Date:         Wed, 15 Oct 2003 22:11:51 -0700
Reply-To:     Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Shawn Wright <swright@ZUIKO.SLS.BC.CA>
Subject:      Re: LTX M/S impressions
In-Reply-To:  <543E0BE6-FF92-11D7-9A48-003065DB8634@mac.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

On 15 Oct 2003 at 23:36, Conrad Klahn <conradk@MAC.COM> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> For anyone considering the 195/75R14 Michelin LTX M/S tires, here are
> my impressions.
>
> Pro:
>
> The LTX M/S are quiet and do well in the rain (no puddle-steer). I lost
> some acceleration up to 30mph, but my RPMs are much more reasonable at
> 65. If I don't pay attention, I can hit 75 easily ('85 1.9). They are a
> fairly comfortable tire - still some wind-steer, but that was in 25mph
> side gusts.

That's doesn't sound good... 25mph gusts is not a whole lot of wind around here...

> Cons:
>
> These tires give me a lot of oversteer - the front bites in very quick,
> and the rear wants to wag out. I'm still not completely comfortable
> with it and am going to buy a rear Addco rear sway bar here soon to see
> if I can counter the behavior a bit.  My previous tires had some
> oversteer which was easier to deal with. I have new(er) rear springs
> and Bilsteins front and rear, so I'm sure this helps the handling a bit
> - but wish it was much better.

I always thought adding a rear sway bar would increase oversteer, not decrease it?

> The sidewall rubber on this tire is "soft" - more of it and prone to
> damage on curbs. I was expecting Kevlar from a load range c tire, so am
> a bit disappointed.

They seem to be near the bottom end of LR C as far as weight capacity also...

> Dorky looking. Especially now that I lost my "aero" hubcaps and am
> stylin' base chromies on my dirty black rims.

Dorky? What did you have before? I thought they looked ok...

> These tires don't fit in the stock carrier unless significantly
> deflated. Time to get that portable pump I've been wanting.

Come to think of it, I've never tried my Yoko 195/74R14s in there, but I guess they
probably wouldn't fit either. I have two old Conti 185R14 spares, so I'm ok here.

> Lots of tread to get rocks stuck into. You can hear me go Clickety
> Clickety Click down the street.

You can solve this by avoiding paved roads... ;-)

Thanks for the write up. --
Shawn Wright
http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright
'88 Westy 375k
'85 Jetta D 263k
'85 Jetta TD 482k (retired)
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