Hey After a 3 year Subaru Hiatus (3 long sad years) I am back with a Special Edition STi. I live in eagan and do not expect these Dunlop tires to be managable in the snow. Whats a good 245 40 18 tire for the Minnesota winter?
There is a ton of info if you search.... Some good info about last winter's tires http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php/36256-I-need-your-Winter-Tire-Opinion?highlight=winter+tires Another good one http://mnsubaru.com/forums/showthread.php/33258-Winter-wheels-and-tires?highlight=winter+tires I am sure this is a good start, I really liked my generals i had last year. Super cheap and pretty well rated. My wife had Ice Pikes and they were the best winter wheels we have ever had on her car. A bit more than generals but also a good... cheaper winter tire.
Unless your wheels are incredibly wide I would recommend going narrower and taller. Wide tires plow. Narrow tires cut. Cutting is good.
Also recommend getting a second set of wheels for winter, probably 17". Takeoff BBS's from 05-07 can be had cheap, and 17" tires cost less than 18's so that offsets part of the cost of the wheels. I'm running 225/50/17s Dunlop WinterSport 3D on my 08 STi. They aren't as "hardcore" as a lot of guys on here like, more of a performance winter tire.
After owning those, RSi's, WS60's and now X-Ice Xi2s I'll say while the 3D's aren't nearly as good as the others in deep snow and glare ice they were by far my favorite tire for daily driving. If you live in an area that gets plowed regularly and you want a snow tire that still performs they are the ticket.
I really liked the Hankook iPike W409's and there pretty inexpensive compared to other winter tires. I got them at Discount.
Continental ContiExtremeWinter Contact is basically the king right now. The WS60 is better on smooth ice, but the Continental is better on everything else.
This, along with available sizes are the keys imho. Consider your area and the kind of driving you do. I live in an area where they salt or plow within half an hour of any decent snowfall. I also drive on city streets 90% of the time and we never go on road trips over the winter. So I look for winter tires geared more towards glare ice. Size availability might be an issue as well. I second the recommendation to buy a separate set of 17's for the extra 1"+ sidewall.
Thanks for all the responses. Great data. I too live in an area when the roads are plowed pretty quick (Eagan). I may end up leaving for work early just to enjoy the snow Anyone else use Nokian tyres? I used them when I lived in StL and really enjoyed them. They are hard to find, but very responsive. the Special Edition has, apparently, an odd tire size and I have been advised to make sure I get a set up that leaves enough room for the brakes.
Yeah, a lot of the rally-oriented guys run them. There's a distributer in WI that will ship them via Spee-Dee for cheap and at prices that will beat pretty much any reseller. I can get you the info if you want. I've been a fan of the Nokians for years, although I'm quite disappointed in the Hakka R tires I ran on my Versa last winter. Quite a step down from their predecessor, the Rsi, in my opinion. Plus, a lot of the other tire manufacturers are catching up. I don't know that my next set of winters will be Nokians.
??? SE has the same tires as the regular STI. Tirerack shows 10 options for winter tires in 245/40/18. Brake clearance is dependent on the wheel, not the tire. The somewhat odd thing about Subarus is the wheel offset is fairly high; between that and the Brembos you can't just throw any old wheels on there.
Indeed and that was my intented comment. I am leaning toward an all weather like the Nokian WR series. they served me well on my 02 WRX. I'd keep the Dunlop and SE rims for for summer/track (unless I can find a reasonably priced set of used SE rims (ebay.jp?)
Is there an all season tire thats good at any season? I ran Blizzak WS60 tires this last winter. They worked great on ice but the tread wear was a bit ridiculous. Not a good tire for winter shenanigans thats for sure. Also two sets of wheels and tires is the minimum for a subi enthusiast in MN. You don't want to scuff up your nice limited wheels if the curb comes out of no where and hits you .
They were great! I mean $70 per tire and they are rated pretty high. Higher than a lot of the more expensive tires. I liked these and the ipikes I got for my wife's car. I would and will buy them again.
I also ran General Altimax Arctic in 205/50/17 sizing and have zero complaints. $ for $ one of the best snow tires available.
the nokian WR is the only (at least it was a couple years ago) all season tire to recieve a severe duty snow rating. they are an amazing winter tire. noisy as all get out in the dry summer. they gripped so well it was tough to do any sort of shenanigans in the old legacy.
Indeed. Maybe high performance summer and high performance winter is the way to go. Ive been considering taking those wheels off all together. they look almost too good to drive on!
WS60 is king of slick ice. The ContiExtremeWinter Contact king in snow and rough ice. When you step to something that also needs to do great on asphalt when the roads are nice, then I will point you to the LM25. However, a jack of all trades is a master of none. I had hopes for the Hakapellitti R, but reviews were mixed. I've been behind a STI on RSis on a mixed snow/ice lake course, and I could outpace it on ContiExtremeContact Winter tires. I've also owned the Nokian WR tires, and the LM25 is a significant step up in basically every way. The LM25 is just a better tire, better snow, better ice, better dry, better turn in, better comfort, better wear. There isn't anything the WR really offers over what the LM25 offers on any surface.
From personal experience the RSi was a great tire but was for sure out classed by the WS60 and X-Ice Xi2. I have no experience with the Conti tire but the reviews are really good. I went with my latest set of winters (Xi2) over the Conti's do to a very large price difference otherwise those would have been my tire of choice. My SO is running my old set of WS60s and loves them but they are wearing pretty fast. That coupled with the siping ending at 50% makes the likelihood of us getting those again about nil unless we caught a good deal.
And just like that, the WS60 is old and busted. Enter the WS70. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+WS70&
Good news! This means I can get ws60s for crazy cheap. We got 2 sets of revo-1s (16 and 17") for around $600 total when those were discontinued.
Yeah, as far as I'm aware. It's more of an all-season type of compound, not sensitive to warm weather and wears really well. I don't think any of their performance line of winter tires runs a dual compound setup. It simply isn't needed for the goals that the dual compound is used for.
More then likely. The Xi2's were close to 1/2 off around April of this year after rebate depending on the size of the tire. I was thinking the replacement for that was around the corner.
