Within the past week I’ve read a blog post from Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson and a column in the Radar section of evo magazine (issue 170) both talking about how terrible today’s tires are. Frankly, I couldn’t agree more with them and I don’t own a super car or even a car that rolls on special tires.
I remember two years ago I punctured a front tire in my family’s 2003 VW Jetta on one of the many roads of Tulsa, Oklahoma that ought to be condemned. I made a big deal about it and got the city to replace, not only the punctured tire, but also the other front tire, as I insisted they needed to match and Michelin no longer made the original tires that were on the car. Clarkson points out that a VW is probably the only car around that you could readily get a tire for without waiting, but even that is a stretch these days. I distinctly recall it taking several days to get the Michelin “Primacy MXM4”, a tire which is used by many cars including my neighbor’s Mercedes W220 S-Class and my grandfather’s Acura TL.
The saddest part is that while the “Primacy MXM4” provides more traction than it’s predecessor, the ride these tires provide is downright horrendous! Driving on highways is pleasant enough, but once you’re in a city the tires are a complete joke and you can’t drive more than five minutes without feeling like you need a spine transplant. Yes, they provide “more precise handling”, but what’s the bloody point if the wheel is practically shaken from your hands at every seam in the road?
And let’s touch on the fact that these low profile demons can ruin your car over time, especially some of the earlier models with large wheels. Our Jetta was nice and quiet when we bought it used with some 30,000 miles on it, but at nearly 80,000 I have to turn up the radio to keep from hearing all the rattles. Yes, things come loose on cars over the years, but rarely to this extent. The low profile tires provide such a rough ride that the chassis of your car can slowly begin to warp, causing things to no longer fit together perfectly, the way they once did. This was also the case with my neighbor’s S-Class and the rattling was one of the many contributing factors when he eventually got rid of the big German land yacht. Even some Porsche buyer’s guides warn potential owners against buying some of the earlier 911s to sport 18” rims for this reason. Newer cars have been engineered to take the brunt, but often this results increased weight and thus lower fuel economy. Ironic, no?
My 1994 BMW 3 series has what I would call “normal”, sane, high profile tires. Tires that, despite the BMW having 214,000 miles, give it a smooth, luxurious, and rattle-free ride while also delivering exceptional handling and performance. Traditional tires also don’t leave your wheels as vulnerable to damage as low profile tires. So why in the hell could VW and Mercedes not have put these wonderful tires on the Jetta and the S-class? Why did BMW switch to low profile tires?
The industry may make the excuse that these tires offer a lower rolling resistance, and thus better fuel economy but let’s face it, these tires don’t last as long as high profile tires. Replacing tires more frequently far outweighs both the cost to the environment of a couple less MPGs, and to your wallet of a few more dollars at the fuel pump. The other argument they might make could be for handling, but unless you’re taking it to a track you’re probably going to prefer high profile tires. Besides, most new cars are going to electronic steering systems that offer less feel, making it increasingly easier throw out the handling argument altogether.
The day the industry could justifiably put these tires on a car is the day that tires are made of compounds that last longer without sacrificing traction and that even the common man’s car can have adaptable magnetic suspension that let’s you forget that you’re on low profile tires altogether. Even then, however, car companies and tire manufacturers will have to come to a consensus and choose a few tires that everyone will use. This business of having five different kinds of tires with specific sizes and compounds for each model that a car manufacturer produces is complete nonsense. Even the high profile tires on my BMW, tires that fit a multitude of vehicles made over the past 20 or 30 years, had to be ordered a couple days in advance when I needed them replaced. This is simply unacceptable.
Advancing tire technology for the track is great, but it’s past time for the car industry to think about the actual customer and not the race car driver when they design tires for their products.
SimplyThoughts 