Archive for November 2011
General Grabber HTS – Best SUV Tire
I’ve been researching the best tires for my SUV and I am very impressed with the General Grabber HTS.Consumer Reports and the Tire Rack rate this tire best. Tires are the most important safety feature of your vehicle – it is important to get a top performer. These tires are outstanding. Tire Rack ran 22 tests on these next to Bridgestone and Pirelli – no slouches in tire performance. The Grabber HTS was highest in EVERY test. Not only that but General engineered these with low rolling resistance meaning better gas mileage and better for the environment. AND they are priced affordably. Bottom line is that this tire has the best of all worlds.
I had assumed that low rolling resistance meant poor stopping – after all how can you have low resistance and still grab the road to stop. General figured it out. I can personally attest to the stopping power and grab of these tires. They performed exceptionally in a couple emergency situations. Reports indicate that the Grabber HTS also does well on snow and ice. Best yet, these tires are less expensive than many of the tires that perform worse. For me putting my wife and family on the best tires at the best price is a no brainer.
External Testing
The Grabber HTS is an SUV and Light Truck tire in the “all season tires” grouping.
This tire places General at the top of the list by Consumer Reports. Often there are trade offs between traction, rolling resistance, noise factors and comfort but the Grabber seems to be able to roll all the best qualities into one tire.
Consumer Reports is not the only source rating this tire highly though. FourWheeler Magazine tested the tires on the Ford F-150 4WD. Even though this is not a snow tire, they found the Grabber HTS to be very good in snow.
If you want to save money on your tire purchase these tires are priced on the lower end of the spectrum enven though their performance is tops. I found the Grabber HTS for under $100 I am looking at a 235 70R 16 for my Pilot and they are $96 each. I was looking at tires with worse performance in the $150 range from other tire dealers. My local tire dealer would have mounted them for me but the wait was too long that day. I drove to a big box retailer across the street to have my tires mounted. I saved money and got a lifetime balance and rotation. And I’ll be able to find one of these stores wherever I go.
Tested against two top brands, the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenze and the Pirelli Scorpion, the General Grabber HTS was the clear leader. The Grabber bested these two top of the line tires in every category (except one tie with the Bridgestone in cornering).
Tested against the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza and the Pirelli Scorpion STR – the General Grabber HTS was the WINNER in EVERY TEST below except the tie noted
Testing Categories
Ride comfort – winner
Noise Comfort – winner
Handling – winner
Overall Road Rating – winner
Performance – Dry Track – winner
Cornering Stability – winner
Steering Response – winner
Braking Modulation – winner
Handling Predictablity – winner
Overall Track Rating – winner
Performance – Wet Track – winner
Cornering Stability – winner
Steering Response – winner
Braking Modulation – winner
Handling Predictablity – winner
Overall Track Rating – winner
Slolam Time Dry – winner
Slolam Time Wet – winner
Lap Time Dry – winner
Lap Time Wet – winner
Stopping Distance Dry – winner
Stopping Distance Wet – winner
Average Cornering (g-force) Dry – tie with Bridgestone
Average Cornering (g-force) Wet – winner
Consumer Survey Results:
Rated against 68 other Light Truck / SUV Highway All-Season tires and based on consumer experience, the General Grabber HTS is the highest ranked among consumers purchasing this type of tire.
Tire Technology
Beside the performance the HTS demonstrated on the road, General also engineered the tire with a lower rolling resistance to get better fuel economy and thereby dropping CO2 emissions.
Major Tire Performance Technologies
The Grabber HTS is the flagship of the General Grabber line and it incorporates 4 key technologies that enhance the performance of this tire.
1. Duragen – Ultra-high strength steel belts, micro fiber casing reinforcements, and broader tire contour provides even wear, longer mileage and confidence in challenging conditions.
2. Adaptive Performance – Response Grooves, Stabilink Bars and 3 kinds of siping for enhances steering response and reliable performance
3. Comfort Balance – a tread cushioning and noise capturing system for a quieter, more comfortable ride.
4. Eco-Ride – Improved tire compound increases fuel economy and minimizes CO2 emissions.
Best Tires – General Grabber HTS
I love these tires. I honestly didn’t expect to experience a big difference in ordinary driving. I saw the tests and statistics and recognized that in emergency situations, bad weather and such that the Grabbers have tested to function the best. That is valuable to me because when I am driving in bad rain or have to stop quickly I want my tires to perform. However, improved responsiveness was evident immediately to me. The next thing I experienced is a noticeably quieter ride.
