Originally Posted by buckeyewalt (Post 862419)

Maybe the RFT in cars are different than the X-5, because trying to change a tire on one of those vehicles is difficult at best. I have the Bridgestone RFT on my SUV and except for some noise,,,I like them. The sidewalls are stiff,,no real roll to speak of,,and I don't worry too much about flats or having my wife out in it with a flat. I looked at the DWS, but I had them on my AMG, and the sidewalls were way to soft,,,good milage,,but you really noticed the soft flex walls. When you have a vehicle that weighs over 5000lbs, with a high center of gravity,,,sidewall flex and stability is my number one concern. Lets face it,,,with a X-5,,the twisties is about the last thing you would try although I must say,,with the RFT it does seem very stable. Final thought,,,if I ever got a flat,,the worst thing that would happen is that I would drive it to a tire store and have it repaired or replaced,,,if I put regular tires on,,,I would either need to call a tow truck,,or use the fix-a-flat can and ruin my TPMS which I would need to replace along with the repair......easy choice for me...RFT!

Originally Posted by GoVols! (Post 862425)

Fair enough. To each his own, but keep in mind you can call a lot of tow trucks for the extra expense of RFT's. Figure keeping the car for 6 years and driving 15k a year. That is at least 1 but probably 2 extra sets of tires you'll go through or ~$2,500. To me, RFT's solve a non-existant problem.

Originally Posted by buckeyewalt (Post 862448)

I see your point,,,and if I had a car,,I probably wouldn't have the RFT,,but since my vehicle is an X-5 SUV,,it is a convenience that I like, and if you call a lot of tow trucks to repair a flat,,,again the convenience of not getting stranded and waiting for someone to fix the flat, plus,when you try to replace a tire on an SUV with a spare,,,you'll go with the RFT's in a heart beat. Again to each his own............

Originally Posted by ukwildcat (Post 865399)

Here's another useless Justin opinion. :)

Mine came with RFTs which everyone thinks are the devil.
On the way to work, I ran over SOMETHING I didn't see . It might have been a land mine - it sure felt like it.

Well, it DESTROYED the RFT but of course I could keep going. Well I replaced them with the Continentals, like so many people here have suggested. Was not very expensive, really.. I think altogether with alignment, etc. it was about $1200.

They ARE better than the RFTs. They are not, in my opinion "night and day" better. The ride is softer and the handling is more fluid. It's still a bit of a stiff ride, although I rather expect this from a performance car.

I do not have adaptive drive (yeah, mistake I think) or active steering (dealer recommended against it) but the Conti's DO make that turn into the parking a little less work.

I think mine is out of balance at the moment - it's at the dealer now, but hopefully when I get it back it will be smooth as silk.

Originally Posted by rh71 (Post 861339)

What I want to know is why the South Carolina factory would carry 3 different OEM brands for a single size tire at the same time?

Originally Posted by Penguin (Post 865441)

Many years ago I worked for one of the Big Three manufacturers. Most auto manufacturers will have at least two suppliers of tires for a couple of reasons.

The first is that they want supply reliability so if one tire manufacturer has problems or capacity issues they do not have to shut-down production.

The second is that it gives them price negotiation power and leverage with the tire manufacturers.