A few weeks ago Cooper Tires brought me and few other bloggers out to San Antonio Texas to test our skills and knowledge of tires on the road. I can’t tell you how excited I was to go out there and drive the way I’ve always wanted to without being arrested. It was a pure rush. I also learned a lot about tires that I didn’t before. I thought I was pretty educated about the subject when I went out there but I came home with my knowledge expanded greatly. 
We stayed at the amazing Omni La Mansion del Rio located on the Riverwalk in San Antonio. I had a room overlooking to the Riverwalk and the bustling life it has through out the day. The Riverwalk was my favorite part of San Antonio, when I didn’t feel like I was going to trip and fall into the water because I was breaking in my new pair of cowboy boots that my husband nearly killed me for buying. Walking around on street level you see these tiny doors to restaurants and shops, but when you’re walking the Riverwalk you realize that those tiny doorways lead to three story buildings that you just couldn’t see from that angle. It was really cool. I didn’t get a chance to go inside the Alamo but I took a picture outside when I was walking by. 
The Cooper Tire test track is off the beaten path and it has a huge wet track, multiple dry tracks and even off roading tracks. We learned a lot about the brands history and they shared their excitement for the new CS5 Touring tire that just came out to replace the CS4. I’ll be honest, I’m one of those tire buyers that goes in and buys whatever is cheapest and sometimes would only buy two. This experience completely changed the way I look at a part for my car. One of my favorite things that really opened my eyes was something one of the engineers said, “You spent $600 on a smartphone but won’t put that kind of money into your tires. The thing that carries your family every day and can be the difference between life and death.” Guilty, on all accounts. I’ve never cared about the tread, wear patterns or pressure, and it’s the one things that could keep my family safer.
We got to test our hand at a few different driving experiences. We tested out two cars during each run. The first run, we tested out a competitor tire and then tested the new CS5 tires. The way they grip the road on the wet track is unreal! Next we tested out a scenario that many families have faced before. When you can only buy two tires at a time, where should you put them on your car? I always thought that it depended on whether my car was front wheel drive or rear wheel but again I learned something new. You should always put new tires on the back. We tested the difference between worn tires in the front and back. Check out the worn tires to see me spin out a lot on those worn tires.
We got to meet Johnny Unser the Indy car driver. He took a few of us for a “drive” on the hot laps. Make sure you watch that video, it’s pretty funny. The last track we tested out skills on was the distracted driving course. I think I had an advantage because we where driving the Ford Edge, which I own so I know how it handles. We drove through the track with our “baby” in the back seat making demands and asking us to do tasks that Moms do on the road. Including taking this awesome Selfie while driving!
I was quite proud of my distracted skills because I didn’t hit a single cone or run off the road, which apparently most of the other Moms did! That got me the Smooth Operator award.
It was an amazing experience and I learned a lot. Read the Tire Guide for Mom’s! Make sure you check out my Cooper Tires videos, they are a lot of fun.
