Dan Sarandrea (Phila)
Waitin' On Parts...
It was time to replace the Sumitomo HTR200s that were on my X since late 2007, due to age and not due to treadwear or any visual defects such as cracking or dry-rot.
Of course, here in the USA our daily driver choices in the 185/60R-13 size as fitted to the later Bertone cars are either Federal SS-595 or Achilles 122. Past threads on this topic seem to have started out condemning the Federals and accepting the Achilles, but threads and posts from the past year or two seem to be reporting that the Federals have gotten a lot better and are at least the equal of the Achilles.
So I ordered a set of Federals from Amazon in Dec, had them mounted and road force balanced in January at a local shop with the latest editions of the best Hunter machines for both jobs, and then waited until driving weather came around in late April for the maiden voyage.
It was a windy day and the first thing I noticed was that the exceptional directional stability that I love about the X was nowhere to be found. Crosswinds and passing traffic were blowing me from side to side in my lane on the expressway, and the rear end of the car was swaying from side to side like it was a dancer in a hip hop rap video!
The next thing I noticed was the insane vibration coming from the rear of the car at any speed above 60MPH, and the steering wheel shimmy at 65MPH. If the tires were square I don't think it could have been worse.
Back to the home garage for diagnosis. The old Sumis had developed a mild steering wheel shimmy at about 65-70MPH, but it was tolerable, especially since I knew I was replacing them over the winter. I swapped the Federals front to rear and went out again, this time the rear vibrations were still there but somewhat lessened, and the front end shimmy was still bad, but somehow different. The rear end sway was still there, and now to go straight the steering wheel needed to be cocked about an inch to the left.
The Federals are directional so that ruled out any side-to-side swapping at home. And I was in no mood to do two more comparisons by swapping the individual tires front to rear.
So I take the wheels with tires back to the shop that mounted and balanced. They are willing to work with me and say leave them with us. A week goes by and they call and say they are having trouble with them, they think something is wrong with their Road Force balancer, the Hunter guy is coming next week to check it and calibrate it, and then then will work with the Hunter guy to road force the tires.
So the following week I pick them up and install on the car. Each tire has a label for where to put them on the car, typical of a road force/force matched setup. I follow my normal system for fitting the tires to the car, wheel bolts are criss-cross torqued in three stages: 20#, 40#, then the final at 62#.
Out on the road, the ass-end-drunk-directional instability is still there. The tires seem to be holding smooth at 60MPH. 65MPH smooth. 70MPH smooth, then......not. It was like on cue every wheel weight was ejected and the steering wheel started shimmying and the rear of the car started vibrating.
Back home. On the phone to Amazon, spent an hour explain THEIR warranty terms to THEM. After a couple of days of back and forth, they agree to take them back, full refund.
Fast forward to ordering up the Achilles, having them mounted and Road Force balanced at a different shop, and road tested them today on the way to a car show.
DING DING DING Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
My car has NEVER been this smooth and this directionally stable, EVER! These are completely brand new tires so I did not go past 80MPH and only went 80 for a few seconds, but super smooth at any speed. They seemed pretty grippy but I'm going to wait for more miles before I put any real cornering stress on them.
Of course, here in the USA our daily driver choices in the 185/60R-13 size as fitted to the later Bertone cars are either Federal SS-595 or Achilles 122. Past threads on this topic seem to have started out condemning the Federals and accepting the Achilles, but threads and posts from the past year or two seem to be reporting that the Federals have gotten a lot better and are at least the equal of the Achilles.
So I ordered a set of Federals from Amazon in Dec, had them mounted and road force balanced in January at a local shop with the latest editions of the best Hunter machines for both jobs, and then waited until driving weather came around in late April for the maiden voyage.
It was a windy day and the first thing I noticed was that the exceptional directional stability that I love about the X was nowhere to be found. Crosswinds and passing traffic were blowing me from side to side in my lane on the expressway, and the rear end of the car was swaying from side to side like it was a dancer in a hip hop rap video!
The next thing I noticed was the insane vibration coming from the rear of the car at any speed above 60MPH, and the steering wheel shimmy at 65MPH. If the tires were square I don't think it could have been worse.
Back to the home garage for diagnosis. The old Sumis had developed a mild steering wheel shimmy at about 65-70MPH, but it was tolerable, especially since I knew I was replacing them over the winter. I swapped the Federals front to rear and went out again, this time the rear vibrations were still there but somewhat lessened, and the front end shimmy was still bad, but somehow different. The rear end sway was still there, and now to go straight the steering wheel needed to be cocked about an inch to the left.
The Federals are directional so that ruled out any side-to-side swapping at home. And I was in no mood to do two more comparisons by swapping the individual tires front to rear.
So I take the wheels with tires back to the shop that mounted and balanced. They are willing to work with me and say leave them with us. A week goes by and they call and say they are having trouble with them, they think something is wrong with their Road Force balancer, the Hunter guy is coming next week to check it and calibrate it, and then then will work with the Hunter guy to road force the tires.
So the following week I pick them up and install on the car. Each tire has a label for where to put them on the car, typical of a road force/force matched setup. I follow my normal system for fitting the tires to the car, wheel bolts are criss-cross torqued in three stages: 20#, 40#, then the final at 62#.
Out on the road, the ass-end-drunk-directional instability is still there. The tires seem to be holding smooth at 60MPH. 65MPH smooth. 70MPH smooth, then......not. It was like on cue every wheel weight was ejected and the steering wheel started shimmying and the rear of the car started vibrating.
Back home. On the phone to Amazon, spent an hour explain THEIR warranty terms to THEM. After a couple of days of back and forth, they agree to take them back, full refund.
Fast forward to ordering up the Achilles, having them mounted and Road Force balanced at a different shop, and road tested them today on the way to a car show.
DING DING DING Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!
My car has NEVER been this smooth and this directionally stable, EVER! These are completely brand new tires so I did not go past 80MPH and only went 80 for a few seconds, but super smooth at any speed. They seemed pretty grippy but I'm going to wait for more miles before I put any real cornering stress on them.
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