carcounsel.com |HID|

I’m referring of course to the Motor Trend long-term update that has a lot of people talking…

Now granted, automotive journalists are an agressive bunch, but I can’t see how a company known for products that don’t require much in the way of care and feeding can spec brakes and tires that wilt so easily… Not that soft tires and brakes are a bad thing – they usually bring with them better handling, stopping and feel from the driver’s seat. It’s just that in the LS’ case it has no excuse – no one’s every penned a flattering word on the car’s handling or braking; it’s not the car’s M.O…

The C30 feels busy over small bumps, and the big tyres on those handsome 18in rims feed a surprising level of noise into the cockpit on anything less than very smooth asphalt, which is a shame. I’d happily trade a little of the handling’s edge for smoother progress, especially as the soft throttle action and long gearing (over 100mph in third) give the C30 a leisurely gait. A car that looks so different – inside and out – to the fast-hatch herd should have the confidence to follow its own dynamic agenda too. – evo

Not even a Lexus is immune to the laws of physics…

As long as the road is smooth, it’s a serene ride, but sealed cracks and potholes in the pavement kill the serenity. Even in its soft setting, the adjustable suspension can’t compensate for the reinforced sidewalls of the Dunlop run-flat tires. – Car And Driver

the ride – agitated, noisy and totally unable to deal with short, sharp bumps. Body control is good when you do decide to work the chassis hard, but you only discover its excellent neutral balance after ignoring all the signals that are screaming at you to slow down – at seven-tenths the 6 feels ragged and ill-sorted. The Sport package adds 19in wheels – and in combination with 35-profile run-flat tyres they really hobble the big coupe. It’s a confused and confusing car, reluctant to be driven like a sports car and without the sophistication of ride to be a true GT. – evo

It’s not quite common knowledge yet but some people are starting to understand that tires – because they are made of rubber – have a certain operating range within which the rubber adheres to the road surface. Go above that and the rubber becomes greasy and is prone to tearing, go below it and it reaches its ‘glass point’ and gets hard and slippery.

For this reason your average ‘all-season’ tire gets slippery on a dry cold day below about 40 degrees and your average performance tire gets slippery below about 55 degrees until you warm them up. It of course varies from tire to tire but something on the TireRack website got me thinking – apparently once you expose tires to extreme cold permanent damage can occur!

Like the motorsports tires this Extreme Performance street tire has evolved from, the ADVAN Neova AD07 radial’s construction and compounds have been tuned to maximize the tire’s traction and performance within a specific range of ambient temperatures. Therefore, unlike less highly-tuned tires, Yokohama’s care instructions specify that due to its compound characteristics, ADVAN Neova tires must be used and stored at temperatures above -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) to maintain its performance and avoid tire damage.

Tire company Kumho has released a tire that gives off the scent of lavender after the tires are warmed from normal driving. No mention is made how much time was spent working on this rather than on say something crazy like say traction or who is expected to buy them.

I believe the answers are ‘too much’ and ‘no one’ (and no I’m not making this up).

When your tires were new, they had 10 to 11/32 of an inch of rubber on them.

To pass state safety inspection you are required only to have 2/32s. That’s only 18-20% of what you started with.

Here’s the thing – testing shows that you’d have to have a deathwish to drive with less than 4/32” (just over a third of the original) in the rain or 6/32” (just over half original depth) in the snow.

Most mechanics still follow the state minimum but given that tires are typically cheaper than insurance deductibles as the wet and slippery weather approaches I hope you’ll consider replacing yours a bit too soon rather that a bit too late.

Remember when BMW’s handled AND rode well?

That was before the stylists insisted the wheels had to be enormous to look proportional to the car.

The result:

The Z4 coupe, as with the roadster, can be a chore to commute in, however, owing to heavy steering and a twitchy tendency to be pulled around by pavement troughs and seams. The suspension is downright nervous on imperfect surfaces (and where are they perfect besides Germany?), requiring constant correction and allowing little relaxation. – Car and Driver

I went with a friend of mine to pick up his car after alignment the other day, and as I reviewed the alignment printout eyed the ‘thrust angle’ specification first – it was not at 0 or .01, not at .02. it read .03, far greater than I find acceptable for my own cars. (Thrust angle is the angle at which the car is going down the road – the greater the thrust angle the farther to one side the rear tires are in relation to the front).

So I looked at the rest of the specs – it was the toe at the rear that bothered me; there wasn’t symmetry – one rear wheel was toed in 50% more than the other.

We questioned the tech on why that wasn’t brought in closer and were told, “I hate to give you the Dobbs answer but it is within specification.”

That phrase is a red flag, Read the rest of this entry »

...a series of rapid-fire bumps peels back the 330i’s immense composure, the suspension struggling to keep the wheels on the ground on occasion and giving you quite a rough ride… you can’t help wondering what the 330i might be like without heavy runflat tyres (in this instance Michelin Pilot Sports) taxing the suspension… The BMW has its flaws… Chief of which is the short-travel suspension. On smooth roads it’s brilliant, but as the surface deteriorates some of the 330i’s composure goes with it. – evo