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Cruising with Classics: A Journey through Vintage Volkswagen Culture and Tire Essentials · In Wheel Time Podcast

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to another In Wheel Time podcast, a 30-minute mini version of the In Wheel Time Car Show that airs live every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am, Central Podcasting and streaming around the globe.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: I like to say that I do, it's good.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: It's kind of like that disastrous ABC Sports Open back in the 60s where the guy tumbles off the big ski.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: You do the tumbling down the ski.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you do that and I'll be taking pictures of it.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: This is the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show brought to you by Mecham Auctions Houston at NRG Center, april 4th through the 6th.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: That's just next week.
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Yeah, just ahead.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Bay Area VW Club President Dave Saucier and a big bug bash.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: Jeff has a feature on tires for your analysis and tire buying pleasure.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: That's all just ahead.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: On the In Well Time Car Talk Show, howdy, along with Mike out of this world, mars.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: We always need more.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Jeff Zekin, I'm Don Armstrong.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much for joining us today.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: It's a beautiful day here in the Houston Texas area Gorgeous day.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a beautiful morning.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: The sun's out, spring is in the air.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: Actually, it's almost.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Summer is in the air.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, we go from freezing, cold, raining, nasty weather to this.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: It's beautiful.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Beautiful day in the neighborhood and none of us are wearing sweaters.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Not yet.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe later on, you know, because we get chilled at our age.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: I'm not going there.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: All right, dave Saucier is the president of the Bay Area VW Club and, dave, good morning to you, sir.
• 1:38
  Speaker 4: Good morning to you all.
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: How are you all?
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: Well, we're very well, thank you, and it's good to have you with us.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Do you live in the Bay Area?
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: We're very well, thank you, and it's good to have you with us Do you live in the Bay Area.
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, over here in LaPorte, texas, you're in LaPorte.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir, okay, very good.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: Well for those that are watching streaming around the globe.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: And don't have a map in front of them.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: No, they don't.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: The Bay Area here in Houston is Galveston Bay, not San Francisco Bay, so Houston is Galveston Bay.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, not San Francisco Bay so.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: I just wanted to clarify that.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Tampa Bay or Green Bay, any of those other bays?
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Well, dave, tell me about the Bay Area VW Club.
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: Certainly, it was formally founded in 1988.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: And our very first meeting was at and I don't know y'all might remember this, but the old, less marked chevrolet dealership, uh, meeting room off 146 and spencer highway, which is no longer in existence yes, I, I remember exactly where that was, because I was working at richardson chevrolet in houston and we and we did a uh as what I call a dealer exchange and I had to drive the car that we exchanged for their car over there at Les Marks, and back then I think this was about 1969, 1970, back then our freeway system wasn't quite what it is today.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: It took several hours to complete that task, but at any rate yes, I remember it very well.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: And so where do you guys have meetings?
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Do you do things like oh, let's get the secretary to talk about the minutes of the meeting?
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: Please tell me.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: You do that.
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, we do.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Now you learned that in high school, dave, didn't you?
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Well, I don't go by that, but that's okay.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: If you guys want to talk about the last meeting, then that's fine.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: So how many members of the VW club down there?
• 3:46
  Speaker 4: We have around 20 to 25 members that do participate every month.
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: We hold the meetings every month, talk about past, not problems, but issues.
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: We talk about upcoming events, what we're going to participate in, uh, preparations for shows and whatnot.
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: Uh, it may not seem like a lot, but it is uh, and we only have a short hour and a half to uh complete our, our meetings every month, and and that doesn't include what goes on in the background.
• 4:22
  Speaker 4: We're not having our meetings.
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: A lot of stuff goes on to make events happen, such as beer drinking.
• 4:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so you got 20 to 25 folks that are in in this club.
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: What kind of issues do you have?
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, there can't be anything drastic uh, they have insecticide issues.
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: No, sir, no, uh.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: What we're going to participate in, how?
• 4:41
  Speaker 4: What we're going to participate in?
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: How much money are we going to spend on certain items that we're going to buy for the club or to hand out per se?
• 4:49
  Speaker 4: It's that sort of thing, it's no, we're.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: I like to say that we're a.
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: I don't want to sound too too too bad, but we're like a.
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: We're just individuals with Volkswagen problems.
