Re960 A/s?

[mbcracken]

I've tried anywhere from 2 to 4 PSI over factory specs. I'll probably stay at about 2 PSI over spec on all 4 corners.

 

And remember as the weather cools, tire pressures drop. Here in Maryland, they lost about 4 PSI when fall arrived.

 

We (PNW) don't have has drastic of temp drops, but it is 37 degrees here this morning. I typically check the tires regularly. When you say factory specs, do you mean subbies listed on the door frame or the tire specs?

 

Cheers,

Mike

[bebopper]

We (PNW) don't have has drastic of temp drops, but it is 37 degrees here this morning. I typically check the tires regularly. When you say factory specs, do you mean subbies listed on the door frame or the tire specs?

 

Cheers,

Mike

 

Always go by what is listed on the door frame/owners manual. For 17" wheels Subaru specs 35 PSI Front/33 PSI Rear. I am running 37 PSI Front/35 PSI Rear.

[mbcracken]

Always go by what is listed on the door frame/owners manual. For 17" wheels Subaru specs 35 PSI Front/33 PSI Rear. I am running 37 PSI Front/35 PSI Rear.

 

Thanks for replying. Sorry I didn't see it earlier.

 

Right now, i'm 35 psi all the way around. I'll put some more air in and try that out.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[LawGT]

I got some 960's. Still have about 50 miles on them. Will give more thourough review in the "compendium" thread after more miles. I'm now running 36/34 psi.

[Vimy101]

Remember, those placard inflation pressures were for the R92s.

[tantal]

"That's it for this TR tire test? Just a 60-foot time acceleration only? What a joke."

 

 

^^ Yes, its a very simple test. However, it is revealing. I would imagine that in very general terms, one could extrapolate the acecleration tests to braking performance, with tires that did decent in acceleration would correspondingly be decent at braking under the same ice conditions. Grip is grip, and ice (esp in an ice rink) is, appart for perhaps oil, one of the most traction challenged surfaces one could drive on. What was surprising to me was that an all season HP tire (RE960) was very close performancewise to a dedicated winter performance tire. That is relevant.

 

+1

 

However the LM-22 is not a particularly good harsh winter tire - it is a performance winter - optimized for dry cold performance with a bit harder compound than you'd like for good ice (if this is possible) traction. The dedicated snows like the blizzak ws-50 (what happened to the MZ-01,02,03??), the ice bear, the yoko winter, the X-ice, etc etc.

 

This is why you have to choose between a perf winter and a snow tire - do you really need good dry performance or good ice/snow performance?

 

I think the conti TS 810 looks like a very good winter tire, and I am also curious about the yoko AVS winter - both look to be somewhere in between the perf winter and the snow tire, but it's hard to find out without any real reviews available for either tire.

[mbcracken]

I pumped up the front tires to 37 yesterday and no flat spotting today. The temp also dropped over night to 33 (which is sissy cold in the PNW)

 

Cheers,

Mike

[LawGT]

^^ Good. for me 36 F and 34R seems to be the sweet spot, at least when inflated at colder temps, which after a hwy drive (which heats up the air inside the tires) increases in pressure.

 

Which reminds me...is there some rule of thumb for infalting tired in cold temps? I observed a 4 psi gain over cold preassures....

[Johnny5]

I just got mine installed yesterday. Currently I have 36 psi front and 34 psi rear, we'll see if there's any flat spotting this weekend. I narrowed by decision between this tire and the Yokohama Adan S4. The one thing I miss is having a nice chunky rim protector. I can't believe the 960s don't have one being such a new tire.

[LawGT]

Bump for my full review of the 960's in the Compendium Sticky Thread, post # 40.

 

 

EDIT: (11/20/06)

 

#1) What tire are you offering for review (size, model, type (summer, A/s, winter, race, etc), price paid, miles driven on tires, etc): Bridgestone 960 AS 225/45/17 on stock rims; paid $604 out the door installation and tax included. Driven about 900 miles on them thus far. Filled at 36 F and 34 R PSI.

 

#2) What is your geographic location: Chicago, IL

 

#3) What types of driving events if any (Track, AutoX, Commute , etc): Commute and "regular" driving. No track or auto X.

