Snow Tires

[that_guy]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Bridgestone winter tires aren't very good. I'd be interested to know what ambient temperatures tire rack tested those two bridgestone winters in dry braking.

Regardless, no Bridgestone winter tire will ever get onto my cars, they are hopeless winter tires sold with marketing hype to customers who don't know any better.

As for tire width it seems you just argued against yourself there.

No offense, but your comments are clearly based on a bias you have with certain brands and tire types. Bridgestone make one of the best winter tires in the biz and considering I've actually run on a good chunk of their line-up in winter time, I'd say I have a good sample behind me to make that claim. The WS70 has equal sipe count to a Nokian, but without the cost. And they are easier to find, so if you ever needed a replacement, you don't need to go on a scavenger hunt to find a spare.

Now his comments about the width are 100% correct. Unlike summer driving, winter tires have a balance point where too wide is bad and too narrow is bad. Your ideal is to be a little narrower than stock or stock. You want enough tread width so that you can still make an emergency stop on dry pavement (and not exceed stock braking distance by much) but you want it just narrow enough that the tire isn't trying to run over the snow, but rather cut into it.

Many people will argue about which type, brand, etc on winter tires, far more than any other tire type. Just do your homework and be prepared to live with the consequences. Ask yourself, do you want a winter tire that performs best in the worst the winter can throw at you or do you want a tire that offers a moderate improvement in winter and a mild compromise in dry? If you answered "yes" to the second part, a Performance Winter is probably for you. But to me, a Performance Winter is like an all-season tire. A tire that is basically useless at anything it does.

[Burrcold]

Just switched back to my winters (Blizzak WS70's) coming from Pilot Super Sport's on stock rims.

Wow I forgot how much this car floates around at higher speeds on winter tires. I'm assuming this is normal, but is a bit scary (need to adjust my driving even on dry roads).

How's everyone else's experience since putting winters on?

[FLYFISHR]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

How's everyone else's experience since putting winters on?

Put my new boots on yesterday (coming from stocks to yokahama ice guards) and found they break loose a lot easier from the line and that the back end feels like it wants to step out a bit more in a corner if I get on the throttle like I have gotten use too.

[chanomatik]

I'm still delaying putting mine on even though I finally got my STI wheels back. Looking forward to riding on lightly used Hankook iPikes again. Been too long!

Sometimes we get delayed winters in Alaska where instead of snow we get strong winds and bitter cold for a week or two. Then it just dumps and we're in for a ride!

[jermyzy]

Just ordered a set of Michelin x-ice xi3 on 16" steelies, my first time driving RWD in winter, wish me luck Granted, we usually don't get too much snow in Vancouver, but we do get black ice

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

Just switched back to my winters (Blizzak WS70's) coming from Pilot Super Sport's on stock rims.

Wow I forgot how much this car floates around at higher speeds on winter tires. I'm assuming this is normal, but is a bit scary (need to adjust my driving even on dry roads).

How's everyone else's experience since putting winters on?

Bridgestone W series are not a stable tire. They use multicell rubber (like the first studless winter tires from the 70's) for the top 50% of the tread then the last 50% is just an all season rubber. They foist around when new and skate around when worn. Just a marketing man's tire.

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/...jsp?techid=116

Replace those 'stones with proper winter tires from Nokian, Continental, Pirelli or Michelin if they are even half worn.

Heck even Dunlop or Hankook make better winter tires than Bridgestone.

[jermyzy]

Originally Posted by StarshipPoopers

Just put on my Michelin X-Ice3 205/55/16's on the weekend. Still trying to get them dialed in. At 37psi the car was sliding all over the place with slightly wet roads. Dropped them down to 34psi and they feel too soft now but are much better. Might try 35-36 and see how that feels.

With previous cars I've always ran the winter tires a couple of pounds higher than the car recommended in order to compensate for the softer sidewalls, but the FR-S feels different.

