PSA: Tires Make All The Difference

Kinja'd!!! "tylinol" (tylinol1975)
11/20/2015 at 13:49 • Filed to: None

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Some of you may recall that I complained mightily about my Saab 9000 Aero’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . It had needed new tires since I bought it, so with it otherwise mechanically sorted I decided to bite the bullet on some new rubber.

My Alfa runs Toyo Proxes R1Rs, which are amazing on a hot summer day but essentially lead to the car being parked for the majority of the winter. They can also be a bit dicey in the rain. Since my Saab is a great winter car to begin with, I didn’t want to compromise it with summer tires.

After a good, honest look at my driving style and needs for the Saab, I opted for some Grand Touring All Season tires, specifically Michelin Primacy MXV4s. What a difference! The ride quality, while still not perfect, is about on par with the Alfa now. Tires make a big difference folks.


DISCUSSION (8)


Kinja'd!!! jariten1781 > tylinol
11/20/2015 at 14:04

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A girl who works for me came over for dinner a while ago and my garage was open. She saw all my extra wheel/tire sets and was astounded.

“Why do you have so many tires?”

I started going into the factual reasons, winters and summers and tracks and compounds and .....

Then you could almost see the lightbulb click on:
“So they’re like shoes? You can get anywhere with any of them but what’s most comfortable for a long walk isn’t what’s best for playing softball or wearing to a fancy dinner...I get it, I have like 30 pairs of shoes”

And that's when I learned tires were women's shoes.


Kinja'd!!! Rock Bottom > tylinol
11/20/2015 at 14:16

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100% yes. When I dumped my run-flat tires on my C5 Corvette for Dunlop Direzza DZ102s, it was like a whole new car. Way better ride, quieter on the road, and far superior stick. So few people truly appreciate how a bad set of tires will ruin a car!


Kinja'd!!! Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > tylinol
11/20/2015 at 14:22

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Hello me fellow Saab brother, nice car you’ve got there. Mine’s just a measly 2.0 CD (non turbo). Anyway, yeah tyres do make a big difference.. I’ve got 205/50 - 17”’s in the summer, and 195/65 -15”’s for the winter.. BOY does it handle different with the winter tyres.


Kinja'd!!! RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > tylinol
11/20/2015 at 14:28

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Yes, tires. I had cheapo summer tires that came with the car — they had grip, but the car felt like it was wobbling laterally and I thought something in the suspension was broken.


Kinja'd!!! Luc - The Acadian Oppo > tylinol
11/20/2015 at 14:44

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I’m a firm firm believe that tires are the single best upgrade you can possibly do to a vehicle. Here is a good explainer.

Also I should mention that a 300hp Lincoln MKZ with great tires is faster in a slalom than a 500+ hp BMW M5.

http://jalopnik.com/5969022/lincol…


Kinja'd!!! AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > jariten1781
11/20/2015 at 15:20

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Sooo did you propose to her on the spot?


Kinja'd!!! AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > tylinol
11/20/2015 at 15:21

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That 1.5psi between tires can also make all the difference ;)


Kinja'd!!! jariten1781 > AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC
11/20/2015 at 16:14

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Don’t think my wife would have been too keen on that.