quote:
Originally posted by NJC:
I'm looking for all-season tires
I want the smaller tires to minimize the effect of lateral pull in the grooved road.
I may be misreading you, but I think you are laboring under two incorrect assumptions.
The second of those is that the width of the footprint is the primary determinant of the tendency to pull. While it is true that on a relatively smooth surface, a footprint that is relatively longer and narrower is more directionally stable than one that is wider and shorter, within the range of sizes you are looking at, the effect is so minor that it is completely swamped by other factors. The grooved pavement problem you allude to is generally called "tramlining" and is most affected by the tread pattern: two tires of the same size may be drastically different in tramlining characteristics.
The first of the two (possibly, if I read you correctly) incorrect assumptions is more fundamental, and contravenes conventional wisdom drummed into our brains by repetitive advertising. For wet streets, "all season" tires are the worst type of tires you can have. The "all season" designation refers to traction in light, unpacked snow, which is gained by making the tread compound not repel water as "summer" tires do. That means that on wet roads. a thin film of water adheres to the tread (as it was designed to do for snow traction) and reduces the friction available to the tread for wet braking.
Your sig line says you are in Vancouver, B.C., about 300 miles north of where I am. As we do, you get a lot of rain and very little snow. If my assumption is correct, you would be much better served by a "summer" tire for better braking on the many wet days than by an all season tire for better traction on the few snowy days.
Bottom line for your original question: Dunlop SP Sport 01 in the 205/60-15 size. (It is not a tire for driving in the snow, however.)
