BRZ Winter Tire/Wheels Setup?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ZDan

To be able to drive on plowed roads in RI/Mass through the Winter, while maintaining some handling precision. I was only looking at the "Performance Winter/Snow" category tires.

Glad to see you put that term in quotation marks. You can have one or the other but I have always found that the compromises were to great to have a real "Performance winter tire" no matter what they claim. The requirements for a good winter tire, that will make sure you arrive alive, almost totally eliminate the possibility of really good performance.

[churchx]

Tcoat: no, there are tires that are good winter tires and performance ones. Not road legal though . - So called "saws" in slang, long-studded sport tires. With such on some tracks opened all year round on ice often track lap records are better in winter then in summer on dry tarmac. Of course, such studs are not fit due grip & damage to pavement for normal plown tarmac roads .. but still, you get both performance & winter in one package

[ZDan]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Glad to see you put that term in quotation marks. You can have one or the other but I have always found that the compromises were to great to have a real "Performance winter tire" no matter what they claim. The requirements for a good winter tire, that will make sure you arrive alive, almost totally eliminate the possibility of really good performance.

There is a pretty big difference in wet/dry capabilities of "Performance Winter" tires vs. studdable/non-studdable winters.
They give up very little in terms of snow/ice performance while giving much better wet/dry grip vs. the best non-"performance" winter tires.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=181
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=193

Performance Winter tires:
50-0 mph Stopping (ft) wet, dry; cornering (g) wet, dry
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 136.3, 94.2; 0.58, 0.84
Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D 105.9, 91.9; 0.75, 0.88
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 105.4, 88.8; 0.76, 0.89
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 106.9, 85.6; 0.78, 0.90

Studless ice and snow Winter tires
50-0 mph Stopping (ft) wet, dry; cornering (g) wet, dry
Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 128.0, 88.2; 0.61, 0.87
Dunlop Winter Maxx WM01 159.4, 97.6; 0.54, 0.81
Michelin X-Ice Xi3 131.4, 93.2; 0.63, 0.84
Yokohama iceGuard iG52c 148.8, 94.7; 0.55, 0.81

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ZDan

There is a pretty big difference in wet/dry capabilities of "Performance Winter" tires vs. studdable/non-studdable winters.
They give up very little in terms of snow/ice performance while giving much better wet/dry grip vs. the best non-"performance" winter tires.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=181
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=193

Performance Winter tires:
50-0 mph Stopping (ft) wet, dry; cornering (g) wet, dry
Bridgestone Blizzak LM-60 136.3, 94.2; 0.58, 0.84
Dunlop SP Winter Sport 4D 105.9, 91.9; 0.75, 0.88
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 105.4, 88.8; 0.76, 0.89
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3 106.9, 85.6; 0.78, 0.90

Studless ice and snow Winter tires
50-0 mph Stopping (ft) wet, dry; cornering (g) wet, dry
Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 128.0, 88.2; 0.61, 0.87
Dunlop Winter Maxx WM01 159.4, 97.6; 0.54, 0.81
Michelin X-Ice Xi3 131.4, 93.2; 0.63, 0.84
Yokohama iceGuard iG52c 148.8, 94.7; 0.55, 0.81

Summary

Compared with Studless Ice & Snow winter tires, Performance Winter / Snow tires deliver better handling on clear roads along with improved wet and dry traction in winter's cold temperatures. The tradeoff comes with modestly lower ice and snow traction. But when winter weather strikes, Performance Winter / Snow tires still deliver better performance than the best all-season tires.


There is still a compromise. There is always a compromise. As stated they do beat the AS tires by a mile.

[JazzleSAURUS]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

Summary

Compared with Studless Ice & Snow winter tires, Performance Winter / Snow tires deliver better handling on clear roads along with improved wet and dry traction in winter's cold temperatures. The tradeoff comes with modestly lower ice and snow traction. But when winter weather strikes, Performance Winter / Snow tires still deliver better performance than the best all-season tires.


There is still a compromise. There is always a compromise. As stated they do beat the AS tires by a mile.

Agreed.

Until we're using different compounds that work within a fairly different set of criteria we are used to working within for tires, everything is a compromise with tires.

[churchx]

One needs to retrofit ship anchor auto-deploy system for emergency stops and keep driving on primacies all year round!
For milder stops parachute system should do too. Pitty it will cover front window of car following.
And all proper roads should have sidewalls, so that one can take curves by hitting them. Hey, it worked in Need For Speed! . As for roads that still have no concrete sidewalls - it's fault of government. Also blame Canada.

[Racecomp Engineering]

My Blizzak WS-80s did good this weekend. No drama in about an inch or 2 of accumulation on the road. Easy to pull away from a stoplight on a hill, and easy to brake smoothly. Little bit of dorifto fun but not unexpected and they were super easy to control.

In the dry they're fine. It's still noticeable that it's a 205/55/16 winter tire but not annoyingly so IMO.

I was tempted by the General Artics, but there was a sale on the Blizzaks . And the dry performance was a selling point on the Bridgestones. We don't get much snow and when we do I can usually just stay home. I expect to have these tires on for about 3 months a year. The Michelin X-Ices were also tempting...Myles has them on his 2018 STI and really likes them. I think they were a tiny bit more expensive.

- Andrew

[ZDan]

I just bought a '17 PP over lunch
I'm going to get the Pirelli Sottozero 3s in 225/45-17 for the stock 17x7.5 wheels. 0.90-g capability at 40F plus snow/ice functionality looks like the best compromise for me.

[venturaII]

That's my kind of lunch!

[mnuttall]

Originally Posted by ZDan

I just bought a '17 PP over lunch
I'm going to get the Pirelli Sottozero 3s in 225/45-17 for the stock 17x7.5 wheels. 0.90-g capability at 40F plus snow/ice functionality looks like the best compromise for me.

The Pirellis are a good choice. We've got them on our Audi and they work great.

[JMon85]

205/50/17 Continental Wintercontact Si ~ Love these things^^

[Stang70Fastback]

I've been using General Altimax Arctics for years now here in Chicago.