Vsick Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Well I got into an accident my last trip up to tahoe last month (I blame the tires). I am picking my car up at the end of the week and I am looking for a new set of tires. I am wondering what folks who make occasional trip up to tahoe are running. By occasional I mean 5-10 times a season. I was thinking about getting some Blizzak’s Ws-60’s (some guy selling a practically new set of these on CL for $200), but realized I don’t want to swap them in and out only for the occasional day trips. So I am looking for a good all season that performs well in the snow which won’t break the bank and also allows me to drive it in the summer. So far it seems like the: ContiExtremeContact is a popular tire. Any other recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dong Homez Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 I picked up a set of Bridgestone RE960AS a couple of weeks ago. I haven't used them in real snow yet, but so far so good in the dry and wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 If you want year-round tire you want Nokian WRG2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsick Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 thanks unclemat...nice to see you lurking around on the west coast as well. Might need to give in and buy some shoes from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelvrick Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 If you want year-round tire you want Nokian WRG2. I hear the RE960as's are really good all arounds. Conticontact extremes have better winter performance at a cheaper price but lose out in summer performance. So the Nokians have better winter performance in your opinion than the contis? My Outback Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSix Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 IMHO, if you want tires that perform well in the snow, get real snow tires and swap them with street tires when you don't need them. Otherwise get cables and call it good. Give a man a beer, and he'll waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he'll waste a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmie415 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I made the mistake of going up to Seattle over Christmas vacation on summer tires. Damn slippery on the snow Had some nice drifting on I-5. Needless to say I picked up some of these while up there: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+F1+All+Season Was real happy in the snow with them. Not sure about dry conditions or longevity of the tire. As far as a tire for Tahoe, I am feeling confident about them. Of course with the recent weather swing up there (+45F this week) you might not need to worry about the snow for too much longer. Fooking shame... -tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthworm Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I was up in SLT during the holidays after putting on Dunlop Graspics snow tires. Even after we got pummeled with snow on Christmas day, I had no problem driving around town and in the mountains. Now, getting out of the driveway was a different problem! (damn tein h-techs...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holyjoetart Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I drove through Nevada right before Christmas. Got hit by a blizzard and had to drive through slushy crap going to Grass Valley. I run LM-25's and they handled awesome. Those might be a little soft for the warm weather down in the Bay Area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotty Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 I HAD a set of the F1 All Season. Didn't like them at all. Very noisy tires after about 20,000 miles. I'm currently running RE960. They feel much better but that could also be due to running 225 instead of 215's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aldouse Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 i am currently running kumho ecsta asx's. done 2 trips to tahoe on them so far. no severe snow storms tackled during my drive, so i can't say how they'll fare up during those conditions, but they're running great rite now during the warmer weathers, and the colder snowy climates of tahoe. great bang for the buck. i wouldn't mash on them on the snow like i do on the pavement... but i feel safe and secure w/ them right now. last year i ran falken 425 summer tires. did 3 trips on them. not bad for summer rated tires.. but during the snowstorm, i didnt feel too confident in them. 2 years ago were the conti-extreme's... very nice for the winter, but very soft sidewalls.... sucked like crap during the warmer weather driving conditions in my opinion. 3 years ago were the pirelli pzero nero m+s.... decent on the snow, decent on the dry.... despite the higher treadwear rating on them, i killed them in 20k miles... sux. -- yay for the sig! -- my garage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irrational Exuberance Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 i rocked my toyo proxes 4 in 6+ inches of snow and they were fine. snow tires dont necessarily mean better response in the snow, they just mean you can go off the road at a higher speed. "i like my women the way i like terrorists... ...screaming gods name and ready to explode." http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5479/troy3nu5.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
420 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 you can have the best of both worlds by getting a second set of rims that will be dedicated to your snow or all season tire. Search 5x100 (lug pattern) on craigslist...some good deals out there. I have GY F1's on after market rims for the bay area and contiextremes on the stock rims for snow. after a 15 min pit stop my ride is ready for the snow. If you have the space this is the only way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sactojesse Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I'm running Cooper Zeon Sport A/S with good results so far. I previously ran Continental ExtremeContacts with good luck too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vsick Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 seems like snow won't be a problem this season considering it feels like summer already. Looks like i'll have the summer to thinking about it...probably will get a set of conti's before next winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmie415 Posted January 15, 2009 Share Posted January 15, 2009 seems like snow won't be a problem this season considering it feels like summer already. Looks like i'll have the summer to thinking about it...probably will get a set of conti's before next winter. True that. This sucks the big one. Long term predictions have us getting some more