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Originally Posted by Suberman
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Thanks! that is an interesting read.
It would have been nice if they had tested 'Cold-wet' (< 40F) too like the C&D article, they only tested 'Warm-wet' (Pheonix, AX in May is 82F avg) because cold-wet is the other winter condition that's important to factor in (95-98% of my winter driving would be that in central NJ, edit - actually 70% would be cold-dry really, and 25-28% cold-wet) and that's where the compound of the all-seasons made them better than the winters.
Their results for all-seasons in snow are not too bad, similar to the C&D testing. 28' 40-0 is decent, 59' 60-0 is not that great, but one can try keeping longer following distances on highways to help with that. And .28g vs .30g is really not bad.
"And that brings us to our next test: full stops with ABS engaged. Here again the snow tires dominate, stopping from 40 mph in 156 feet, some 28 feet shorter than the all-season tires' 184-foot performance. Increase the starting speed to 60 mph and these distances more than double. It takes 362 feet for the snow tires to stop and 421 feet for the all-season donuts. Skid pad results follow the same now-predictable pattern. Our snow tires pull 0.30 lateral g, the all-seasons manage 0.28g and the summer tires produce a pitiful 0.15g despite a heroic effort by our shivering hot shoe."
Quote:
Originally Posted by regal
All I care about in a winter tire is safely driving thru the snow, the rest is adequate for the street. Back road sprints are over once he winter shoes go one.
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I guess that's the key point, even if 99% of most of ones winter driving may be on cold wet, it's the 1% time when you may end up needing that snow performance when you would be grateful that you have the winter tires (vs all-seasons)
My options at this point are -
1. keep the stock turanaza all-seasons. Pros - cheapest. Cons - turanzas are NOT good all-seasons like the michelin mxm4, they are shitty ones, so can't expect the above cold all-season results
2. get new michelin mxm4 all seasons on stock rims, sell the turanzas used. get a few bucks back to offset the michelins. Pros - cheaper than winter tires because of the cost offset, can keep em on all year, no changing hassle/cost. Better all-round performance than current (even in summer). Cons - better cold-wet but worse snow performance than winter tires for that 1-5% time I may need it.
3. get new winter tires (on new steelies, or used wrx/frs rims). Pros - acceptable cold-wet and cold-dry, but best peace of mind in the 1-5% chance of snow when I may need it, Cons - most expensive, need to change the tires twice a year so addnl hassle/cost.
1 is too risky for me, so it's either 2 or 3.
3 is the best (peace of mind) insurance but 2 is not a bad option either i guess.... oh decisions decisions