fussball.biturbo

Has anyone used these for snow tires? What is your opinion of them? How long do they last?

tia- John

CraigB

I only had them a season and a half, but it seems like I would have gotten 4+ seasons out of them (Oct-Apr). We don't get much snow here in Denver, so I wanted an H-rated tire for the dry roads. They handle fine on plowed roads and in light powder. If there is a lot of ice where you live, I'd recommend a softer tire made for ice.

DAP@EPL

No complaints here.

-Dave Pramanik

Iowaboy

I run them on my S4 and love their bias to the performance end of
the snow tire spectrum. No problems in snow and best snow tire I
have every had in dry.

David
01 S4 Avant 6sp Silver Sport Bose Premium Cold Changer Pilot Sports until 10/15

Iowaboy

oops this should have been under the original post

Pelican Pete

As others have already posted, it is great on wet & dry roads. But when the snow falls, it is only marginally better than an all-season tire. And in deep snow or ice, they are pretty useless.

I see very little snow so they are actually perfect for me. But when the snow falls, I have to slow down. If I had to drive in heavy snow, or drive in snow more frequently, I would get a more aggressive snow tire.

People here say that the Michelin Pilot Alpin and Dunlop Wintersport M2 are very good snow tires, and they are also H-rated performance tires.
I wish I had gotten those instead.

-- Peter

number7

i went an entire iowa winter without the abs kicking in. couldnt believe it. i got them in a 205 on a 16" mille miglia spider. highly recommended.

DAP@EPL

It appeared to me that the Blizzak LM-22 was the best at snow and ice of the the four available H-rated snowtires (the others being the Pirelli SnowSport, Dunlop WinterSport M2, and the Michelin Pilot Alpin).

Reviews put the Pirelli as the best out of the 4 at dry conditions and the Blizzak as the best on snow/ice, with the other two being somewhere in the middle.

Having said that, I've only driven on the Blizzak LM-22s so I have no firsthand experience for comparison.

-Dave Pramanik

Pelican Pete

When I had my Integra, I had Pirelli P210Asimetrico snow tires (they have since been replaced by the SnowSports). Those things were awesome on wet/dry pavement. Not quite as quiet as the LM22, but definitely equivalent in performance. (they were also 205 width tires, just as my LM22's are, although they were 205/50-15, whereas my LM22s are 205/55-16.)

In snow the Pirellis seemed to grip better too -- and this was on a FRONT WHEEL DRIVE Acura Integra. Lateral grip beat the LM22's hands down.

The ONLY reason why I did not buy the same Pirellis for my A4 is that they were being discontinued and replaced at that same time. I never like to buy discontined tires because a replacement would be impossible to get. That's also why I did not buy the Dunlop Wintersport M2 -- there was a rumor that they were being redesigned.

So being a die-hard fan of Bridgestone tires (I've had RE71's on two different cars, RE930 A/S tires, RE730s, and now I have S03's) and knowing the Blizzak reputation, I decided to put my faith in the (then brand new) LM22s over the new Pirelli SnowSports or Michelin Pilot Alpins.
It is a decision that I am not happy about.

Last winter, RKA drove up to the QCUSA Winter Driving School in New Hampshire. He had LM22s on his A4, and the guys in the caravan had Michelins or Dunlops. They all got up there fine, but RKA noticed that the other guys seemed to get through the slippery stuff with less effort and drama.

If you have had good experiences with the LM22's, then you are perhaps a better driver than I am. But I hate these tires in the snow, and will never buy them again. Nor will I recommend them to anyone who drives in more than 2" of snow.
(By the way, I lived in Albany, NY for five years with a front wheel drive Saab. I think I know a thing or two about driving in snow.)

I think my next set of snow tires will be Nokian Hakka Q tires. We'll see...

Cheers,
Peter

RKA

I've used the LM22's (as Peter mentioned) on my A4. Prior to that, I had an Integra with Yoko Guardex 600's (great in snow and ice, total crap on wet and dry pavement). Yes, I took a trip up to NH last year in the middle of an ice storm. The rest of the people in my caravan were running Wintersport M2's. While they were locked down to the icey pavement, my car was drifting about. I eventually took the trailing position in the caravan, and I became the "ice indicator" since they had no clue there was ice on the ground. I should also mention that I later learned that I had an alignment problem, where the toe was off on both rear wheel, but one wheel had more toe that the other, which was effectively pushing the back of the car to one side. While I believe this contributed to the instability I've felt during that particular trip, my overall impression through 2 winters in the LM22's mimic Peter's impressions. I feel they behave more like an all season tire, rather than a dedicated winter tire. On another instance, I navigated an icy slope (and I KNEW it was icy). I stopped at the top, and headed down slowly. My tires instantly locked, and I slid down the slope just like every other car with all season. Having previously owned a car equipped with good snow and ice tires, I will tell you, the performance of the LM22's was unacceptable, even for a high performance snow tire. I've also found that these tires hydroplane all too easily, from the very first day I bought them (205-55-16).

I'm sorry to say this, but Bridgestone pulled the wool over our eyes with these tires. They feel like an all season compound, with a tread pattern that appears to be designed for snow use. Unfortunately, they should have spent some more time refining the tread compound on these tires. The only good things I can say about these tires is that they wear like iron, they are very quiet for a snow tire, and they handle very well on dry pavement...for a snow tire.

So what are your alternatives? Well, Dunlop Wintersport M2's have received resounding praise, as well as being the snow tire of choice for many German auto manufacturers. Michelin Pilot Alpins have also received high praise (these are one of my top choices for next year - I like the wide longitudinal grooves. They should make it easier for the tire to stay in contact with the road in rainy and slushy conditions, which is largely what I will see). Nokian sells the NRW, which used to be marketed as an all season, and is now being marketed as a high perf snow tire (they call it an all weather plus). This tire has also received high praise.