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Beat me to it - price is a big factor in people's eyes, especially if they don't know the difference. I'll be the first to admit I don't know that much about tires and cars in general, but I do research things so I can make informed decisions. Talking frankly with the guys at the tire shop/garage certainly helps.

   

Yeah, I've driven in Europe, England, Asia, the US and Canada. I don't agree that Canadians are worse drivers, generally speaking. Try driving in Islamabad or Rome.

You always take people to task over stereotypes, but you were quick enough to generalize here.

   

Drove the Autobahn a few times, First time I was taking in the beautiful scenery and pulled over by a cop for going too slow. In an M5 BMW at that.

150K was normal and (Andy) safe.

   

Yes, they are, but that rating is only for short duration. If you are going to be on a highway for an hour or two at 80% rated speed, or 120km/h, your tires will wear prematurely - and that also depends on the temperature rating as well as the load on the vehicle. Passenger tires rates 'M' or 'P' also are usually temperature rating 'B' or 'C', which affects how long they can stand heat before it starts to degrade their performance. And if you bought Canadian Tire specials, I wouldn't even take them to 80%.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTQG

   

Speed limit between Chilliwack and Cache Creek is going up in places along highway 7 and the canyon, some limits as high as 100. Some are rightfully staying what they are, though.

P-metric is a designation of tire for passenger car. the "p" doesn't denote the speed rating in this case. Most car and truck tires are built for 99mph/160kph. The thing you have to watch out for are trailer tires. the manufactures don't say it, but most are only good to 55/65mph or 90/105kph respectively. Only ones you can go higher are Goodyears and Maxis tires, if you inflate them 10PSI over what the trailer placard says, if you are still within the tires max limit (you can do up to 75mph/120kph).

Example - my horse trailer needs 60 PSI tires. the only goodyears in it's size go up to 65psi. I could air them up to 65, but I still wouldn't be able to go up to 120. If there was a tire available that had a max limit of 80 PSI, I could air them up to 70 PSI (10 above the trailer's recommendation), and still be within the tire's maximum pressure. Therefore, I'd be able to go 120kph.

   

My current set of tires are the Pirelli 245/40ZR18 Asimmetrico. The handling is pretty awesome but I'm only expecting them to last maybe 25,000 kilometres. They're exceptional at freeway speeds of 75mph to 85mph which are typical speeds on Interstate 80 and Interstate 5 even though the posted limit is 70mph.

   

Check the table on Boot's link. 'P' is both the Passenger car designation, and a speed rating depending on where it is in the code. And you are quite correct about trailers! People are always blowing those because they forget they are under heavy load and don't have the same speed ratings as car tires.

   

I had P255/50ZR18's on the rear of my car, but only got 20,000km out of a rear set because of the high torque of the car. It caused the centres to wear prematurely. Hard tires to find too, because of the odd size.

   

Cool, good to know!

   

I live literally right off there on the river. Its ridiculous. Well, 50-60km/h makes sense until about Kerr Street. After Kerr (where it goes to forest and no development) that area is all 50km/h still and is a ridiculous speed trap. Once you pass Boundary Road and enter Burnaby the speed limits get more sane. Also the Knight Street bridge/SE Marine Drive is traffic mayhem on particular days.

   

Caleb, there are so many nuances to tire talk. For instance, truck tires don't have a heat rating, but they are still affected by it. So long as your truck tire has the appropriate amount of square inches on the surface (weight divided by PSI) you should be fine if you stay within the speed rating. For instance, my tires are rated for 4080 pounds per tire at 80 PSI with a max speed of 160kph. That's 51 square inches of pavement contact per tire Max. Any more would cause too much deflection in the sidewall, which would build heat and weaken the tire, eventually causing a blow out. It's the same line of thinking for a trailer tire. So long as my tires occupy that much pavement space or less, I should be fine heat wise.

