[nicknaz]

Guys I've been starting to shop the sale racks for winter tires. I've heard anecdotes that Blizzak tires have a lot of dry grip because of their compound.

Is this true?

Any suggestion on winter tires that don't suck in the dry?

I am hesitant to post in other subforums because people there think General tires are acceptable and Falken 452 are grippy performance tires

[longodj]

The Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D was great during the winter and had tons of dry grip. Then I had no choice but to use them on track and ever since they've been kind of funky in the dry.... At any rate, I highly recommend these for winter.

[vampie]

I run Blizzak LM-25 in the winter and for the most part I will forget I'm even running a snow tire. Much better dry traction than my old Michelin Alpin PA2's.

[SpmnE9zero]

Yes you will have good grip with them, however they have a taller than normal tread so will also find a little more roll going into a twisty. Not a good idea to run for any sort of performance in the summer if that is what you are getting at.

[nicknaz]

Thanks for the tips guys. Anyone have experience with Nokian winter tires? They are supposedly awesome in the dry as well but I am having a hard time finding tech on these tires

[325racer]

Dude, you live in San Fran, how much snow do you get???

You only need these type of tires if you have Snow and ICE. They will shred themselves on dry pavement.

Ever watch an F1 race when it starts to dry?? Same thing.


And NO, winter tires DO not have lots of Dry grip. If they used the compound with a summer type tread, maybe. But the construction/design of a Snow tire is very bad on dry pavement, worse than and All Season. With the micro sipes, etc, the tread blocks are very loose and squishy to allow good grip on snow. These same features are why the are bad on dry pavement, when you want minimal squirm/movement.


Just cause my sig says San Diego, doesn't mean I don't know Snow, I grew up in Massachusetts, lived in NH for a couple years before I moved out here.

[baron]

Nick,
I had Nokian tires on my car. Nokian was the highly rated among all the winter tires, including blizzaks, but that like 8 years ago. Plus I think they had a speed rating up to 130mph. Grip is not as good as summer tires of course, but could be driven in the dry. Many of the other winter compounds tend to wear out quickly, whereas the Nokian has the same compound through its depth. Winter sizes also tend to be a bit narrower on my setup.

[BMdblU]

I run LM25's and they're great all around winter tires. Decent dry grip, and do well in light to moderate snow falls.

[chaz58]

You have lost me.

All winter tires have horrible dry grip compared to anything else. Too many sipes, high void ratio, very, very soft sidelwalls, very deep tread - they all kill traction.

If you are limiting the discussion to only winter tires, performance winter tires like the Dunlop M3, or Blizzak LM-25 have great dry grip compared to most other winter tires. "studdless" winter tires or "studdable" winter tires are horrible in the dry. The blizzack multi-cell "studless" tire is one of the worst handling tires in the dry I have ever run across. They are some of the best deep snow/ice tires made though.

None of them are "awsome" in the dry.

[nicknaz]

hmmm

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=2

this run flat winter tire or the Blizzak LM22 could negate some of the suckage of winter tires because of the mega stiff reinforced sidewall inherent in the RFT design.

thoughts?

i heard a rumor a long time ago that blizzak multi cell winter tire "hooked up like a drag radial" when it was dry/warmer. i guess this was false.

PS i'm moving to chicago, i heard it snows there trying to pick up some tires on close out over the summer to cut cost

[jgalaxy]

Originally Posted by longodj

The Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D was great during the winter and had tons of dry grip. Then I had no choice but to use them on track and ever since they've been kind of funky in the dry.... At any rate, I highly recommend these for winter.

I'm with Longodj. I use SP 3D. They are grippier than the Blizzaks and offered more predictable and better road feel on dry. They also rocked in Montreal and the more northerly winter climes too.

The Blizzaks on dry were a little more vague and slid more on dry cold.

Hope that helps.

[jgalaxy]

Hey are you planning to run these in the summer? Bad idea if so. The summer heat would cause brutal thread squirm, sidewall roll and premature wear. I'm guessing your looking for your winter boots now, right?

Blizzak LM25 or Dunlop Sport 3D.

A few guys in the Canada->Montreal local thread run those and were happy.

[kenneth]

What he says. I have the Dunlop too!

[325racer]

Personally not sure of the current tires, but I used the Blizzaks (they were the first of the new Technology) Nokians were pretty good too.

