Spinning out at Discount Tire’s Treadwell test track

Discount Tire, America’s largest specialist retailer, whisked journalists to a junket in San Antonio, Texas. Details were hazy: A website and a test track. It wasn’t clear what the one had to do with the other.

Starting with a formal evening on the deck of a boutique hotel and affixing the smile of a politician coming into contact with the general public, I interrogated members of Discount Tire’s C-suite about minor glitches on their website.

Hoping to show engagement, I demonstrated only peevishness, while drinking their wine. The same fixed smiles appeared on their faces.

Redolent of the hippos in Disney’s ‘Fantasia,’ the sheen on the asphalt allowed the BMW to spin and glide in just about any direction except forward.

For the journalists, rule one is this is all very tedious. No such affect from the influencers, emotions displayed on their faces in a way Marcel Marceau would have found a little obvious.

Top gear

But the tire execs loved that the influencers loved it. The PRs beamed like parents at a preteen birthday party when the kids are getting along. No part of the joy escaped capture on iPhone 16 Pros. No one had anything else: not the (embarrassing) 15 nor the (shaming) non-Pro. Sorry, Android, but all these bubbles were blue.

Pre-dawn, we assembled by a series of Sprinters. Gimbals, suction-cupped GoPro cameras, tripods, lighting rigs, and editing software were being compared and Bluetooth microphones affixed. All this would blend with B-roll the PR company was filming with drones. “Apocalypse Now” had lower production values.

I looked intently into my iPad, attempting to suggest my own serious media needs, a frown to convey that my device also needed expert handling. My emasculating iPhone 13 mini stayed hidden.

Still having little idea what to expect, we got to Discount Tire’s Treadwell Research Park in Pearsall, about 50 miles outside San Antonio.

On the skids

Discount Tire bought the 900-acre four-zone facility in 2022, partnering with track testers Smithers. A 1.9-mile oval simulates real-world surfaces from highway on-ramps to potholes and noisy road surfaces, as well as skid pans for measuring wet and dry stopping distances.

Next there is a flooded asphalt field — vehicle dynamics area — with water depth kept between 1.75mm and 2.25mm (less than one-tenth of an inch), capturing hydroplaning. It is complemented by a dry VDA, being used by British sports car maker Lotus on this particular day.

Finally, there is around a mile of off-road track with deep mud, gravel, and fine sand. In addition, sophisticated lathes simulate wear. This testing data powers Discount Tire’s Treadwell recommendations, online and in-store.

Behind the wheel

For demonstrations, we were split into groups in paired BMW 330i vehicles. Brett, our pro, took us onto the wet VDA around a course marked out with cones, first slowly, then like Lewis Hamilton.

Then he handed it to me. I did my best to emulate his driving style. Judging by my companions’ reactions, I was not unsuccessful.

Cathy made short-form videos on Instagram focusing on safety, aimed at young mothers, offering wise words on shredding bank statements. Cathy was shooting video using the better cameras on the back of her (inevitable) iPhone 16 Pro.

Somehow she was able to keep herself in the center of a frame she couldn’t see while the car was pirouetting in the wet, its occupants experiencing fighter pilot G-forces. I didn’t know it was a skill until I saw it.

The other rider was James, aka Pikachu, the Pokémon character, his on-camera persona as excitable as the namesake yellow mouse. He happily farmed out video shooting to anyone with a convenient hand.

Redolent of the hippos in Disney’s “Fantasia,” the sheen on the asphalt allowed the BMW to spin and glide in just about any direction except forward. Cones were knocked down like skittles, or crushed. We said supportive things while unsticking our cheeks from the windows.

In the controlled environment, the speed was strangely unconcerning, though with tight-lipped nonchalance Cathy did ask what happened at the edge of the track.

It was a lot of fun. Then we did it again in a BMW fitted with different tires, finding that the first handled with the solemnity of a maiden aunt when compared with the teenage delinquency of the second. It was even more fun.

At the oval we drove another pair of BMWs, identical except for tires, with stopping distances measured in emergency braking from 70mph. On a dry surface in a late-model sedan, the tires could make the difference between a fender-bender and a write-off. In the wet the differences pile up, perhaps literally. Controlled skids with fellow journalists shrieking from the rear seats made me a convert.

From left: Brett, James aka Pikachu, Cathy, and your humble correspondent. Photo courtesy of Discount Tire

Unbiased rankings

Treadwell’s site asks for the vehicle’s details and ZIP code, for likely weather. Specifics can be tailored, but there are default options: “suburb & city” and “highway.”

The third is “tracks and traction,” for “spirited drivers.” Bravo to the wordsmith who came up with that for Donnie in the Dodge Charger flashing his high beams and sitting behind you so close that a colonoscopy would seem less intimate.

Treadwell lists results, compared with the factory specification and sorted by test ratings. The company says suppliers cannot pay for this placement, but this was buried in the FAQ. Another group of C-suite executives too slow to escape questioning explained it to me.

As most sites sell search results and page placement, I would be jumping up and down If I ran it — but perhaps the point of bringing journalists to San Antonio is so we do those gymnastics.

Roads scholar

What’s the alternative? Standardized data is available. Each tire has a tongue-twisting Uniform Tire Quality Grade. But information can be hard to find.

What happens when it’s a zero? Does the big-box retailer show stopping distances: wet, dry, new, worn? If it does (the one with cheap hotdogs does not) who provided it? Or do you just get what the dealership recommends?

I’m not saying the manufacturer would lie to you. Electrify America’s EV charging network was built as part of a settlement by Volkswagen for … lying to regulators. Recall the Ford Pinto, which is more than Ford did when its explosive gas tank became evident. You may even think of Ralph Nader, before he became Ralph Nader. Of course, we need draw no conclusions from clearly isolated incidents that seem to keep happening.

Back from Texas and donning mystery-shopper dark glasses, I drove to America’s Tire (the brand where I am, Discount Tire, also owns Tire Rack). A proprietary laser scan recommended replacing all four tires. Darn it, but better than finding out the hard way.

Online, Treadwell recommended the Michelin Defender 2. In-store, that was also what Andrew pulled up on his system.

Far from steering me to spend more, it was the cheapest branded tire. The car’s manufacturer fits the Michelin Primacy MXM4 AC. Treadwell’s suggestion was cheaper, and the new ones should last six years, versus under three for the originals. The stopping distance is worse — by one foot. But I was given the information to make the choice, knowing it was backed up by independent testing.

Treadwell is Discount Tire’s recommendation engine and its rigorous testing site: they are two sides of the same coin. It really does it, and it does it really well. Rarely has a demonstration proved so eye-opening. It could save you money. It could also save your life.