First Snow in a '14 iT Manual

[npaladin2000]

Given how the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires have tested, I don't think someone buying them is giving up much extra summer grip, if any (guess I'll find out soon enough). Other tires, one's mileage may vary: the Continental ExtremeContact DWS definitely trades off some dry performance for wet- and snow-capability, the G019 GRIDs I used to have were better in dry, less good in snow (though still pretty good), and also impacted fuel economy for the worse, slightly but noticeably.

It's all a matter of tradeoffs and what works best for each individual situation.

The upside is that there's enough information out there now to make it worth it for manufacturers to make really really good tires. I remember when the extent of the info out there was "Sale!" and people just bought the cheapest available rubber because the only performance information for the things were the manufacturer specs, at least for consumer tires. These days if you make a Extreme DWS, or a Pilot Sport A/S or a Nokian WR people will actually find out about the advantages over the $29.95 clearance special at Bob's Wheel and Deel.

 

[npaladin2000]

Incidentally, this was the first morning below 30 degrees here. The OEM Dunlop tires are definitely not in the "good all season" category, they get hard below 30 degrees until they get up to operating temperature, and don't grip well. They would qualify as one of those "no season" or "three season" tires. Glad I'm getting rid of them this weekend.

 

[snowblazin]

It was just under 30 this morning where I live and the Dunlops seemed to perform OK and gripped about the same as the Pirellis I had on my Porsche. I didn't push the car at all. They aren't the best tires I've had, but so far I see no reason to replace them before they wear out. I reserve the right to change my mind as the season progresses, however. That said, they clearly have no traction on ice -- but very few all season tires I've ever had do. I will not replace them with Dunlops, however. One more comment -- the tires came to me overinflated and reducing the tire pressure helped traction dramatically.

You summed up my thoughts perfectly. I read a lot of negative reviews on these tires and after having spent the past few days in freezing temps, dealing with rain and snow, it hasn't been nearly as bad as all the reviews say. And this is coming from someone who's had AWD and Blizzaks the past 2 winters. I was expecting much worse.

 

[MIMazda]

A little anecdotal data. We have snow at home, and a good amount thanks to Lake Michigan. I drove my wife's car w/ Conti 1yr old all seasons >150 miles on the highway and when I got home it was squirrely in the snow with traction control and ABS going bonkers. Whatever operating temp they reached it didn't do anything for their snow grip. They're just bad in the snow. I had the same thing with the stock Michelin's on my Mazda6 as well as the Toyo Proxes 4, Goodyear Eagle GT and General G-Max tires that followed. They're decent for about 3 seasons, but none are very good in the snow.

Normally my '6 would get winter tires for the season, but I don't want to do multiple wheel swaps this winter when I trade in the old '6 for the new Mazda3. So, the winters went on the wife's car and it's much better now. Her car doesn't have a handbrake so it's hard to intentionally get the rear to step out when cornering, but that's okay.

 

[npaladin2000]

Which Contis were those, do you know?

 

[MIMazda]

Conti ProContact. They're on a last generation Nissan Altima, and they're good for around town and highway.

 

[npaladin2000]

Ok, they have a few, i think they also have an EcoContact as well as the ExtremeContacts. I can't vouch for the ProContacts or EcoContacts, I had the ExtremeContacts. They probably use different compounds though, especially the Ecos.

 

[Sean O'Gorman]

Had my first drive in the snow on Wednesday. My '01 Protege MP3 was never very good in the snow, I think the stiff suspension and short wheelbase made it unstable, and an unstable FWD car is never any fun, it just understeers. I sold it when it got too rusty to keep working on, and bought snow tires for my RX-8, but I'm selling that as well. I ended up pulling it from the trade-in on my 3 (I was offered what I wanted on the open market for the car) because I wanted to keep it to hoon in the snow a few times before putting away and then selling, but haven't been able to yet.

Anyway, the car seem to accelerate, turn, and brake fine at speed, but at low speed (under 5 MPH), it slides like crazy when you hit the brakes. I'll have snow tires on my old MP3 OEM wheels by this weekend, I'll be curious the improvements and to see how it looks.

 

[Poco Askew]

On my car the brakes tend to grab at low speed no matter how lightly I apply them. I'm thinking it will be my biggest problem in the snow. We got 7" a week ago. It is still on the ground but I've been driving our AWD SUV and 4WD truck.