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: That's all Okay.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Well, I didn't know, volkswagens had any problems.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say.
• 5:07
  Speaker 4: Well, sir, they're more.
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: They're still kind of like analog and digital world right now.
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: That's what they are.
• 5:15
  Speaker 4: You still have points to set, you still have spark plugs to gap.
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: It's not without its problems, but that's the whole point in driving the car.
• 5:23
  Speaker 4: You're one with the car.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: You are operating a vehicle of past technologies, basically Well we like that because we're kind of living in the past right here on the In Wheel Time Car Talk show.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: Exactly, yeah, so you had told me earlier that you have a 67 bug and you told me the reason that you chose the 67 to get into.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Why don't you tell everybody what you told me about the 67?
• 5:52
  Speaker 4: Certainly, the 67 was not the pinnacle year, but it is a sought-after year because of the changes that were incorporated into the vehicle First year, 12 volts.
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: Changes that were incorporated into the vehicle uh, first year, 12 volt.
• 6:08
  Speaker 4: Uh, it was still relying on the classic body lines.
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: Uh, with uh, with modern, I guess you say modern 1967 changes.
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: Um, it is a, I guess, a crux between the two uh years, the late models and the early models.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Well, you also told me that the 6-volt system was before 67, and they went to a 12-volt system in 67.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: Absolutely correct.
• 6:32
  Speaker 4: Absolutely correct.
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: A lot of people had problems with the headlights dimming.
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: They'd turn on their windshield wipers in the rain and the headlights would dim.
• 6:40
  Speaker 4: Not the most ideal.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly, were the engines the same back then.
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: No, sir, the 67 was the first year and the only, I guess you could say not the only year, but the 1500 to 1.5 liter, very reliable in stock form, and if you're cutting 30 miles a gallon or more, you're doing pretty good.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: So why Volkswagens?
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Why not another brand or another species of car, so to speak?
• 7:12
  Speaker 4: I blame my parents for this.
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: When dad got out of the Navy, they had a 1966 Volkswagen and, of course, as being a young kid, one two years old um, pictures were taken with me behind the wheel, in the cubby hole behind the rear seat, and that basically lit the fire, and ever since then I've been hooked.
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: Um, either you, you understand them or you don't.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, I will tell you this, I didn't have one, but I had.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Well, you know, I will tell you this, I didn't have one, but I had the bug beater, I had the Chevrolet.
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: Corvair, Ah yes.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: And had many races with a bunch of friends of mine that had a bug, and one in particular that was part of our little clique of car guys, that one of the guys had a 55 Chevrolet that he had souped up the engine in and it was a loud beast but noncompetitive, clearly, with the Volkswagen and the Corvair.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: But I tell you what, we had a great time and, as you mentioned earlier, it was fun because we didn't have any electronics per se other than the distributor and the battery.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: That was about the extent of the electronics and it was easy to work on.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: And tell me, I want to know more about your buggy.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: You say it's all stock.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, a stock one.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: So have you kind of shed the idea that you're not going to soup it up, you're not going to put on some aftermarket air cleaner or exhaust system or something?
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: Not going to soup it up, you're not going to put on.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: You know some aftermarket air cleaner or exhaust system or something.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: How do you soup it up?
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, what do you do to get the horsepower, the add-ons?
• 8:53
  Speaker 4: The number one add-on item for anybody with an air-cooled Volkswagen is the exhaust.
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: A better flowing exhaust that would be the number one starter, but I prefer mine the way it is is it come from the factory.
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: It's more reliable, parts are more readily accessible in stock form and people appreciate it a lot more.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: Just recently a group of us enthusiasts traveled S 67 from Texarkana all the way to Presidio on the Mexico border.
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: Wow.
• 9:29
  Speaker 4: And I drove almost 2,000 miles trouble-free because of that.
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: Yes, we had other people in buses that had problems overheating.
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: I had none, and that's a testament to keeping it in stock form.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I will tell you.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Speaking of non-stock form, I'll never forget going to the drag strip down there, not too far from you, houston International Raceway.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir, and it was a quarter-mile track.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: Are you familiar with that?
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: Anyway, yes sir, I went down that track a time or two.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah Well, I'll never forget going there and seeing a Volkswagen run a 10-second quarter mile.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: The guy had a huge, you know a trumpet exhaust.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: One thing off the back end of that thing.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that stinger and I mean that.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: That's correct.
