MS3 stock Potenzas in the snow

[rednofive]

anyone tried driving the stock Potenza RE090A tires in the snow and ice?

how bad was it?

Does it really justify me going out and buying some decent all-season tires like Yoko AVID V4S?

I really don't wanna spend the money now cuz if I do, I'm going to have to buy some new Rota's at the same time.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[opt_ms3]

ha, havent tried yet myself, but I'd imagine that they don't hold up very well once the temps drop to 30 degrees. They are a summer performance tire, not all-season.

 

[Nliiitend1]

These stock tires are absolute crap in the snow. You can "get around," but driving on these things in the snow is just asking for a "white-knuckle situation," if you get my drift. They get pretty hard, and don't grip in the white stuff for crap.

I bought my car the last week of December last year while living in Chicago, and it took me about 2 or 3 weeks to find a reasonably good snow tire setup for my car. Those 2 weeks really sucked, and I actually white-knuckled it through a lake-effect snowstorm to go about 2.5 hours away to meet the guy I bought the setup from. We met at a Pepboys so that I could throw them on before driving home...Needless to say, the drive home (through worse snow than I dealt with on the way there) was much more relaxed and pleasant.

Do yourself a favor and get snow tires for the winter. I scored a set of 17x7" Ford Fusion wheels (they fit our cars wonderfully) wrapped in 215/50R17 Dunlop Wintersport M3 tires that only had 4k or so easy miles on them for $400 last year. You just have to look around for deals, or buy a set for the stock wheels and then save your money for a summer setup (wheels and tires) next Spring when it becomes time to shed the snows.

 

[happy and angry]

Who in their right mind would drive a summer performance tire in ice and snow? Of course you should buy a set of dedicated winter tires (or all seasons if you have mild winters).

 

[Alexsered]

I didn't care, I had alot of experience driving in the snow, I was passing 4wd cars that were getting stuck in the snow with my stock tires. Don't do it, its not that bad and not worth the price, unless you have no experience driving inthe snow.

 

[bacarl]

Experience means nothing when you have to stop and your tires aren't physically capable of gripping cold, slick roads well enough to stop you safely.

I would absolutely not recommend chancing it. Is your personal safety not worth a few hundred bucks? Tirerack is selling Blizzak Revo1's for $66 bucks a tire (205/60R16). Comes to $496 mounted on 16" steelies, and that's a good tire. That's also cheap. And if it's not cheap enough, I just bought that exact package with used tires (about 7000 miles) for $250 locally off craigslist, so no shipping necessary.

edit: I have plenty of experience driving in the snow too. I grew up in Michigan and went to school for four years in the U.P., so I drove in quite a few bad storms and lots of deep snow. Knowing how to drive cautiously or transfer the car's weight around doesn't help you stop or get up steep hills.

 

[CHIEFSMS3]

anyone tried driving the stock Potenza RE090A tires in the snow and ice?

how bad was it?

Does it really justify me going out and buying some decent all-season tires like Yoko AVID V4S?

I really don't wanna spend the money now cuz if I do, I'm going to have to buy some new Rota's at the same time.

Thanks,
Pete

I am in Missouri so I probably get similar winter weather.

I did not attempt to drive the stock tires (RE050A) in the snow.

When the temp gets below 40 degrees these tires struggle for grip.

I wasn't willing to chance driving in the snow and I am an experienced

winter driver (35 years). I purchased a set of all-season tires.

Pirelli P Zero Nero 215/45/18 that do a good job for a mid-west winter.

If I lived farther north and got heavier accumulations of snow I would

certainly opt for winter tires.

In my opinion all-season tires are plenty for our amount of snowfall.

I run the Pirelli's on my stock wheels and my summer tires are on a set of

Rota P1's 18x8 w 48 offset.

 

[FrequentFlyer]

My S2000 had the same exact tires driving in freezing rain/snow and I spun out one day, did a 720 degree manuever on a 2 lane, 70mph highway (I was doing about 35-40) and hit the concrete divider. I think I traveled about a 1/4 mile sliding sideways without actually hitting anything. Luckily I was only going about 10mph when I hit it, but it did $4000 damage. When I got out, the tires were completely incased in packed snow and ice. I was driving along at 35mph on level ground in a straight line and all of a sudden I heard the engine rev up as my back tires broke loose and that was it. I just hung on for the ride.

