Tyres tyres tyres sizes!

[freebeard]

No snow, just a 10° drop in temperature at dusk and standing water on a freeway on-ramp.

Originally Posted by ksa8907

if this is true, explain formula 1 tires.

I'm not sure about F1, but tires (with tread) have a 'slip angle', the difference between the direction of travel and the direction the tire is headed. It's what makes them 'talk' before they give way.

Turn-in is how quickly the car responds to steering input. With a tall sidewall and a narrow rim the wheel twists inside the tire until it responds. A rim wider than the tread braces the contact patch. This is probably true for F1.

[CapriRacer]

Yes, a shorter sidewall tends to improve response time in a tire - the time lag between your turning the steering wheel and the vehicle responding.

HOWEVER, it is possible to change the response time by stiffening up the sidewall, so even tires with taller sidewalls can be made fairly responsive.

And F1 tires? Those are MANDATED and everyone has to use the same sizes - which has not changed for quite a while (I'm guessing 20 years). What has happened is that F1 regulations froze things so there wouldn't be such a difficulty in swapping between tire manufacturers - and then took it a step further and specified a single supplier.

[NickelB NL]

Indeed. The tyres in F1 are from old regulations. But the teams would love biggers rims. They have 13" rims now. And stil extreme brakes. But not lomh ago they tested a new rim size. I believe 18". This for better brakes and more responsive tires. The are now runnin realy low tire preasures. I believe they were around 1.2 bar. And a huge amount of suspension work is in the tire sidewall. I.m puting up 3 pics of the wheels they tested. Hope this clears someting.

[ChazInMT]

Eddie, I always look to Tire Rack when I shop tires, 90% of the time I have been happy with my choice after using their data.

Passenger All Season

Standard Touring All Season

Gran Touring All Season

High Performance All Season

Now the Bridgestone RE92s mentioned previously are listed under High Performance and I'll let you see the survey results and decide for yourself.

Look over the charts and find something near the top that is available and isn't expensive as heck. I use these prices from Tire Rack to help determine what the "Real" cost is of a particular tire since Tire Rack sells with very low margins compared to most.

Once I decide on a tire and have the price, I figure another $100 to mount & balance and $50 for profit/shipping. Then I call around and see who'll give me the best price for that 1 particular set of tires. This way you avoid a ton of confusion.

In my mind I want the best value in a tire that performs well in quietness first, then handling, then snow (I travel up north a lot), then ride comfort, then rolling resistance. What good is an economical tire if it's expensive and you hate how it performs.

It looks to me like the General Altimax RT43 would be the best value. It's in the Standard Touring area.

Good luck. Hope this helps, I know you're half a world away.