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: I have never in my entire life seen a Volkswagen go as fast as that one was.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: It was shocking.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: I thought how cool is that?
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: I bet it sounded like an angry swarm of bees.
• 10:29
  Speaker 4: That's exactly what it sounded like, and I'll tell you what I mean.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: He blew the doors off of his competitor on the other lane over there and I will never forget that, and it was quite breathtaking because I had never seen anything like that before.
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: But I do know that it had now let me put it this way the stock block in it, but he had souped it up as just such a method that I don't know what all he put back there.
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: But it was all covered up.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: You couldn't see it, but it was a beast of a motor that went down the track screaming, as you can imagine.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: So I know that there's power to be had by doing some modifications to the engine.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir, dave, I want to get involved in a bug bash.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: I want to go out and get me a Volkswagen.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Where do I go?
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: What's the best place I can go?
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: Look for a Volkswagen and get started with it?
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: You go to Hemmings.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Do you go to a used car lot?
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: How do you do that?
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: Hemmings is good.
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: Facebook Marketplace is a decent place to go.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: I don't think that they still make the car trader magazines anymore.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: Word of Mouth is good, or knowing somebody in the Volkswagen club to help you.
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, I get tasked a lot about being asked hey, I'm interested in Volkswagen, where can I find one?
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: And generally know where one is.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Is is for sale.
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: It would be a thing, a bus, uh, carmen guia, oh, we get.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: We get asked that a lot and and a lot of people will come to our facebook website page and ask if they can post up a car for sale and there's a few on there, uh.
• 12:02
  Speaker 4: But the biggest caveat I tell everybody, if they're going to buy one is a volkswagen, be sure to check the floor pans, make sure they're not rusted out.
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: That is the number one killer um because replacing four floor pans is not an easy task yeah it can be done, but it's not easy.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: I know, what you're doing.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: I got a friend of mine that owns and runs Pro-Am Auto Accessories and he's got a VW Bug convertible.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: That's not quite complete but the body and all of the stuff, the metal work on the body, is all complete.
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: It looks really good, very nice.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: I think it needs an engine and I think that it needs an interior and a top.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: But not much of it.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: It's all there, it's just got to be tweaked.
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so at any rate, if you know somebody, there you go.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: There's a tip for you Tell us.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: I want to know.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: I was just going to say I want to know about the Bay Area 34th Annual Monumental Bug Bash.
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, the very first one was held in May of 1990 at the Mexican encampment at the San Jacinto Monument, and as we progressed through the years, relations were good.
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: We donated thousands back to the park.
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: When that park became a state historical site, that came with a new set of rules and policies and they asked us to find another show site.
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: So we sourced up the el jardin beach park in pasadena, texas, um, which is an ideal site on the beach, and looked into a little neighborhood that's.
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: It's basically a hidden gem and we hold it every year in may.
• 13:41
  Speaker 4: Uh, it's free to spectators to come out.
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: We have vendors, swap meters If you wanted to show your Volkswagen.
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: It's still relatively cheap to do.
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: We give out the best of awards and people's choice, and with what money that we do generate?
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: We give back to the neighborhood by means of adopting basically five families in the area, buying them gifts for the kids and also meals for the day, and that's what we've been doing for the long, long time.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Now, is it an open car show, or is it just for bugs?
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: Strictly Volkswagens, be it either air-cooled or water-cooled.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, so I could bring my thing.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir, pardon the pun.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: Or I could bring my Tiguan.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir, you could.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: Okay, just checking.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Yes, sir, but it's got to be a VW.
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: Well, that's cool.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: How many Twinkies you got to eat to win the contest, because I see there's a Twinkie eating contest.
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: We limit that to the kids.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: And they have to eat a.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: If they finish a whole box within two and a half minutes, they are the clear winners.
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: But the deal is you have to eat as many as you can in two and a half minutes, no peeps.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: And those kids win a $25 gift card.
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: And those kids win a $25 gift card.
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: And I always encourage the kids to have their mom or dad stop at the local corner store and buy more soda or sweets to go home.
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: In there you go, get them all jacked up on sugar, but no peeps.
