Quick review of the tires that I ordered from TireRack.com to go on the MINI. I use 205/50/15s for the MINI for better weight savings (around 150lbs less than the stock 17s). After one good mountain run up to the Tail of the Dragon (US 129 in NC/TN, look it up if you have never heard of it. 318 turns in 11 miles.) I love these tires. They ride smoother than the old Dunlops, track well on the highway and did great on the twisty stuff.
The first run up the Dragon they didn't feel all that good. They felt vague and really didn't grip all that well. Now, the temperature was a nippy 40-45 degrees and the tires only had around 200 miles on them. After a short break we headed back down the Dragon. On this run the tires where completely different. They had great grip and feel. I had to get used to a tire that turned in right away, the old Dunlops had a good amount of flex to them (even when aired up pretty high) so you had to anticipate your turn in a bit and let the car and tires settle before the car would bit in. Not so with the Generals. No bad sidewall flex that I could feel (39psi). These tires do let you know when they are near the limit, talking quite loudly before ultimate grip has been reached. When they do let go it is gradual and not snappy so it is pretty easy to recover from any opposite lock moments.
All in all these are great tires for the money. Sure you can buy tires with more grip but for $61 per tire I'm really happy. Now I just have to wait and see how they age once they have a few more miles on them.
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Exhaustion
9 years ago
1 comment:
I just purchased the General Exclaim UHP today in 215/45/17 for my 2004 Scion Xb.
They are awesome driving tires!
They totally surpass my Wan Li
tires, in every way, which I just replaced after about 36,000 miles. The Wan Li were great, but I now after driving home from the shop, I am 100% sold on the Generals. My car rides and handles better than when it was new.
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