Summer Tires

14.04.26: Article in the Toronto Star today on "Higher Speed Equals Better Performance".

I absolutely agree.

Good way to get the message across. 
The higher the speed/performance characteristics, the better the safety features.

It has to do with speed rating of the tire (which should be called performance rating instead).

Bottom line: Get safe summer and winter tires for your vehicle. By safe, I mean the best wet weather traction.

There are three types of tires: summer, winter, all-season.

Up until a few years ago, I was willing to live with all-season tires, to save money.
I have since become a full-supporter of summer and winter tires, and will never again use all-season ... purely for safety reasons. 

I was in a Midas shop a few days ago (replacing my MX-5 brake pads) and had a tire conversation with a knowledgeable (23 Midas years) employee.
He quickly suggested an excellent tire for my car and included the fact that my existing summer tires were manufactured more than 6 years ago. A valid point, if sidewall cracks are beginning to appear and mileage is high.

His price to replace my tires included tire storage (1st year), alignment every year, and wheel rotation every 10k miles.
I will checked with Costco, Green and Ross and Canadian Tire, before deciding.

Information you need to know before making a decision on replacement tires includes tire specifications and UTQG. 

I will use the tires I may buy, as a reference: Hankook Ventus V12 evo. 
The tire specification is 205/45ZR17 88Y which stands for width (205), depth (45), speed capability (Z - above 149mph), radial (R), and load range (88), Y (max speed - 186mph). 

I find TireRack to be a good site to determine tires for my car. Then I use CTC for tires available in Canada. Then I check with Green and Ross for competitive pricing.

There is also a general comparison rating (UTQG - Uniform Tire Quality Grade) all summer tires must adhere to which is very helpful in making your decision. Other tire types are not required to use this helpful standard ... another reason to switch to summer and winter tires.

The UTQG rating denotes treadwear, traction and temperature, which very important characteristics.

These tires are UTQG 280 AA A, which means very good mileage (30,000km), the best traction in wet, and very good high temperature performance. 30,000km is not good but should last 5 years.

So, in my situation, I don't need 186mph speed but I want a summer tire that will handle a lot of heat and maintain grip in wet .... at a good price. 

Another thing to consider is Road Hazard insurance. Well worth the expenditure.

The one aspect I have not mentioned is noise level. When you are ready to buy (and have some options), refer to online user reviews to determine what buyers think and how much noise is produced at highway speeds.

Impact of Terrorism to Canada

15.11.19: I am wondering what you think of ramifications of current terrorism activities to our government refugee actions. 

Some statistics:

Canada has fewer refugees per capita than 33 other countries

Imports: Wixipedia stats show the world (by asylum) has 7.3b people and 10.4m refugees, Canada has .16m refugees, China has .3m, India has .2m, USA has .45m, Russia has .04m, Germany has .57m, France has .2m, UK has .2m.
Jordan has the most at 2.5m, Pakistan has 2.3m, Turkey has 1.6m, Syria has 1.25m, Lebanon has 1.2m, Iran 1m. 

Exports: Wixipedia stats by origin (in descending order), Palestine at 6.6m, Syria at 4.1m, Iraq at 1.4m, Somalia at 1.1m, Sudan at .5m.


Simply by the data alone, some idiot might suggest the smarter countries may be the exporters and not the importers.

Also, the data might suggest the USA is correct in being very analytical about who they accept.

It is difficult to fight the concern that countries should be be accurate in who they accept as refugees.

What do you think?

Solar Panels On Our Home

15.12.10: I am very disappointed to let you know our insurance company is not aligned with solar initiatives that are not within the microFIT umbrella.

There are studies on solar power that show roof tops will eventually provide a very high percentage of total electric power in developed and undeveloped countries.

This PowerStream pilot provides a very low level of risk and minimal cost ($20/mo) to home owners to enter the solar power clean energy generation of the future. The real benefits of the pilot are free installation of solar system, free electricity and personal reduced environmental impact.

The PowerStream Power.House pilot pgm is full at this time but, as with other PowerStream pilots (REM and APP are ones you should seriously consider), will probably expand within a year or two.
Hopefully, we are with another insurance company at that time.

For any of you who have an opportunity to partake in a PowerStream (or other power company) solar pilot, I encourage you to take a serious look. 
  

15.11.07: Finally, an opportunity has come up to enter the solar panel era.

PowerStream introduced a solar Power House pilot a few weeks ago and we have been approved.

Not that I am a fan of power companies but PowerStream has impressed me over the last few years with their pilots (which I have enrolled in). 

I am currently a member of their APP (Advantage Power Pricing) pilot, saving electricity cost by managing week-day 3-9pm usage.  

Their solar pilot is about to get under way with 20 homes (from Markham to Barrie). There is still opportunity, if you use PowerStream, to join the pilot.

We have been accepted into the pilot, pending our insurance company agreeing.

Installation of solar panels, battery and electronics will occur in next 10 days. 

If all works as I suspect, we could end up with a net saving of approx $4,000 over 5 years, as well as being an energy provider rather than energy user.   

Vehicle tires - all-season vs all-weather

15.10.14 (revised 15.10.28): Have you ever wondered what tires to buy for your vehicle?

I was at CTC today and someone asked me about what the best way to go for their vehicle?

It dawned on me I wasn't really aware of the difference between all-season and all-weather ... not that I would use either.

My preference, after much online review/analysis, is summer tires and winter tires.

There are various summer tires that are very good in wet conditions and are not really expensive.
This is the tire used on our Honda Civic for the last few years. It is built to handle rain very well and be very quiet.






There are a few excellent winter tires and it depends on your preference for snow or ice conditions.
My preference is ice.
Here is the newer model of tire I use on my cars. 
However, newer doesn't mean better.
The Xi2 winter tire (previous version) is better (approx same price) and should be purchased if available. 
The Xi2 can be purchased at Canadian Tire, Green+Ross, and Kaltire.

After additional review, I have gained an appreciation for the nordic all-weather tires available.
All-weather is a designation for winter tires you can use year round.

I understand and appreciate the need to manage expenditures, if you really cannot afford both summer and winter tires and wheels for both ... and storage costs.

My preference still is summer and winter tires, as safety is my primary concern, and nothing works better in wet summer conditions than an excellent summer tire with excellent wet tire braking. Always look for the wet braking rating on summer tires.

Having said this, if you really need need to economize (and risk a little safety), these Nokian all-weather tires seems to be the most highly rated tires that are not specifically winter only tires.

Iran watch

15.04.17: ever wondered what Iran is doing currently? How the world sees them?
Is there a special site that documents the current view other countries have if Iran?

There is a site www.iranwatch.org/about-us and you might be surprised what Iran continues to do to keep the west off balanced.