winter tires "perform better"
 

Strangely, (or perhaps not?) my car is accelerating very much noticeably better with my blizzaks ws80s compared to my MPSS. I can't pinpoint exactly why. Obviously I don't feel nearly as planted with the snows, and cornering is with less confidence, but acceleration is putting more of a smile on my face than the entire summer.


Any thoughts?


Mods:
Perrin CBE
JDL catted header
stage 2 OFT
drop in filter

215/45/17 blizzaks on stock wheels vs 225/45/17 mpss on xxr 550s

21.3 xxr weight
vs stock 20.1

tires weigh the same.


Side note....I don't love my MPSS. even simple turning out of my driveway feels restricted and i don't get that with snows.

Well if I'm not mistaken 225/45R17 have a diameter 0.4 inches larger than 215/45R17 so that's a 1.6% increase. So that could be why you find it accelerates better since your winter tires are slightly smaller in diameter, although I have no idea if that's enough of a difference to notice.

Could be anything. Could be the weight of the tires compared to the MPSS. My guess is that it has to do with the temperature (density) of the air. Similar to how cars make more power at sea level vs somewhere with an elevation of 2500ft. Cold air is more dense than warm air which results in more power.

less rolling resistance and mainly the cold air

To OP .. what are the remaining tread depth of each?

Tires with winter rubber, regardless of tread design, are softer rubber.

They will grip better under acceleration than summer tires. They don't have to heat up to get this grip due to inherent softness.


There's also the fact that winter has just begun and you are enjoying the change in seasons so far.


Your mental state might just change by February or March, when you've seen enough.

Enjoy the moments right now !

It's winter: the density altitude probably dropped due to cold weather. Your engine is literally producing more power.

As others have said, it's the combination of the larger diameter of the 225/45 MPSS and the colder air.

With regards to the restriction you're feeling, this is normal with stickier tires. Grippier compound = more resistance/heavier feel. You're going to feel this with any performance oriented tire.

doesn't necessarily answer your question, but about 8,000 miles on the ws80s and 11,000 on the mpss



I guess I never thought that the cold weather would have this much of an impact. It's literally night and day. I also didn't have the tune and header last winter.

I live at sea level and between hot summer days and near freezing temperatures in the fall, the car feels drastically faster. Especially since tuning the car/headers/drop in filter, going from summer to fall/winter feels like going NA to FI.

Then going FI the difference is even more apparent hahaha.

But I have made the same observation when I was NA

Napkin math says that assuming you live at sea level, and without accounting for barometric pressure changes or humidity (these have small effects), the difference between a summer temperature of about 85F and a winter temperature of about 15F is approximately equivalent to 4,850' of altitude change.

So, it's like the difference between driving your car at sea level on a standard day and driving it in Denver, CO in the rockies on a standard day. Temperature is a big deal. This is why you gotta scrutinize the conditions dyno runs are done under-- the difference between evening and mid afternoon could account for the entire difference in power between a "performance part" and a stock part.

blizzaks are sticky in cold weather + cold air is of course a boost to all cars.

possible your all seasons are never sticky ever. Most of my tires in past were not sticky and not great for accelerating.

I have blizzaks on my WRX and the one noticeable difference is how much louder they are than the stock tires. It hasn't snowed here yet.