 

#4) Percent of highway vs. city driving: 50/50

 

#5) Tires used previously: RE 92's, had about 9000 mi when changed for the 960's

 

#6) Your review and personal comments (Dry, wet, and snow, if applicable. Also, please compare to other tires used):

 

I took a roadtrip to Minneapolis MN over the weekend which allowed me to put about 850 mi on the tires. First gripe: THEY DO FLAT SPOT! I arrived in MN and left my car parked outside form Friday to Sunday w/o moving it. Day temps were in the low 40's with night temps in the mid 20's. On Sunday when I took off to drive home the car felt like it was riding on square tires for about 1-2 miles, then it was fine. I was not too happy. When my car sat in my covered garage back home it never flatspotted before, but I don't thinkn my garage's temp has gotten into the lower 20's yet. Let's see. Needles to say I'm very annoyed by this.

 

 

Comfort, Ride, Noise, etc

 

Moving on. The comfort of the 960's is better than the 92's. Hwy expansion joints and other road imprefections get absorbed by the tires better than the 92's, becoming almost imperceptible. One still feels it, but barely. Id' rate the comfort of the re92's as a 5-6 and the 960's as a 9. Not sure if the difference is the 225 size or the tire. I think it's a little of both. The comfort is increased while the tire still retains great "feel" for the road...can't really explain it, but the tires still feel very connected to the road w/o being harsh. I did not feel any tramlining (my definition is that feeling of the car moving back and forth w/in the lane as if buffeted by strong winds). There was a small vibration from 70-80mph, that went away above 90. I was annoyed by this. I'll take it back to the shop for another balancing, since I do not think the vibration is the tire itself but rather a poor balancing job. I'll report back if the vibration persist. Otherwise the tire was very stable feeling well into triple digit speeds (won't tell you exactly ). Also, there was a very slight pitch or whistling sound over certain grooves surfaces. Noticed it more over concrete hwys. Not exactly sure if it was the tires or windnoise. I think it was the tires since I did not hear that same noicse with the re92's.

 

Dry:

 

The tires GRIP like mad on the dry. I took on/off ramps at hwys at double the posted speed limits without even a hint of squeel or the uneasy feeling I got with the re92's when they were giving up grip. Simply awsome grip. Turn and accelerate and the car just hunkered down and went. Very very satisfied. I'd rate dry grip for the re92's as a 5.5-6 (out of 10, 10 being highest) and these are a 9. I do not say ten because Im sure a dedicated summer may have better grip, but I just have not experienced summers on my car before. So 9 it is.

 

Wet:

 

Got to experience some hwy and city driving on wet roads. The grip was literally 99% as good as the grip on dry. Stunning. I was taking sharp 90 degree turns on city streets (by entering the 80-90 degree turn in 2nd gear at about 3-3.5K RPM'S then smashing the gas before the turn and during the turn) TRYING to kick out my rear end like I could before in the 92's, with no luck. I tried but could not get the back end to kick out at sane speeds (surely if I tried to be crazy with the entry speeds I could have gotten it to kick out). I then found a large empty parking area by the United Center, still soaking wet by the still falling rain. I started to go around in circles (like the mags do to test lateral G's) and the grip was outstanding. Seriously as if it was dry. Only when I really tried to smash the gas could I get the tail to begin to slide a little bit or feel like it was about to slide, but it was very progressive, and for me, the grip limits were very high. I also did a couple of "panic" stop testing on the wet parking lot from about 40 mph. The abs did not engage, or if it did, I could not feel it. VERY secure feeling when braking. On the hwy there was no hydroplaining to speak of. I'd rate the re92 wet grip as a 2-3 and the 960's as a 10 (scores relative to the re92's, and not btw dry and wet. B/w dry and wet both will then be a 9). Yes, that much of an improvement.

 

Snow:

 

Nothing yet, will update when it snows here in Chitown.

 

Overall I'm very pleased. Not happy about the flatspotting. Will wait to see if it happens to me when my car is parked in the garage and the temps begin to drop. Also, I'm hoping that the vibration I felt at 70-80 was a poor balancing job and not the tires themselves. I'll report back on these two items.

 

EDIT: 11/27/06: Vibration is gone after balancing. No flatspotting while in my garage.

