Hi Michael,
That is an excellent point. The Avons I bought for the other car must
have been fresh because the rubber is very soft and the adhesion to
the road is spectacular. It breaks away very smoothly and predictably
when you exceed it's limits in a corner. I have been looking at XAS
at Coker or Longstone (UK) and perhaps I need to check on the
manufacture date for the stock that they carry? Old stock could
explain some peoples experiences with either tire.
Magnus indicated that his Avons were much harder than his XAS, but I
don't know if he meant the rubber or the ride. IF the XAS is at least
as soft as the Avons I purchased, I imagine they will be a fantastic
tire, as they appear to be a much more advanced design and during the
sixties and early seventies were chosen by many manufacturers for
their top performance cars. IF however they have been sitting for
five years, they may be hard and all bets are off.
This is all conjecture at this point of course. If only there was a
place you could go and spend the day trying different tires on your
car. Or wouldn't it be cool if someone tried them all and tested them
the way one of the car mags would, for adhesion, stability etc.
Not likely to happen though, so I will surely be basing my decision
on anecdotal evidence and conjecture. Ahhh, but I have made decisions
based on less than that!
-- Andrew
On Jan 26, 2006, at 11:45 AM, Awgertoo@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 1/26/2006 10:36:30 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> andyslistmail@gmail.com writes:
> 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.
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> Andy--
>
> I had always heard the terms "hard" or "soft" applied to the tire's
> consistency and therefore perhaps its stickiness and its propensity
> to break away. I also wonder about how long those XAS's have been
> sitting on the shelves--I don't have the data but do know that
> tires tend to harden as time goes on.
>
> I was interested in them because even in the 165 configuration they
> seem to have approximately the same overall diameter as do my
> present ZX 175's and I like to hold on to ground clearance if
> possible. Plus, like you I have aesthetic objections to wide
> aspect tires on our cars, and the XAS's though a bit wider than the
> ZX's, seem like they would fulfill this requirement.
>
> Where is your source for the XAS's--as I remember Coker now has the
> license to make them.
>
> Best--Michael Oritt, 100 Le Mans
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