AWD guys - Winter tire suggestions

[ericdc]

What do you AWD guys do for winter tires? Being that I made it through last winter in my Civic on the stock all season tires a hard core snow tire like a Blizzak seems like extreme overkill on an AWD car. Since the STi comes with summer tires I need to pick up something that will make the car usable and safe for my wife over the winter months.

I am considering these:
- Kumho Ecsta ASX
- Continental Extremecontact DWS
- Pirelli PZero Nero All Season

Any thoughts or other suggestions?

[marka]

Howdy,

Here's my advice.  Its fucking dumb to buy tires dedicated for the winter and not buy actual snow tires.

The determining factor for if you have the right tires isn't "can I squeek by", its "am I giving myself a good chance if a situation goes to hell, even though the chances of that are fairly remote".

Mark

[ericdc]

Here's my advice.  Its fucking dumb to buy tires dedicated for the winter and not buy actual snow tires.

I hear ya. I don't know how long they last but Blizzaks are REALLY soft. Just don't want to buy $800 tires that last one winter when it may be possible to get an all season that would last several years for less money. Thanks for the input, you have me thinking at least.

With the last STi I bought a spare set of wheels off a guy in York Pa. They came with some Avon M550A/S tires that were incredible. Those aren't for sale anymore or I would have just bought them again.

[roundel]

Buy dunlop graspics - whatever number they are up to...  They are awesome in the snow and I could not wear them out driving them all summer.

[cmk]

+1 on Mark's comments.

If you only get one season out of a set of winter tires you are doing it wrong.  I've never failed to get at least four winters out of a set of winter tires on numerous vehicles, including my truck.  That includes Michelin Arctic Alpins, Nitto SN1s, Blizzaks, Yokohamas, and the inexpensive Winterforce tires.

Hell, buy the cheapest winter tires that you can find, like the Winterforce tires (I've owned a set of these a long time ago, and even they were good), and those will be a better alternative than any all season.  

The upside is that the car will be awesome in the worst conditions.  My wife loves driving in the snow with AWD and winter tires.

[DosSi]

Eric how are you? I have five years on my Winterforce tires. Still good to go this year on the VW. When will the STI's be in the dealers?  Ralph

[ericdc]

Eric how are you? When will the STI's be in the dealers?  Ralph

Doing great! Looking forward to racing AWD again. Some have already made it to dealers but they were all preorders. I ordered from Lancaster and expect it to arrive in October. Hopefully early October.

[Josh R.]

I got the General Altimax Arctics for my wife last year and I was very pleased....I actually liked them so much I got an extra set of wheels and bought a set for myself.  They were rated #2 in Consumer Reports, for what that's worth and are very reasonably priced.  They come in a bunch of sizes too.  I will be using my set again this winter and probably for the winter after that if I still have the car. 

[Habib88]

I think this will be the 3rd or so for my cheap ass Winterforce tires.  The upside was once I got a set of winter tires, for the summer I could run around on something much better than all-seasons, rather than having to worry about a tire that will pull double duty and end up sucking equally at both.  And my claim to fame was being the fastest FWD car at the winter autox at beaverun the one year.  Eric you know what a RSX handles like (lol Conestoga Wagon) so yea winter tires are more than worth going for.  I just finally scored a set of steel wheels this year to so no more swapping tires for me 

[betterlotus]

+1 for Firestone Winterforce tires. I have a set that has been though 2 winters so far and still measure at 11/32 tread. IMO Great traction, they make it up and down my ridiculous steep, long driveway in the snow. Same said driveway Carlisle couldn't even make it up in the dry 

[Mark Aubele]

This will be the last year I attempt to not die trying to drive in the snow on summer tires.  Just glanced at the prices for 225/40r18 snows on the tirerack.  Holy shit.  I'm ready to throw smaller brakes on this thing for the winter so I can buy a set of 15" steels!

[1st v-dub]

+1 on both the altimax and the winterforce.  Had the winterforce on my wife's car for 4 winters (plenty of tread but the 4th winter they seemed to fade.  Have had the General Altimax on my car for 2 winters and I love them.

[PDLTURBO]

I'm on season3 of blizzak ws50's.  They are soft, buy seem to wear good.  This is prolly the last winter for them.  But def get snow tires.  I hear the the new ws70's aren't as squishy, but a Subaru with snow tires is almost unstoppable and feels great when there is snow around.

Are you getting the sedan STI?

[psu goat]

Here's another vote for the General Arctic Altimax tires.  I didn't really want to use the 255/50/20's on the TBSS in the winter last year, mainly because I've read way too many stories of the clearcoat on the wheels getting destroyed from salt and ash.  So I picked up a set of 17x8 American Racing wheels for relatively cheap and four 235/70/17 Altimax winter tires. 

The combo of awd with these tires was essentially unstoppable last winter.  Keep in mind I made about 8 trips from Hopwood to Syracuse last winter, including the terrible snowstorms we had in December and February.  I remember driving down my side road that wasn't even touched and tearing through 5" of snow without issue...absolutely slammed on the brakes at 10mph to see how it would handle it and there was very little drama.  ABS flicked on for half a second and the truck came to a halt very abruptly...no sliding whatsoever.  They're a studdable tire, but I didn't bother with that.  I'm not sure how they perform in other sizes on other vehicles, but on this 4600 pound SUV, I was more than pleased.  I put around 4,000 miles on them last winter and they still look practically brand new.

[DarkHelmet]

Well, I had the winterforce tires on the SLowbalt and those things rocked. I got 30K miles out of a set running them for 3 winters and I kept them rotated.

I'd have to agree... forgoe getting all seasons and just get a real set.

glad to hear you're going to be back in an STI again.