This year's snow tire thread

[mwiener2]

I see alot of people doing a toss up between Blizzaks and something else. I turned down the BLizzaks even though they are probly the Best SNOW tire.

 

The Blizzaks easily have the best snow and ice traction. But they also wear faster and don't have as good dry and wet handling. I would only get the Blizzaks if I lived somewhere where once it snowed, the ground stayed covered. Like if I lived on a farm in Maine or something.

[ChrisK]

Wow, finally a crowd that recognizes Consumer Reports for the bunch of arbitrary morons that they are! I have found my new home!

[Nasty350LT1]

Ok, I'm looking at snow tires for the '05. I run Bridgestone Winterfire Studs on the '95 for 4 years and have had a great experience, but Bridgestone only makes the Blizzaks now, it seems. I hear the Blizzack WS-50s are great tires in snow but can be dangerous in emergency manuvers in dry conditions. I've been looking at the new studless Blizzack REVO 1, it tests better than the WS-50s in snow/ice but I haven't found any all around tests. Anyone have any info on these? The next tire I'm eyeing is a studded tire, the Nokian Hakki 2, which looks like it would totally rip but I can't find any tests. Basically I want the tire that does everything perfectly, but they don't make that, but SOMEWHERE there must be a good all-condition test of current stud/studless snow tires. Anyone care to point me in the right direction, offer opinions, or give me some insight into new-technology snow tires? Speed rating for snow tires isn't big on my list, but what effect does it have on traction capabilites?

 

 

You want tires, have I got a set for you.

 

My G/F bought a 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Turbo last year.

And when winter time came around she asked her Subaru Salesman,

to recommend a good tire for winter use.

 

Well, the salesman told her to get a set of these:

 

 

NOKIAN HAKKAPELIITTA RSi

 

 

She got a set of four and loves them.

My G/F says these are the best tires she has ever used for winter driving.

She goes everywhere, and I mean it. Trips up to Maine, Vermont, Cape Cod.

 

The "SNOW" never bothers her in the least.

She leaves other AWD vehicles behind with these tires.

 

She liked them so much she bought a set of (4) for her daughter's car.

 

Trust me these are awesome tires.

[Cynder]

What I thought was most interesting about the Consumer Reports winter tire survey is that the testing criteria was never published.

I have questions about when the tires were studied, was the snow/ice artificially created or were they tested during the winter? What were the specific temperatures and conditions? What vehicle was used? Were the studdable tires studded or not studded? Who was the driver and what equipment was used to ensure duplicate conditions for each set of tires?

 

I agree that there are better tires than others but I have serious doubts that a winter tire sold at sears for $54 each by a generic manufacturer is going to outperform anything by a name brand that is noted for being some of the best winter tires in the industry.

 

Shame on Consumer Reports.

[andrew_j]

Part of Consumer Reports rating factor is price. The $54 tire rose up due to decent performance in their eyes with price elevating it up the rankings. They stated in the article it was a great tire where roads were cleared quickly as it handled well in drt/wet in their tests.

 

However that all being said their ratings are quite off from what I saw in European testing. I don't think they did lateral traction (eg corner) which much more important to me than starting quickly on an ice skating rink or snow covered area. The braking is important though.

[xcskiguy]

Although I am not sure why they advertise it like this, as it is not in the list of the eligible tires.

 

Sorry, I just believed what I saw but digged no further :-).

 

I don't know if they had this before, but there is a link to the list of qualifying SP Sport tires. The M3 and M2 are there. "all other sp sport tires"

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/dunlop/dunlop_all.jsp

 

 

-Barry

[emlevins]

Since CR recommends Ole Milwaukee as the best beer, it's safe to assume their reality might be different than many of ours.

 

Right, everyone knows the best beer is Milwaukees Best

[highwaydrifter]

i like how companies in the us use skating rinks as a simulation...

 

as if they are anything like road conditions when it gets iced over..

 

i dont see alot of oil, grit, dirt, general crap on the top of an skating rink do you?

