1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
> I suppose they are marking down the SZ50 because people are preferring
the SZ50EP which has higher UTQG and, if the marketing blurb is to be believed, "keeps its wet traction up" as the tread wears down.
The SZ50's are no longer being made and they have had these on sale, though last week there were no 205-55ZR-16's showing on their website. Quasimotor bought a set of four at $75 and emailed me today that the 205-55ZR-16's were back up on the website. Since my fronts are needing to be rotated, I thought that letting them wear out on the front and replacing them on the front only might even out in the end since the rears wear very slowly.
> Ignoring the claimed wet traction advantage of the EP and assuming that lifetime is proportional to UTQG, I guess a fair price for the SZ50 based on dollars per mile is (220/340)145 = $94. Lop off about $20 because the SZ50 wet traction declines with treadwear and you get $73. Maybe that's what it should have been priced at all along? :)
Well, I doubt that the EP's will last 50-60k miles on any car, and I find the UTQG ratings dubious at best, a concept readily endorsed by the Tire Rack. For example, some stats on tires used on my '91 9KT:
Original Pirelli P700Z (UTQG = 140): 40k
Dunlop SP-Sport 8000 (200): 20k
Dunlop SP-Sport 4000 (300): 30k
Firestone SZ-50 (220): 35k
When I ordered these tires today, the Tire Rack guy told me the variable-tire-wear issue was a function of the Bridgestone "Uni-T technology," of which the SZ50 is a subscriber, and that the older SZ50's also had this feature. I can tell you that the front tires on this Aero now have 2/32" tread remaining and wet traction is not deteriorated in any measurable or noticeable way. I can perform a 50 mph panic stop on wet pavement on a sub-standard Louisiana (i.e., slick) blacktop road and get almost no ABS activity in the process. They are simply amazing in the wet, and wet performance is of prime importance to me here in the Deep South. If the EP's exhibit better wet traction, I can't imagine how it would be translated in real-world performance.
So, having lived through two sets of these tires, with due respect to your efforts, I can't ascribe to your value formula. They are simply the best tires I've ever owned, and I expect performance to be better with the EP's, although I can't really imagine it in any category except tread wear.
FWIW, I hear they suck in ice and snow. But that obviously doesn't concern me. :-)
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