I'm sure this thread comes around every fall. I hope some of you can get past it, grin and bear it and maybe add your oppinions. Just a little info on my end. I picked up a 2005 LGT wagon 5 months ago. It had only 17k miles on it, it now has 20k. It was driven by an 80 year old lady and not often driven, especially not in rain or snow. So its still very new, but the tires need to go as they are the originals. I desire some good winter traction tires, looking for winter only tires. These will go on my stock alloys. I had some piralli 210 snowsports on my xB. I liked them for the most part, they definatly lasted me allot of years without wearing much. What can you all recommend for a good price and decent performance on snow and ice?
This is kind of what I'm leaning towards. But they are a bit spendy for $100 a piece. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...BZLM25XL&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
I like Blizzak ws60 or revo1 for ice and Bridgestone Winterforce for deep or hardpacked snow. My wife and I are going to run Revo1s for winter again this year.
My Nokian RSi's with extra cuts were phenomenal last winter, only went through ~1/3 if the tread with spirited driving.
^meh.....they're awesome for the money, but there are far better tires out there! I had a set of Cooper Weathermasters on my wagon before the 5-lug swap, they were pretty sweet, of course, it helped that they were only 155s :eek3: Then I had some GoodYear UltraGrip Ice tires, also great snow tires until they were about half worn......then.....pretty much just all-seasons. I got some Winterforces for the GFs Kia. Yea, pretty sweet for the $$ invested, and way better than all-seasons, but definitely my least-favorite just for traction. Currently have some Blizzak Revo1s that I got on clearance for like $55 a tire, and they're awesome. and still are because I only put like 2k miles on 'em last year!
Nokian RSI work great on my LGT. If I move back to snow country (which looks slighly likely), I'll buy them again.
I like my winterforces. There hook up great in the snow, and there cheap. They just aren't the best snow tire on dry surfaces.
Anyone locally work at a tire shop that can hook me up with any of the tires mentioned? I'd rather buy local, support local business and avaoid shipping costs. These will need to be mounted on my current wheels, so the old rubber will need tocome off. I'll be keeping those for the summer months. Until I can find some decent summer rubber and summer wheels.
I am currently working on a tire GB. The thread is in the general forum for now. As soon as I get some prices back I will be able to get some more info in there. Russ
Honestly, with an AWD car I don't think winter tires are needed in the metro area. Maybe I could see the benefit farther up north or if we lived in the mountains out west, but we don't. Bear with me, we get heavy snow like 4 or 5 days a winter, light snow of around an inch more often. But all those days where the roads are dry you just burn up those mooshy winter tires. Now I'm not saying run summer tires, thats just dumb. My vote goes to all seasons that lean more towards good traction in snow. I have an 05 LGT wagon, and I use continental extreme contacts in the fall/winter and summer tires the rest of the year. All those dry days I get decent performance and the tread isn't getting worn very fast. If it snows I just don't drive like an idiot and I can still get around and stop better than most of the AWD SUVs. To me, based on the last 5 years of winters in MN, many of the days are just too warm and we don't get enough snow to justify full winter tires.
I have had Hankook Ipikes and Dunlop Wintersport M3 tires for winter tires. The Ipikes, IMO are a much better tire for snow and ice. The M3 tires are pretty good and will have much longer tread life, especially when driving on dry pavement or in warm weather. When I got my 1st WRX I was planning on buying snow tires. But decided to see how the all-seasons do. Yes, you can get around just fine in most conditions with all-seasons. I have done it in FWD, 2wd, 4wd, AWD before. But, winter tires are a HUGE improvement in how the car reacts in the snow and ice in every way.
I should have noted that I have driven on winter tires back when I had FWD and RWD cars, and I do agree they feel great in the snow. My main point is look at how often we actually get a lot of snow in the metro area. And when we do traffic is so bad we crawl along anyway. I'm not saying just get any all season tire, there are some good ones for snow besides the conti extremes. I just think we have too many dry road days in the winter, in the metro, to justify dedicated winter tires. If I lived farther out of the cities, where traffic moved at higher speeds in the snow maybe I could see the benefit. But last year, I was impressed with the conti extremes the few days we had more than an inch of snow. And when it gets to 45 degrees in the winter I don't cry that my winter tires are melting driving 70mph down a dry road.
You're on the right track. not everyone can justify true snow tires. But I will always run them. You never know when something can happen and you'll need to make an emergency stop, and being able to stop a foot sooner is just enough. I'll sacrifice some tire wear, thanks! I have thought about having some decent all-seasons for the months in-between. Really no need to run Blizzaks through April, But pretty stupid to put my summer tires on in March.....
I see your point, but after haveing used them for the past 5 years, there is no going back for me. I dont put alot of miles on my car. This car is our traveling car when we go up north and its needed for that and my commute. I work strange hours and if it snows, tough, I cant leave work early. So like last year. On some of those dumping we had, I didnt have an awd car and spent the night periodically. Also, st. paul plowing is horrible. Getting out of my area until I hit maplewood can be a real PItA, as I'm sure some other people can relate.
What i did to battle the tire wear on dry pavement is having a set of snows and a set of all seasons. When its going to be warm for a while just switch to your all seasons. Also that way you will be pretty much guaranteed it will snow the next day when you don't have your snow tires on. I know not everyone has the resources to do this but well worth it if you do.
I am convinced that “all season” tires should really be renamed “no season” tires. I opted for a set of Blizzak WS-60 studless ice and snow tires. These tires, combined with Subaru AWD, make my car into a snow machine! They are incredible and I highly recommend them.
i loved my Hankook I pike w409 last year, i will be looking to get another set of those or something equivilent again this year for the other subaru
Well, you're partially right, except that you're completely wrong. Although everyone calls winter tires "snow tires" their primary purpose is stopping power in adverse conditions. I've had lots of "All-Season!" tires, and they're all crap in the winter. The best all-seasons I've had have been utter garbage in the winter compared to the cheapest winter compounds. In other words, what he said:
I was very happy with my LM-25 tires last year. They're just a wonderful well-rounded tire. They work great on asphalt, dirt, gravel, snow, and ice. They work consistently in all directions. They're really a jack of all trades kind of tire. If I were to pick a weak point, it'd be ice, but it's tough to really do well on ice for a performance oriented compound. I just bought some Continental ExtremeWinterContact tires. So far, I've gotten to use them with the light snow fall today. Dry road behavior is quite good for a single ply sidewall, very Michelin like in handling. Overall dry grip is lowish, a far cry from what the LM-25 can do. They seem pretty grabby in the tiny bit of snow we've gotten today. They don't seem to like lock-up though and seem to offer a bit more bite rolling. I'd have to see how it does with snow deeper then a fraction of an inch. Winter grip is definitely a sizeable margin above all-seasons. So far, they indicate more overall grip then the LM-25, no surprise, but I really have enjoyed the consistency of the LM-25 tire, very even, very predictable.
This is so very true. I had 3 or 4 very close calls last winter with my all seasons. Which led me to get some Blizzaks WS60's. $450 mounted with the bro-in-law discount. Can't wait for some moar snow. One thing I can say is that they're not stable above 100mphs.
stop wasting your time with all seasons, no matter what you seem to think awd will do for you, they still suck for our climate and conditions. time to anti up and get some real tires and save someone else the headaches of YOU crashing into them.
Fuggin Blizzaks or Hakkas, they just wear out real fast in the summer. There is no truly good all-season tire in winter. At that rate, it's a matter of which one sucks the least. What he said:
