garyj Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 I am the new owner of a Subaru WRX STi. The car came with Bridgestone Potenza summer performance tires (a dry condition track tire form what I can tell). Needless to say the tires are terrible in the snow. So now I am looking for some opinions on performance all season rubber for the STi---websites, personal experience and the like. Thanks. GC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Nokian Hakkapellitas are great snow-biters with a heck of a reputation in the snowbelt. Pirelli Snowsport 210s are a good compromise for ice/snow traction and dry pavement smoothness. Michelin Pilot Alpins are similar to the Snowsports. My experience with Bridgestone Blizzaks are that they are very good for the first two winters then they are just all-season tires - ie. they wear fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyj Posted January 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Haven't you heard, Newport just got dumped on! No really, it isn't an issue here, but the car is often used for the commute to the eastern sierra , so without jeopardizing too much handling, I am looking for a all season performance oriented tire when these ware out. Thanks for the tips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 If you buy winter tires and actually use them on dry pavement in Southern California, they will wear down very fast. Winter tires are soft compound and meant to be used when temps are under 10 degrees celcius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hangten247 Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 My buddy in norther Vermont is a car mechanic and he and a bunch of his buds up there swear by the Nokians. Blizzaks are great and grippy in the snow, but should only be used for on snow as they wear super fast, and are actually DANGEROUS on dry pavement due to their ultra soft outer compound. After a few winters, the tacky outer compound wears off and it them behaves just like a nice all season performance radial. How about a pair of high performance all seasons and put studs on them? Realisitcally though, how high performance do you need? I'd sacrifice a bit of dry handling for extra snow traction, I'd rather have a bit of extra tire hum and 10% less handling all winter rather than get stuck in a snowbank. You have all wheel drive, right? When I had my Audi 5000 turbo quattro, I had regular all seasons on it and it neve let me down. Not perfect in the snow, but still decent, and as long as I drove conservative in the snow, I had no skidding issues. I miss that car, too bad it had typical German car issues otherwise I'd still own it. Conservative winter driving when the snow did fall saved me from buying a set of winter specific tires. Too many folks in SUV's think they have a license to be an idiot when the snow falls, they drive way too fast in the snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdurgin Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Last winter I used all season Michelin tires. I would be all over the road with just a dusting of snow, so I put snow tires on it this year. My mechanic very strongly recommended that I buy Nokian snow tires. I was a little hesitant about the price, but I trusted him and bought the Nokian tires. They were well worth the price. I have been out in a few storms this year (even freezing rain snow mix) where most cars were sliding around and my car tracked perfectly when breaking, cornering and accelerating. I had used Blizzaks in the past, but now I am a Nokain convert. Last year was the first year that I didn’t put snow tires on and that will never happen again. I think it is well worth the money and effort to have 2 sets of tires (snow and summer). I think that the Blizzaks worked very well, but the Nokain are amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carp Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 I've got Nokian all season tires on my mini van (no comment from the peanut gallery) and they do a tremendous job in the snow. I had them in the UP of Michigan after a good blast of snow and they performed flawlessly. In addition, they seem to wear slowly even in the summer months. A couple customer of my mechanic use them strictly as snow tires even though they are rated as an all season tire. I've got a swedish tire company (Nord something) on my Saab Aero with 16" rims (vs. 17" in the summer) and they do a decent job as well, however I can tell they'll need replacing probably by next winter or soon there after. I did buy them used so they probably had 5-8k miles on them. I've heard good things about blizzaks, but again on warm pavement I heard they wear fast. Bridgestones have never failed me in the past, but I'm not sure how grippy they are when going through the bigger mountain passes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulY Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Go to tirerack.com, you can punch in your car or tire size and get the recommendations plus they have an incredible online tire review section. You can sort through looking for reviews with similar situations to yours and make an informed decision, then buy from them (or not). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slow Eddie Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 I live in Burlington, VT, and am spending a two-month rotation commuting between Rutland and KBL. I've got these (well, the version they put out two seasons ago, anyway) on my Impreza, and even though it's light for a 4WD, I confidently navigate the roadsup here, even during Sunday's ice storm that left many a NJ-plated SUV off the side of the road ;) The nice thing about them is that I don't have to take them off in the summer; good grip, quiet, and they seem to be wearing well. Caveat: the best tires in the world are of no use if you can't adapt your driving style for winter conditions. I would say experience or a winter driving course are as valuable, if not more so, than a set of Hakka's. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Houghton Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Nokians are crap in the dry, very poor directional stability, same as the Toyo Observe 02's. Since you mentioned dry road performance, you should go for an H rated Pirelli (210) or the Michelin Alpin, XIce or the new Blizzak. But don't rely on our opinions, go to tire rack, read the reviews, then call them on the 800 number and ask for Gary - he will give you the best recommendation. Too bad the Dunlop M3's are all sold out this year, they are really good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeW Posted January 5, 2005 Report Share Posted January 5, 2005 Originally posted by skategoat Nokian Hakkapellitas are great snow-biters with a heck of a reputation in the snowbelt. just bought those tires -- nokian hakkapellitas. wow, all i can say im blown away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyj Posted January 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 Thanks for all the opinions. I have visited tire rack several times and for my use all season performance is what I'm looking for. Snow tires are a little too specific for most of the driving I will be doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommanell Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 My son put blizzaks on his & loves them. He bought them mounted on new subaru wheels so if you are looking to swap tires every season he has a set of subaru steel wheels for sale cheap, they wouldn't fit his car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gilmour Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Originally posted by Chris Houghton Nokians are crap in the dry, very poor directional stability, same as the Toyo Observe 02's. Since you mentioned dry road performance, you should go for an H rated Pirelli (210) or the Michelin Alpin, XIce or the new Blizzak. But don't rely on our opinions, go to tire rack, read the reviews, then call them on the 800 number and ask for Gary - he will give you the best recommendation. Too bad the Dunlop M3's are all sold out this year, they are really good too. I think it might matter which Nokians you are refering to. I used Nokian NRW's on a 1993 rear wheel drive 300E mercedes and found them to be excellent in the snow and not a bad warm weather tire either. Not a very blocky tread on the NRW as it has a high speed rating...but lots of siping as well as a good compound for ice grip. The Nokian NRW has been replaced with the Nokian WR - but you might be able to find Nokian NRW's still. The Nokian WR is not nearly as good in the snow. I had those on a E420 and found them to be simply miserable. I returned them for Vredesteins which did perform a bit better- but again not as good as the Nokian NRW's. I had Pirellis directional snows on my Audi 5000s Wagon front wheel drive and felt they were just okay and wore ridiculously fast- good for a single season only. But when new they really threw snow- you would see them clear the snow right down to the pavement and the directional tread threw snow to the sides and never clogged. I have Michelin Pilot Alpins Snows on my car now- and I am not impressed. I think the Vredesteins Snows were actually better. If I could get some NRW's for my car that would be ideal. I've also been similarly disappointed with Michelin pilot M + S tires. I do however for DRY weather LOVE LOVE LOVE my Michelin pilot Sport tires. I suppose if it were me and I was going to Tahoe once in a awhile I would go for a Hakka studded tire. Besides- with traffic on those passes....who needs the speed rating anyhow. ________ Nsr Series Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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