“WINDOW; WINDOW IN THE TEST; WHO’S AMONG THE VERY BEST?” PART 1

I WAS RECENTLY RESEARCHING SOMETHING OR OTHER in the 1982 bound volume of R&T and came upon this subhead cited above. It brought memories of a significant achievement during my years at the magazine: one of product testing that even withstood scrutiny of a producer.

Here, in Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow, are unabashedly immodest tidbits gleaned from “R&T Bonus Feature: 13 High Performance Tires,” February 1982.”

Reader Queries. “This time around,” R&T wrote, “we’ve decided to address those reader queries that typically begin, ‘I’ve got $xxxx to spend and I want to improve my car’s performance. What should I do?’ As you might imagine, there’s no single answer to this, but we’re convinced improvement of your car’s handling offers one of life’s better payoffs in driving enjoyment; and a reasonably straightforward way to achieve said improvement is to swap your car’s tires for something rather less mundane.” 

Upgrade to Lower Profile. “We focused on 60-series radials, a breed of moderately low-profile rubber that characterizes all but the stratosphere of today’s [1982] high performance street-tire rubber.”

That stratosphere of high performance hasn’t changed dramatically over another four decades: 40-50 profiles, though there are 30-profile extremes (that is, a sidewall height of 30 percent of sidewall width), which are essentially for style not performance.

A Tradeoff. “Most traditional tires [it’s 1982, remember] are 78- or 80-series so it’s worth mentioning some of the inherent tradeoffs in a lower profile. First, by definition a lower profile gives a proportionately shorter sidewall. And the shorter the sidewall, the stiffer this part of the tire can be.”

“Ergo,” we continued with a Latin flourish, “a low-profile tire can offer more direct communication of grip, quicker response to drive input and less overshoot in transient maneuvers, with an increase in ride harshness.” 

An Alternative. Indeed, elsewhere I’ve offered another approach to improve matters: spend the money on a reputable high-performance drivers’ school. It’ll improve handling and performance of every car you drive. But that’s another story entirely.

Back to Tire Testing. I like the test’s opener (hem hem; I was the author): “What’s been through 448 laps of our skidpad, 144 panic stops form 60 mph, 240 laps of Sears Point International Raceway’s first loop, 144 excursions through our slalom course, and 304 tire changes? Answer; the Volkswagen Scirocco pictured here.” 

Our Methodology. “Our test” I recounted, “consisted of seven phases: traveling a comfort/noise road route, braking from 60 on both wet and dry surfaces, circling our skidpad under these two conditions, zipping through our slalom cones, and lapping the first loop at Sears Point International Raceway.” 

Above, Sears Point. Below, slalom testing at our home Orange County International Raceway.

“Before any of this fun began, we accumulated roughly 150 miles on each set of tires; this, to give their internal structure a chance to limber up a bit. We marked the tires so that each would miraculously reappear at its own particular corner of the Scirocco at the appropriate time.” Of course, serious racers do this all the time.

Wet skidpad at an Orange County Fairgrounds parking lot.  

Tomorrow in Part 2, we applaud our tire-changing crew. Plus, more on methodology and test results prompting a meeting with a tiremaker. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025