Michellin sucks, -ruined the USGP Options

[seanery]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/finger.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/finger.gif) I can't believe it. WTF. Michellin, in it's 6th year here, can't create a tire that will will finish the race? WTF.

NO FRENCHIE FUCKING TIRES FOR ANY OF MY CARS!!! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/finger.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/finger.gif) (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/finger.gif)

[lapuwali]

QUOTE (DNHunt @ Jun 20 2005, 10:26 AM)

James I'll stand by what I said. Granted racing and passenger operations are likely separated by a wide margin. Still Michellin would like us to think that what they learn from racing leads to a better passenger tire. So is the reverse true? Can a blunder in the racing program tell us anything about the passenger side? I think so. Live by the sword die by the sword. Dave

Maybe, maybe not. I'm sure in the end we'll agree to disagree on this, but...

Is Bridgestone affected by the disaster that was the Explorer rollovers, which implicated Firestone tires, simply because they belong to the same corporate entity? Bridgestone tires failed Ferrari earlier this season, so while their mistake wasn't nearly so embarrassing, it was still a serious mistake. Does this really effect their road tires?

Dunlop had a number of tire-shredding failures in the early 1970s when slicks were first being introduced into racing. Since you say "never again, Michelin", it sounds like there's no time limit, and someone who'd witnessed the 1970s failures could employ the same logic to not buy Dunlops today, racing or street.

BF Goodrich is now just a brand owned by the Michelin group. So, by implication, BF Goodrich tires should also be covered by your ban.

The "never" option just seems a bit extreme. I'm sure every tire company that's ever made racing tires has made a serious blunder at some point. That's part of the point of "proving" new technology with racing. Sometimes, it's not going to work. Designing and making racing tires naturally MUST use unproven technology if the tires are to be competitive, because by the time it's proven, everyone has it, and there's no edge. Street tires, on the other hand, must ONLY use proven technology, since safety is far more important than ultimate performance on the street. I've seen no evidence that Michelin (or Bridgestone) has pushed the technology envelope on their street tires anywhere near as hard as they must in F1. Clearly, the F1 engineers crossed the line and pushed too hard, and one could imply a corporate mentality from that. Or one could simply imply that competition between Michelin and Bridgestone has been particularly fierce in a very challenging environment, and they're running on such a ragged edge by necessity that they're both tripping over it. Bridgestone got luckier earlier this year with their failure (and they only supply one competitive team, anyway). Had they supplied several more teams, we would have seen a much bigger problem there.