0Tyrael0 Posted November 4, 2010 Author Share Posted November 4, 2010 O I should have thought of this before. Here is a great resource on tires and other car facts. http://www.carbibles.com/tyre_bible_pg3.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subikid90 Posted November 4, 2010 Share Posted November 4, 2010 Thats a good source of info! -Subikid90 1997 Legacy GT 5spd & EJ251 w/EJ25D heads ~10.5CR 1998 Legacy GT Limited waiting for EJ22T hybrid swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted November 8, 2010 Share Posted November 8, 2010 nice link.. oh man on my 95 impreza my old tires I went by what the door said for the air presser for the front.. that was a mistake... I think the 95 FWD was like 40 psi or something like that.. little did I know that was the max for that tire... long story short got on the highway and just got in the 3rd lane and the tire blew out.. or more so deflated really quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelawareBlueHen724 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Are snow tires really that necessary? I'm not sure right now the tire I have on my 98 LGT but im pretty sure they are just your run of the mill street tire. And I live in Delaware where last year we got almost 30 inches of snow twice almost 3 times in the winter. I just want to know if my normal tire and AWD can make it through 3-5 inches of snow. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subikid90 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 I ran all season last year through a wisconsin winter with not many problems. Summer tires are made of a harder compound, and in the winter tire it becomes rock hard and ruins the tire. I am trying snows this year to see how much the difference is. Summers are a bad idea, all season work, snows are ideal the way I see it. -Subikid90 1997 Legacy GT 5spd & EJ251 w/EJ25D heads ~10.5CR 1998 Legacy GT Limited waiting for EJ22T hybrid swap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DelawareBlueHen724 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 I believe my tire may be all season... I'll look into it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Check the make and model of the tire. Also, you should be running 205/55/16 with something like a 91H for load and speed rating, respectively. The load rating is how much weight a tire can take per corner, so that changes the tire stiffness (sidewall and compound), and the speed rating is how fast the tire can go before tearing itself apart. Literally. H I think is good up to 130, V is good to 155...for a winter tire an H is a good rating, or S (max speed=130 and 112 mph respectively) because the compound will be softer and not stiffen up in the cold conditions. Keep the number for the load rating down, and stick with the H or S speed rating, and that all season will work great in the snow. I'm running cooper cs4s at all corners with a 91H rating and cooked through the snow last season, and it's a low wear tire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 I'm buying winter tires this year for one thing I like to go in the deep stuff plus last year the tires were shit in the snow.. they were toyo A/S tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Tyrael0 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 I ran all season last year through a wisconsin winter with not many problems. Summer tires are made of a harder compound, and in the winter tire it becomes rock hard and ruins the tire. I am trying snows this year to see how much the difference is. Summers are a bad idea, all season work, snows are ideal the way I see it. I agree. Just got my Legacy back last night from getting all fixed up before I start driving it. On to the tire shop this afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98LGTLover Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Yeah I have had toyo a/s tires and they were great for the first 3 winters but last year they were horrible but I was also pretty close to the wear bars and was trying to squeeze the last bit of life out of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98quiksilvergt Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Last year I drove on Falken zeix z rated tires!! Haha! In upstate NY! I did pretty good. Except the night we got 18 inches of snow over night! Got stuck in my driveway. My plow guy had to pull me out. Hahaha!! Other than that, never got stuck. http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd104/thrty5thsc/photo-26.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kujito Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 For all seasons, Ive found that BFGs are pretty damn nice. Not sure which ones at the moment, but there's a set on the wife's 98 Forester, and that thing is nearly as good in winter conditions (Colorado) as my Jeep Cherokee was (on BFG A/Ts)! Drove 9 CO winters on a variety of tires in a 2wd Dodge Dakota, but the BFGs (Traction T/A) performed best on snow; only stayed home for the blizzards. Just picked up a set of their Premiere Touring tires for my 99 Legacy. Haven't had much foul weather yet, but I'm not worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Tyrael0 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Alright so I now have these tires along with new lugs installed. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeWinterContact&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=06TR6EWCXL&tab=Sizes Not to ignore all the excellent responses I got on this thread but I went ahead and gave my idea a try with the 205/60/16 tires. As many of you know this tire is taller and I explained my reasoning for this earlier in the thread. I can confirm that this size fits perfectly as far as clearance on the car goes. Please note other than the tire sizes my car is completely stock. My thoughts on the tires where excellent right away. The tires are much more comfortable than my previous one. I believe this is owed partially to the size. Snow/Ice braking, turning, and acceleration traction has been greatly improved. I tested both the traction and the clearance of the tires in a large empty parking lot with large sections of both ice, snow, and dry. I found no rubbing under heavy braking or turning. I will be posting some photos soon enough on a different thread. Let me know your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98quiksilvergt Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Kick ass tire bro! You are going to be unstoppable!!! Great choice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Any differences in the speedo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Tyrael0 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Well by the math it will be 3%. Not noticeable around town at all. I have yet to try the tires on the highway though so ill update on highway noise and speedo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Ok that's a live-able difference...but I still don't understand the reasoning behind getting a taller tire for the "increase in contact patch". I'm trying to think of it on a large vs. small scale, and it still doesn't add up to me. IMO, I would've just stuck with the 55 profile to keep everything stock and to not have to worry about cleareances (although you said they were all fine, and I'm glad they are haha). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Tyrael0 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Yeah to be honest im dumb like that sometimes and my curiosity to try something new I have been thinking about is overwhelming and I do it despite the risks... Your way is smarter and safer. As far as the contact patch goes it is hard to grasp and when an expert first explained it to me I actually tested his theory on another car of mine. Once you see the results first hand and drive the car you get it. Perhaps when I post a pic and you compare it to stock you will see the difference. The contact patch is a different shape. Its longer rather than wider... I borrowed this picture from carbible. The first picture is the contact patch you want for snow. Tall tires will give you that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Hmm...the more I'm thinking it over, the more it makes sense. I'll sleep on it...interesting reasoning though. Maybe you should've picked up a set of 14" steelies and have 65 or 70 profile tires Interesting concept...I never thought of it that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98quiksilvergt Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 More tire on the snow length wise rather than width wise. I never thought of it like that either. Makes perfect sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Tyrael0 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 Yeah I considered that as well but I like the snowflake wheels on my car. I will probably get them coated. The 14 would be a better choice for snow alone. I just didn't want to lose too much dry handling. Not to mention style lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz98gt Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Good choice haha, style is definitely key let us know how the extremecontacts work out on the highway, I'd be interested to figure out a snow tire set up for mine, especially if my sister will be driving my legacy this winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Tyrael0 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 I will do that. My parents live about 20 miles away and its all highway so it will be easy to do that test. I will be doing a short highway trip in the morning as a quick test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheWeatherWarrior Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 OK...I see this tire debate all the time. Just get what fits right. Stick with stock, and what fits on the rim. The tire size difference is worthless in 99.9% of the situations encountered. You want to improve your winter weather driving experience.....learn how to drive the right way in snow. As much as I bitched and complained about my car...I did drive in DC's 2009/2010 Three major storms and most of the minor ones too. I was out when NO ONE else was...except the plows. I drove on Kumho Ectasy AST(or whatever they are) and they had maybe 30 percent tread life left. I did just fine. Of course I am use to the conditions having been in these conditions a ton, and having taken advanced driving courses (although none winter specific....just rain training). K.I.S.S. -buy a set of rims -buy the stock size tire -install -don't go out if you don't have too, or you are well prepared and understand the risks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0Tyrael0 Posted November 12, 2010 Author Share Posted November 12, 2010 You can get anything stuck with anyone you want at the wheel without the right tires. I grew up and learned to drive in burns Wyoming (If you want to know where that is look below) so I have seen my fare share of bad weather. I agree you should learn how to drive in certain kinds of weather but Tires are going to be a big factor. Its no different than saying Michael Jordan could be just as good in a pair of sandals instead of his nikes. Buy good tires. [ame=http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=burns,+wyoming&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=Burns,+WY&gl=us&ei=5QjdTP_fI8n2nAfN0o2jDw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBgQ8gEwAA]burns, wyoming - Google Maps[/ame] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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