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: None of the yellow peeps or pink peeps.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: No, none of that Okay, Even though it's Easter weekend it is.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: You'll probably get them bargain basement style yeah the stale ones.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: The stale ones the next week Day, old peeps.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Well, it sounds like a ton of fun.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: So do you have a website where we can send people if they're interested in going and visiting the 34th Annual Monumental Bug Bash?
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, we are limited to the Facebook page, the Bay Area VW Club.
• 15:45
  Speaker 4: It is on Facebook.
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: It is open to anybody that wants to join.
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: We welcome everybody that would like to come see the show.
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: It is a no drama show.
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: We enjoy having everybody out there.
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: No drama show, we enjoy having everybody out there.
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: And I truly enjoy visiting with old friends that come back to the show, that travel for miles out of town.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: Well, yes, I do love seeing the Volkswagens.
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: I love visiting with people that I'm only limited to seeing once or twice a year and catching up.
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: That's what I truly enjoy.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: I want to know do you have any souped-up Volkswagen bugs down there at this show?
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: Oh, yes, sir, yes, sir, we do.
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: He says it with a sigh.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Oh boy.
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir, we do.
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: We have quite a number of individuals that have the high compression or the turbo or the superchargers.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: We do have those individuals and you get to know them.
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: They are a hoot to befriend with.
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: They are something else, no doubt.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: Big ideas, yeah, big ideas.
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: Dave Saucier, it's great to talk to you, my friend.
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: Thank you for having me.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: I appreciate y'all.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Good luck and we hope to hear from you again.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: Let us know how it goes.
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: Yes, sir.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: All right, thanks, dave.
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: How fun.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, all right.
• 17:02
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  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show.
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• 20:01
  Speaker 1: All right, got a feature story.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: Jeff's going to get to in just a second here Tire tutelage Okay, but in the meantime I've got a story that I wanted to start off with.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: Go for it.
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: Electric vehicle owners are noticing vehicle tires wearing faster than those on gasoline-powered vehicles.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: We touched on this a few weeks back we did.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: That's according to JD Power 2024s original equipment tire customer satisfaction study.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: That's a long title for a study.
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: Findings from the study highlight ev owners having less satisfaction with the durability of their tires, expecting them to wear similar to gasoline powered vehicle.
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: However.
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: EV tires naturally wear quicker because of greater vehicle weight and higher torque.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: This gap in satisfaction creates an opportunity for tire manufacturers and automakers to ensure EV owners are properly educated, according to Ashley Egger, the Senior Director of Benchmarking and Alternative Mobility at JD Power.
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: He says, because of the inherent conflict of maximizing vehicle range and optimizing tire wear for EVs, tire manufacturers and automakers need to work together to overcome the challenge without completely sacrificing the performance in other areas, especially as the EV market continues to increase.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: In other areas, especially as the EV market continues to increase, ev tires also are an opportunity for dealer service departments.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: With fewer moving parts.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: Ev service visits might mostly entail tire rotation and replacement and new wiper blades In 2023.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: Cdk Global White Paper EV Service Today and Tomorrow.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: 18% of dealership leaders polled said tire maintenance would be the most common service concern for EV owners, tied for second with technical issues with the vehicle display system.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: 38% of those surveyed said they believed software issues would be the top concern.
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: But US Original Equipment T original equipment tires customer satisfaction study assesses tire owner satisfaction in four areas tire ride, tire wear, tire traction, handling, entire appearance.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: So the ev tire situation is becoming an education for those people that have no clue what they're getting themselves into by buying an ev, it's's heavier.
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: So what are EV tires made out of?
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Rubber.
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: Which comes from.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: Well, in our case, oil for the most part, exactly, but we're going to put the oil world out of business.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, the point of that story is the vehicles are heavier.
• 22:38
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's the construction of the tire.
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: You need better, stiffer, firmer sidewalls.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: The cross-section of the tire doesn't matter, but that's tread and that's part of the torque, where you get that grip on the road because you're between the seat of your pants and that road is a patch of tire.
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: That's it.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: Are we segwaying into the next segment?
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: We can.
• 22:59
  Speaker 3: You want to do that?
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: This is your segment.
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: Well, let's do that.
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: There you go, michael.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: How about that?
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: So, anyways, what do the tires mean?
