Sportbike Evolution - Styling, Cockpit and Controls

So with the near-completion of the almost-decade-long (!) GSX-R1100 restoration project, I now have an opportunity to do some direct comparisons of the bikes in the stable, and look at the evolution of the sportbike (selected examples) over three decades - the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

The machines in the picture - '08 Ducati 848, '98 Yamaha YZF-R1, and '86 Suzuki GSX-R1100 - each represent the hardest-core of sportbike development for their respective decades. While the wild Ducati 1098 was the ultimate open-classer from the Italian manufacturer, the 848 Superbike shared much of its design and chassis development so we'll consider it to be an adequate stand-in :-)

In this post I'll try to delve a little into the differences and similarities of these three machines, made by three different manufacturers, over a 20-year span. Today I'm going to focus on the cockpits, controls and styling.

First off, check out the difference in windscreen height on these three bikes...

The GSX-R definitely looks like it has the most protective windscreen, and it's true. It dwarfs the R1 screen by a good half-a-foot and it keeps that much more wind off on the highway.

Check this out - the top of the R1 screen barely comes up to the bottom of the GSX-R's, and the 848 screen is even lower than the Yamaha's. Reduction in overall frontal area has obviously become a bigger deal over the years and the Yamaha and Ducati are noticeably lower and pointier than the square-jawed Suzuki. For all the press talk of the GSX-R being the hardest of the hard core back in the '80s, it's clear that there was some way to go before we got to the R1 and 848. The Yamaha and Ducati also share 17" rolling stock in common as opposed to the Suzuki's 18" hoops, and this will be the subject of a future post...

Here's the cockpit of the '86 GSX-R1100. Everything's in the same place as universal Japanese standard - turnsignals, high-low beam, horn and clutch on the left bar, starter button, killswitch, throttle and front brake on the right. Clip-ons are set low relative to the seat and as you can see, steeply angled.

Speedo and tach are white-faced analog gauges. Remarkably the speedometer is calibrated to 280kph (that's 174mph in old money) and the tachometer doesn't register until the engine's turning over 3,000rpm. Makes it a smidge difficult to set the engine idle speed!

Warning lights for turnsignals, high beam, sidestand, neutral, and oil pressure complete the Spartan dashboard. Trip odometer is reset by turning the wheel on the left hand side of the speedo.

Fast forward ten years and things are a bit different. Clip-ons on the R1 are somewhat less angled and the bars house the same controls as the Suzuki's in the same places, with the exception of the choke control which has moved from the carbs to the left bar. Brake master cylinder now has a remote reservoir and the clutch is activated by cable. Real carbon triple cover is from SKUR and covers some scuffs put there by the PO.

Analog tach and digital speedo dominate the display. Warning lights only for neutral, turnsignal, high beam and low fuel, but digital coolant temp gauge nestles into the tach. The LCD dash also displays the time as well as two trip odometers. Big Ohlins damper reminds you you're astride some quality kit.

By 2008 the world of superbikes had turned digital. Bar angle is similar to the R1 and same controls appear, with the addition of a multifunction button on the left bar and the deletion of the choke, as the 848 has electronic fuel injection. The key is cleverly placed out of the way on the headstock, there's no way an errant fob will scratch that lovely top triple clamp. Remote reservoirs for both brake and clutch complete the cockpit.

Lots of information on the LCD display. Time, ambient temp, coolant temp, odometer and speed readout (where it says "848" in the pic) plus bar-style tach across the top.

Styling has also evolved over 20 years and that's a matter of personal taste as well. Me, I find aesthetic appeal in all three of these machines - which is why I own them :-)

The seating positions have evolved as well. You sit "in" the GSX-R, not on it, and the seat is low to the ground - I can flat-foot it at only 5'7". The reach over the humped tank to the low-set clipons is a long-ish one. Then you have the joy of folding your knees back almost double to reach the very high footrests. At least the huge bubble keeps the wind off - with footrests a shade lower this would be a great tourer.

As for styling, the ur-GSX-R1100 is just brutish, but the endurance-racer twin-headlight look combined with traditional Suzuki colours really make it a sportbike icon. It is really the prototype for all repli-racers that came after, with its full fairing, exposed frame, and even solo seat cowl. Its twin headlights have even won out with the industry, even if today's GSX-Rs have to make do with a single unit. The one thing that made it so unique also never caught on - the full-coverage plastic side-panels that gave it the nickname "slabbie".

