Date:         Tue, 3 Aug 2004 00:25:31 -0700
Reply-To:     Ben S <phlogiston@ISPWEST.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ben S <phlogiston@ISPWEST.COM>
Subject:      best tire for 15" SA alloy rim
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

so i just bought a set of the rhein rims from volkscafe and am pretty
psyched to put them on... all i have left to do is decide what kind of
tires i want to mount on them.  now i have a set of 14" steels right now
with nokian hakks on them, so i'm kind of leaning towards getting a
summer only tire for the new rims and just changing wheels when i go on
snowboarding trips this winter.  but the only decently reccomended tires
i have found from talking to the various vanagon parts houses are:
michelin agilis 205/65r15
goodyear cargo vector 205/65r15
michelin LT X 215/75r15
bridgestone dueler 215/75r15

and the only one of these which is not an "all season" is the cargo
vector which is classified as a "highway rib summer" tire and looks kind
of like what i see on the front wheels of commercial trucks.  has anyone
run these tires who can give some feedback?

does anyone have any suggestions of a nearby size or aspect ratio that i
have not considered that might yeild more options that fit my wheels?
does anyone have advice as to which rolling radius goes better with my
4spd manual 2.1l wbx 2wd van?  the nokian tires i have on now (185R15
size, almost an 85 i think) have a very similar radius to the 205/65
size, whereas the 75 series tires add an extra couple of inches.  i've
almost been thinking that i'd sacrifice some acceleration to get the
engine speed a little lower at 75m/h but then i always laugh and say
"what acceleration".

Ben.