First snow, VERY disappointed

[BAC5.2]

Neither the WR or WRG2 are in the same class as the RE92. You simply cannot compare two tires in different categories. A Corvette will run circles around a Civic, and you are going to tell me that the Civic isn't a good car?

 

Read the reviews you posted. Nearly every one of them recommends replacement with a UHPAS. Part of the reason it gets such poor marks, is because it's an OEM spec'd tire. The people who reviewed them, didn't have a choice in their equipment. That means that people are going to poo-poo them, because they don't perform to the levels THEY think they should. Expectations greatly exceed the purpose and intent of the tire.

 

The RE92 is completely undeserving of its traditional moniker. It is a great tire.

 

Every bad thing people say about them, is almost always due to a driver error and people want a scapegoat.

 

The worst you could say about them, is that they are expensive if you wanted to buy a set new. That's true. And there are better tires for that price point, especially because you can jump a category to the UHPAS class for the same price. But just because there are better tires, doesn't mean the RE92 sucks. It doesn't.

 

Stop trying to overemphasize what I'm saying. I'm not putting the RE92 on a pedestal, or trying to say that it's the best tire the world has ever seen. I'm saying it's a very good tire, and that it is undeserving of it's reputation.

[Max Capacity]

As much as I hate the RE92, I have to agree with BAC5.2, if they were that bad of a tire, Manufactures would not have used them on so many cars.

[Beanboy]

TIRE THREAD!!!

 

As much as I hate the RE92, I have to agree with BAC5.2, if they were that bad of a tire, Manufactures would not have used them on so many cars.

 

Err, factories put a lot of things on cars that are 'bad' from the consumer point of view for some. VF40 turbo, factory tune in certain year STIs and it appears RE92s for Subaru it seems. Oh, and oil sucks according to Rao.

 

My experience on the RE92s? Suck more in rain than they do in snow versus the summers, ultra high performance all seasons, and high performance all seasons that have been on the three Subarus I've had time driving in over the years.

 

And if the Corvette is cheaper than the Civic and still outperforms it in all conditions, then don't replace the Civic with another Civic.

 

Has the RE92 ever been updated? Tires seem to get new models and supposedly new technology every few years; didn't the RE92s make their firest appearance on the 2002 WRX? Could be a reason why they don't measure up to the competition.

[hmmrdwn]

My Nokian WR and WRG2's outperformed the RE92 in every condition.

 

They were both better in the wet for cornering and braking, both provided better feel when reaching their limits of grip and were both more controllable when they did start to slide. When the RE92 let go, that was it.

 

Their tread pattern makes for piss poor standing water and slush evacuation, their rounded shoulders make for crappy stability in snow and their stupid 3-season compound gets nice and hard in the winter.

 

So when the WR/WRG2 (which aren't true "snow" tires) ran circles around the RE92 in every condition, you can't possibly tell me that the RE92 is a good tire.

 

But by all means, keep putting the RE92s on a pedestal

 

You may be "fine" driving in a straight line with them thanks to the AWD, but you're driving significantly closer to their limits than you would be at the same speed on a proper set of tires.

 

I'm clearly not the only one who thinks the tires suck:

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE92&partnum=145ZR7RE92

 

I've had Continental, Pirelli's, Goodyear's and other OEMs that rated similar to the Potenzas, although the Potenzas have the honor of being the lowest rated by consumers. I think some of the others should have been lower rated.

 

Honda, Toyota, Infiniti, Acura and others all put re92's on their cars from the factory. The vast majority of those people drive until they have no more tread and then get new tires. Is it that hard to drive within the limits of the re92's?

[Max Capacity]

The RE92 came as the OEM tire on my 1992 Honda Civic Si. So I learned early on, what they were good for.

 

You have to think all those "engineers" at the factory, know what they're doing....

 

I was going to add to my earlier post, I would never buy the tire if it didn't come on the car.

 

Even now knowing what I know about them, if my next new came with them, I'd have them replaced before I picked the car up.

[rao]

From what I have read pretty much every part of a Legacy is a piece of crap, so why should the tires be any different?

 

The question is why do people buy such a POS car?

[Max Capacity]

From what I have read pretty much every part of a Legacy is a piece of crap, so why should the tires be any different?

 

The question is why do people buy such a POS car?

 

What about those of us that have two of these cars? Those people must be real crazy.

[BAC5.2]

At least you didn't get the slow one, B...

 

oh wait...

 

[Max Capacity]

At least you didn't get the slow one, B...

 

oh wait...

 

 

Yea, I'm not sure how much longer I can go with the Spec B at Stage 1. After driving the wagon so much, the Spec feels way under powered.

[BAC5.2]

Just head to the local body shop for a re-spray. That'll put some pep in it's step...

[Danoh]

Whats up everyone, I live in CT, and today we got our first snow, (still snowing outside, 2 inches already) Ive lived here all my life, so I am not new to driving in the snow. My mom has an 09 legacy, 4eat, non gt, it is a beast in the snow. So when I took my 09 LGT 5speed out, I assumed generally the same performance. Boy was I wrong. My LGT SUCKED.

 

Neither one of the legacys have snow tires, both have all seasons, and No, I was not driving like an idiot all over the place, I was driving very slow since everyone else on the road freaks out when it snows and goes 5 mph.

 

Now I know us LGT drivers dont have Traction control like the non lgt,but what gives? I am on the stock bridgestone re92's, (good tread left) which I looked up and thought they were summer tires after seeing how poorly they performed, but apparently they are all seasons.

 

So whats the deal? Does everyone have to put snow tires on their LGT's? My accord was literally better in the snow than my LGT as of right now. I really hope im missing something, i didnt think you could slide around as much as I was. Thanks in advance.

