The Problem with Chinese Motorized Vehicles

They’re often cheaper, and come equipped with more features, like the below ATV that has disc brakes.

Sounds pretty great right?

Finding parts and repairing them is the problem.

Once it breaks, often the only solution is to replace the entire vehicle because finding Chinese replacement parts is difficult.

In the example above, that’s a broken axle, and the solution is either to weld it (won’t work) or drill, thread then bolt it (the torque will knock it loose right away.) So the owner is stuck.

My ATV is a hand-me-down from China, and same thing – the tires are bald, and finding new ones is like an Olympic event.

 

 

Learned How to J-turn

To J-turn – drive in reverse, yank the wheel to initiate a turn, the vehicle spins 180 degrees then continues driving in the same direction, but facing forward.

Listen for the clapping at the end *bows* ;)

To be clear, this is like a baby J-turn… note how the instructor is operating the gear shift for me.

Do it alone without coaching, now it’s impressive.

At the completion of the turn the car was so discombobulated it went into limp mode, how anti-climactic.

Learned during a BFGoodrich tire test event at Mosport, and that’s a 2015 Ford Mustang.

Read my review of BFGoodrich’s all-new g-Force COMP-2 A/S tires here.

Above is what the video looks like.

 

 

Ever Checked your Spare Tire?

In the back of your mind is your spare tire, “oh it’ll protect me.” But when did you last check its condition?

In the 7 years I owned my old Jetta, it never occurred to me once. We’re making a mistake.

Check 3 things on your spare –

  1. age
  2. inflation
  3. tread wear

Read it online at Autonet.

Favourite line

Pull two other people into your field of vision. Of the three of you, one will get a flat tire this year.

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Back to ‘Keri on Driving’ – Index

 

 

Testing BFGoodrich’s g-Force COMP-2 A/S Tires

BFGoodrich invited me to Mosport racetrack to test their all-new tire, the g-Force COMP-2 A/S.

But while listening to the morning’s press presentation my breath sucked in, “oh no, A/S stands for All-Season, how did I miss that?”

Okay I know exactly how – when reading the invite email, “Keri, we’d like to invite you to the track…” my eyes glazed over everything after “track”.

But this was a problem, because how can I endorse an All-Season tire when I’ve been putting them down for years, both here and at the paper?

Then the spokesman said 2 things that won me over:

1 – they said an All-Season tire really means 3 seasons, “it’s not a snow tire.” Agreed 100%
2 – before sending me out, they gave instructions on how to cheat a tire test

In the hundreds of press events I’ve attended it’s rare to hear such honesty. Day is off to a good start.

Test #1 – Braking

Floor it to 70 km/h, then stand on the brakes and measure which tire brought me to a stop in the shortest distance.

Super fun to do, super erratic results that tell me nothing. It’s not the tire’s performance, it’s because the driver (me) braked all over the place, so can’t rely on results when the tester was so inconsistent.

Test #2 – Wet Autocross

Toss 3 identical Audi A4s around a wet autocross course while riding on the 3 competitors – Continental, General and BFGoodrich.

Continental – didn’t hold the corners as well as BFGoodrich
General – the most fun because they slid all over the place; this is not a compliment
BFGoodrich – grippiest, and I executed my smoothest lap on these. Winner

Test #3 – Dry Autocross

Floored 2015 Ford Mustangs around a dry autocross course. Same set up as Test #2 – identical cars, around the same track, riding on 3 different brands.

And guys my skills are improving, I’m getting smoother!

Watch:

General – sliding around again but less funny than the wet track, these grip poorly
Continental – better than the Generals, but…
BFGoodrich – I was able to get back on the throttle the quickest with these because the grip was already there. Winner 

So BFGoodrich’s g-Force COMP-2 A/S won. And their price point is right in line with their competitors.

They come with a 70,000 km warranty, are on-sale now in 32 different sizes, then 52 sizes by Q1 of 2016.

I’ll leave you with the same thing I always tell you…

Don’t cheap out on the ONLY part
of your car that touches the road!


 

 

How to Cheat a Tire Test

Let’s say I want you to test my tires, versus my competitor’s.

Sure I’ll send you around the same track, in the same car, on comparable tires… except…

… I’ve secretly deflated the competitor’s tires, which ensures they under-perform and makes mine appear even better.

Learned this trick when BFGoodrich invited me to test their all-new g-Force COMP-2 A/S tires.

It was one of the first things they said in the morning press conference, ” go ahead and test ’em, we inflated everything identically.”

Over the years I’ve attended hundreds of press events, and never once have I heard a company be this upfront. That’s good integrity, nice one BFGoodrich.

Cool eh.

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See also – How to cheat at motor-sports