Bridgestone 960 PP AS vs Dunlop winter sport m3

Trying to make a decision to go with either the Bridgestone 960 pole postions all season tires and keep them on year round or get a dedicated winter tire with the dunlop winter sport m3's.

This is on a 08 STi

Does anyone have any opinions on the bridestones? Are they good enough for summer and winter? In the past I have always gone with a winter/summer setup but for this car I was thinking of saving a bit of money and only having one set of tires for the car.

 

Rule of thumb:

If you want excellent performance in both seasons, have 2 different dedicated sets of tires.

If you want average performance in both seasons, just run all-seasons.

 

I ran the 960s for a full year and they were great tires IMO. That isn't to say that when I switched to 'extreme summer performance' tires this summer, I wasn't wowed. Nor is it to say that I didn't get stuck up north a couple times in 2ft deep snow last winter, with the 960's.

But all in all, they are a great A/S tire.

 

so so so true,but on the other hand ive ALWAYS wanted the pole positions!!!:yumyum:

 

STi + All-Seasons = Boring summer and frustrating winter

To be blunt: You don't buy a car like the STi and try to save money on tires.

The STi can utilize every advantage a top notch summer tire has. To run an AS tire in the summer will severely limit the fun to drive factor. I expect that they would be fine 90% of the time in the winter, but I would focus on what you are giving up in the summer. If you want to save a bit, buy a cheap AS for winter and run a good performance tire in the summer (like the tires that are already on the car!). What is wrong with the tires you already have for summer? Buying winter tires doesn't cost much more than AS.

 

You may be buying two sets of tires but you will wear them slower (two sets to spread wear over) so it's really not that much more money tire wise. The cost is in a second set of rims and in the storage. If neither of those are a big deal (second winter rims can be had for cheap), it's not really an added cost.

I reject the logic that says using summer and winter rubber is inherently more expensive per year. It's a one time cost for the second rims and well worth it.

 

Well i found a great deal on a set of stock rims for the 08. And I did a little shoping around and found a better price on the m3's then what i was ogrinal quoted.

So ill be going the same route i have in the past. summer/winter.

What the hell was i thinking with the a/s??? :-p

 

The M3 is a nice winter tire. It's getting somewhat outdated these days, but it functions well. The carcass is built like a performance tire with a firm ride. The only thing you really feel is the squirm of the tread, but that's unavoidable. Dry grip is quite good for a winter tire. They're very quiet and ride nice too. Snow grip is very good. Ice grip is ok. My bro ran these up at Rich's ice race get-together a couple years ago on his Protoge5.

Ditto on dedicated winter and dedicated summer. Once you do it, you'll never go back. Heck, now I've got a 3rd set of rims, so I'm getting a dedicated rally-x tire come next spring too.:laugh:

 

Good to hear!