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Post by Humph on Dec 16, 2016 20:57:15 GMT
I had to drive into and about central London one day this week. The traffic was Londonish, in so far as an elderly, unfit, depressed snail, with gout, pushing a wheelbarrow with a flat tyre, could have moved more rapidly at certain times.
Eventually I started to take an interest in the tyres on the other vehicles caught in the same jams as me. Yeah I know, but believe me, it was that turgid.
Anyway, I began to notice that all the Addison Lee vehicles had Michelin Crossclimates on them.
I'm sure it's a good idea and everything, but I'd have thought the need for "winter" tyres was at best, limited on vehicles primarily operating in London. Had to wonder why they had them fitted to all their cars. Maybe some kind of test for the tyre company?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 16, 2016 21:14:58 GMT
More likely a bulk / outgoing model / end of date discount.
If I had to guess, I'd go with someone doing an excess stock sale to resolve some kind of stock planning issue. Sales less than plan, for example. Probably calculating that anything more than 3 months stock at this time of year is an utter waste of money.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Dec 16, 2016 23:39:42 GMT
Hardly. The Crossclimate is barely a year old so unlikely to be obsolescent just yet. I've noticed it too, on AL vehicles around Heathrow. Remember that when I bought mine on July they were no more expensive than Primacy HP. For a private hire operator, it's just possible that they might stave off some kind of duty of care suit after an accident by removing any hint that the vehicle was on tyres unsuited to the conditions.
Or perhaps someone in Michelin UK spotted an opportunity to do a deal that would get their new tyre on to a lot of relatively conspicuous wheels in a short time and so create some brand recognition.
And if it is just AL being cautious, what do we call the 02 Picasso I stopped behind at the airport M4 junction this evening? Exhaust not just loose but chafing the left rear tyre, leaving a smooth, whitened inner rim visible. It disappeared before I could think of a way to communicate that this might not be an entirely good thing.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2016 0:12:04 GMT
'spect I'm right. It'll be an excess stock deal.
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Post by Hofmeister on Dec 17, 2016 8:37:41 GMT
'spect I'm right. It'll be an excess stock deal. Addison Lee have a contract with ATS, ATS is owned by Michelin. Chances are Michelin UK loaded up with cross climates for a UK winter, we dont have winters any more, so they probably have a load on hand, so they go to ATS for the AL contract. |
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Post by tyrednexited on Dec 17, 2016 8:41:31 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2016 9:47:11 GMT
AL will sell you one of their care worn products e.g. 62 plate Ford Galaxy 135k miles £6500
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Dec 17, 2016 11:23:13 GMT
Does that mean we're both right?
😜
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Post by Humph on Dec 17, 2016 14:03:18 GMT
He'll be more right than you WDB. You know how it is.
😉
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2016 14:10:27 GMT
Its a reaction to never being right with my wife.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2016 15:11:49 GMT
That's Newton's 3rd Law of emotion:
For every male action, there's a female overreaction.
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Post by tyrednexited on Dec 17, 2016 18:15:40 GMT
He'll be more right than you WDB. You know how it is. 😉 ......or less wrong, as his wife would probably describe it.......... |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2016 18:31:04 GMT
My wife does not acknowledge the concept that I could be anything other than 100% wrong. There is no grey in my level of wrongness.
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Post by Hofmeister on Dec 24, 2016 20:28:52 GMT
Draggin this back to tyres.....
Two weeks ago I reshod the Viking long boat with 4 brand new 4 x 235/55/V17 Goodyear Efficient Grip SUV
Chosen primarily on a combination of Wet Grip B, Noise Rating 1 (-68db) and price.
Done about 700 miles on them, and fine tyres they are as well, good in the wet, impressively quiet.
And two nights ago, I found out, with a shock, how good they are.
Driving through Ashford High Street, at about 30 mph, parked cars on both sides, and a teen girl appeared in the gap between two cars on my left and stopped before entering the road, I registered her, having shed about 5 mph, when half a car length later, her mate rushed into the road. I didn't think it was physically possible to bring a car to a complete halt from 25mph in the length of half a car. With the addition of a short deviation to my right I ended up with her fingerprints on my bonnet, and a barely perceptible smudge in the dirt on the bumper. She then ran off, (with her mate behind me) across the other side of the road, and disappeared. Clearly they were running from something, I suspect they had tealeaved something from a shop.
Its a bit sobering, coming that close to knocking someone over, didn't sleep well that night!
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Dec 25, 2016 7:43:24 GMT
Don't give all the credit to the hardware, Sven. Yes, the tyres did their bit but that sort of 'save' starts with awareness and technique: not going too fast to begin with, using a gear that slows you when you lift off at the first sign of a hazard. Even your 'deviation' had probably begun when you saw the first girl, anticipating that she might step out and giving you more room to avoid her. Good kit helps but these things are mostly about managing the space and time around you.
You need a bit of luck too. If the (Norse) gods had been having a stroppy day, there'd have been an Astra behind you, in fourth gear with the driver fiddling with the radio. As you sorted out whose bumper bits were whose - and with the two girls long gone - he'd have said something like, "It all happened so quickly, I had no time to react."
Merry Christmas.
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