First-hand experience and extensive training allow our sales specialists to provide expert product recommendations based on how, what and where you drive.

We make certain our team members experience as many of the products we sell as possible. Each year they participate in over 15 Ride & Drives, allowing them to compare at least 60 different products — more in one testing season than most people experience in a lifetime of driving.

Our tests allow our sales specialists to experience each of the products in a short period of time, giving them a real back-to-back comparison under controlled conditions. To keep the evaluations consistent we use identical vehicles (except for color), the same Real World Road Ride route and the same Performance Test Track course. During each evaluation, the only things that really change are the products we are testing.

Real World Road Rides
Our 5.6 mile Real World Road Ride loop allows our team to experience ride, noise and light handling qualities across the variety of conditions our customers drive on every day. We include two-lane roads, four-lane roads and expressways, as well as surfaces that include chipped stone in tar (rough and irregular), asphalt (some very smooth areas while others are patched) and concrete (complete with expansion joints and some studded tire wear). The vehicle conditions that would affect the results are kept to a minimum with the radio off, windows up and climate control fan on its lowest setting. This allows us to focus on each product’s contribution to ride, noise and light handling qualities without unnecessary distractions.

Performance Test Track Drives
Our purpose-built test track located adjacent to our South Bend headquarters allows our team to find out how each product behaves under the extremes of emergency situations on the road. The test track is dedicated to testing during the week while car clubs use it for autocross competition on weekends. However since it is never used as a parking lot, parked vehicles don’t create isolated slick spots by dripping gas, oil and antifreeze. Our team members run multiple laps of our test course to challenge the car’s steering response, handling, braking and cornering capabilities and we time selected track segments to quantify the product’s contribution to the vehicle’s handling and maximum cornering capability.

Panic Stopping Tests
Life seldom depends on how fast you go but how well you stop really can make a difference. And while today’s four-wheel disc and anti-lock braking systems often get the majority of praise, it’s really the tires that convert those system’s abilities into actual stopping distances. To evaluate the contribution tires make, we conduct straight-line braking tests to accurately measure panic stopping distances. We stabilize the speed at 50 miles per hour and hit the brakes hard enough to engage the anti-lock braking system and bring the vehicle to a complete stop. We run multiple stops on each tire and use a brake performance analyzer to quantify the data and determine average stopping distances.

Dry and Wet Road Conditions
Many of today's tires deliver similar dry weather handling and performance, but the real tie breaker can be when the roads are made slippery by a rain shower. Our test track features a sprinkler system that allows us to evaluate traction, handling and braking distances under consistent wet road conditions. We also test tires in the snow when Mother Nature obliges, and on the ice of a hockey rink.

Sharing What We’ve Learned
Following every Ride & Drive, our team’s evaluation of each product’s comfort and performance is scored on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest. Additionally, each driver’s lap times during the Performance Track Drive are recorded with a competition lap timer and the fastest laps are averaged to help quantify the tire’s performance capabilities on the track. We have found that our team’s driving experience and insight reflects that of our customers. They are a combination of racers, autocrossers and enthusiasts whose evaluations provide an excellent overview of the variety of products we test. After all, experience really is the best teacher.