Are the x-ice xi3 that bad? I bought them because they got really good reviews on auto websites, but it seems a lot of people here are having problems with them

[tinma]

Originally Posted by khan

I would be interested in knowing more about the Ultra Grips too. Could you find anything out yet?

so far with the Ultra Grip I noticed that the traction is pretty bad....when I am merging onto the highway I notice that I slip very easily on dry roads and lose traction when i start to accelerate...(not even pushing the pedal to the floor).

[jermyzy]

Any recommendations on ramps to use to fit the jack under the car? Even with my lowered RSX before, my jack would just fit under the car. With the BRZ, it won't fit, lol.

[khan]

Originally Posted by tinma

so far with the Ultra Grip I noticed that the traction is pretty bad....when I am merging onto the highway I notice that I slip very easily on dry roads and lose traction when i start to accelerate...(not even pushing the pedal to the floor).

Thanks for getting back. I went ahead and got General Altimax Arctics. Haven't fitted them on yet.

[jermyzy]

Originally Posted by khan

Thanks for getting back. I went ahead and got General Altimax Arctics. Haven't fitted them on yet.

My wife has General Altimax Arctics (granted on a 4wd impreza) and she has never been stuck anywhere.

[ZionsWrath]

Looks like some people are seeing snows arent a god send. They will probably make you want to kill yourself if you enjoy spirited driving. But that feel in the snow can be worth it if you get a lot of snow.

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by jermyzy

Any recommendations on ramps to use to fit the jack under the car? Even with my lowered RSX before, my jack would just fit under the car. With the BRZ, it won't fit, lol.

I think there's a good ultra low profile aluminum jack available at CT bearing the nice and reliable Michelin brand name. I have their regular low profile jack which fits under most cars (my lowered Audi S4 for example)

How low is your car? Stock is 5.9 inches ground clearance. Even down as low as 3 inches gives enough clearance for a regular low profile aluminum jack.

You have to have one as obviously you can't change a tire using ramps!

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by StarshipPoopers

Just put on my Michelin X-Ice3 205/55/16's on the weekend. Still trying to get them dialed in. At 37psi the car was sliding all over the place with slightly wet roads. Dropped them down to 34psi and they feel too soft now but are much better. Might try 35-36 and see how that feels.

With previous cars I've always ran the winter tires a couple of pounds higher than the car recommended in order to compensate for the softer sidewalls, but the FR-S feels different.

First you need around 1,000 km on any new tire before judging its performance. For snow tires especially most good studless winter tires seem hopeless until all the sipes are properly scrubbed in. Fastest way to scrub new tires in is to slide the car around, so you're on the right track there!

Higher pressure is needed for grip as lower pressure leads to larger slip angles for a given amount of road grip. Don't lower pressures in winter tires, run stock pressures or slightly higher.

Remember to set cold pressures allowing for any expected changes in ambient temperature between the time and place you set or check the pressures and the time and place you will be driving.

For every 5C difference in these temperatures add 1 psi for colder and remove 1 psi for expected warmer temperatures. If you check the pressures in a warm garage or tire shop (surprising how many tire monkeys forget or don't know this) at say 20C and you drive out into say -20C ( common enough in Canada) your measured tire pressure in that warm shop will drop by 8 psi (approximately) when you finally park overnight. This really means you must set those "cold" pressures 8 psi too high (not to exceed the sidewalk maximum) which for this car in stick size would be 43 psi. Yes, really.

This is one reason Canada didn't make TPMS mandatory. Canadians MUST constantly check and adjust cold tire pressures to be safe because our climate is so variable and extreme. Your TPMS is set to trigger only after you lose about 6 psi so the tires are dangerously under inflated long before the warning trips.

Finally, there's a huge trade off between studless winter tire grip on ice and snow and bare road grip. Deciding which winter tire to run is like deciding which woman you want to date: what is your objective?

Michelin X ice series of winter tires give superb grip in severe winter conditions but the trade off will be fairly heart stopping poor grip on bare roads. You pays your money and makes your choice. Pirelli Sottozeros on my car are at the other end of the choice range. Fantastic bare road performance and heart stopping poor grip on snow (adequate actually but nowhere near as good as a Michelin X ice in snow).

Smokin' hot Italian girlfriend or the girl you could take home to dinner to meet your Mom? Which is it to be gentlemen?