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Author Topic: Winter Tires  (Read 6210 times)

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Offline attworth

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Winter Tires
« on: January 27, 2015, 12:04:17 PM »
So, I'm about 90% sure I'll be moving to a place which mandates snow tires in the winter. I was wondering what's the best bang out there for small cars. Looking to put 195/65R15s on my stock wheels. I've been real happy with my current all season Pirellis (C7s).

Thanks guys.

Offline Blown F-150

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #1 on: January 27, 2015, 01:55:06 PM »
I ran Hankook IPike's on the Mazda6 and was very impressed (Studless). Decent wear, but also gripped well on glare ice. A couple of my buddies who do studless ice racing, put me on them.

I have also heard good things about Michelin X-Ice.

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Offline Too Stroked

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2015, 06:12:35 PM »
X-Ice or Blizzaks. The only way to fly. Skip the studs too. And remember, go with the narrowest tire (of the correct diameter) you can find for maximum traction in hard pack or ice. You can totally negate the effects of a great snow & ice tire by going too wide.

Offline attworth

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2015, 09:32:45 PM »
X-Ice or Blizzaks. The only way to fly. Skip the studs too. And remember, go with the narrowest tire (of the correct diameter) you can find for maximum traction in hard pack or ice. You can totally negate the effects of a great snow & ice tire by going too wide.

Tom, 195/60R15s are about 8" wide. Is that still too much? Another factor, there may be a "no posted speed limit" freeway in my future, which, obviously won't be flying on snow, but when it's dry I don't want to sacrifice too much since everyone around will be going stupid fast?

Offline Kitzy

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #4 on: January 27, 2015, 09:39:47 PM »
I was going to recommend exactly what Tom recommended.  I should mention its from past research and I don't have any experience of my own with them.

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Offline Too Stroked

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #5 on: January 28, 2015, 11:18:50 AM »
Tony,

Perhaps I need to clarify the tire width thing a bit. Generally speaking, a narrower tire puts more pounds down per square inch of contact area. On hard packed snow and ice, this is critical. (Just look at a World Rally Car to see what they use.) In loose snow – where one may want to float over the top of it – a wider tire gives you that ability. Unfortunately, these two needs and tire widths are mutually exclusive. You just can’t have great performance in both. Ultimately, the type of driving you do, what surfaces you’ll be driving on and how long you want your tires to last can dramatically change what tire you want to put on the VW.

If most of your driving will be on hard packed snow and ice, a true Snow & Ice tire like the X-Ice and Blizzak are the only way to fly. They have a very soft tread compound with lots of small sipes to grip the road surface. And, they do not harden up as much when it gets cold. If you stay with a narrow width, you will have the ultimate grip on snow & ice. The downside to this kind of tire is that they wear pretty quickly due to the soft compound. And, they don’t handle (grip) nearly as well as a harder tire when you have a dry road surface.

If you want decent grip and longer life – or if you drive on dry roads most of the time – you might want to go for something less aggressive like a General Altimax Arctic. They’re not quite as soft or grippy, but still damn good on snow and ice. And, they’ll last longer. I have these on my Tacoma and xB and like them. I’d love to go with Blizzaks or X-Ice’s, but I do too much hard surface driving – and we get 100” of snow a year. I did stay with narrow widths though with 235s on the Taco and 185s on the xB. My son has 195 Blizzaks on his xB and the damn thing is awesome.

Hope that helps!

Tom

Offline gesfour

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #6 on: January 28, 2015, 06:31:55 PM »
Blizzaks are fantastic tires.  I've had a set for nearly every car I've ever owned.  Currently have Blizzak WS-70s on my VW CC 4motion and Blizzak DMV-1s on my wife's Volvo XC90.  Both cars are AWD and, with the Blizzaks, we rarely - if ever - have any trouble.  As Tom pointed out, they are very good on snow but nothing short of amazing on ice. 


Offline attworth

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2015, 10:57:46 PM »
Hey guys thanks for the input. It looks like we're going to Southwestern Germany. I honestly don't know what weather to expect, but do know they mandate snow tires in the "winter." We do plan to travel Europe as much as possible while we're there, so there's no telling what we'll encounter.

I don't even know if we're going to be able to take the car, need to call the bank.

Offline sscully

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #8 on: January 29, 2015, 12:22:45 AM »
Might want to find out what is meant by  "snow tires".
- It could be an all season tire could fit the bill.

As for taking your car, you will need to get it inspected and plan on needing modifications to meet EEC regulations.

Had a few threads on F150OL about changing the rear directional to be yellow bulbs in the reverse lamp location, and the reverse lamp had to be under the bumper on the driver's side.

Vehicles that we run on the roads here would not be allowed on the roads in Europe.
Steve

Offline attworth

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2015, 08:23:09 PM »
Might want to find out what is meant by  "snow tires".
- It could be an all season tire could fit the bill.

As for taking your car, you will need to get it inspected and plan on needing modifications to meet EEC regulations.

Had a few threads on F150OL about changing the rear directional to be yellow bulbs in the reverse lamp location, and the reverse lamp had to be under the bumper on the driver's side.

Vehicles that we run on the roads here would not be allowed on the roads in Europe.

They require legit snow tires with the snowflake or snowflake/mountain symbol. As for mods, I'm military so nothing is required - just have to be registered on base.

Offline sscully

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #10 on: January 29, 2015, 11:32:56 PM »
I recall the 2010 ruling, I went looking for an updated one.
The All Season M+S tire was not that big of a deal to most.  The morons that spent all their money on super grip summer tires and could not afford a decent pair of winter tires caused the law change.

From the Bahmholder Provost marshal JUL-2014 :

Quote
What is a winter tire? According to the UN-ECE-Regulation (ECE-R 30 and 54), EC Directives (Directive 92/23 EEC), and Road Traffic Ordinance (§36), winter tires need to be marked with M+S (M&S, M.S.). This applies also to so-called all-season tires, which are marked accordingly. Some useful information is also the “snow flake“ marking (in addition to the M + S marking), which certifies that the tire passed a test on its winter qualities. However, this marking is not compulsory. The marking M+S is sufficient for a winter or an all-season tire. The marking is on the sidewall. It specifies that the tire is still safe in mud and snow (better traction).


http://www.baumholder.army.mil/media/Safety/Winter/Winterreifenpflicht%20in%20Deutschland_eng.pdf

This is the law I recall, which all season M+S tires is what the law calls.  I could not find a newer law update.  I can ask the guys in DE if it was changed again.
Steve

Offline Too Stroked

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Re: Winter Tires
« Reply #11 on: January 30, 2015, 10:20:51 AM »
The best winter use only tires are marked "Snow & Ice."

 


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