[mbcracken]

I just did a 1000 mile weekend on my new 960's. No snow encountered but enjoyed the tires. Did the Seattle to Missoula (~500) on I-90 on Sat and returned Sun run to be there for the birth of my new niece.

 

The tires were very predictable and easy to load up for the fun corners on I-90 over 4th of July Pass and Lookout Pass. I did end up with a ticket in Montana though I was only doing 85 in a 75. My fault but still a bummer.

 

The tires did great thru the wet rainy return back over Snoqualmie Pass. No hydroplaning.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[mcsquish]

Congrats on the niece.

I just had some RE 960's put on. I first bought some Avon M550's but they had a bad vibration. Tire Rack took them back and this time I bought the RE 960's. I only have put around 40 miles on these, but my first thoughts are that these are much better than the Avons. I don't have the pressures adjusted but these feel much more "in the road" where as the Avon's felt like they floated on top of the road. I'll update as I put more miles on them. I also went to the 225/45-17's after talking to Luke at the Tire Rack.

________

Medical cannabis

[mbcracken]

RE 960's snow/slush review. I repeated my drive to Missoula for turkey day and was able to hit some snow and slush. They did great in 2-3 inches of slush with no wavering from where I pointed them. Once it got above +4 inches of heavy slush, they got pushed around a little but it was not bad.

As for snow traction, I was impressed by their performance as a A/S HP tire. I'm sure that a pure snow/ice tire like the Revo would perform better but for my needs the 960s worked well. Today's driving included about 150 miles of snow /slush. I didn't push them too hard as there were already enough folks filling the ditches with their cars & semi-trucks.

 

Cheers,

Mike

 

Disclaimer: The above statements are only my opinions in giving this review of the RE960's winter performance that has absolutely no emperical data to back up the above claims. If one disputes or has issues with the way I wrote this review up, please have a couple beers, then think about responding.

[Vimy101]

Slush is not snow and not all snow is created equal. If you were able to maintain direct contact with the road surface then I'd say you were dealing with slush which is more akin to a hydroplaning condition.

 

Good news on the 960 performance. What size are you running?

 

"...was able to hit some snow and slush." Love it.

[mbcracken]

Slush is not snow and not all snow is created equal. If you were able to maintain direct contact with the road surface then I'd say you were dealing with slush which is more akin to a hydroplaning condition.

I agree...mostly. And is why I tried to state the difference I encountered in 2-3 inches of slush vs. +4 inches of slush. How do you describe slush on top of snow? Are then still dealing with hydroplaning? I'm asking because I think it may lead to interesting definitions and am not arguing with you. I encountered both slush on top of pavement and slush on top of compact snow.

Also, is it still hydroplaning if there is so much snow (dry for this discussion) that it prevents you from making contact with a "solid" surface?

 

Good news on the 960 performance. What size are you running?

Stock...

 

Cheers,

Mike

[Vimy101]

^ Slush on snow. Now we're getting down to the nitty gritty.

 

What size are you running again?

[LawGT]

[quote=Vimy101;877707

What size are you running again?

 

I think he said stock size.

 

MBCRACKEN, good to hear that they perform well in snow/slush. It sounds that over 150 miles you got a great opportunity to test them out. Was it "wet" snow? What was the air temperature? Your description of 4 inches of slush over snow sounds like a nightmare. The underlying layer of snow usually compacts becoming very slick and the top layer of wet snow (slush) makes is slippery. Good to hear your reivew. No snow here in Chicago...yet... although forecasts call for lake efect snow Wednesday night into Thursday... .

 

BTW...love this: "Today's driving included about 150 miles of snow /slush. I didn't push them too hard as there were already enough folks filling the ditches with their cars & semi-trucks." = People going off road and you securely humming along. How fast were you driving?

[mbcracken]

Yup, stock size tires 215/45-17.

 

Was it "wet" snow? Yes, I encountered both wet and dry snow. The dry snow I drove on was off the freeway. There was fluffy stuff (scientific defintion!) and compacted snow. The wet stuff was from the freeway traffic due to pure volume of cars.

What was the air temperature? The temps varied from 34 degrees down to 27 degrees.

