(survey) OWL Tires - Worth it?
Yitah Wu
Thanks to all the previous respondents to the rear cargo
area lock and rear cargo area cargo hook surveys previously
posted. Unfortunately, the volume or responses doesn't permit
me to thank all of you individually.
As an informal survey, I'd like to get some feedback
on OWL (Outlined White Letter) tires. These are tires
where the name or brand of tire is written on the sidewall
similar to the old whitewall tires.
1) What kind of vehicle do you drive?
2) Do you have OWL / Whitewall / similar (Non Black Sidewall) tires?
3) If you were buying the car again, how much would you have paid
to have this feature, or, how much of a rebate would you have
wanted if the tires were BSW instead? (Black Sidewall)
Please respond to
y...@ford.com
or
ywu....@e-mail.com
Thanks in advance for your time,
Yitah Wu
Product Analyst
Ongoing Product Development
Light Truck Vehicle Center
Ford Motor Company
Ted Szypulski
>Please respond to
>y...@ford.com
>or
>ywu....@e-mail.com
I ordered my '96 XLT 4DR/4WD and specified the P225 non-OWL tires.
The price charged by you for five tires, slightly larger at P235 and
with OWL's was obscene! At nearly $40 per tire for the upgrade you're
getting close to the price of new tire. I don't mind the look or
larger size, but for the priviledge of free advertising on my vehicle
I'd expect them for free or perhaps for a rebate of about $5 per tire
for taking the OWL's!
My feeling was that I'd surely by buying a new set of tires for my
Explorer and I'd upgrade to P235's and perhaps OWL at that time.
It was interesting to note that your dealers around here only ordered
lot stock with OWL tires. That is part of the reason I factory
ordered mine (there were other reasons too).
Regards,
Ted
John C. Coleman
> 1) What kind of vehicle do you drive?
1995 Ford Explorer Sport (2WD)
> 2) Do you have OWL / Whitewall / similar (Non Black Sidewall) tires?
Currently have Goodyear Wrangler/RS OWL tires. Never want to have them
again. They look good, but have poor wet traction and all 4 of mine are
cupped at 24k miles (with 3 rotations and proper inflation).
> 3) If you were buying the car again, how much would you have paid
> to have this feature, or, how much of a rebate would you have
> wanted if the tires were BSW instead? (Black Sidewall)
I EXPECT any $20k+ vehicle to come with excellent tires -- at no extra
charge. Since many of the Explorers trim lines are dressed up to look
"sporty" (i.e. flashy/chrome wheels, large wheellip moldings, etc), this
means that I would expect excellent OWL tires that complement the look.
Now, knowing what I know about the Wranglers, I would prefer a nice set of
BSW Michelins or Dunlops over the OWL Wranglers. OWL Michelins or Dunlops
would be even nicer.
On something like a 4-Runner, however, I would prefer the BSW tires. Maybe
on a Mountaineer or a base Expl. XLT, the OWLs could be an option or come
with one of the upgrade packages.
Same theory on cars: if "sporty", then OWLs; if not, then BSWs; but always
good quality tires from the factory. Whitewalls only acceptable on
automobiles made before 1960...
--
John C. Coleman Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
John.C....@tulane.edu Tulane University
http://www.bmen.tulane.edu/~johnc/ New Orleans, LA USA