Snow tires...wow...

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by cagster

Ok, for the dummies in this crowd (me) , I am going to ask a question very opinionated probably. Live in the snowbelt of MA, Fitchburg, and since I just got home from business trip and now there is 14 inches of snow on the ground, what type of winter tires do you prefer for the FRS. Are they studless or with studs. I drove last winter with the stock summer tires and wasnt too bad as long as the roads had already been plowed and free of ice however getting up to my house was always a challenge.

What do you suggest?

Need some suggestions quickly before I have to go back to work.....lol. Oh yes, right now I am planning on mounting them on stock weels, any thoughts on that??

Since this is my first car or truck with TPMS, if I mount the winter tires on the stock wheels do I need to replace the TPMS??

Thanks

TPMS works with any tire. No need to do anything if just changing tires.

Studless winter tires would be my recommendation. I'm driving on 225/45x17 Pirelli Sottozeros and the car is, let us say, interesting to drive in severe winter conditions.

If you can handle the car fine on summer tires in deep snow (???? Maybe change careers to WRC) then high performance winters are the way to go. For a daily driver you depend on no matter what the weather go studless.

Studded tires are no longer recommended because they perform so poorly on bare roads, especially wet roads.

Blizzaks before studs is my recommendation and Blizzaks only if ice really outfoxes you.

[7thgear]

you have a 225 winter tire... and complaining about traction issues? good lord. no wonder.

you're about 400 pounds too light for an effective contact patch for that width and aspect ratio

[utekineir]

Originally Posted by cagster

Ok, for the dummies in this crowd (me) , I am going to ask a question very opinionated probably. Live in the snowbelt of MA, Fitchburg, and since I just got home from business trip and now there is 14 inches of snow on the ground, what type of winter tires do you prefer for the FRS. Are they studless or with studs. I drove last winter with the stock summer tires and wasnt too bad as long as the roads had already been plowed and free of ice however getting up to my house was always a challenge.

What do you suggest?

Need some suggestions quickly before I have to go back to work.....lol. Oh yes, right now I am planning on mounting them on stock weels, any thoughts on that??

Since this is my first car or truck with TPMS, if I mount the winter tires on the stock wheels do I need to replace the TPMS??

Thanks

I'm right in your neck of the woods. We didn't get 14", it was well under a foot. In general our winters are very mild compared to what other regions get. Suberman there lives in the Canadian version of Antarctica it seems.

That said i was driving from lunenburg to gardner in the middle of the storm the other night before roads were cleared.

On 16" steel wheels with 205 width blizak ws-70 (newish tread) I had no issues other than the rear being a bit loose when climbing hills. Going up the hill past merriam ave on rt 2 was the most iffy part, and even that went just fine just had to counter steer whenever the back end started to step out. Of course there was some asshat in an older wrx stuck up my ass the whole climb instead of going around in one of the other 2 lanes. That pile of shit was following closer than clear road conditions, probably recording hoping i couldn't make it.

My forester on the same exact tires is far better, which should be expected. But i've been driving around the frz pretty much exclusively so far this season and really the cars doing very well for what it is. The frs did well enough the other night that sadly the forester may only see armageddon duty this winter.

In our area we don't need studded tires our winters aren't bad. Though if you live in that ridiculously hilly section of fitchburg over around burbank you may want them.

Otherwise a good non worn out snow tire and maybe some weight in the back for when storms hit and you should be golden.n Especially if you don't drive when roads are real bad, for work reasons I have to. Some people say to add weight to the back end, some say don't it will pendulum the car. After the other night I may keep some weight in the garage to add if i'm going out in a storm, but it won't be staying in the car all winter.

On the upside despite the ass being loose the front tires never lost grip ever keeping things very predictable and controllable.

[cagster]

Well I went ahead and ordered the WS-70s with Steel wheels from Tire rack. Should be here Wednesday, hopefully before the storm. Yes I live in the hilly section of the Burg. Up north off of Rindge Rd. There were a couple of times last year, I thought I was going to have to park the car by Country Pizza.....lol

Thanks for your experiences and advice.

[Evil Jesus]

My morning yesterday.....

[Teclis]

A really good set of winter tyres is: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice Artic, http://www.goodyear.eu/no_no/tires/p...sp?from=browse

If you don't want with spikes, I thinke these are nice: ContiWinterContact TS 810 Sport, http://www.continental.no/www/dekk_t...-ts-810-s.html

Trust me, I am Norwegian, snow and artic is what we love up here in the North

[FR-S Matt]

My winter tires

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by FR-S Matt

My winter tires

Geez, rub it in eh?

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Geez, rub it in eh?

Of course!