These tires get 2 thumbs up. My hearty recommendation!
Australian Short Stories – (Mary) Valleys Senior Rugby League Team 1935
Before the 1939-45 war there were four football teams playing in the Gympie competition. One of these was Valleys, a team as the name suggests selected from the town ships of the Mary Valley.
My brothers Kev and Bert played, and as well as being captain of Valleys, Kev was captain of the Gympie representative team. Roads weren’t crash hot back in the 1930′s, there was no bitumen on the roads in the Valley and getting to the venue where the match was played was quite a chore.
Traffic on the road stirred up clouds of dust. It was almost impossible to pass a vehicle in front, as it was hard to see for dust, and if you followed too closely, you were smothered in the stuff.
One of the players, Frank Jocumsen had a cream run and picked up cream from farmers between Imbil and Gympie. The cream was delivered to the Gympie Butter factory on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays of each week. His truck was large for the times, about seven ton capacity with a canvas hood over the back to keep the cream cool. It was also a great way to transport the team to the playing venue on Sunday.
There was one snag, the back of the truck got splashed with cream, and by the end of the week, as may be imagined, was very smelly indeed. My role model Kev, volunteered me to clean the back of the truck, and every Saturday during football season Frank would bring it to the back of our house to have it cleaned. I was only seven or eight years old when I inherited the job and I can tell you it was no sinecure.
No hoses at the time, just many buckets of water, carried from the tank some distance away, soap and a broom, and some hard work. It was also my job to clean Kev’s football boots and they weren’t considered clean if you couldn’t see your face in them.
All the Valley towns got behind their team and expected them to win every game. The interest and effort was so great that Jack Lutton who owned the sawmill in Imbil was reputed to have said production at his mill dropped considerably on Mondays and Fridays.
Fridays, because his employees, and there were several in the team; put in most of the day talking about how they would play Sunday’s game, and after the game on Sunday they were too sore to work properly on Monday.
The Climate of The Valleys
The climate of valleys is synonymous with extremes of temperatures. In summer these places are quite hot, in winter bitterly cold. The following is a short description of this type of climate.
Valleys record extremes of temperatures in summer and winter. The more deep a valley is ,the more the fluctuation of temperature. This means that the valleys which are surrounded by very high mountains are susceptible to very large changes in temperature. The typical station of special interest both for holiday makers and meteorologists is the world famous Gilgit Valley in Northern Areas of Pakistan located not far away from the Shin door Pass, the centre of Annual Polo Festival. It is surprising to note that although it has a high latitude of about 36 degrees North, and an elevation of about 5000 feet above sea level but still temperatures up to 113 F (45 C) are common. During the night however the temperature falls to 60 F (16 C), a fall of 31 degrees Celsius! This is because Gilgit is surrounded by very high mountains which reach in height up to 20,000 feet. At night when the sky is clear, the surfaces of the mountains becomes much cooler due to re radiation of heat to the atmosphere which they have absorbed during the day. As the surface becomes cooler and cooler during the night, the air touching the slopes becomes very cold too. It also becomes dense and heavier as compared to the surrounding air. Under the action of gravity, the cold air is pulled down the slopes until it is accumulated in the deep valleys. This wind is the Katabatic wind, commonly known as the mountain wind. As this wind arrives from mountains situated high up, so it is very cold and brings down the temperature of the valleys considerably. Hence the nights of the valleys continues to be cool even in mid-summer. In the day, however, since the valleys are situated at low elevations as compared to the mountains, and these areas have a very clear atmosphere, they become quite hot by mid-day, especially when there is no cool air coming from any side.
In winter due to same effect, the valleys record temperatures which are several degrees below zero and are bitterly cold. It is usual for Gilgit to record temperatures up to 20 F in winter.
In short, it follows from the above discussion that the valleys have a large diurnal as well as seasonal range of temperatures. So next time you plan to visit these places in summer, be prepared to face extremely hot winds and chilly nights in the same season.