Wander On Snow Tires

[Mr Breeze]

Originally Posted by Alpha86

This is my first year I've ever run true snow tires - used Blizzak WS80s that still look great. From day 1 I've noticed they have a lot of wandering when accelerating moderately hard on dry pavement compared to the stock Potenza all-seasons. Is this normal just because of how soft the compound is? It gets slightly better the colder it is, and in the wet/snow its not noticeable. Thanks.

This was one of the reasons I replaced my Blizzaks with all season UHP tires. They ride and handle much better above 20 degrees than Blizzaks, and there are many days where those conditions are common where I live.

[Ktse]

Originally Posted by RayRay88

It's the WS80's, honestly some of the shittiest tires in dry/wet that I've ever had the displeasure of driving on. They're incredibly soft and the tire carcass itself is way too compliant for a chassis of this nature. I can literally hop into the next lane if I give the car more than 70% throttle in the dry.
Upside is they were amazing in the snow, but now on its almost 3rd season, the microcell/swiss cheese compound is all but gone and they're just horribly average.
Next year i'm going to try the Conti Wintercontact SI's.

I ran a new set of Contis this winter and I'll say that they are pretty soft in dry and temperatures above 0 celcius but great in the snow. In previous years, I used the first generation Michelin X ice which felt a little more solid in the dry but not as confident in the snow.

I'd argue that almost any tire that's really good in the snow will feel pretty sluggish in the dry since they will have softer compounds and more sipes to get more traction in the snow. The X Ices felt better in the dry because it has less sipes and a slightly harder compound in the cold. It's all a compromise.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

[Ernest72]

Originally Posted by Mr Breeze

This was one of the reasons I replaced my Blizzaks with all season UHP tires. They ride and handle much better above 20 degrees than Blizzaks, and there are many days where those conditions are common where I live.

It depends on the year. This year in NY with very little snow, all seasons would have been fine for me. But I like knowing that I can go anywhere during a blizzard with out issue. The sacrifice is a squishy feeling at 75mph and loss of turn in from soft tires. But I also have a BRZ with all seasons for good weather days. If global warming keeps up I might just go back to all seasons. Time will tell.

[ZDan]

Pirelli Sottozero III are surprisingly good in warmish weather (dry or wet), and are quite responsive with stiff(ish) sidewalls. However they are not quite as good in snow as some of the better dedicated winters. But much better than all-seasons in that regard.

[venturaII]

You don't know what wandering and slip angle are until you run dedicated snows with studs, and an aggressive alignment...lol. The car is f-ing hilarious to drive...

[RayRay88]

Originally Posted by Ktse

I ran a new set of Contis this winter and I'll say that they are pretty soft in dry and temperatures above 0 celcius but great in the snow. In previous years, I used the first generation Michelin X ice which felt a little more solid in the dry but not as confident in the snow.

I'd argue that almost any tire that's really good in the snow will feel pretty sluggish in the dry since they will have softer compounds and more sipes to get more traction in the snow. The X Ices felt better in the dry because it has less sipes and a slightly harder compound in the cold. It's all a compromise.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

It's the over all tire construction, it's just horrible. The car wanders over any road imperfection and violently lurches on any aggressive part throttle application. Dry performance is basically non existent. Like I said, now that the outer layer has worn down, snow performance is below average. I've had other winter tires that have been miles better and last much longer.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Ktse

It's all a compromise.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

This ^
Snow, AS, summer, performance, any tire no matter what cost!