 

ps: my legacy is completely stock

my 2008 lgt has traction control. and it drives fine in snow

[BigTDogg MA]

54 million miles and the RE92 ranks second to last place. LOL @ it being a good tire.

[BAC5.2]

[lgt_nube]

Did you mean 960AS? I switched to them and have had no problems at all in rain or any other condition (no snow yet). I think my gas mileage droped a bit after I switched, though.

 

Now I am with potenza 960RS, they are awesome tires and I feel so much safer now.

[BAC5.2]

Fuel economy decrease is normal. The RE92 is a LRR HPAS tire, while most UHPAS tires are purposefully not so.

[Riptide]

Typically we don't get more than about 6-8" of accumulation at any given time on the roads where I live. Right now I have an automatic 05lgt and falken ziex on there. Never had this car in the snow before.

 

Am I seriously going to want snow tires on this car? I bought it with the idea in mind that AWD was going to cut it no matter what all season I have on there. Because my subaru buds have talked that system up so highly to make me believe that was the case.

[ShadowImg]

That's a silly way to think about it. AWD does nothing by itself, tires are the ultimate limiting factor of just about everything. Subaru AWD will not make tires magically have grip when there is no grip. It's all about getting the maximum amount of available grip used. 100% of 0 is still always 0.

[BAC5.2]

Snow tires will always outperform an all-season when it comes to snow. A dedicated set of winter tires (even if they are just winter oriented M&S All Seasons like the Nokian WR/WGR2) means you can have a more performance oriented 3-season tire for the rest of the year.

[BigTDogg MA]

 

Also LOL @ you being banned

 

Dude, seriously. Many of the reviews on there do compare it to UHPAS tires, but some compare it to other HPAS tires, which the RE92 is. Most of the positive reviews come from the "easy going" driving style. I would think the "Average" driving style would like it a bit more if it were a good HPAS. "Spirited" I fully expect to hate it.

 

You have had good experiences with the tires, many others have had crappy experiences with the same tires. I never had them on my LGT since I bought it with close to 100K miles on it, so I have no direct experience with them.

 

I can say I wouldn't even consider them if I were looking for a HPAS though, given the cost, rating and age of the tire.

[Riptide]

It's all about getting the maximum amount of available grip used. 100% of 0 is still always 0.

I understand the reasoning you are using however I'm not sure it's accurate.

 

Say all 4 tires offer "20% grip". If you have 4 drive wheels you are getting more grip out of that 20% than you are with a FWD or RWD car. So yes, AWD alone all else being equal should in theory help. Of course 0% on all 4 is a different story.

 

I bought the car with the intention of avoiding having different sets of wheels/tires. I was told AWD with a good set of all seasons should outperform the same tire on a FWD/RWD setup. Some of the posts in this thread make me wonder about that.

[ShadowImg]

You are correct, but you're never going to get more grip than the tires provide. Remember, all cars only steer with 2 wheels (**** anyone who brings 4 wheel steering into this, seriously).

 

Also, all cars already brake with all 4.

[Riptide]

The car has 4 falken ziex ZE912 225/45/R17 right now with a lot of tread left. This is an "all season" tire however the lack of sipes makes me question whether it's any good or not. The continental DWS looks so much better to the eye for snow use.

 

Guess I'm just a bit disappointed I may be in it for a set of tires on a car I just bought. Perhaps I misunderstood or was unintentionally misled by some of the people I spoke with. Regardless, I would probably try a better set of all seasons on the car before I give up and buy a dedicated snow setup.

[BAC5.2]

Also LOL @ you being banned

 

Dude, seriously. Many of the reviews on there do compare it to UHPAS tires, but some compare it to other HPAS tires, which the RE92 is. Most of the positive reviews come from the "easy going" driving style. I would think the "Average" driving style would like it a bit more if it were a good HPAS. "Spirited" I fully expect to hate it.

 

You have had good experiences with the tires, many others have had crappy experiences with the same tires. I never had them on my LGT since I bought it with close to 100K miles on it, so I have no direct experience with them.

 

I can say I wouldn't even consider them if I were looking for a HPAS though, given the cost, rating and age of the tire.

 

That's exactly right. They aren't an "enthusiast" tire. But they are perfectly serviceable. The haters, expect UHPAS performance. It'll never hold up to unrealistic expectations.

 

If "spirited" is how you expect to drive, then it's clearly not the right tire category. That doesn't make it a "sucks" tire, it just makes it the wrong tire for you.

 

An RA1 is going to suck to someone in a Honda Insight.

 

Personally, I'd never buy the RE92 either. It's awfully expensive, and I'm willing to give up a little fuel economy and little bit of tread life, and a little bit of NVH for a slight performance edge.

[BAC5.2]

The car has 4 falken ziex ZE912 225/45/R17 right now with a lot of tread left. This is an "all season" tire however the lack of sipes makes me question whether it's any good or not. The continental DWS looks so much better to the eye for snow use.

 

Guess I'm just a bit disappointed I may be in it for a set of tires on a car I just bought. Perhaps I misunderstood or was unintentionally misled by some of the people I spoke with. Regardless, I would probably try a better set of all seasons on the car before I give up and buy a dedicated snow setup.

 

Leave them on, and drive the car appropriately. Take the car to a snowy parking lot to find the limits of the tire.

[ssbtech]

Snow tires will always outperform an all-season when it comes to snow. A dedicated set of winter tires (even if they are just winter oriented M&S All Seasons like the Nokian WR/WGR2) means you can have a more performance oriented 3-season tire for the rest of the year.

 

I drive the crap out of the G2s year-round, they run circles around the RE92. Will the G2 perform the same as a UHPAS during clear conditions for spirited driving? No, but they're a damn good bit better than the RE92.

 

The RE92 does not deserve the "High performance" title.