The R1's styling has some '90s in it with the splashy "YZF" graphic but keeps it subtle, unlike competitors like the '90s GSX-Rs and their "shell-suit" styling. The shape of the bike is timeless. Unlike the GSX-R that looks very "vintage", I think the R1 could reasonably be mistaken for a much newer bike with its tautly drawn lines and restrained graphics.

The R1's seating position is paradoxical. The bike itself is lower than the Suzuki, but the seat is higher - I'm on my tiptoes. Footrests are somewhat lower relative to the seat than on Suzuki, but the very low windscreen doesn't block the wind as well as the older bike's. The foot controls are all knurled metal, without even the rubber inserts of the GSX-R's as a concession to comfort. Clearly this is a bike designed for pure speed, but it's civilized enough to use every day or even tour on! The one thing you can't do is carry a pillion in comfort - although the press complained about this in '86, the Suzuki's passenger accommodations are much better than the R1's. The footrests are way too high.

The 848 for me combines the best elements of the 916 series while updating them for a modern eye. The bike looks contemporary but still retains an Italian flair, and looks great in traditional red or pearl white as my example. Twin projector-beam headlights look menacing as well. The under-seat exhaust system carries on a familiar Ducati theme that dated back to the early '90s 916, and was later aped by the Japanese, including on the R1. A great look but a terrible idea - on a warm day your nethers get a good roasting and that's not fun at all. Leathers are certainly recommended for this reason.

And while the 848 got a reputation as being a torture rack to ride, I personally find it OK - but coming from a person that tours on an R1, I may be in the minority. However, being a person of smaller stature (5'7") helps - shorter legs have to bend less to reach the high footrests. I didn't find the clip-ons objectionably low either. I haven't toured on the bike (see: under-seat exhaust) but I find it comparable to the R1 in general ergonomics. Pillion seat, as on the R1, is just for show. 

Being that we're in the dead of winter here now with all of the machines asleep under their covers, it's nice to reminisce about riding...

Red River Ramblings Recognized

A few days ago I got a nice bit of news from fellow Red River Region members attending Porsche Parade, the Porsche Club of America's annual celebration/jamboree/club awards thing, held this year in Spokane, Washington.

Red River Ramblings was awarded third place in the Newsletters contest for "Class II" regions - these are the 30-odd Regions with between 150 and 275 members. Of course, not all of the Regions enter a newsletter into the contest, but we always have done so.

It's certainly nice to be recognized for the newsletter as it's a lot of work to put together. It helps to have Region members who submit stories and pictures and I have to send big thanks to them for sure.

And speaking of the newsletter, the July/August issue is out now and can be found here on our club's award-winning website (congrats to Andreas, the webmaster, for winning "Best Website" in Class II this year!)

Handsome Brute

 

So, after NINE YEARS, the '86 GSX-R1100 project has advanced to the point where the bike is rideable and usable. Hallelujah!

So now looks like a good point to look back and ask, in the words of David Byrne, "well, how did we get here?"

The bike was bought back in 2008 as a light cosmetic restoration job. Of course once we got it back to the garage, it was found to have some serious mechanical needs as well - beyond what Dad and I were capable of as not-even-shade-tree-level mechanics. So we ordered factory-repro decals from the UK and after accumulating some panels that were missing, sent the works out for paint. We also had to buy some parts (many parts) - rear fender that had been cut, proper indicators to replace the stuck-on jobs, new subframe, clear windscreen, etc... We also sent the wheels to be powdercoated back to black.

The bike was consigned to a local bike shop for work... that took ages. I think the bike was in the shop for something like three years (!) and we only got it back when the franchise dealer closed (!!)

The panels came back from the painter (one of those guys who uses the boss's booth on the weekends, you know the sort) and while the job was "OK", the panels weren't cleared over so the gloss from decal to panel was not uniform. This would not do, so I sent the panels back to a real shop to get cleared. That was in 2013.

While Dad and I had the best of intentions to "just take a weekend and get this thing back on the road," logistics and the distance between Winnipeg and Brandon made this tough. We'd maybe get one or two days a summer to work on the bike, and often ran into roadblocks that stopped us cold. I'd ordered a new MAC exhaust to replace the rusty stock unit, but the MAC headers didn't fit properly and that stymied us. Carbs needed rebuilding and were sent away, returned and sat on a shelf, when they were finally installed (5 years later!) they had stuck together from sitting. That kind of thing.

