Car feels squirrely on winter tires?

[drewbot]

Originally Posted by SkAsphalt

Considering the maximum speed rating for these tires is 170km you are already approaching 80% of their maximum limits when you are going 130. I wonder why they are "squirmy" when you go above that.... also considering the have very poor ratings on dry roads (where I optimistically assume is where you are driving above 130 km/h) it does not shock me in the least that your tread heavy tires have a hard time rotating at high speed

Haha yeah I am no means complaining, you can't have it all

[stugray]

I have the Hankook Ipikes as well.
I dont notice ANY of the crazy stuff you guys are shwoing above.

The ONLY thing I notice is a little less grip in the few places that I typically push it to the limits of TC coming on.
Of course I dont drive as hard as the summer tires even when dry because I dont want to tear them up in one winter.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by BRZerk

the slip angle is so high on winter tires due to the deep tread that the tires can actually deflect enough to confuse and set off of the TC w.o actually losing traction

Exactly. The car gets confused and thinks it's actually sliding when it's really just because the tires are acting like rubber bands.

[Weasel Soup]

Yes, snow tires do feel more squishy/squirmy on dry roads. My car tends to crab just a little bit even with snow tires when the roads are covered is wet slushy snow, especially when the road is crowned.

And as other have said, if you only got a pair of snow tires (as in two) and not a whole set (as in four) that's a huge reason why your car is a handful.

[gravitylover]

I have Conti EWC 205/50/17 and love them. They are damn near as competent with everything I've thrown at them as the stock tires are. Granted I haven't had them on in temps over about 50* so there is that but, rock solid up to ~90 with no hint of squirm and impressive amounts of grip to help keep the car playful when temp are in the 20's. I went a fraction taller for a little softer ride on crappy winter pavement and haven't lamented the narrower tread at all, in fact I think it helps the wet performance. We've had a ton of rain here since the end of November and they've been great, plenty of confidence to play point and shoot in traffic in bad weather. They are pretty quiet on most road surfaces too.

Recommend

[BB18]

I have Michelin X-Ice XI3's.

They've been fantastic since the moment I've put them on. I drive at least 60kms a day on them. I haven't felt TOO much of a performance decrease. Speed is usually consistently under 115km/h.

The temperature range I've experienced them in have been anywhere from +15C/59F (one day happened to be warm in November) to -20C/-4F. The past few weeks have been in the -10C/14F to -15C/5F (without windchill).

The squirrely-ness on my car is generally very minimal to non-existent.

[daiheadjai]

I have Continental Extreme WinterContacts 205/55R16.
Got them last year, and thought they were much more squirmy/squishy than the stockers (even more than expected).
This year, however, I inflated them to 35psi and the difference is huge. The tires behave much better in turns now - more solid and with seemingly less flex. I think my installer had underinflated them last year (I installed them myself this year).

That might be a solution for those who don't like the squirminess!

[gravitylover]

^^ Good point on the pressure. I run mine at 36 front and 35 rear.

[DocWalt]

I was running low pressures for a little while (too lazy to check the pressures) and it definitely squirmed a lot worse even at 33 psi. Bump it up to the stock 35 for sure, maybe even a bit higher.

[CoupedUpSubie]

Tire pressure plays a huge role in handling on any tire. Last year I ran mine at 32 psi but bumped them to 35 psi for this winter and they are much better. I'm on 16" wheels.

[Kkobe2]

Update on the tires, after about 400 miles they have no issues and are similar to stock tires in performance with the exception of a softer ride and some horizontal roll going into tight corners.

[alfa90]

Good to know, I put four Conti's on this winter and looks like I will get the chance to try them out the Monday night into Tuesday. Expecting between one to two inches of snow, rain.

[gravitylover]

Yup should be able to give them a good test coming home from work tomorrow night. We will probably have 4-6" by the time I leave and a few more by the time I get home almost 60 miles later. Hip hip hooray for low clearance Hey maybe I get to scrub some of the salt from the last week off the underside while on the highway

[RobertPaulson]

i have 205/50r17 ws70 from blizzak, great tired under 45, not overly squirmy in the wet again unless its over 45. it does track a bit vaguely on the freeway, but i never go over 65 with them for that reason. Well we're having a january "heat wave" out west where its been over 50 and was 62 and raining friday, 66 and dry on sunday, you want a squirly tire, try driving these blizzaks in wet 60 degree weather. i said fuck it when i got home from work sunday and threw on the summer tires.