 

you securely humming along. I had my family in the car and would much rather make it home then have a spend any more time stuck in the middle of no where (Mid-Eastern Washington State!)

 

How fast were you driving? I kept the speeds to try to match those around me, so it varied. I would say though I was keeping it between 35-55 mph with the occasional venture up to 70 when the roads cleared out a bit. I also tried to position myself with the least amount of cars around me. Safety in fewer numbers!

 

I want to also remind folks that I did not (do not) drive these tires as winter tires. I drive them as all-seasons and am happy when they get me thru the white stuff by being cautious. These AS tires are filling my driving habits, but I am not expecting them to stop on snow like they stop on wet pavement. I just don't want my review to give someone an over zealous confidence that these tires the next best thing to sliced bread.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[outahere]

Did you drive on Interstate 90, through Lookout Pass?

[mbcracken]

Did you drive on Interstate 90, through Lookout Pass?

 

I drove Lookout on Wed, the 22nd, to Missoula and back to Spokane on Friday, the 24th. The roads were not too bad then. A little slick just at the very top on Friday. I then drove back to Fall City yesterday.

 

Why do you ask? Stalker?

 

Cheers,

Mike

[mcsquish]

Well, Saturday I drove to Independence (Cleveland area) Saturday and found some, what I would call, fairly rough interstate. I did hit a couple pot holes that made me pucker hard, but the tires took them with stride. At least they were a ton better than the RE?s. I haven?t had the chance to play with them in wet or snow yet, but I can?t wait for the first chance to play in the snow in an AWD! I am playing around with the pressures seeing what the reaction is, and I am running 225/45-17.

 

Update on dry traction, I now know I need to upgraed the breaks! I had fun driving into work this morning and lets just say I now know I need to upgrade them.........

________

BLOWJOB DOWNLOAD

[outahere]

I drove Lookout on Wed, the 22nd, to Missoula and back to Spokane on Friday, the 24th. The roads were not too bad then. A little slick just at the very top on Friday. I then drove back to Fall City yesterday.

 

Why do you ask? Stalker?

 

Cheers,

Mike

 

No stalking here. Was looking at the Lookout webcams over the weekend, and things looked pretty nasty.

 

When I first got my LGT I drove through there in February, on new RE92s. Only some very light snow and patches of ice at that time. I had no problems with the RE92s, but my ABP paint got pelted with stones. Seems that when they put sand down on the ice, they don't screen out the stones.

 

I bet the sides of your car were coated with muck at the end of your trip!

[mbcracken]

No stalking here.

Dang, stalkers are my best friends...

 

I bet the sides of your car were coated with muck at the end of your trip!

Yeah, the car waas pretty dirty. By the time we got home, there was a 1/2 inch thick layer of ice and mud covering the front bumper.

 

I tend to not be too bothered by "nasty" conditions. I grew up in Spokane and learned to drive on a yellow Volvo station wagon 4 speed manual with overdrive switch (cool, yeah?) in the snow and ice. We lived up north a ways out of town and were the last road to get plowed at the end of the day. This always left a nice ice rink to drive to school the next day. Mind you this was with a rear wheel drive wagon. Must be why I still love wagons.

 

As far as paint jobs lasting thru winters...I give up after the first scratch. I'm probably one of the few heritics here that doesn't give a rip about a cars paint job. I mean I drive my car thru car washes.

 

What does make me worry are others on the roads trying to do more then they are capable of driving. I also worry about avalanches, rocks & just regular mishaps like someone getting a flat tire while driving in "nasty" conditions.

 

I just read a sad stroy about a family that lost control of their car because of slick conditions near Wenatchee where the Mom & two son's were killed. The Father & daughter are still surviving. They were all in seat belts but may have rolled.

 

Please be careful out there folks.

 

Cheers,

Mike

[D0WNxSH1FT]

Hey any snow yet? I am looking to put these on my WRX after my RE92's die (though they have at least 50% tread if not more still. ugh DIE DIE DIE!)

[LawGT]

Hey any snow yet? I am looking to put these on my WRX after my RE92's die (though they have at least 50% tread if not more still. ugh DIE DIE DIE!)

 

Have you read this thread? Please do so and you will find your answer...