a light car, I'm sure I just float across the "ponds", but haven't noticed any loss of traction or undue sliding.
BTW, I just posted a WTB ad in the classifieds for HF center caps, as one of mine went AWOL last weekend coming back from Centralia. If you have one (or more), I'd appreciate a heads-up.
CB
