Sorry, but I will never own a all season tire on my saab. I prefer to call them no-season since they do nothing great. dry/wet traction is worse then a summer tire & snow/ice traction is worse then a set of snows.

 

I have not used those tires. I have Goodyear Eagle GT's on my car and I am really pleased with their overall performance.



Unless you live in a No-Season climate were it gets too cold for summer tires and doesn't snow enough so you just burn up snow tires way to fast. A good all season tire makes good grip in the dry and the wet, while not being utterly useless on black ice and the occasional snow.

 

I guess if you live in Mentor that must get a ton of lake effect snow that would be an issue. If I lived up in the Cascades and had to deal with a foot of Sierra Cement again an issue. Up at Deer Valley or where they get a 2' dump of "champagne powder", I'd run dedicated snows.

Most people who play in snow and chomp at the bit waiting for major events perhaps? But the average guy who just waits for the plow go by it is really overkill. It is nice if you have the money and the storage. What is a young couple going to do that lives in a smallish condo or apartment? Ya, ya, I know the answer; Dads garage. :mrgreen:

Play time on a Saab? Yeah it ain't a bad idea.

Just remember the bad news. The last time I got dedicated snows they were gone by spring. That soft rubber of the Pirelli tires wore away in a few months because we didn't get much. Dry conditions chew them up so getting an M&S that has good reviews in the snow ain't a half bad idea for many.

 

I'm running Hankook i-pikes this year. I'll probably just do stud banding instead of full studding. I could have used them this morning but they are not on the car yet. We had accumulating sleet and I've still got my summer performance tires on.

 

I am on my 4th season with blizzak's on my viggen & I should be able to get another 1-2 seasons out of them. We do not get much snow here since I am on the opposite side of the state vs mentor. So 80-90% of the winter the roads are free of snow/ice. When we do get snow usually it's in the 1-4 inch area.

I can't sit back and wait for the roads to clear, if I have to work I must be there, I can't wait for the plows to go by

To me.... I think the safety of being able to be out in that weather is worth it especially when you have other lives (wife, kids etc) to worry about.

In the summer I do not like the feel of all season tires. They are to weak in the sidewall & do not get any grip, just spin...... the last all seasons I used were the toyo proxes 4's which actually performed descent for what they are.

The all season Nokian WR & I think WRg2 line is a great tire to use as a winter tires. Not as aggressive as a dedicated snow but still does really well in the snow.

 

Those do look like a nice all season..... price is reasonable too. I have done both routes, all season and dedicated snows and summers. I will admit the dedicated way is the best way. All Season suck for anyone who likes to have some fun in their car. If you own a Honda or a Toyota get some all seasons... lol My 9000 hates these all season I have on it now, but for $90 for all 4 tires I wasn't going to say no...

 

The Conti's are a real good all season tire, Delorean had the previous gen on his 9-5, and recently got a set of the ones in the first post a few months ago. For whatever reason they seem to resist the dreaded 9-5 cupping issue better than pretty much any other tire he's run before. They also work pretty darn good in all the areas you'd expect an all season to work in, cant go plowing through 4' drifts, and you probably won't set any autox records, but they do the stuff in between pretty well.

Paul

 

Good traction in dry/wet is a relative term I guess..... I have had good all season tires ($200 each tire) & I hated them. The chepaer toyo's were the best all season I used but their summer grip was still lacking (& they got really noisy as they aged). Making clouds of smoke was way to easy.....

To me anything over a 300 treadwear is not fun......

But it really depends on how you drive I guess. My dad loves the all seasons on his 9-3 vert & I think they make the car feel like crap the tires have a 500+ treadwear & cost him way to much. He also can't feel the cowl shake...... If you do not drive hard at all in the summer months then yea, all seasons would probably be fine.

 

To me anything over a 300 treadwear is not fun......

I have a 440 rated tire. I don't agree, hard tires are more fun than sticky tires. They slide in predictable ways and don't require speed approaching the speed of light to have fun. Sure they aren't as fast as sticky summer tires, but on a road car does that extra tenth of a G of road holding really matter?

 

a tenth of a G is quite a bit actually & to me it's not just about being able to go through a turn faster but also being able to stop faster.

A tenth of a G might equal 5-10 feet (total guess) in stopping distance. That is worth it to me if I go out & am having fun on a twisty road or if I am in traffic & we have to go from 75-0 really quick. Which is why I upgraded my stock viggen brakes to AP Racing that was on my old SPG.

I personally do not like sliding on the street (maybe I am getting old or something) so a good tire will allow quite a bit more speed through the turn thus the fun factor is there for me w/o needing to go sideways. I also like how summer tires are more comminicative especially when they are approaching the limit & also when at or above the limit. But yes, if one goes past the limit & cannot save the car more damage will be done due to the added speed which is why I do not like going sideways even when at the track.

But it really depends on how you drive or like to drive

 

I don't slide around much either, but I find the less grippy tires build up to a higher slip angle faster. So I get more of an understeer or oversteer feeling at a lower speed.

Also my hard all-season tires have lasted a hell of a lot longer than any summer tire I've had before them.

