On 9 Jul 2017 09:26:00 -0400, Scott Dorsey wrote:

Thanks for the advice of harder pressure which I will certainly do!

For the most part this is true although I have a car that handles much
better when it's 2-5 psi below the number on the door. So try a bit more
air and feel what happens. It will likely help.... but make sure it does.

I have already added a few psi which I actually *like* how it feels. But of
course I'm aware of the butt dyno effect (when I wax my car and change the
oil, it 'feels' faster too so I know that such things are subjective).

It has 225s on there now, which is the OEM tire.
Nothing wider than that is needed I agree.

Also... let me point out that some people are very fond of putting all-terrain
tires with aggressive tread on SUVs, and then they wonder why the handling on
the road is poor.

I agree with you but this is a 2wd which has never been off the shoulder of
the road, so, I don't need poser tires. I treat it like a car.

This happened to a friend of mine; the tire place sold her
some tires that would have been a very good choice offroad, and she wondered
why her rear-end was hopping so much off the line. Going back to proper road
tires helped a lot.

I wish there was some good way of testing tires out beforehand to "feel"
them but it's just impossible. The best you can do is ask friends and read
reviews, but everyone has different requirements and not everyone has the
same vehicle driven the same way (and even if they do, they don't always
say it in the reviews).

So while I like to buy my tires on pure logic, in tires most of that
information is just not available to you for all the tires you might be
considering.

Therefore, I often have to buy tires on published specifications alone,
where the OEM specifications are my starting point (e.g., the load range
and speed range and air pressure and camber and toe, etc.).

It's all homework + logic.
Just like it was at school to get a perfect GPA.