So on our work day this year, we fitted up the D&D exhaust and just failed to get the machine running (the stuck carbs issue). So I said to Dad, let's just give the bike to Scott (buddy who runs the Suzuki/Kawasaki shop in Brandon) and get him to get it running. And so we did.

The bike was done last week so I took the bus in to Brandon (!!) and we picked up the bike yesterday (Saturday). We got it home and fitted the panels with new hardware from Speedy Fasteners, and it was ready for the run back to Winnipeg. Two and a half hours of pleasant riding later (we took our time with stops) the machine was tucked up in my garage in Winnipeg meeting its new stablemates!

Gotta love the instrumentation - 280kph speedo (!) and a tach that starts at 3,000rpm (!!)

The office. It's funny - the 1100 was described in the moto-press of the day as being almost too radical to ride on the street. The riding position was said to be racetrack-ready and murder on knees, neck and back... however I have to say it didn't bother me overly on the ride back to Winnipeg. My foot did fall asleep a couple of times and the pegs are quite high, but the stretch to the bars is manageable for me, and the monstrous bubble of the windscreen certainly keeps the wind off.

"Hyper Sports" indeed! Back in the day the GSX-R1100 was touted as making 130hp with a weight of 434lbs... some stunning numbers indeed. However magazine testers dyno'd the machine at under 100hp at the wheel (the ultra-restrictive exhaust system had something to do with this) and weighed it up wet at about 500lbs. I can vouch for this, as pushing the bike around it seems heavier than the R1 or 848.

Acronyms abounded in the glorious 1980s! "SACS" of course stands for "Suzuki Advanced Cooling System", the air/oil cooling method employed in the 1052cc powerplant. Suzuki engineers saved weight and complexity by opting away from liquid cooling for the engine and instead implemented a sophisticated oil-cooling system, with lubricant sprayed at the underside of the pistons and other hot spots. Heat was evacuated from the oil by circulating it through a large oil cooler at the front of the bike.

Nice view of the D&D aftermarket exhaust system here, too. As noted, the stock system's restrictive design robbed the engine of horsepower. The D&D restores some of that power and weighs much less than stock - the tradeoff is noise and plenty of it. At idle it sounds like a pitbull gargling broken glass and as it revs out, a banshee wail...

What's it like to ride? Well, compared to the super sportbikes of nowadays, surprisingly civilized. It idles well, and pulls from low rpm like a liter-bike should. You could ride it around town all day and never see more than 3,000rpm, and still see off any pesky traffic as necessary. On the highway it is supremely stable with its long-ish wheelbase and 18" wheels. Lay it into a sweeping corner and it just tracks imperturbably through. I'm sure it can go mental with the best of them but frame and suspension technology have moved on a lot in 30 years.

I'm really glad we opted back to the blue and white stock colour scheme. I'd considered other liveries, including Skoal Bandit green or even a Barry Sheene GP-bike tribute (with DAF Truck and Men Only magazine sponsorship, naturally)

But in the end, there's really nothing that can beat the iconic blue-and-white traditional Suzuki colour scheme.

Here's a good pic of the fuzzy line left by the painter... grr. Nice crisp decal though :-)

So what's the verdict on this hyper-sports monster, 30 years on? Well, I find it surprising civilized to ride. It feels like a softer modern sportbike. Plusher than the 900SS/SP but with a similar simple/vintage vibe, I could see touring on this bike - all it needs is maybe some slightly lower footrests. The front brakes are phenomenal for a 31-year-old machine, as well. It makes a great noise and people seem to love it. On Saturday I was approached two separate times by guys who saw it and wanted to talk about it. For me, that's cool, because a lot of what I love about motorcycling is talking to folks about their bikes.

There's a few things left yet to do, of course. I have to order a bolt and nut for the passenger footrest as I stripped the threads off the original (don't ask). New mirrors have been ordered to replace the painted ones on the machine. There's a bit of marring on the frame (covered in the pics by the Motul decal) that I have to address somehow, but I have some ideas.

I think it's a keeper :-)

Thanks to:

TransCanada Motorsport: http://www.transcanadamotorsport.com/
Urban Autobody: http://www.urbanautobody.com/index.html
Speedy Fasteners: http://www.speedyfasteners.com/
the oil-cooled forum at Gixxer.com, especially the Oil-Cooled Classified Ads
and...
my long-suffering Dad for hanging in there with this project. It's finally done!