 

Also my hard all-season tires have lasted a hell of a lot longer than any summer tire I've had before them.

oh really? would have never guessed that

 

that's true.... I get bummed when a tire lasts 20K miles even though new tire technology is allowing summer tires to last a lot longer. I remember the old yoko A008's & A520's & if I could get 8K miles on a set I was lucky. Now +15K miles with more grip ia the norm. No clue what my direzza's will do.... only complaint so far is they are noisy

which is a horrible short life for all season

not that treadwear rating are universal but that's a good judge of how long a tire will last. With new technology summer tires are lasting longer but nothing like the all season.

 

please break the typical rhode island horrible dumbass driver mold and get snow tires, so your not sliding into me on 95.

75% of my patients didnt make appointments today because of a wreck on 95 this morning because it was *gasp* raining.

 

I have the new Extreme Contact DWS on my 9-3, in 16 inch size. (Sorry GM). I sold my 17 inch wheels and any aspirations of tracking this car again. If I get back into that it will be in another vehicle.

I bought the Conti EC DWS based on it's excellent water and snow ratings, for an all-season tire. Handles any water just fine. Not encountered snow yet (Indiana). I've had them on since spring. Looking forward to discovering how well or worse they run versus the worn out Dunlop Wintersport 3s that I chucked after last winter.

 

Oh, also, they seem to handle stage 3 nordic power just fine.

 

anything with a 540TW is going to suck.
I'm curious why you're drooling over them?

they may last forever, and be all-around okay.. but not worth salivating over.

 

I just want new 155/80/12 for my Geo.... lol and I'm not spending more then $170 on all 4 - and I think they are going to be like 400 - A - A tread rating

Unless I find either the OEM size cheaper (145/80/12) or the larger size of a 165/70/12 !!!

I have no options in that size range - I just want the cheapest tire I can find - period.

 

Tito, I haven't been back to Putnam since 06 or 07, I forget which year. I do hope to go back this coming summer so either go get another car or lets go tear up those DWS's

 

In upper michigan the difference between Potenza all seasons and blizzaks was ridiculous.

In Wisconsin I loved driving by a snow plow in the ditch, stopping and asking if he needed anything and then continuing on my way was great.

I drove in to work this morning in the sleet/rain on my Kuhmos Supras (~210 tread rating summer) and I really need to get some snows on the car.


If you have the space and you live where it gets cold, some snow and need to get to work (farm work here, cows don't care if it snows) then you should running some good tires in winter.

I figured, If I am willing to drop 500 bucks on exhaust and a tune I can spend 400 on tires so I can drive in the snow.

Oh and I just bought a set of "Arctic Claws" used for 1 season off of CL for 130 bucks.

 

I drove in to work this morning in the sleet/rain on my Kuhmos Supras (~210 tread rating summer) and I really need to get some snows on the car.

i did it on star specs but with AWD so at least i didnt feel like i was totally going to die

 

I feel the need to post fun snow pictures:

There, I feel better now.

Now go get some snow tires.

 

When you have an active center diff, steering yes. It was only cold rain on the ground luckily. Im still thinking it was just a freak early snow since it supposed to be 60 again this weekend.

Moral of the story, get snow tires

 

I probably spend 50% of my time sitting in traffic, 49% cruising on the highway, and 1% maybe attacking a corner with an vigor. Even with my 440 tires I can stop better than 95% of the cars around me. If it snows I'm going to stay inside and work from home cause someone will crash into me regardless of what tires I have. DC just sucks like that.

 

i was more worried about the compound chunking.

 

cking,
I have them on my car. Only about 3,000 miles so far, so I can't say anything about treadwear. I think the reviews on tirerack are accurate as far as my experience has been. Good dry traction, excellent in wet. Haven't had snow yet, so I can't say personally. But I tend to wait for the plow anyway before I venture out.

I also agree with the various reviewers re. softer sidewalls and possibly not the best for taking turns.

I bought these when they were priced at $145, they're now $117 I think for the 9-5 Aero 225/45-17 size.
If you're going to get dedicated snow shoes anyway, and you can afford the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus those would be a better choice for dry and cornering stability.

There's more stuff that needs to get fixed in my car, so right now I'm happy I kept my expense on tires low.

 

They tested them in snow storms and they did almost as well as the top rated snow tires...they video is on Tirerack.com...I see no need for dedicated snow tires, you can't have studded tires in New Enland and most people drive around with 50 dollar AS tires in the winter around here. i dont think Tirerack has any reason to rig test...Im pretty excited to get them on my car...as far as performance driving...I have a wagon so how fast am I going to go around turns and in addition less than 10% of the roads in this area are in good enough condition to take corners at speed...if I lived in Germany my thoughts would be different

 

can you tell me which of the 225 45 r17 class gives the QUIETEST ride? Do directional tires make a bigger racket? I am not as interested in performance, and I live in an area with very little snow.

 

generally speaking, "touring class" tires are the quietest.
it's what you'd find on an a6/5-series/avalon/whatever else.

 

I bought the the Conti's DWS for the wife's 9-3SS Aero. Great tire so far but have not seen ice or snow yet. We have about 7k on them at this point.