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, what do the numbers mean on the tires?
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Well, we're going to tell you.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: In a typical tire you've got all these numbers on the side of the tire.
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: You can see a picture of that if you're watching it on your big flat screen.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: Generally, you'll have a letter in front of the numbers, meaning like a P for passenger or an ST for special tire, lt for truck, light truck.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: But in this case you're looking at it and you've got a 195-65R15.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: What that means is that the 195 is the section width of the tire.
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: It's actually the tread patches where all the little grooves and things are on the tire from side to side, if you're looking at it face first.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: So that is the 205, well, the 195 in this case in millimeters.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: So it's 195 in millimeters.
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: The 65, in this case, is called the aspect ratio and it's a two-digit number and that is actually a percentage of the sidewall, the height of the sidewall from the rim to the top of that tread.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: So that is the aspect.
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: The R indicates what it is.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: It's a radial tire, b is for bias, d is for directional or digital directional tires.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: And then, of course, in this case the 15 is the rim size.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: So that is the aspect ratio of the tire.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: In this case it's a 195-65 radial tire, 15-inch rim.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: If you go further than that, you're going to see a load index of 91.
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: 91 is actually what the pounds per square inch that tire can hold at its normal inflation rate.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: So the maximum inflation rate of a tire is probably around 44 to 45 pounds maximum and you don't want to do that.
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: That's just drastically inflated.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: So what you would do is you would take the in this case it is a 91.
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: And if you take that 91 times 15, which is the rim size, you will get the pounds per square inch of that tire and what it will hold so far as weight per square inch of that tire and what it'll hold so far as weight, and in this case you're looking at right around 1,300 pounds at a 36 PSI pressure, which is the normal tire pressure for any tire.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Generally it's between 32 and 38.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: But in this case we're just going to take an average of 36.
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: You also have an H, which is the speed rating indicator.
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: The H is produced by the Department of Transportation on what that tread will, or that tire tread will take how they can spit it up, right, right.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: So there is a guide, you can look at guides and the tire shops have those, and in this case the H.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: In this case, the tire maximum speed rating is 130 miles an hour and this goes from a low S excuse me a Q, which is at 100, all the way up to a Z which is more than 149 miles per hour.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: And I think Don you probably have a W or a Y on your Corvette tires which are around 168 to 186.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: So far as a speed rating of that tire, the car won't go that fast, but the tire will.
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: But the tire will.
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: It's made that way On that chart.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: So Q.
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: Almost all tires then should be able to cover up to 100 miles an hour.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 26:08
  Speaker 3: I mean not all cars will do that.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: They've got governors on them, You're not going to have a 22-inch tire rated at a Q.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: It's going to be a small tire.
• 26:19
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a 14 or 15-inch tire, so the lower the.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: So if you go to 20s, you're probably looking at a V or a W or a Y, depending on the tire and what you want out of the tire.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: You can get sticky tires, you can get non-sticky tires and things of that nature.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Your imports, or what they call UHP, ultra high performance tires, are generally a stickier compound.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: They're made for road grip.
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: You see them on a lot of imports.
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: The Japanese domestic vehicles have those as well the Kumos, the Yokohamas and things of that nature.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: So then, moving on to that, you'll see in this you've got a 2119 little grouping there.
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: That is actually the birth date of the tire and in this case, if you're looking at the screen, that's a 2119.
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: This tire was built the 21st week of 2019.
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: So the first two digits of the week, the second two digits of the year it was manufactured.
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: So if you're looking at a tire on a shelf somewhere, maybe you're at a tire store or maybe one of the big box stores and you see, well, we're in the year 2024.
• 27:16
  Speaker 2: If you see a tire that is 3523, that tire was built in the 35th week of 2023.
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: I don't like to buy tires more than a year old if it's a shelf date.
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: That's just me.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: You know, some people can go longer.
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: Now manufacturers say they can go up to five years.
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: You can, I mean, if that's what they're recommending and if they're going to take the liability for that, that's fine.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: I don't buy tires unless if they're under.
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: They have to be under a year old for me to buy them.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: Now, if they're on the shelf and they're going to give you a deal on that, yeah, the tire is still good.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: There's no problem with that.
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: Now, if the tire is on your vehicle and it's five or six or 10 years old, remove it, because they do wear out.
