I'd like to kibitz on something I happen to know a little about; tire
design.

A good friend of mine is a senior tire engineer for Bridgestone/Firestone.
 He has discussed on numerous locations, that automobile manufacturers will
contract with Bridgestone/Firestone, to design the tire that is perfect for
their car.  The manufacturer provides all of the details of the car and
anticipated needs from the tire. Bridgestone/Firestone goes to the drawing
board from there.

While some companies like VW, may purchase Commercial-Off-the-Shelf
available tires, I would be willing to bet ALL are very particular about
the tires.  I think all of us will agree, you can have a wonderful vehicle,
and put the wrong tires on, and end up with a dog. What company would spend
millions in R&D for a vehicle, then put tires on that make it handle like a
glue horse on a mud path?

G. Matthew Bulley
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
www.bulley-hewlett.com
Cary, NC USA
888.468.4880 tollfree

-----Original Message-----
From:   prs [SMTP:schiemer@MAGICNET.NET]
Sent:   Thursday, April 22, 1999 8:03 AM
To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject:        tire anecdotal evidence

> To be useful, we would need a large, unbiased sample.  Lacking
> that, I prefer to follow VW's recommendations, since they have made a
> scientific study of the issue.

It is incorrect to assume Volkswagon has done any kind of study, scientific
or otherwise, without tangible evidence of same.  Just because they design
and build a vehicle for availability to the mass market, they are not bound
to 'study' anything about ANY part of the vehicle, tires or otherwise.
It's just that sort of blind faith that causes consumers to believe myth
over real 'fact'.  IE; VW -a multi billion DM company doing business in
hundreds of countries throughout the World- builds a car so it HAS to be
safe to own and drive.
[Lessee, saddle fuel tanks in Chevy pickups and Pinto gas tanks come to
mind here...]  And both those manufacturers are way bigger than VW.  Where
were all their scientific studies??
If I was to hazzard a guess, and that's all it is, VW probably inquires
from the manufacturers what tires they would recommend for a particular
application.  Then they go the extra step to find out how little they'll
have to pay for the tire on the xx,xxx units they intend to build and sell
that year.  Come next year, they start the process all over again.  They'd
rely on the tire manufacturer for the science, then do the correct bean
counter thing and buy it (sic; recommend them) on the cheap. Kibitz