I see what you mean. Framley here I come.

The IAM priciple I referred to suggests being in the right gear at the right time. If this means approaching (say) red lights in 4th and not 5th then so be it. What they're saying is, it's not necessary to work your way from 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 every time, if you know you're going to stop. As I said, it's a regular argument, and neither way is 'dangerous' See the book 'Roadcraft '... It used to be what they based Police driving instuction on. Don't know about present day situation. It uses a "System of car control".......C M S B G A (Remembered by the acronym Can My Safety Be Given Away?) which means - Course, Mirror, Signal, Brake, Gear, Accelerate. It's used to negotiate every single hazard or situation which can be encountered while driving.

Read the book and see if you agree. Rgds KB

Just watched it on tape. No, I couldn't figure the scoring either. Frankly I didn't want any of them after that - damn all manoeverability, and hopeless on the speed bumps. I'd have been intrigued to see them subject to the usual high speed slalom test. I wonder why they didn't???

As for JP, he had a genuine smile on his face, so I reckon that Aston must be pretty good, but would you take your eyes off the road at that speed? Absolutely barking! No wonder he won the championship!

Regards

JS

With you On Jet Tyres as I am an ex ATP (though I think the dryness is a major factor as well) but on light aircraft esp ones that run from grass fields the do rot first And Even if coated on the outside with anti rot dressing compound they seem to rot from the inside when filled with air and I see the same thing on the tyres on my Range Rover

from the web page again As I have had Private email saying that it could not be reached...
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THE ENEMY - OXIDATION

Causing the deterioration are oxygen molecules contained in the inflating air which is a mixture of gases - nitrogen 78%, oxygen 21%, argon 0.9%, and miscellaneous O.1%. Tires are designed to be protected from this deterioration by their liners which are supposed to keep air from percolating through them into the tire body, which they never do, and by chemicals called antioxidants or age resisters whose job is to intercept and neutralize any invading oxygen - which they do until they are themselves used up, which occurs too soon after a tire enters into service.

So the deterioration spreads. It starts within the tire interior and moves outward. it first invades and consumes the tire liner. It then ravages the insulation rubber adjacent the liner. It marches inexorably outward - because of the pressure differential of the tire inflation on the inside and the atmospheric pressure on the outside. As the decay moves ever outward - the oxygen molecules react chemically with the unsaturated double valence bonds present in all rubbers, causing the rubber molecules to lose their strength and their elasticity, so that they no longer act as rubbers, but instead take on the characteristics of a non rigid plastic. The decay is constantly being fueled by the fresh all too often moist air being injected into the air chamber to maintain the desired inflation pressure.

How do you get a truck tire to go a million miles? It's simple. TAKE THE OXYGEN OUT OF THE AIR!

TRUCK TIRE TESTS

A total of 175 truck tires were tested until they were worn down to the tread wear indicators (TWI). About 125 of these tires wore out without failing at mileages ranging from 125,000 to 225,000. About 50 of the tires failed physically at varying mileages generally on the low side. All the tires had been carefully monitored, measured for tread loss etc., and inspected at 10,000 mile intervals, a lot of them at 2000 to 3000 mile intervals. Tire sizes were mostly 11R24.5 & 11-24.5 with a very few 10R20 and 10-20's. About half of the tires had operated over the eastern part of the United States while the other half had run mostly in the southwestern part of the U.S.

When the tires were removed from service small samples of tread rubber were taken from the shoulders of the unfailed tires and from the actual failed areas of the destructed tires. These specimens were then subjected to the electron microprobe examination that has been described previously. The examination was specifically directed at determining oxygen and sulfur levels which was best accomplished by using IOKV (10000 electron volts) electron beam And an exposure of 30 seconds.

Both of the figures tell the same story. When a tire lives to wear out, the oxygen slowly migrates and permeates its way into and through the tire cord body and finally into the under tread and then into the tread itself. It takes a long time for an appreciable amount of oxygen to reach the tread since most of the oxygen gets waylaid along the way by the liner, and then the cord arid cord insulation compound.

One reason that truck tires can run 250,000 miles with the original tread while passenger tires can only go 50 to 60,000 miles lies in the relative bulk of the 2 different tire bodies. The bulkier the body the longer it takes for the oxygen to work its way into the tread. Unfortunately the bulkier the body the higher is the heat buildup and the faster is the rate of oxidation of the available double bonds. Once the tire body is all oxidized the tire is dead no matter how much tread remains on it. The thinner the tire body the lower the running temperature and the slower the rate of oxidation with a correspondingly longer life.

Practically all tire engineers throughout this century attribute the gradual loss in tire strength to be the result of "fatigue" when in reality this "fatigue" is nothing more than a slow inexorable oxidation taking place at the available double bonds of the rubber molecules.

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If you come across K*** RLU (metallic light blue) or M289 VAU (metallic green) they've been well looked after (while we had them), but they were used about once a year to tow a twin axle caravan.

No major problems with either, and when they left us they were in good condition.