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: The tire does degrade in the rubber manufacturing part of it.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Your nylons and your rayons and things all hold up, but the actual rubber part of it will degrade on that.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: So there you go, check it out.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: You've got summer coming, you've got spring coming, you've got a lot of road trips.
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: Look into your tires, make sure they're good and solid for you.
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: And why did I get the look good tires off of my car?
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: Because the date on them Aged.
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're aged out.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: Was it 10?
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: years.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: Well, they say 10.
• 28:31
  Speaker 2: Some manufacturers go 10.
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: Some say 8.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: I believe, being in the tire business for the years that I was involved in it, I wouldn't go past five.
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: Five to six years Now, granted, depending on the car.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: If it's just a little grocery getter, you're going to use it on the weekends, just go back and forth to the soccer field or whatever.
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: You could probably get away with that If you're taking a long trip.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: No, I wouldn't recommend that.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: You're going on the hot rod tour of Texas.
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: We're all going on that.
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: If my tires were a little older, you've got time to think about getting some new tires.
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: Well, I don't Well, I'm just saying Because I just bought them two years ago.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: You just bought them.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: You got Run Flash.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: You got the bad boys of the group.
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: And my placard on my door says 30 PSI 30 PSI.
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: Okay, well, then you're in that range.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: Just don't put 44 in it.
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: No, Now my dad, when we took his keys away from him but we didn't change them because he couldn't drive it more than three or four miles, and that only happened a couple of times a week.
• 29:25
  Speaker 3: So it's to your point.
• 29:26
  Speaker 3: If it was going any further than that, we'd have to do something different.
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: I want to tell everybody that today's In Real Time Car Talk Show is sponsored by the group of original Loopy Tortilla restaurants in Houston, beaumont and College Station.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Also Gulf Coast Auto Shield and Pro-Am Auto Accessories.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: We continue our show right after this quick break.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: The original group of Loopy Tortilla restaurants will have you telling your family and friends just what the original recipes mean when it comes to the best fajitas in Southeast Texas.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: Founder Stan Holt invites you to visit the original Loopy Tortilla near I-10 and Highway 6.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: Here's the original house that inspired the design of all the rest and the original charm that helped make Loopy Tortilla the go-to destination for Houston Tex-Mex.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Speaking of original, nothing can compete with the original lime pepper marinade.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: That everyone will agree makes Loopy Tortilla award-winning beef fajitas the best anywhere.
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Loopy Tortilla Katy is another location that gives you the same quality and service Houstonians have come to expect at Loopy's.
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: It's located just off I-10 of the Grand Parkway at Kingsland Boulevard in Katy.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: Find yourself in Aggieland.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: Head to the Loopy Tortilla and College Station.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Located just around the corner from Kyle Field, it's a great place to enjoy those famous frozen margaritas before or after the game.
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Headed east to Louisiana, stop in at the Loopy Tortilla in Beaumont.
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: It 2's on I-10.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: You can't miss it.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: The original group of Loopy Tortilla restaurants invites you in for the best Tex-Mex.
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: Anywhere you own a car you love, why not let Gulf Coast Auto Shield protect it?
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Houstonian John Gray invites you to his state-of-the-art facility to introduce you to his specialist team of auto enthusiasts.
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: We promise you'll be impressed.
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: Whether you're looking to massage your original paint to a like-new appearance, apply a ceramic coating, install a paint protection film, nanooceramic window tint or new windshield protection called ExoShield, gulf Coast AutoShield is where Houston's car people go.
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: Curbed your wheels.
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: Instead of buying new, why not have them repaired?
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: How about a professionally installed radar detector?
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast AutoShield does that too.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Get a peek inside the shop and look at the services offered by getting online and heading to gcautoshieldcom.
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: Better yet, stop by their facility at 11275 South Sam Houston Tollway, just south of the Southwest freeway, and get a personal tour.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: Gulf Coast Auto Shield is your place to go for all things exterior.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Call them today 832-930-5655 or gcautoshieldcom.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: I'm Don Armstrong inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning 8 to 11 am Central.
• 31:52
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• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, spotify, stitcher, iheart Podcast, podcast Addict TuneIn, pandora and Amazon Music.
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: Keep listening and we'll see you soon.