I actually tried driving in snow/ice in Minnesota on summer tires once in an '02 SS. Not fun.....

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

you have a 225 winter tire... and complaining about traction issues? good lord. no wonder.

you're about 400 pounds too light for an effective contact patch for that width and aspect ratio

Recently I have discovered that adding weight to the trunk (90lbs or 40 kg) makes no difference. Straight line traction is no good. Adding weight actually makes oversteer worse.

Contact patch size is the same for any given vehicle weight. Go back to school and learn your physics.

Or, explain just how changing tire size can change contact patch size. (Hint, it doesn't ).

Then you can explain how changing contact patch size changes grip (hint, it doesn't).

Changing tire profile changes the shape of the contact patch, not the size. Running 225 rather than 195 in winter makes no measurable difference in performance except in very deep heavy snow. In dry snow it makes no difference. On ice I find the wider tire works slightly better.

Anyway, thanks for providing a useful opportunity to respond with more helpful information.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Changing tire profile changes the shape of the contact patch, not the size.

yes, and it's that shape that matters in these conditions.

you may know the physics, but your ability to apply them is ZERO.

In every single post you bitch and complain about how this car is horrible in the snow. I spent 5 hours the other day driving around during Toronto's "worst ice storm yet" and not only had a ton of fun, but drove at considerbly faster rate than big SUV's and other cars that have suprior traction than me.

Does the car feel loose and require concentration and driver correction? YES. Am I overqualified and would be considered an above-average-skilled driver? Arguably, yes. But at the same time that's why i'm driving my car in the winter and not storing it in the garage and opting for something that is without a doubt more reliable and safer.

But the way you go on and on about your trouble driving the car, so maybe the problem is your lead foot and hamfisted inputs. Train both and adjust your mindset and maybe you won't be such a sour grandpa.

[jamesm]

the solution: Florida. it has barely dropped below 60 so far this year

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by 7thgear

yes, and it's that shape that matters in these conditions.

you may know the physics, but your ability to apply them is ZERO.

In every single post you bitch and complain about how this car is horrible in the snow. I spent 5 hours the other day driving around during Toronto's "worst ice storm yet" and not only had a ton of fun, but drove at considerbly faster rate than big SUV's and other cars that have suprior traction than me.

Does the car feel loose and require concentration and driver correction? YES. Am I overqualified and would be considered an above-average-skilled driver? Arguably, yes. But at the same time that's why i'm driving my car in the winter and not storing it in the garage and opting for something that is without a doubt more reliable and safer.

But the way you go on and on about your trouble driving the car, so maybe the problem is your lead foot and hamfisted inputs. Train both and adjust your mindset and maybe you won't be such a sour grandpa.

You're hilarious. You can't make up your mind whether your superior (supposedly) driving skills are beneficial to your winter driving experience or unnecessary.

Just how does contact patch shape affect winter driving, now we've established the contact patch has the same area?

Try not to let the coefficient of friction confuse your analysis, it can get complicated if you try to understand the physics of friction. Keep it simple so everyone can follow your expert advice.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by Suberman

You're hilarious. You can't make up your mind whether your superior (supposedly) driving skills are beneficial to your winter driving experience or unnecessary. .

it is beneficial, because if i was mediocre i would be driving diddly along with everyone else, not blasting through like Takumi.

Originally Posted by Suberman

Just how does contact patch shape affect winter driving, now we've established the contact patch has the same area?

Try not to let the coefficient of friction confuse your analysis, it can get complicated if you try to understand the physics of friction. Keep it simple so everyone can follow your expert advice.

i guess everyone at tire rack needs to be fired..

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=10

and

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...jsp?techid=126

and another source to contradict your theories
[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AContact_patch"]Talk:Contact patch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

and another

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/30/sp...ty-001090.html



a wide contact patch forces you to plow through the snow, your contact patch may be the same but it's still not being efficient

whereas a rounded/narrow contact patch is more efficient in the snow and slush as it helps to dig through the snow.

i am not a physics expert, i will never be able to explain vehicle dynamics with prestine equations and graphs

but i drive all year round in all conditions and visit the track/autocross as often as i can. The worst snowstorms/ice storms that toronto has seen.. i have driven through them, in a FWD car, in an AWD car and in a RWD car.

post after post you have real life evidence pile up against you.

I don't know what it is that you think you are trying to prove, but your theories of physics application are flat out wrong, and i will revert to my now solidifying opinion that while you may know the math, your driving ability is so poor that you are unable to understand what is actually the ailment in your driving.

perhaps this little clip best explains your problem

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7G_zSos8w_I"]John Cleese Explaining Stupidity - YouTube[/ame]