Michael,
Thanks for the feedback! The question of whether a tire is "hard or
soft" is an interesting one, and I assume refers to the ride quality
and not the rubber quality of the tread. But please correct me on
this if I am wrong. Several people have told me that the Avons are
hard tires, which makes me assume ride quality, because the rubber on
the treads is really quite soft on the ones I bought this year for
another classic car (185x16 tires, no XAS in that size). For that
larger car (3200 lbs) I found the Michelin X was a lovely tire going
straight, but a disaster in hard cornering, and the Avon Turbosteel
worked much MUCH better in cornering.
But the XAS sounds like a great tire, and I want to give my Healey
every advantage I can, while still staying with a Vintage style in as
close a size to correct as possible. If anyone else wants to weigh in
on either of these tires I would love to hear about it before I make
a final decision.
Thanks -- Andrew
'63 BJ7
On Jan 25, 2006, at 2:08 PM, Awgertoo@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 1/25/2006 2:27:56 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> andyslistmail@gmail.com writes:
> Can anyone shed some light on these two tires when used for spirited
> winding road driving? Grip? Breaks free progressively or all at once?
> Side-wall flex during cornering? Rain performance? Etc?
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Andy--
>
> When I could not find any Michelin 175 ZX's I was thinking about
> the XAS in 165 because it had almost the same height but in the end
> ran across a set of ZX's at Alan Hendrix' shop.
>
> The XAS was a very popular tire on high-performance sedans (BMw's,
> etc) back in the 70's and 80's--I had them and definitely liked
> them on a 535. I have heard that they are considered to be a bit
> on the hard side and they are certainly pricey but they do have an
> agressive-looking tread pattern and I hope you'll keep the list
> informed of what you find out and what is your ultimate decision
> and experience. Always nice to have alternatives....
>
> Best--Michael Oritt, 100 Le Mans
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