Date:         Fri, 17 Jan 1997 11:36:37 -0500 (EST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         RGOLEN@umassd.edu
Subject:      EV Tire Report - Blizzaks


Over the past couple of years I have been recommending the Michelin MXLs for 
the EV as an all around tire. It's better in all conditions than the Contis 
that came with my EV, and others have rated it better than the OEM GoodYears 
as well. The MXLs have been good in the snow, and up until last weekend I 
used the Contis and MXLs during the winter.

However, this weekend, I decided to put some snows on the EV. You see my 
house is located on a steep gravel covered private road. As a result it does 
not get plowed by the town, and after the neighbors, and my wife have driven 
up the road (after a snow storm) the snow is packed and traction on the EV 
is close to zero....so some creative driving has to be done to get up to the 
street. This past weekend after a minor snow storm, I decided to go for some 
snows.

I picked up a set of Bridgestone Blizzaks. All I can say, is I should have 
done this earlier. Yes, the MXLs are good....but the Blizzaks are excellent 
in the snow and fantastic on the ice. They are supposed to have the 
characteristics of studded snows on the ice...without the studs.

I tried an experiment with them. My EV has ABS, and one one particularly 
bad street (covered with ice) I would hit the brakes and the ABS would kick 
in (with the MXLs). On the way home (after putting the new tires) I did the 
same with the Blizzaks....the EV stopped quicker, and the ABS barely kicked 
in.


Ric