snow towards the end of the month but i am not one to hold my breathe on that... LAME -tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobG Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 I drive over the hill from San Jose to Reno and back every other weekend (wife/daughter live there; I live in SJ because it's where the work is). After experiencing how bad the OEM Bridgestone RE92A's are in the snow (I got stuck in 6" of fresh snow -- WTF??), I got rid of them. I put a set of Dunlop Winter Sport 3D's on my stock wheels, and Kumho ASX's on my new wheels. The Dunlops are AMAZING in the snow. While not an ice-and-snow tire, the grip is pretty amazing. I can drive at 7/10ths in the snow on these tires. The reviews at Tire Rack say you chould run these tires year-round and still expect to get 30k miles out of them. BUT, their one fault is their on-center feel isn't as good as a regular tire, so I picked up anjother set of wheels and tires too. The ASX's are really nice. Grip is WAY better than the Bridgestones, and wet traction is quite good too. I drove back from San Francisco late last night in the pouring rain and was doing 75-80 the whole way with no hydroplaning. Sure hope it snows more soon. My snowmobile is down here in the back of my truck asking me why the heck it's here. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpmarky Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 so I started another thread with this question, but do you guys think these Kumho's would last me through 1-2 runs up to tahoe? I just bought them the other night, not sure if they'll be ok in the new snow, or if it's too dangerous to try, and I should just buy new Dunlop M3's sooner. I didn't measure tread depth yet, I don't have a ruler or the tool, I was gonna drop by wheelworks later and ask them to check while I get some tire quotes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSix Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 A buddy of mine at work frequents Tahoe in his Outback. He just bought steel wheels and some good snow tires. I'd say that's the best bet if you are planning to go very often. Otherwise, if the snow is bad, just cary cables. They take 5 min to install and you're done. Give a man a beer, and he'll waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he'll waste a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpmarky Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 i thought when I bought my car I signed a release that said I won't use chains cuz it causes damage to the car some how.. which didn't make sense because they wouldn't give me winter tires to go up to the snow either I do plan on going up often next year, but maybe only once or twice this year. I have a set of cables anyways from my last car, I'll just toss those in the trunk just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoSix Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 i thought when I bought my car I signed a release that said I won't use chains cuz it causes damage to the car some how... That is correct...The profile is too low for chains.. They will tear sh*t up. You need cables. Give a man a beer, and he'll waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and he'll waste a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobG Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 Are those ASX's new or fairly new? I haven't run my ASX's in the snow yet, but I heard from somebody over on 3gwrx that they have and said they're pretty good. Just take it easy and you should be fine... be slow, be smooth. But when you have the $$, get those Dunlops. I just drove back to SJ last Sunday through the last storm, and I can't stress just how fantastic the 3D's are. People were sliding all over the place at 15 mph, and I was running 35-45 with no traction issues whatsoever. Not stopping, not accelerating, not steering. And I had to veer around a couple of idiots too. One guy in an older Honda Accord somehow, at 25 mph, managed to slide off the left side of the road almost into the guardrail. Not sure how he managed that. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmie415 Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 People were sliding all over the place at 15 mph, and I was running 35-45 with no traction issues whatsoever. Not stopping, not accelerating, not steering. And I had to veer around a couple of idiots too. One guy in an older Honda Accord somehow, at 25 mph, managed to slide off the left side of the road almost into the guardrail. Not sure how he managed that. Rob People just do not know how to adjust speed accordingly. That is some craziness with that accord. I rolled up to Kirkwood last friday and this MDX passed a long line of cars (I tucked in behind him, letting him find the ice). Sure enough the turn into the entrance of Kirkwood he locked up (abs FAIL) the brakes and went off the road. I thought for sure he was going to flip. Moral of the story, get used to what your car and what you the driver can handle and NEVER get over confident! Learn to control the Drift and have fun. Whatever tires you run, find an open snow covered area and have fun. It will go a long way in learning how to control your car in adverse conditions. If that MDX would have hit the gas there is a possibility that he could have powered out of the slide before the ditch. -tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobG Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 People are even bigger morons in the snow than in regular driving. Heck, to add to the story... there was a minivan (Toyota) that seemed content running 55-60. I let him get way far ahead and just kept an eye on him. Then a guy in a silver Dodge pickup decided he couldn't stand some little car getting past him and made a point of going by me. I let him. I actually love driving in the snow. Been driving in it for years. I drove a 1986 Corvette in the snow in Nebraska for a year (on Blizzaks), had a bast. Had an '88 XT6 4WD before that. The Vette was actually more fun. Plus I've been autocrossing since 1996. I'm still waiting for an event where I can run in the pouring rain, as I've been unable to actually drift the car yet on a dry course, it sticks so well, even on stock tires (last season). This year I'm on Kumho V710's so they stick even more. Next event is Feb 22nd in Marina... maybe it'll pour rain so I can really experiment! Still waiting for enough snow while I'm in Reno to go experiment and really see what the car will do. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wpmarky Posted February 12, 2009 Share Posted February 12, 2009 what event are you going to on the 22nd? I'm thinking about trying some autocross before i go to the bigger tracks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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