Topic: Feature: Winter Tires vs. All-Season Tires

[Rupert]

   Well...don't take my word for it; read post #81 by Black Hatch refering to another such...both users. I would'nt know if it is true or not. Take it up with them.
   

[blur911]

So did he actually buy another set of all-season tires to put on in the winter?   Does he not know the difference?

yes, he bought a brand new set of Premium All Season tires (performance ones, he said)...i don't recall the make of them, but i can find out...he was supposed to pick up his car on Friday (if it came in on time, otherwise, it will be any day now)...i did read they put "Prius" tires on it (i have no idea why), but i don't understand his decision to skip winter tires, especially on that car.

Interesting, so he's changing the mediocre-performance all-seasons out to put on mediocre-performance all-seasons.  He just doesn't like traction in any condition.

[Ice]

It sounds like winter tires are good for one season and then are as slippery as hell. From a user post on this thread. How can that ever be a viable option? 4 months and dump.

You swap em... so from late November to mid to late March you have the winter tires on some nice ugly looking steel rims (but they do the job!) and then you swap back to your all seasons the rest of the time. I get it done while I have other service being done usually and for a few bucks to swap the tires it's great. I saves my aluminum rims from exposure to all of the salt, sand and snow keeping them looking good and it saves me from sliding through intersections.

[Black Hatch]

It sounds like winter tires are good for one season and then are as slippery as hell. From a user post on this thread. How can that ever be a viable option? 4 months and dump.

You should easily get 4 winters out of a set.....what are you doing that they only last a season?!?!?!?!?

You know how Rupert is, he's always doing burnouts and drifting.  Wears tires out fast. 
I think this is our 4th season with the Dunlop DS-3

The Blizzaks ws-60 that I have on the RX-8 were grippy during the first winter.
On the 2nd or 3rd season, the stickiness was gone.

Don't get me wrong the Blizzaks are still usuable as a winter tire.
They are good SNOW tires; just not really ICE tires.

[dirtyjeffer]

get WS70 if you are buying them now...they are an improved tire...we had a good dumping of snow and there was plenty of snow, slush and ice in the last 24 hours here...very good tire.

[nlm]

I've got my eye on the Michelin Xi3's right now.

Who knows, being a Feb 2012 article it still might make it on the rerun rotation in the next couple of days...it would be timely if it did!

[dirtyjeffer]

yes, XI3s are also good...that is what i was going to buy originally, but they had a great deal on the WS70s so i bought them instead.

[dirtyjeffer]

Interesting, so he's changing the mediocre-performance all-seasons out to put on mediocre-performance all-seasons.  He just doesn't like traction in any condition.

he did get his new car (looks really nice)...the tires he bought were Continental Premium all seasons...first snow fall of the year yesterday, and he got stuck in the parking lot.

he is now contemplating selling the factory rubber and getting some winter tires to put on the OEM rims (as he has new rims for his premium Continentals).

[dkaz]

lol. Well I guess he had to learn the hard way.

My Toyo Observe G-02 Plus is on its fourth year with 7/32 left. We'll be getting new winter tires next winter.

[Fobroader]

Interesting, so he's changing the mediocre-performance all-seasons out to put on mediocre-performance all-seasons.  He just doesn't like traction in any condition.

he did get his new car (looks really nice)...the tires he bought were Continental Premium all seasons...first snow fall of the year yesterday, and he got stuck in the parking lot.

he is now contemplating selling the factory rubber and getting some winter tires to put on the OEM rims (as he has new rims for his premium Continentals).

Ahh "all seasons", when will people learn not to buy into marketing hype. I think they should ban the term "all season" in Canada, its just as idiotic as "light" ciggarettes.

Sent from my Galaxy S3

[Rupert]

   The FR-S is a rear wheel drive light car, is it not; with a lower proportion of weight over the driving wheels. Nice car and I like it but not the best configuration for winter traction. The all season tires would have pulled it out probably, if it were FWD.
I don't know how much of an improvement...say ice tires...would be in a similar situation of deep snow. Maybe a couple of sacks of cement over the rear axle and keep the gas tank full.
   All Season is not marketing hype. Before the soft rubber siped ice tires were developed, the 'All Season' became an option to having summer tires and switching to winter 'nobblies'. When radial tires became the norm they were found to be quite acceptable with FWD cars; knobblies not offering much inprovement. This in a time when getting going was the important winter aspect; not driving at higher speed in icy conditions. From reading this thread one wonders how much better, if any, a set of winter tires with a few years of use on them...would be than a new set of good all season with a good (for the class) snow rating.
   

[huota]

   All Season is not marketing hype. Before the soft rubber siped ice tires were developed, the 'All Season' became an option to having summer tires and switching to winter 'nobblies'. When radial tires became the norm they were found to be quite acceptable with FWD cars; knobblies not offering much inprovement. This in a time when getting going was the important winter aspect; not driving at higher speed in icy conditions. From reading this thread one wonders how much better, if any, a set of winter tires with a few years of use on them...would be than a new set of good all season with a good (for the class) snow rating.

Trust me, they'd still be much better than all seasons.

