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Looking for good tires for winter


Kittamaru
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2001 Subaru Legacy Limited

 

AWD

 

Currently running standard All Weather tires... work decent... but she has a few small problems getting going in snow. She's not as accustomed to driving in snow as I am (considering she USED to drive a '99 Cavalier Z24... lol) but yeah. I'm looking at the possibility of getting her a spare set of wheels with actual winter tires, be they snow or A/T.

 

Thing is... I don't see a whole lot of options for small-car snow tires. Trying to stay below 150 a tire if possible... but I don't know ANYTHING about the ones available:

 

Firestone Winterforce - Studdable tire with decent reviews. Reading to be a noisy tire, but effective in deep snow and on ice. Stud option necessary? Decent tread wear and cornering.

 

Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60 - Studdless Ice/Snow Tire - seems to perform better in snow and slush than most other winter tires, but has a much higher tread wear rate and corners are a little squishy?

 

Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 - Good tire life, less performance in deep snow than others, but better handling. Would AWD make up the difference over softer compound tires? It also seems to be less aggressively designed... these almost seem like an all weather tire?

 

Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice - One of the only true "snow" tires, not snow "performance" tires, I'm looking at... seems to have the BEST ice/snow/slush/wet rating, good tread life, it's studless, and all the reviews I've seen for em are positively beaming. This is the one I'm looking at... any reason not to?

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The A/S tires are decent... but they're just that... All Season. She's also not terribly skilled in snow an ice, so any edge I can giver her, you know :)

 

Her car has AWD, Traction Control, ABS, Stability Control, and all those other fun features... but without good tires and good driving skills, they mean naught :)

 

So yeah... looking for a snow tire... but all I see really are Snow Performance tires... *shrugs* Save for the two I listed :) Any previous experience with em? :)

Edited by Kittamaru
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Well, like I said - the big thing is her street NEVER gets plowed, so the tracks are created, melt, refreeze, melt a little, are re-tracked, et cetera. While I have no problem even in 2WD ... her vehicle doesn't like it too much, and I think it's cause she has factory A/S Performance tires.

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*grins* Snow tires WILL help prevent the person behind her plowing into her... because with good reflexes (and a bit of luck) she'll be able to avoid that ass :)

 

I had one person plow into me... mini cooper vs pathfinder is NOT pretty... for the cooper.

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Lol, let me break it down for you:

 

Good Car + Good Tires + No Driver Skill = Problems

 

Good Car + Bad Tires + Good Driver Skill = Problems

 

Bad Car + Good Tires + Good Driver Skill = Problems

 

Good Car + Good Tires + Good Driver Skill = No Problems

 

:)

 

She has performance Street Tires atm, she needs something with a bit more grip on ice and snow before her skills really start to matter :) And like I said - her only real trouble is our (heavily sloped) driveway and street :)

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Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60 Get these! They are an awesome tire on my Subaru Forester, really suite the AWD system.

 

Very good stopping power on ice and compact snow, also good handling on same. Maybe a bit on the weak side for deeper fluffy stuff compared to a more traditional open tread snow tire but so far no issues for me.

 

The Hankook iPike would be a good choice as well, we have an older version on our van and they are good and would be a bit cheaper than the WS-60's.

 

Good snow tires make a huge difference, even with the excellent Subaru AWD.

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Good Car + highway all season tires + decent skills = no problems

 

For me at least...I hardly use 4wd (clicking CV)

 

 

LOL, thing is though - her car has about 8 inches less clearance than my truck :P Plus, your All Season tires are FAR more grippy than a Subaru Legacy's Performance Street tires :P

 

Truck vs Car = Apples vs Camels :)

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Blizzaks are nice but extremely overpriced.

 

I know they're not listed but I'd consider some Hankook Icebears I believe W300. They are pretty darn good and they're inexpensive. I used to run them on my BMW in the winter on a set of 17's until I got the Pathy. With them on that car would go anywhere and handled VERY well for winter tire. It actually was better in the snow then my wifes Mazda3. So if they can transform the Mach5 into a winter warrior then they will for sure make a suby shine!

 

I would stay away from studded snow tires unless you've got constant ice everywhere for the entire time you'll have them on because with studs if the ground is only wet (very common in winter) then they will get much worse traction. Stick with technology stay away from studs.

 

 

 

-Colby

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Good Car + Good Tires + No Driver Skill = Problems

 

Good Car + Bad Tires + Good Driver Skill = Problems

 

Bad Car + Good Tires + Good Driver Skill = Problems

 

Good Car + Good Tires + Good Driver Skill = No Problems

 

Truck vs Car = Apples vs Camels

 

You are in good form today. Thanks for the chuckle...

 

Good snow tires make a huge difference, even with the excellent Subaru AWD.

Damn Canadian Pathy defectors!!

 

B

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Heh, precise, you know I have a point. A Subaru Legacy is NOT an SUV, and I want to give my darling every advantage in the snow... she's the love of my life and I worry about her.. wouldn't you do the same for your wife/girlfriend?

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Blizzaks are nice but extremely overpriced.

 

I know they're not listed but I'd consider some Hankook Icebears I believe W300. They are pretty darn good and they're inexpensive. I used to run them on my BMW in the winter on a set of 17's until I got the Pathy. With them on that car would go anywhere and handled VERY well for winter tire. It actually was better in the snow then my wifes Mazda3. So if they can transform the Mach5 into a winter warrior then they will for sure make a suby shine!

 

I would stay away from studded snow tires unless you've got constant ice everywhere for the entire time you'll have them on because with studs if the ground is only wet (very common in winter) then they will get much worse traction. Stick with technology stay away from studs.

-Colby

 

 

*nods* The Studded snow tires were kinda making me crosseyed with the laws around here in PA XD Best I can gather, unless there's 3+ inches of snow, they're illegal lol...

 

I'll look around at the Hankook Icebears... thing is, I need to find some place round here that sells tires and/or wheels witthout trying to rape you up the bum :)

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*nods* The Studded snow tires were kinda making me crosseyed with the laws around here in PA XD Best I can gather, unless there's 3+ inches of snow, they're illegal lol...

 

I'll look around at the Hankook Icebears... thing is, I need to find some place round here that sells tires and/or wheels witthout trying to rape you up the bum :)

 

Have you checked tirerack.com? or discount.com? I just bought a set of mudders from tirerack.

 

-Colby

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