Now, I do have to agree to the point where people question driver skill. it's not so much about comparing us to other countries, but more about individual capabilities. Here's a scenario, some kid just passed his final licence exam on his 19th birthday in a 3000 pound toyota tercel. it's the only thing he's ever driven. By some grace of god scenario he ends up in my truck with a 15k gooseneck or tag along driving to kelowna from Merrit... in winter. Yes he likely will be able to handle the upgrades. running that combination one tire would be putting more weight on the ground than the whole car he grew up driving. The limit is 120, it's clear at the summit, but there is always fog halfway down the hill towards kelowna that time of year that he doesn't know about because he's never driven the route before. He isn't going to have a clue what he's doing, and it's going to lead to a catastrophic wreck. That 23 000 lb combination will go right through the concrete median and through at least 5 cars before finally coming to a stop.

Part of this is due diligence on part of the driver. Sadly you can't fix stupid. Some people just don't drive for the conditions. But you can set them up for success by establishing specific programs for specific passenger vehicles. Much like commercial vehicle licences have specific classes, the passenger vehicle category (i believe it's a class 7 for BC, correct me if I'm wrong) is wide open. You can do all your training and testing in that 3000 pound car and be licensed to drive any passenger truck and trailer combination that is within it's weight limitations. My GCWR (which I recently learned is just a recommendation and not a requirement for passenger trucks in both BC and AB) is 23 000lbs. Dodge has a 3500 where you can legally run a 37 000 lb combination and Ford is putting out a new passenger F450 that runs at 40 000lbs GCWR. In the states you can't run over 26 000lbs GCWR without a commercial licence, but up here you can. It's insane. I don't advocate forcing a commercial licence on everyone who wants to run over 26 000lbs, but I do think the passenger vehicle class needs to be broken down into 2 vehicle classes and 3 trailer classes.

First is light vehicle class, anything under 8000lbs GVWR.

All cars, most modern SUVs, trucks and vans up to 1/2 tonne fall into this category. Most people would only ever need this class plus a trailer class. Basic jist is these vehicles have a fair chance in a collision, all have crumple zones, weight is close, etc.

Second is heavy vehicle class, so 8000lbs - 15 000 lbs & RVs.(any vehicle on the road with a higher GVWR will be commercial)

Reason for this class is with more weight is much more responsibility and challenges. Most vehicles in this class are no longer designed to stop and crumple in a collision, they are designed to go through whatever they hit. The stock crash bar on my pickup, behind my bumper, weighs almost as much as the motor and is designed to catch other vehicles, objects, people, etc, preventing them from going underneath my vehicle, and to push them out of the way of my vehicle. Reason for this is if these vehicles are hauling cargo or a heavy trailer, if they are designed to crumple, whatever they are hauling will crumple through this vehicle and crush the other as well. better to get the other out of the way so at the very least they aren't crushed by said load. Effectively you are driving a tank at this point and, as dangerous as vehicles are, yours is that much more dangerous and that much more in need of specific technical knowledge, including but not limited to the unique consequences of a collision (load distribution, tire nuances, etc).

Trailers up to 6000lbs, 6000-18 000lbs, and 18 000 lbs +.

Trailers present a whole trailer load of unique dynamics to driving. weight distribution and tire pressure is critical. trailer dynamics on slopes, dynamics in rain, dynamics in snow and ice, dynamics on tow vehicle, etc are all things that need to be considered. For instance, who's seen someone towing a trailer with the nose of their vehicle sticking in the air? It really doesn't take a long of tongue weight to do that. If someone is towing a 12k tag along without weight distribution, the tongue weight should be 1200lbs if it is loaded properly. generally people load to heavy to the front, so it could be as high as 3000lbs tongue weight. this weight takes weight from the front of the vehicle to counter-balance, and it all focuses on the rear axle. So lets use my truck again as an example (I know the metrics), it runs approx 5000 lbs front and 3000lbs in the rear, empty. if I put that 1200lb tongue weight on my hitch, the rotational dynamics actually take 1800 lbs off my front axel. so now I'm 3200 lbs in the front, and 6000lbs in the rear. My truck will be running nose-high. The reason for the three breakdowns is that as trailer weights go up more things need to come into consideration - brakes, turning ability, weight distribution or goose neck, dual wheel axels vs single wheel axles, trailer widths (most are wider than the tow vehicle), etc.

   

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