[xcskiguy]

I'm thinking of getting my snows in 205/50/17 as some have mentioned here. It sounds like the optimal wheel width is 7" (middle of the range) for that size and I'm looking at putting them on the ASA JS1 (simple/cheap/light).

 

Would a 7.5" rim be better or worse for winter driving, or just not that big of a difference? I'm also leaning toward the Dunlop M3. I really like my M2s that I had on my A4Q.

[AWD-Turbo]

I'm thinking of getting my snows in 205/50/17 as some have mentioned here. It sounds like the optimal wheel width is 7" (middle of the range) for that size and I'm looking at putting them on the ASA JS1 (simple/cheap/light).

 

Would a 7.5" rim be better or worse for winter driving, or just not that big of a difference? I'm also leaning toward the Dunlop M3. I really like my M2s that I had on my A4Q.

Around our area, most of winter driving consists of driving on wet roads (not frozen) or cold, dry roads. Not that many days a year are spent driving on snow covered roads. For that reason, I’d suggest going with a snow tire in the stock size on a 7” wheel. A Subaru with snow tires will be better than 99% of the cars on a snow covered road, and you won’t lose too much when the weather is decent.

[xcskiguy]

I agree, an AWD car will with snows of any kind should be fine. But I drive all over the place in the winter. Quite a few days are spent driving to Killington, Stowe, etc. I also hit Valley Forge, and some of the other local parks when the snow is falling, to get some xc skiing in.

 

I believe the stock wheel is a 7.5", which is at the upper end of the range Keefe gave for this size tire (205/50). If the stock wheel worked well with this size, I might just chuck the RE92s now and just buy the tires.

 

I'm a bit leary of 45 series tires for winter driving. The normal winter change over for the Audi, was to drop back to the non-sport tire size (225/45/17 to 205/55/16), but we have those big rotors to deal with. This setup worked extremely well for me in the past. Thinner tire getting more bite and a little more sidewall taking the bumps and holes pretty well.

[rfd425]

I believe the stock wheel is a 7.5", which is at the upper end of the range Keefe gave for this size tire (205/50). If the stock wheel worked well with this size, I might just chuck the RE92s now and just buy the tires.

 

I'm a bit leary of 45 series tires for winter driving. The normal winter change over for the Audi, was to drop back to the non-sport tire size (225/45/17 to 205/55/16), but we have those big rotors to deal with. This setup worked extremely well for me in the past. Thinner tire getting more bite and a little more sidewall taking the bumps and holes pretty well.

 

I think the stock wheels are 17x7". The 205/50 has pretty much the same sidewall height as as the 215/45 (the sidewall height is the second number [aspect ratio] as a percentage of the first [width]).

 

I did the same changeover with my A4, going from 225/45/17 to 205/55/16 in the winter. When I got bigger brakes (A8 rotors with Boxster calipers) I had to use spacers with the stock wheels in the winter.

[AWD-Turbo]

The stock wheels are 17x7”. I think the tread compound/design is more important than the sidewall height when it comes to snow handling. A 205 will do a little better in the snow while a 215 will be a little better everywhere else. It all depends on how much true snow driving you will be doing.

[Fayston]

A few people have remarked about the performance of all wheel drive in snow/ice and they are missing it (at least half of it); all wheel drive doesn't help stopping.

 

I drove Hak Q's last winter and they worked well in snow and were good on ice, but not so hot on dry pavement. This year I was thinking about the RSi or the Revo 1; I went with the Revo 1 and have already put over 500 miles on them running between Aspen and Breckenridge, Colorado, (where we got about 2 feet of snow last week) and so far, the Revo is much better on dry pavement than the Hak. I will give an update after a few good storms.

 

If you're going studless, you will be very happy with either of the Hak RSi, the WS-50, or the Revo 1. The Bridgestone seems to be a bit less expensive, so...

 

Here's to fun winter driving!