Ducati 848 Windscreen Change

When I got my '08 Ducati 848 Superbike at Christmas 2015, it wore the tinted screen shown in the pic above. Now, I am not a fan of tinted screens, no not one bit - but it seems that almost every bike I have bought has had one, installed by a previous owner. This includes not only this 848, but my '95 Ducati 900SS/SP and our '86 GSX-R1100.

Despite their undoubted utility in helping keep sun off the instruments, I've always thought that tinted screens were pretty tacky, and I replaced them immediately with clear ones.

In the case of the 848, the stock clear screen was included in the sale, but it was scratched and I didn't want to remount it on the bike. I also wasn't enthusiastic about $pending hundred$ on a new stock screen from Ducati... so I had a look on eBay and found a brand-new double bubble screen from a Chinese vendor for less than $30 including shipping. It had to be worth a try at that price!

The screen took quite awhile to arrive but when it did it looked good, quite thick and substantial. Then I went to mount it and discovered that I needed a Torx screwdriver for the windscreen screws. No problem right? WRONG... nobody in town had a T7 Torx driver for a sensible price. So back to eBay again and a set of T5-T8 Torx drivers were on the way from China to my house, for less than $5 all in.
 

So last weekend I unbolted the stock screen and had a go at installing the new one. The Chinese replica fit well, the only flaw was a partially drilled mounting hole that was easy to drill out myself. Installation was a bit of a pain though...

There are two screws at the very front of the screen that you have to be really careful with, as the rubber nutserts can easily fall down into the nether regions at the front of the bike. I held onto them with long visegrips as I undid them, but it was impossible to hold them from behind when installing the new screen. I ended up supergluing the nutserts to the screen itself. This worked a treat and allowed me to thread in the Torx bolts with no problems. I figure if I need to change screens again I'll just carefully peel them off, or failing that, buy new nutserts.

I can't see wanting to go back to a tinted screen though. To my eyes the clear stock item looks so much better. Not sure it'll block as much breeze though as it's a lot lower than the tinted job. I haven't licensed the bike to go for a ride yet so maybe I'll update this post once I do.

Nice, eh?

 

Oh yeah... while we're on the topic of mods, I added a nice carbon fibre front fender as well. I love carbon and I think it looks pretty sharp :-)

UPDATE: I had the bike out for a ride a couple weeks ago, with the new clear screen. I didn't notice a real significant difference from the old one. Still a torturous riding position, but an amazing ride :-)

Spring Awakening

"Euro ride height" is a term that's bandied about a lot in car enthusiast circles. The thought is that North American cars come riding higher from the factory than cars sold in the rest of the world.

Be that as it may, the fact is that Volkswagen GTIs of the last several generations have had ridiculous stock stance. Never mind two fingers; you could nearly put your whole fist into the gap between the top of the tire and the fender on my previous MKV and my new MKVII GTI.

MKV on stock suspension and 17" wheels

MKV with H&R Sports and 18" wheels

I fixed this issue on the old MKV with a set of excellent H&R sport springs. Apart from some installation issues on the part of the shop (they cut the ABS and traction control wires when they got in the way of the install), the springs were great and performed admirably all the time I had the car. They looked fantastic - like the car should look - and tightened up the handling considerably with no apparent effect on reliability of the stock dampers. 

Anyway, once I got my new '15 GTI I fully intended that it be modified for "better low" as well. After researching the various spring solutions, I settled on the very popular combination of VWR Sport springs and ECS Tuning "flush kit" wheel spacers - 15mm front and 20mm rear.

Earlier this week I had the springs installed by a local shop, Speed Factor Racing (I'd installed the spacers myself when I changed out the winter wheels for summers) and wow, what a difference!

MKVII, spacers only

 

MKVII with ECS "flush kit" and VWR springs

 

Not only is the appearance of the car greatly improved (it now looks like it should), the handling is transformed too. This thing now corners absolutely flat, just the way I like it. Ride quality is always going to be somewhat affected, but it's not bad - firm but not harsh. Plus, the VWR springs are linear rate units that are promoted as safe for stock dampers, and that's important, since I have no intention of changing those parts out.

I love this modification. The next thing I need to do, though, is fit either a skidplate or a steel oilpan. The stock one is plastic composite and I wouldn't trust it on winter ruts. But that mod can wait a bit as I'm planning on enjoying the car to the full this summer! 

Props to Deutsche Auto Parts (springs), golfmk7.com forum user nicholam77 (spacers) and Speed Factor Racing (install). 

