Snow Tires (more)
09-04-1999, 01:11 PM
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Snow Tires (more)
Found the following great post in the archives. With fall here and winter approaching, I thought it was worth a repost for those who missed it:
Posted by Chris L. on 1999-06-25 11:37:57:
The sport option will come with 205/55-16s, many people will step down their winter wheels/tires to 195/65-15s since narrower tires 'bite' better into the snow. The obvious trade-off is a taller sidewall and less contact patch which will detract from performance in normal dry conditions.
I have poured through the archives on snow tire opinions and can offer the following summary:
-Bridgestone Blizzaks and Michelin Alpins are the best for driving in treachorous conditions like ice or packed snow. They use an 'ice' compound which is softer and grips better to snow/ice. Their tread, however, is not very aggressive (probably to compensate for softer rubber). They have a reputation of feeling "squirmy" on dry pavement - especially if you move to a taller
sidewall in the 195/65-15. A big drawback with the Blizzaks seems to be that they wear quickly and once the first 30-40% of the tread compound is gone, you are left with no more than an all-season tire. The Alpins won a comparison test last year in Consumer Reports.
-Dunlop Winter Sport M2s and Pirelli 210P(?) appear to be snow tires oriented to performance on dry roads with very good performance in the snow, albeit inferior to the "ice" tires mentioned above. The Dunlops supposedly finished at the top of a comparison of the top 20 snow tires done by
Porsche last winter factoring dry, wet, and snow performance. Many A4.org'ers have gotten the Perelli snow tire pakage from Gary at Ronal and have been very pleased.
Nokian Hakkapalita 1s - These tires seem to have almost a cult following (do a forum search on them and you'll see what I mean) and appear to fall right in the middle of the two categories mentioned above. Excellent reports from the field in both dry and snowy conditions. Also, the treadlife of the Hakkas appear to be extraordinary. The tread design is quite aggressive and as a result they are great in deep snow but road noise on dry pavement is definitely a drawback.
I used the Hak 1s this past winter and have nothing but good things to say. I stuck with the 205/55-16 b/c I was unwilling to sacrifice too much performance - and I figured that Quattro will make up for any lost traction.
Hope this helps.
Chris
Nice summary, eh? Go to the library and check out last Nov.'s Consumer Reports to see the results of their snow tire test. The test included Blizzaks, Pirelli Asimmetricos, Dunlop Graspics, and Yokohama Guardex. Didn't include Dunlop M2s or Nokians. The Michelin was rated best for "all around performance" and third (out of eight)in "snow/ice performance", behind the Yoko Guardex and Dunlop Graspic (which came in sixth and seventh in the "all around" rankings).
In regard to the Dunlops (including the M2s), found this interesting info on their web site (dunloptire.com):
"Six tire lines manufactured by Dunlop Tire Corporation have been approved for use in Severe Snow Conditions. North American tire manufacturers and the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) have established this new voluntary industry definition for passenger and light truck tires intended for use in severe snow conditions. Tires meeting this performance based criteria feature tread patterns, construction elements and materials that provide superior snow performance."
I read about this new rating in Rodent Rack a few months back. It includes a mountain and snowflake pictogram on the tire sidewall. Michelin has no such claim yet, but they can't be far behind. One post in the archives said Michelin was to bring out a Pilot Alpin soon - if that's true it should be a good handler.
Bill H.
Still waiting for loaded 99.5 2.8 Avant QMS to arrive.
Posted by Chris L. on 1999-06-25 11:37:57:
The sport option will come with 205/55-16s, many people will step down their winter wheels/tires to 195/65-15s since narrower tires 'bite' better into the snow. The obvious trade-off is a taller sidewall and less contact patch which will detract from performance in normal dry conditions.
I have poured through the archives on snow tire opinions and can offer the following summary:
-Bridgestone Blizzaks and Michelin Alpins are the best for driving in treachorous conditions like ice or packed snow. They use an 'ice' compound which is softer and grips better to snow/ice. Their tread, however, is not very aggressive (probably to compensate for softer rubber). They have a reputation of feeling "squirmy" on dry pavement - especially if you move to a taller
sidewall in the 195/65-15. A big drawback with the Blizzaks seems to be that they wear quickly and once the first 30-40% of the tread compound is gone, you are left with no more than an all-season tire. The Alpins won a comparison test last year in Consumer Reports.
-Dunlop Winter Sport M2s and Pirelli 210P(?) appear to be snow tires oriented to performance on dry roads with very good performance in the snow, albeit inferior to the "ice" tires mentioned above. The Dunlops supposedly finished at the top of a comparison of the top 20 snow tires done by
Porsche last winter factoring dry, wet, and snow performance. Many A4.org'ers have gotten the Perelli snow tire pakage from Gary at Ronal and have been very pleased.
Nokian Hakkapalita 1s - These tires seem to have almost a cult following (do a forum search on them and you'll see what I mean) and appear to fall right in the middle of the two categories mentioned above. Excellent reports from the field in both dry and snowy conditions. Also, the treadlife of the Hakkas appear to be extraordinary. The tread design is quite aggressive and as a result they are great in deep snow but road noise on dry pavement is definitely a drawback.
I used the Hak 1s this past winter and have nothing but good things to say. I stuck with the 205/55-16 b/c I was unwilling to sacrifice too much performance - and I figured that Quattro will make up for any lost traction.
Hope this helps.
Chris
Nice summary, eh? Go to the library and check out last Nov.'s Consumer Reports to see the results of their snow tire test. The test included Blizzaks, Pirelli Asimmetricos, Dunlop Graspics, and Yokohama Guardex. Didn't include Dunlop M2s or Nokians. The Michelin was rated best for "all around performance" and third (out of eight)in "snow/ice performance", behind the Yoko Guardex and Dunlop Graspic (which came in sixth and seventh in the "all around" rankings).
In regard to the Dunlops (including the M2s), found this interesting info on their web site (dunloptire.com):
"Six tire lines manufactured by Dunlop Tire Corporation have been approved for use in Severe Snow Conditions. North American tire manufacturers and the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) have established this new voluntary industry definition for passenger and light truck tires intended for use in severe snow conditions. Tires meeting this performance based criteria feature tread patterns, construction elements and materials that provide superior snow performance."
I read about this new rating in Rodent Rack a few months back. It includes a mountain and snowflake pictogram on the tire sidewall. Michelin has no such claim yet, but they can't be far behind. One post in the archives said Michelin was to bring out a Pilot Alpin soon - if that's true it should be a good handler.
Bill H.
Still waiting for loaded 99.5 2.8 Avant QMS to arrive.
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