Yep, Lanny, no tire is perfect. Take a look through the information in the
Reviews section of Miata net and the performance information at "Tire Rack".
Cut and dry, right?

Not hardly.

In the reviews section you will see a lot of opinions, just like yours and
mine, that will provide some sort of guidance to those contemplating a tire
purchase. There are a lot of variables here too that affect the perceptions
of the posters;  probably more than we can imagine. Yet, it does provide
some sort of yardstick which is better than knowing nothing.

Tire Rack attempts to offer some semblance of "science" by using matched
BMWs under the same conditions with a bevy of common drivers. One wonders,
however, if the results tell us as much or more about the cars and drivers
as they do the tires. One might question the results (no "killer" tires or
statistical deviants here...they are all pretty much the same) and ponder
the motives of Tire Rack for providing such information.

But this has little to do with the original issue. The premise on which we
differ is the assertion that, somehow, price and "goodness" of the tire, be
it the ability to save our loved ones in some sort of emergency or not wear
out prematurely or not blow out unexpectedly, etc. is proportional to the
price we pay for it. Neither Tire Rack or our own Miata net reviews page
contemplated the issue of price vs. anything. Perhaps they assume we all
assume they are related. One could take all this test data, somehow arrive
at a figure of merit for each Miata net posting,  take the compiled data
from Tire Rack and plot all of this against unit cost for each tire. What do
you expect that will tell us? Do you think that it will conclusively
demonstrate that price and the aforementioned factors are in lockstep?

Do we really believe that the tire manufacturers have, for instance,
separate design groups for low and high end consumer tires? Do we believe
that these guys, if they are separate,  work independently, never sharing
information or combining their common understanding across the product
lines? Not likely.

We speak of "tire formulations" as if any of us has a clue as to what is
formulated and why. I would venture a guess that these magical formulations
are related to very quantifiable design considerations that are
manufacturing related moreso than performance. For instance, a "high end"
tire (rated for sustained high speeds, such as one would buy in Germany
where we drive along at over 100MPH for sustained periods at any time of the
year) might contain a steel structure that is more robust, constructed with
increased complexity, use thicker metal, etc that makes the tire stiffer
(and, likely, more expensive). The rubber might be formulated to compensate
for the increased stiffness but have to also consider the trade offs of heat
generated by flexure and possible reduced thread wear. I would also venture
a guess that a lot of the rubber formulation has to do with reducing cycle
time and increasing fill yields in the molding process.

We all know that a certain amount of study goes into tire patterns to find
acceptable tradeoffs between traction, water adhesion, temperature and side
forces experienced during cornering and braking. Do you really believe that
this knowledge only makes it's way into the high end tires? This hardly
seems possible, especially in today's litigious society. The tire stores
sell product for $25 ea and $125 (or more) each and stand equally behind
their 30+K mile warranty for all. How do you think they are able to do this?
Perhaps part of the answer is due to price elasticity:  price certain tires
lower and you'll sell more. I'm sure they do sell more tires to the general
public vs. car enthusiasts;  marketing 101 suggests that the enthusiasts
will pay more. Would we be surprised to find that margins on tires are,
overall, quite acceptable for tire manufacturers? These are certainly
factors that are not deadly to my wife and kids. My insurance company, by
the way, has never provided me with a list of "acceptable" tires. They have
a vested interest in us not impacting anything;  these are the guys who
literally write the book on such matters. This seems to not be on their
radar at all.

As I've stated, Lanny, I don't know the answers. The mind abhorring a vacuum
leads me to think about it and ask what I hope are relevant questions. I was
hoping that someone who has this type of knowledge will speak up and educate
us all. I am most willing to learn new things and consider it a virtue to
admit one is wrong and change course. So far, I have gotten mostly religious
arguments with absolutely no reason or knowledge behind them. Someone
doubted I was an "enthusiast". If an enthusiast is defined as one who is
content to assimilate and believe common knowledge without challenge,
inspection or introspection, then I suppose I would certainly not qualify.

Respectfully,

Ken