Snow tire/made in USA rant

[CapriRacer]

Whether you like it or not, the tire industry is working globally. They produce the tires where it makes sense - a combination of where the tire are being consumed, where the cost of shipping of raw materials is reasonable, and where the cost of shipping finished tires is also reasonable.

Sometimes this results in tires produced halfway around the globe.

In the case of winter tires, the Nordic countries are by far the largest consumer of winter tires. That means Germany, France and the other northern European factories become the most cost efficient.

Heck, until recently, the US market was considered a dead market for winter tires - very few sold. I'm glad that changed (for safety reasons!)

 

[kschachn]

If you live where it snows, once you have dedicated winter tires you only wonder what you were waiting for. The difference is incredible.

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Heck, until recently, the US market was considered a dead market for winter tires - very few sold. I'm glad that changed (for safety reasons!)

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Whether you like it or not, the tire industry is working globally. They produce the tires where it makes sense - a combination of where the tire are being consumed, where the cost of shipping of raw materials is reasonable, and where the cost of shipping finished tires is also reasonable.

Sometimes this results in tires produced halfway around the globe.

You do understand the perception. That so-called "advanced nations" like the US, Japan, France, or Germany only produce the highest quality goods and the goods made in Latin America, China, or Southeast Asia must be of inferior quality. That can be true to some extent, but I'm frankly more concerned with the name of the company backing it and not who handled it in a factory.

Of course it's really about quality control. Also - isn't a lot of this production automated these days? Labor is still an important cost, but there's this implication that workers in China or Southeast Asia can't possibly produce as high a quality product as in high-cost labor countries. There used to be a perception that American auto workers couldn't produce as high quality a car as Japanese workers, but the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California eventually had the lowest defect rates of any factory making Toyotas.

And you're absolutely right that the manufacturing location of tires has a lot to do with where they're consumed. Thailand, Malaysia, and China make sense as far as manufacturing sites go because that's the area with the biggest growth of vehicle ownership. I understand that China buys more new cars these days than the US. Many are pretty bad though (look up "Chery") but they're still driving. Even there, the perception is that a foreign brand is better.

 

[y_p_w]

You know, I'm kind of feeling left out since I live in a place where it doesn't snow except once in a generation and maybe black ice is an issue once every five years.

I have seen a car parked in a garage near work with winter tires and a ski rack. I'm wondering how the driver put up with the lack of performance in dry conditions.

I'm thinking maybe I'll get a set just for kicks. Maybe just for my wife's Civic since they can be extremely cheap.

 

[kschachn]

Up to you but I sure wouldn't do that. Despite my glowing recommendation a couple of blocks above, if I didn't live where it snows a lot I wouldn't use them for any reason. Your comment about dry pavement performance is correct, plus (maybe this is just me) I get a bit worried about long high-speed driving in hot weather. Bottom line is that I'd never mistake my summer tires for the winter ones, ever.

But when there is snow on the pavement? Well then it turns my ECHO from dangerous to acceptable, and my BMW from acceptable to awesome. The other two have all-seasons, and if I had room to store eight more tires I'd get a set of wheels and winter tires for them, too.

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I'm thinking maybe I'll get a set just for kicks. Maybe just for my wife's Civic since they can be extremely cheap.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Up to you but I sure wouldn't do that. Despite my glowing recommendation a couple of blocks above, if I didn't live where it snows a lot I wouldn't use them for any reason. Your comment about dry pavement performance is correct, plus (maybe this is just me) I get a bit worried about long high-speed driving in hot weather. Bottom line is that I'd never mistake my summer tires for the winter ones, ever.

But when there is snow on the pavement? Well then it turns my ECHO from dangerous to acceptable, and my BMW from acceptable to awesome. The other two have all-seasons, and if I had room to store eight more tires I'd get a set of wheels and winter tires for them, too.

I wasn't thinking of them as a year-round tire. I was imagining using them in the winter here for maybe a few months, where we'd then go to the Sierra Nevada to play in the snow. I've driven on all-season tires in my WRX up to Lake Tahoe, Reno, and Yosemite in the winter. Sometimes it was in near whiteout conditions.

I'm not sure that my WRX might not be a better vehicle for winter driving, especially with winter tires.

 

[zzyzzx]

Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
When your willing to come to terms with a global economy, you'll be a lot happier with the selection at your free market disposal.


If you are willing to come to terms with high unemployment, you'll be a lot happier without a job.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I have seen a car parked in a garage near work with winter tires and a ski rack. I'm wondering how the driver put up with the lack of performance in dry conditions.

Actually, winter rubber is very grippy in warm temps. It just wears out quickly.

Steering response is another issue.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
When your willing to come to terms with a global economy, you'll be a lot happier with the selection at your free market disposal.


If you are willing to come to terms with high unemployment, you'll be a lot happier without a job.


YES!! THANK YOU!

 

[faramir9]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: michaelluscher
When your willing to come to terms with a global economy, you'll be a lot happier with the selection at your free market disposal.


If you are willing to come to terms with high unemployment, you'll be a lot happier without a job.


YES!! THANK YOU!

Yep; exactly. At some point it's either money or principle: there is no other hand.

Not that I knee-jerk criticize those who buy foreign-made tires, or other goods. I ride on tires made in Korea....money is money and all that. But the older I get and the more I see the working/middle class in this country get shredded, the more I want to support them/us.

If I ran the world we would go back to the barter system, take all the money there is and dump it way out in the ocean in deep shark-infested waters, so all the folks who love it so much can swim after it and leave the rest of us in peace.

Since that's not gonna happen, it looks like I'm gonna ride on tires made in Germany this winter, and the winter after that. Bah.

 

[faramir9]

And just like that DTD raised the price of the Altimax Arctic in the size I was looking at by $9 per tire! It's a conspiracy....

 

[faramir9]

Update. I just ordered a set of Cooper Weather-Master S/T 2 from DTD. Got an additional $25 off based on a coupon code I dug up online, which made it $235 shipped-to-door. The $50 DTD gift card rebate makes it $185 plus install---which should be cheap, as I have a $20 off coupon from Firestone, do not have TPMS and plan to keep the H727s that come off.

Coulda got Altimax Arctic a few bucks cheaper; they might be a slightly better overall tire---but I like seeing made in USA on my tires when at all possible.

Love it when a plan comes together....

 

[Lapham3]

The Altamax tires I got were made in....Romania