THe other trick about snows is when to install and remove them. Install them to early and it wont snow for weeks and you use up a lot of tread before it actually snows, Install to late and you get Stranded when it actually does snow. Removing is the same thing but in reverse. Remove to early, get stranded, remove to late and use up more tire.

Another important thing is your alignment, make sure you have a good stock alignment before the Snows go on, if you have to much camber or toe it will eat those tires up in a HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a set that the toe was off on my old FWD car and it destroyed the fronts in a week.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by jgalaxy

Hey are you planning to run these in the summer? Bad idea if so. The summer heat would cause brutal thread squirm, sidewall roll and premature wear. I'm guessing your looking for your winter boots now, right?

Blizzak LM25 or Dunlop Sport 3D.

A few guys in the Canada->Montreal local thread run those and were happy.

Yup, I'm shopping the sale racks right now hoping to get a good deal. I will use the OE tires in the summer and switch to these in the winter

325racer. thanks for the tips. i lean towards eating up the winter tires a bit more and switch to winters when the over night temps go below 40F and don't switch back until a week after the temps stay above 40F. i got stuck in a late march snowfall on Azenis RT215 because I switch from winters too early one year. I drove from Parsippany NJ to Fort Lee NJ going 20mph with hazard lights on. brutal. if you guys know the area you'll get how stupid i felt after that

My winter tire tech is over 5yr old right now, which is why i need some feedback. (thanks!!)

[jgalaxy]

Originally Posted by 325racer

Personally not sure of the current tires, but I used the Blizzaks (they were the first of the new Technology) Nokians were pretty good too.

THe other trick about snows is when to install and remove them. Install them to early and it wont snow for weeks and you use up a lot of tread before it actually snows, Install to late and you get Stranded when it actually does snow. Removing is the same thing but in reverse. Remove to early, get stranded, remove to late and use up more tire.

Another important thing is your alignment, make sure you have a good stock alignment before the Snows go on, if you have to much camber or toe it will eat those tires up in a HURRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a set that the toe was off on my old FWD car and it destroyed the fronts in a week.

Folks, plain and simple. If you have to drive in snow, any winter is better than no winter tire. Some are better than others. Tires always have to balanced first and wheel alignment after installation.

Here in the great white north we all drive on winter tires before it snows and remove them after the snow is gone. Tread will be sacrificed a bit but safety comes first, right.

[mogarbage]

im not sure what season you plan on running winters, but if it's not snowing, dont bother.

blizzaks on dry, that's not going to be fun.
i put mine on a bit early this past winter, and it pain'd me to drive with them.
the roll, they break lose on wet pavement, and for some awful reason, mine would jump when hard breaking...i thought that only happened in video games

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by mogarbage

im not sure what season you plan on running winters, but if it's not snowing, dont bother.

I plan on running them when the overnight temps drop below 40F in chicago. I got caught on full summer tires in a snow fall once and I'm never doing that again

[335iPaul]

Wondering if I would be better running a good seat of all seasons for my winter setup since we only get more than an inch of snow 4-6 times during the winter and other then that, it is not bad at all. Last year I had all seasons and only got stuck when we had 7 inches at the end of the drive way, LoL.

[chaz58]

That is fine if you are willing for the snow/ice compromise and IF your all seasons have more than 50% tread. They are worthless in the snow with less than that.

[nicknaz]

Originally Posted by 335iPaul

Wondering if I would be better running a good seat of all seasons for my winter setup since we only get more than an inch of snow 4-6 times during the winter and other then that, it is not bad at all. Last year I had all seasons and only got stuck when we had 7 inches at the end of the drive way, LoL.

Personally, I would still run the winter tires. NYC area is like that (not many snowfalls each season) but every time the snow hits I'm glad I'm on winter tires. I tried all seasons one winter and after the first snow fall I purchased winter tires. Its a huge difference

[vgame64]

For winter tires, Blizzaks and Dunlops are damn good. I used Dunlop winter tires all throughout snowy Germany in March and didn't skip a beat. I brought the car onto the Nordschleife and it sucked with those tires. Same holds for Blizzak's that ended up on Lime Rock... for performance.
† Bridgestone RE-11's for the track (on Kosei's), PS2 ZP for daily driving (on OEM wheels), and Blizzak's for winter is an ideal setup (on steel wheels).