doesn't have anything to do with Big Rubber fleecing anything..
look at the current 100 B B system we've had for 20 years now..
under that system, you can have a "Corporate tread," an "all-season" and a performance tire with exactly the same rating, priced $50. apart.
Remember, this system was conceived around 1980, when Corvettes came with P225/70R15's.. so you're Mr. Owner looking at three tires that all fit, one's priced at $70. one's priced at $110., the third at $145. You own a Corvette, gob dabbit, you're right, and you're not spending $150. per tire when the $70 ones fit the car.
So then it's July, you're smoking down I-90 off the Front Range onto the Plains, doin' about 130 mph, on a tire designed with a maximum speed of 86 mph... what's gonna happen?
That's how the American public thinks.
Nitrogen inflation?
I never have to check my tire pressures again! (No one checks them to begin with until chunks are flying, so this one's no big deal)
Gee, these $40. tires made in China sure were a lot cheaper than the $95 ones made in Ohio.
Can you say "Orteck?" They're still looking for 10,000 units, and have no flippin idea whatsoever who they got sold to..
Now, they have a new system coming that rates tires on load, speed indicies, braking and cornering traction, treadwear, sound level and ride quality. You think the Commerce Dept or DOT is going to have the time to check 21 million tires as they come in from China and India to make sure they meet Product Safety regulations?
Hello? Lead paint on toys? Call on line 2...
The American consumer wants a simple scale that rates things 1 to 10. I'm no different, I'd like it, too. But you'd have a lot of PO'd individuals when the Government Benchmark Tire is a Michelin Pilot, or Goodyear Assurance, or Bridgestone Turanza.. or whatever the heck it ends up being.
Because tires are as different as apples and oranges, and comparing one to the other just ain't gonna work.
mode OFF.
Can't go wrong with Toyo 
