Questions and Answer with Jonathan Benson: If you are a tire engineer or just a regular guy researching what tires to buy, the odds are that you probably came across ‘tyrereviews.com’ which is created by Jonathan Benson. What sets tyrereviews.com apart from other websites is that Jonathan does his own independent test. While most of the magazine test results are published on a paywall, all the results he has generated are publicly available on tyrereviews.com . This really sets him apart from the other testers and also explains why he is a legend to many tire enthusiasts and beginners alike. So when an opportunity arises to speak to him, I jump straight at it to ask him some questions.
1. Hi Jonathan, thanks for taking your time to speak to us. Could you explain to us how did it all started for you in tires?
It’s a long story… I have always been an automotive enthusiast since a very young age, as I was growing up my father worked for British Aerospace, who owned MG Rover for a while, which meant some very cool company cars such as the V8 rovers and even short term lease cars like the Ford Sierra XR4I which enlighten my interest. I also did semi competitive carting which ultimately I had to stop as I grew too tall (6″ 4) & heavy which dashed my dream 🙁 .
So I actually had a MG ZR which is a hot hatch and had these 17″ wheels which at that time were really huge. It has a set of the original Michelin Pilot Sport & I drove it like any young guy would, which is flat out and burn through the front axle tires within 5,000 miles. So I went to a garage without doing any research about tires and they asked me what tires do you want? I told them since they have Michelin just put them back on Michelin. But what I was not aware of was that instead of putting back the Pilot Sport they replaced it with a Pilot Exalto PE2. It was a change from a UHP tire to a sport touring tire, and as soon as I drove out of the garage I immediately felt the difference and this is when I realised that tires make a big difference in terms of driving.
I did some research online and could not find anything which explains why this is happening. Back then I was a web developer and was shifting towards ecommerce management. As I was burning tires at a quick pace on my track car, I was thinking I could provide content which nobody is providing and also use my skills to build the website. It would be a win win situation. So it actually took me 2-3 years to get the website online and it was my hobby project which ultimately grew into a full time job in the later stages. I would not be a millionaire doing this but it is my passion and I love what I am doing.
2. What is tough to shift gears from web programming to something very mechanical like tires? I believe most people have a hard time adapting to it.
I believe it’s a time thing. As everything in life, if you spend a lot of time on something that you are passionate about & you will learn. Goodyear was one of the first few companies in the UK which saw the potential of online exposure and they were the first ones who invited me to their launch. I was grouped along with other journalists, mainly people from the magazines. After that the tire knowledge just grew as the exposure got bigger and bigger over the years.
Tire manufacturer’s are actually really good at educating you what goes into the tires especially with factory tours, talking to tire developers and also the test drivers. In tire launches, you actually had the opportunity to drive and do some sort of mini testing. This is where I pick up the skills & knowledge bit by bit and it just gets reinforced in the long run as you attend more and more launches. In the end it is really time and passion which sticks me through.
3. Tire test is notoriously hard to prepare as you need to get tires, prepare the track & then spend the time to perform the test itself. How do you manage it and how did you start doing your own independent test?
I think it is getting the trust of the tire industry in the UK & Europe. I have been grinding at it since 2009 and over time managed to have a great working relationship with the manufactures. I was fortunate to be in Europe which has been very open to independent testing as they have already established a “press test” culture which does independent testing. I was lucky to fall into that press test category and I am very happy to be in a fortunate situation where I am able to do independent testing at various proving grounds throughout the whole year.
4. Do you do the test alone or do you have a team that you work with?
It is mostly me. For filming, I used to have a crew but after COVID and with the travel restriction it is only me. I do the filming, the notes, the driving & evaluation of results.
5. Do you face any repeatability issues while you are testing?
I test as any tire manufacturer or magazine would test, that means control tires throughout a test and if the variance is too far off, we have to rerun which often happens on snow and ice! Also if time allows I like to run high score weighting tests such as wet braking and wet handling twice in different ordering just to be sure the data is as fair and as accurate as possible
I know that people might think that I am a youtuber but for me data comes first and getting good quality data is essential.
Jonathan Benson
6. What do you think about Tire Rack’s testing as you are trying to move more into the American market?
When I just started tyrereviews.com, Tire Rack was the go to standard for web design and layout. Tire Rack does tire testing in their own unique way and they seem to be doing a good job as a lot of consumers appreciate what they are doing. In a way this is a good thing for my point of view as my testing method does not clash with them. In general anyone who is talking about tires in a descriptive and informative way is good for the industry as it educates people on the different kinds of tires out there in the market.
7. What’s your opinion in regards to the sustainability & CO2 emissions topics which is picking up steam in the tire industry?
The number of people who have been asking about these topics definitely went up compared year on year but it is still a handful. I am trying to do a piece on tire sustainability & pollution as I have some material from Michelin so stay tuned !
8. If you have a free pass to ask a tire manufacturer anything, what will it be ?
I would love to have an open book on every OE tire from the tire manufacturer, as you know I did some work on the BMW* OE tires and the results were really interesting. I would also like to know about the load and speed ratings. Right now you can get the 205/55R16 with a 91H or 94V and there was a push from Michelin a few years ago to consolidate these tires to the highest load & speed index. As far as I know, customers didn’t understand the goal of the project (named Geobox) and now we have a situation where in some cases brands just manufacture one specification (the highest) and assign lower rated sidewalls to the product. The consumer still gets the choice but the manufacturers get simplified production. It would be cool to know every single tire model which falls into this category.
Also for tire companies which have second line brands like Continental which also owns Barum tire, it would be nice to know which tires are moved from the premium tier 1 brand down to the tier 2 brands. It will be interesting to know what is developed specific for tier 2 brands and what tires are handed down to tier 2 brands.
9. How do you see the tire industry in the next 20-30 years?
I heard so many different things that will change in the future from full autonomy to synthetic fuels. I don’t really know where the future will bring and whether buying tires would still be done by consumers like me or you or it will be managed by fleets. However I do hope that people who do their research on what tires to buy appreciate tire websites like us to help them make a wise tire choice.
10. Thanks for taking your time to share your insights of the tire world and it was a pleasure talking to you.
Welcome and thanks a lot for having me.
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