[rfd425]

I definitely preferred the Hakk 1's on my A4 in snow -- not ice -- to the Hakk Q's on wifey's Civic. Hopefully, the Hakk 2's are the perfect compromise, with the tread pattern of the Hakk 1's, but with the extra siping of the Q.

 

BTW, I never used studs with the Hakk 1's, and I won't with the Hakk 2's either. They are studdable tires, but they are great studless too.

[RockyMtnGT]

So I'm about to order the Hankook w300's for the Legacy (Thanks for the reviews guys!! -$460 shipped from tires.com!)

 

Only they seem to only have 225 width instead of the stock 215 for my rim size. http://www.rmcb5.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif

 

I know "snows" ideally should be same width or thinner for best snow performance. But are there any technical problems I should be concerned about with upping the width to 225 in this case?

 

I'll be going from 215/45 17 (stock) to 225/45 17 (snow) on a 7 inch wide rim

 

As always, thanks in advance...

[sputnik]

So I'm about to order the Hankook w300's for the Legacy (Thanks for the reviews guys!! -$460 shipped from tires.com!)

 

Only they seem to only have 225 width instead of the stock 215 for my rim size. http://www.rmcb5.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif

 

I know "snows" ideally should be same width or thinner for best snow performance. But are there any technical problems I should be concerned about with upping the width to 225 in this case?

 

I'll be going from 215/45 17 (stock) to 225/45 17 (snow) on a 7 inch wide rim

 

As always, thanks in advance...

 

Instead, you can get them in 205/50/17 size. They do come in that size.

[RockyMtnGT]

I was thinking of that...but I thin k 205s would take too much fun out of my dry weather driving...So I ordered the 225's

[sputnik]

I was thinking of that...but I thin k 205s would take too much fun out of my dry weather driving...So I ordered the 225's

 

In that case, why not to get something more performance oriented but still good in the snow like Dunlop M3s?

[Cynder]

That's the same size tire I use on my Mazda 6. They work great even in deep snow but work awesome on ice! They're still a little soft on the sidewall for performance driving on dry roads.

[Wattage]

Just in case anyone is interest in the Dunlop Winter Sport M3's - here is the official information from Dunlop on the rebate

 

"

Thank you again for contacting our website.

 

We apologize the email did not answer your question.

 

The Winter Sport tire does not qualify for the rebate.

 

Sincerely,

 

Maria

 

Consumer Relations"

 

So TireRack was wrong once again. They are not worth the effort.

[highwaydrifter]

like i said **** TIRERACK

[racerdave]

Here's a link for the austrian tests... the Icebears are actually pretty good, comparable to the Dunlops: (in the tests, a lower number is better)

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.oeamtc.at%2Fnetautor%2Fhtml_seiten%2Freifentests%2F205_55_16_HT_winter2004%2Fgesamt_205.html&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

[sputnik]

Just got Nokian WRs put on today. I thought that stock RE92s were generally all right tires so I was really surprised just how much better Nokians felt compared to stock. The difference was pretty dramatic. And it was on dry surface! If you want a great all-season tire (with good snow handling), you just can't go wrong with Nokians.

[xcskiguy]

As I will probabely order the M3s soon, I've been following this rant about the tires not qualifying for the 50/50 rebate. But if you go to Dunlop's site they specifically state all SP Sport tires on the rebate form (which the site tells you to check). So I then went to a few other online tire dealers and gee they seem to be 'lying' too. (ex. check Mavistire.com in NY)

 

I never put too much faith in customer service (especially by email). Subaru's customer service responded to my questions about the 2006 GT by swearing that they would never drop the manual transmission option from any of their turbo wagons. "that just wouldn't make sense". If I'd have listened to that, I'd have missed out on a (limited production) 5mt LGT wagon.

 

Tirerack seems to be a fair retailer (my experience). Can you find better prices? Probabely. Definitely don't take the customer "opinions" as gospel. My interest in the M3 is based on my experience with the M2. I do wish I could have seen them compared to the Nokians, but I think I'll be happy enough with the tire.

 

Happy shopping to all.