I got lost reading some of this. I managed a couple of districts of automotive repair/tire stores for many years. I've sold/repaired/warranted more tires than I can even imagine. 21 stores in all, $40,000,000 in retail sales annually . There is a lot of myth surrounding performance tires. One of the most damaging pieces of information out there is to run inflation pressures at the rating on the sidewall of the tire. This is a maximum inflation rating only. Any given tire might find itself on a half dozen different vehicle applications. That said these vehicles all have different GVW and different handling applications. The best place to start when determining the correct inflation for your vehicle is the door placard. The vehicle manufacturer knows how many pounds you should be riding on and how the vehicle handles and brakes accordingly, the tire manufacturer doesn't have a clue where his tire will end up. A couple of pounds either side of the number listed on the door placard is all the average owner will ever need. An example where an owner can get into trouble is a truck tire. Some sizes are the same whether on a 1/2 ton or a 1 ton truck. The overall weight of these vehicles may 1500 lbs. different. You don't want to run the maximum inflation pressure on the 1/2 ton on the other hand you just might want to on a fully loaded 1 ton.
Much of the wisdom here goes out the window when you start talking about plus sizing tire combinations and it truly becomes a matter of trial and error. If you ever watch a quick lube store go through its 10,000 point check, you'll see the $7/hr technician filling your tires to the maximum inflation capacity listed on the tire. This will give you a hard ride and wear the centers of the tire out prematurely. Another thing to take into consideration is the tread wear rating. Years ago (70's) when companies got together to come up with a tread wear rating system they picked a tire. At the time the tire was a Uniroyal Tiger Paw. Not necessarily the best or worst tire of its time. It did however give a product that temperature, tread wear and traction ratings could be based off. At the time this tire was issued a tread wear rating of 100. The tire used for this standard has undoubtedly changed though I don't know what that tire is today. As better tires were constructed they were found to have twice the tread life of the Tiger Paw and therefore were issued a number by their manufacturer of 200 and so on. Bias ly belted tires of the 1970's might only live 12 -15 thousand miles. We have some tires today that may see 80,000 miles. Obviously not performance tires, some of these still only live 12-15 thousand miles but you won't see a tread wear rating of 100 on them.
The point I make with this diatribe is simply that when it comes to tread wear ratings the comparative value is only valid within a manufacturers given line. There is no one out there that is saying this Michelin is a 500 and this BFG is a 300 and then fining a company when it's tire doesn't meet the standard. Trust me the the DOT's not doing it. Comparing the tread wear ratings with in a manufacturers line can be helpful but not from manufacturer to manufacturer. Comparing brand A's 300 to brand Z's 300 just isn't comparing apples to apples. As far as rim damage goes, low profile tires do have less sidewall to absorb impact. That said if the tire and wheel combination is properly chosen it usually isn't a problem. As far as which tires I like, I can find a Michelin to meet most any of my automotive needs and like BFG for both truck tires and street drag radials. Well I've rambled long enough.
any one who know any thing about tires should know not ever bring the tires up to max pressure