[Fobroader]

   All Season is not marketing hype. Before the soft rubber siped ice tires were developed, the 'All Season' became an option to having summer tires and switching to winter 'nobblies'. When radial tires became the norm they were found to be quite acceptable with FWD cars; knobblies not offering much inprovement. This in a time when getting going was the important winter aspect; not driving at higher speed in icy conditions. From reading this thread one wonders how much better, if any, a set of winter tires with a few years of use on them...would be than a new set of good all season with a good (for the class) snow rating.

Trust me, they'd still be much better than all seasons.

Id take a slightly worn winter tire over a brand new 3 season tire. All seasons are made for idiots that dont know any better.....

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[Rupert]

   Oh...only slightly worn...ok. What about 'ice tires' in deep snow. Like when you get to the curb after a foot of it. Some of the all season have a more agressive tread patern...might they not be as good or better in getting you going in those circumstances and in use on unplowed roads for example.
   Real world testing on the tires we all drive on...partly worn or more so, would be valuable information. Worn snows or ice against newer all season with good or excellent snow rating in their class. I don't know about others but my real world does not include $40,000 automobiles and 'if' the dedicated winter tire benefits are only fleeting, then they are not an automatic buy for me. They may be for others though, who have to drive every day. Another point is that the term 'winter tires' applies to different types does it not...snow or ice with different tread depth and pattern to accomodate the same.

[Ice]

All Seasons make sense in places like the middle United States and south where they rarely see snow or even freezing temperatures. Those tires work well for those people in four seasons. But they don't experience the kind of weather we do. Here, it makes the most sense to drive your all seasons for 3 seasons and get the winters on for the winter.

I'm glad I have the winters. The OEM all seasons that came with the XRS are far too low profile to be of any use at all in snowy weather and they are all seasons thus making them no good for when the temperature dips and the snow comes out anyways.

[Northernridge]

I'm not experiencing the severe fall-off in winter traction on my four year old Blizzaks that some here are claiming. Perhaps they're less sticky than new but they are still vastly superior to the new ContiProContact all-seasons on the Berlin taxi.

They are good in deep snow, very good in snow-packed & icy conditions and least effective in wet/slushy/icy conditions as it gets a little milder outside.

[johngenx]

I've had a lot of Blizzaks over the last years, and also not experienced this sudden drop off of traction.  That said, no winter tire is designed to operate at below 5/32 of tread, so I usually chuck them at that point.

[Black Hatch]

I've had a lot of Blizzaks over the last years, and also not experienced this sudden drop off of traction.  That said, no winter tire is designed to operate at below 5/32 of tread, so I usually chuck them at that point.

Just so that I'm not off the mark
Near the end of the page
"Where these tires fall a bit short of the mark is in ice traction. Accelerating and stopping on slick ice proved to be more of a challenge than with some other tires I’ve tested (the Hakkapelliitta RSi comes to mind), although they are so much better than all-seasons that I have trouble faulting them in this regard. Having said that though, the Blizzaks didn’t perform significantly better than the Canadian Tire Goodyear Nordics that I had on my car last season."

http://www.autos.ca/winter-driving/winter-tire-test-bridgestone-blizzak-ws60/

Also my Blizzaks are around 7/32 of tread. Good for one more season?

[dirtyjeffer]

Just so that I'm not off the mark
Near the end of the page
"Where these tires fall a bit short of the mark is in ice traction. Accelerating and stopping on slick ice proved to be more of a challenge than with some other tires I’ve tested (the Hakkapelliitta RSi comes to mind), although they are so much better than all-seasons that I have trouble faulting them in this regard. Having said that though, the Blizzaks didn’t perform significantly better than the Canadian Tire Goodyear Nordics that I had on my car last season."

http://www.autos.ca/winter-driving/winter-tire-test-bridgestone-blizzak-ws60/

Also my Blizzaks are around 7/32 of tread. Good for one more season?

yes, but that story is over 4 years old and about WS60s...while some places still sell those, the newer WS70s are much improved...a LOT of progress has been made in tires in the last few years.

[Black Hatch]

Just so that I'm not off the mark
Near the end of the page
"Where these tires fall a bit short of the mark is in ice traction. Accelerating and stopping on slick ice proved to be more of a challenge than with some other tires I’ve tested (the Hakkapelliitta RSi comes to mind), although they are so much better than all-seasons that I have trouble faulting them in this regard. Having said that though, the Blizzaks didn’t perform significantly better than the Canadian Tire Goodyear Nordics that I had on my car last season."

http://www.autos.ca/winter-driving/winter-tire-test-bridgestone-blizzak-ws60/

Also my Blizzaks are around 7/32 of tread. Good for one more season?

yes, but that story is over 4 years old and about WS60s...while some places still sell those, the newer WS70s are much improved...a LOT of progress has been made in tires in the last few years.

And I was bringing up my experience with WS60 to assert that WS60 are indeed a little slippery on ice.
I have had the WS60 for 4 years already.
That was the whole point of bringing that link since Rupert asked about it.

Of course we know that the WS70 is better than the WS60 as it is a direct successor to the WS60..