March/April Ramblings

The latest edition of Red River Ramblings, our local Porsche Club of America chapter newsletter, is out. You can read it here.

'15 GTI Lands on Churchill Drive!

GTI has landed - the truck dropped it off at the house yesterday.

As you can imagine, the first thing I did after getting the temporary registration permit was to take it up to River City Carwash and hose the travel crust off it. No pics yet but it does look great :-)

GTI MK7 en route and new car dilemmas

Meet the new boss

Well, I'd been looking for some time for a car to replace our 2007 GTI MK5. While our current GTI has been amazing fun to drive and own, it's now 10 years old and perhaps it's time to move on to something different.

The $64,000 question was "what?"

When I began the search, I had several criteria for the new car:

• comparable size to the MK5 GTI
• four doors
• manual transmission
• all-wheel drive 
• no more than 2 model years old with CPO warranty available
• price under $30K

So what does that leave to choose from?

• Subaru WRX

Seriously!!! Audi A4 can be had with manual transmission but might be a bit too dear and is a skosh too big. Ditto BMW 3-series, I would have wanted an E90 (up to MY 2011) not a turbo 4-cylinder... but that's too old for warranty. Focus RS is too mental and too pricey. A Golf R would be perfect but is just too expensive as well. Mini Clubman or whatever it's called is just plain ugly. BMW 1- and 2-series only come in two-door or crossover-y configurations.

I really wanted to love the Audi A3 but it is not available with a manual transmission. I looked at a few and drove one. The A3 Quattro model that fit closest to the list criteria is the low-line Komfort model - 2015 examples can be had with low miles for around $30K. But the Komfort model lacks a ton of the convenience and luxury features that should come standard at this price point - no push-button start, paddle shift, backup camera, or navigation, just to name four. 

I could have lived with that, though, if the car had come with a manual. I must be one of the few people left who is not an enthusiast of VAG's dual-clutch DSG transmission. I find it sluggish and uninvolving around town and I don't like how it hunts around either. I'd considered modding the car with an S-Line flat bottom wheel and flappy paddles, but that could load up to $1K onto the price and it's still a DSG. Backup camera can be retrofitted as well but while you're doing that, why not upgrade to the $35K Progressiv or even pricier Technik models? That's a slippery slope to go down, AND STILL NO 6MT.   

WRX interior - the rolling Pachinko parlour

Abandoning the A3 idea, I drove a '15 WRX and other than the explosive power and performance, I was underwhelmed. The interior was simultaneously plain and tacky - drab upholstery (no leather), no sunroof... but a multitude of shouty screens. Do I really need to know at any given moment what percentage of throttle I am applying? It felt like sitting in a rolling Pachinko parlour... very Japanese, but not to my taste.

So criteria started dropping off the list. First was all-wheel drive. Once that was dropped the answer was clear... another GTI. I know, I know, the Focus ST is a strong competitor. But again, I don't like the flashy interior:

Focus ST spaceship control console

Compare to this:

Teutonic efficiency

You can read all over the Internet about how good the MK7 GTI is; I don't have to repeat it for you. My test drive of a local car bore it out - it was niiiiice. 

So the search was on for a MK7 GTI, 4-door 6MT with Technology package. I'd considered searching out a "Performance Pack" car (that includes 10 more horsepower, bigger brakes and trick front differential) but those seem to be harder to find in a 4-door, non-black non-red car. I decided I wanted the Clark cloth upholstery as well, as I'd seen more than one leather car with notable and premature wear-through on the driver's bolster and I didn't want to deal with that. Plus tartan is cool!!

After exhausting local searches (shout out to Jesse of St. James VW who kept in touch with me and tried hard to find me a car), I found a Carbon Steel Grey car in Newmarket, Ontario at Pfaff Volkswagen. Initial contact and conversation was followed by a price drop on the Pfaff website and I thought it was time to move. We negotiated a bit more over the CPO warranty and arrived at a deal; the car is now en route by truck and train and should arrive in about two weeks.   

I'll post more driving impressions MK7 vs MK5 after the new boss arrives. Now the focus will be on getting the MK5 ready for sale. It will certainly make someone a good car at a great price.

PCA Newsletter and Editorial Musings

What a great photo! Taken by Dan Torbiak, this photo graces the cover of the latest edition (January/February 2017) of Red River Ramblings. Plenty to look at in this issue, including reports on the Holiday party and the Porsche Driving Experience at Barber Motorsports Park, and plenty more.

I write an editorial piece for each issue of Ramblings, and I think that just for fun I'll also reprint my editorial here on the blog. So here goes with Jan/Feb's deep thoughts:

Service above self
That’s the motto of a well-known international service club but it’s something we should remember when thinking about our cars as well. To wit: when is the last time your Porsche was treated to a full comprehensive service?

When we drive our cars only seasonally (as many owners of sports or vintage Porsches do) it’s easy to let regular maintenance slip. After all, we have a limited amount of time to drive in the summer, who wants to waste it with the car idle in a repair shop or sitting in the garage?

The issue was brought into sharp focus for me over the Christmas break. I’d wanted to get a whiteboard for the garage to keep track of oil and filter changes on our vehicles, and finally got out to Walmart to pick one up. Then came the fun part - going back through my records to write up the date, mileage of the latest service for each of the machines.

The GTI was easy - the massive engine repair bill incurred in October was still fresh in mind, and oil and filter were changed at the time as well. Recorded.

The Ducati 848 had benefited from a service (including oil and filter change) at the dealership in early 2016, just after purchase at Christmas 2015. Recorded.

The Yamaha R1's oil and filter had been changed by me in the summer of 2015 and it had done only a couple thousand kilometers since then. Recorded.   

Then things started to get a bit sketchy...

The Ducati 900SS/SP hadn’t been ridden regularly since 2014 or so, but the last oil and filter change I’d recorded was in 2013. Time to put that right in the Spring, even if I’m not going to be putting many miles on - the idea being that if I wanted to ride it on a weekend, I could do so without feeling I was compromising mechanical wear on a sumpfull of elderly oil.

When I went through the Porsche’s records I was in for a bit of a shock. The last I’d changed the oil and filter was in [date redacted] in Andy’s garage! Granted, the car’s not done too much mileage in the interim but it will definitely be due in the Spring. A major service and some repairs will be in order as well, since the blowers are now all completely non-functional after the regular use the car received in October and November.  

So with that resolved I’ll eagerly await springtime (and save my shekels for the inevitable expense of the upcoming oil changes and service). However, I guess I needn’t be too hard on myself given the relatively low mileage elapsed between services and the fact I only use top-brand full synthetic oil - ELF suggests that full-synthetic oil should go 7,500 to 10,000 miles (!) between changes and that’s far far in excess of my current interval - in fact the R1 and 848 only have about 10,000 miles total on their clocks since new!

However, I do heartily recommend the whiteboard method for those with multiple vehicles to maintain. It does help focus one on maintenance needs and I have to imagine it will be extremely satisfying to finally write up Spring maintenance on the board!

Winter tires!

Radar RW-5+

So, for the first time in nearly 30 years of driving (and that includes 30 Manitoba winters), I've gotten winter tires for my car. I hadn't intended to do so, since I'd been contemplating selling the car and getting something different, but my hand was forced. One freezing cold night after playing hockey, I ended up with a flat tire on the GTI that couldn't be repaired (that was another first - I'd never had to change a flat before either!) and a decision loomed... replace one Continental from the car's original set (dating back to 2007!) or take the opportunity to replace all four tires with winters.

After pricing out new winter tires and steel wheels from VW ($1,150) and a new set of Goodyears (on "sale" at the local tire place, $1,100) I hit up the local free classifieds... I found a few used sets of winters but nothing compelling. Then I saw an ad from a discount tire shop promoting brand new winter tires, size 225/45R17, for $89.95 each (!) The inner Scotsman was intrigued...

Turns out these are the "Radar RW-5+" winter tire. If you aren't familiar with the brand (I wasn't), they are made by Omni United, a Singapore-based manufacturer. I couldn't find any online reviews of the tire (it was only launched in late 2015) but I figured any winter tires would be better than my 10-year-old Contis, and for only about $500 installed...!

So I headed out to the tire shop last week and they spooned a new set of rubber onto my VW's Denver 17" alloys. The old set of Contis went in the trash and the tire guy said "you musta been slidin' around pretty good!"

The difference in handling on the new tires was immediately noticeable, especially in acceleration from a stop. The new rubber grips really well on ice and through snow, and is quiet on the pavement as well. Now we're in a warmish spell and the tires haven't yet been severely tested, but I'm very pleased so far.

The only downside is that I've now been spoiled, and will have to have winter tires for every future car as well!