We've bought a few sets of tires from the Tire Rack including , most
recently,  C-rated Michelin LTX's for my wife's Windstar.  They've always
given very good service and, generally, their prices are hard to beat.  If
you're near South Bend, Indiana - you can get them installed there too.

We purchased the Agilis' for our 85 Westy to replace the completely worn-out
Conti Contacts that were on the van when we purchased it.  The POV said that
he liked them and that they were the original tires when he purchased the
van, in turn, from the original owner - an Air Force officer who purchased
it in Germany.

At the time we purchased the Agilis', however, there were no Conti's
available.  Apparently, the Conti factory in South (or North) Carolina had
been on strike for over a year and there were absolutely no stock to be
found.  Supposedly, there is (or was) a C-rated variant.  I've owned Conti's
before - on our dearly departed 72 Beetle.  They were very good tires and
were especially good in snow.  As a bit of additional history - I actually
spoke with Conti's national customer service center when I was searching for
Contacts.  The rep told me that the Contacts were the OEM steel belted
radials that VW placed on most of the European-market Vanagons and Kampers
in the mid to late 80's - not Michelins.

We like the Agilis' but I can't actually say that they're a lot better than
the Conti's.  We actually purchased them from a local Discount Tire store.
They had 4 in stock that they'd ordered for another Vanagon owner - who
apparently never came in to pick them up.  We paid quite a bit less than the
price you quoted (but possibly because they wanted to move the stock).  I'd
suggest that you call Discount.  I'll bet that they'll match or even beat
the Tire Rack's price.

Good luck.

Todd

Westerville, OH

85 Westy - Rivendell
57 spouse
88 daughter, 91 son
90 and 94 Newfoundlands
96 cats - 2
01 Hamster

----- Original Message -----
From: Rod Smith <rodwreck@SE-TEL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 4:41 PM
Subject: Tirerack.com Top Ten List

> Well, I guess it's actually only a top 5 list.
> Anyway, a search for tires on the tirerack.com website returned the
> following results:
>
> Our most popular 185/-14 (in order of popularity) for the 1984 Volkswagen
> Vanagon are:
>
> 1) Michelin Agilis
> Price:$92
> Availability: Low Stock
> Speed Rating:R
> Load Rating:C
> Type:Standard Touring
>
> 2) Yokohama Y356
> Price:$50
> Availability: In Stock
> Speed Rating:R
> Load Rating:C
> Type:LT Highway Rib
>
> 3) Yokohama Y356
> Price:$57
> Availability: In Stock
> Speed Rating:R
> Load Rating:D
> Type:LT Highway Rib
>
> 4) Michelin MX Reinforced
> Price:$73
> Availability: In Stock
> Speed Rating:R
> Load Rating:RF
> Type:LT Highway Rib
>
> 5) Continental Contact CR21 Reinforced
> Price:$46
> Availability: Low Stock
> Speed Rating:R
> Load Rating:RF
> Type:All-Season
>
> I have been told that the Continentals
> are very good despite there low price.
>
> I would be interested in comments and recomendations
> on all of the above tires, particularly the Continentals
> Vs the Michelin Agilis.
>
> So, Whats your favorite tire?
> One of the above or something else altogether?
>
> Also, any experiences in dealing with tirerack.com
> would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
> Rod.
>