Summer tires are designed to be soft when it's warm and put a lot of rubber on the ground (not much tread). However, once it gets down near freezing temps, they get hard unless you take some air out of them and of course, they don't hold a lot of snow. After I ****** up my S2000, I got a spare set of wheels and Blizzak's and the car handled like a snow mobile. I drove it through 8" of unplowed snow and it handled like a champ. Snow tires stay soft when it's cold and have deep treads, but they will wear quickly if you're driving them on dry pavement a lot. I'd probably get more of a performance snow tire for everyday driving. Something like a Blizzak Revo 1 or Dunlop Wintersport M3. I'd also get some cheap wheels and go with a 16 or 17" tire. Don't waste money on an 18" snow tire and it's much easier to throw a set of snow tires on if you have the spare set of wheels. If you're going to buy Rotas, which I assume are going to be your summer wheels, then I guess you will have to run an 18" snow tire. They're pricey!

EDIT: I had RE050's on my S2000, which is what I thought the MS3 came with. They're not 090 or 070's. Luckily the wheels I bought for the S2000 will fit my MS3. Same lug pattern and high offset.

Depending on your weather, a good all-season may be what you want, but they're a compromise. Not so good on the dry pavement and not so good in the snow. Somewhere in between. You just have to realize that when you're out "feel'n your oats" on that warm winter's day and you go around that hairpin you were used to taking a 60mph, you may end up in the weeds.

 

[happy and angry]

I didn't care, I had alot of experience driving in the snow, I was passing 4wd cars that were getting stuck in the snow with my stock tires. Don't do it, its not that bad and not worth the price, unless you have no experience driving in the snow.

Do not listen to this guy as he is an enormous idiot.

 

[mazdaspeedster3]

Arent we all talking about RE050A's? Also, being in Michigan and waiting till the second snow of the year to go YK520 all seasons the stock tires are the worst. Anyone saying they were passing 4X4's, I can see that, sliding past them. You can get moving with the tires but stopping is next to impossible. I know discount tire will cut extra grooves for you but that does nothing for the compound of the tire that is not rated for below freezing temps. Freezing starts at 32 degrees so very likely you would be unsafe to operate this vehicle with those tires if your weather gets below that on average for winter.

 

[Kain]

How is this even open for discussion? Do not drive summer tires in the snow.


/thread

 

[bacarl]

^haha, +1

shut 'er down

 

[SSMS3]

Tried it last winter when the tires had 9k miles on them (lots of tread) and it was really hairy and I'm very experienced at driving in snow. Actually it wasn't too hateful taking off, if you're careful, but stopping was nearly impossible without sliding

 

[nhluhr]

even an AWD vehicle with LSDs at both ends and an LSD center will be utter crap on snow with summer tires. A low-clearance FWD car with summer tires is not even viable in snow.

Winter tires or at the very least, good All Seasons.

 

[Stamperman]

anyone tried driving the stock Potenza RE090A tires in the snow and ice?

how bad was it?

Does it really justify me going out and buying some decent all-season tires like Yoko AVID V4S?

I really don't wanna spend the money now cuz if I do, I'm going to have to buy some new Rota's at the same time.

Thanks,
Pete

The RE090A's bite in the snow, but having said that, the Yokohama W4S is not much better (still sucks in the snow), only comes in a 225 (instead of 215), and rubbed the rear fender liners on my car for several months in hard corners until either tire or the liner wore to the point that the don't rub anymore.

Honestly, you are better off getting a set of 17's and winter tires than buying a set of all season W rated 18's for the car.

That and when I bought my tires from tire lack last winter there were only two tire choices in all season that were the correct size.

The Yokos rock in the wet though.

 

[rednofive]

ALL - thanks for the feedback. No real surprises in the responses, but I was hopeful to hear that one could risk 1 winter with the stock tires to make it worthwhile to put off buying an extra set of tires/wheels until next spring even as crazy as that might sound.
Hey lets face it not all tires marketed as summer or all-season are worthy of the name, so what have I got to lose to ask from people that have tried?
Ive been driving in Chicago and Indy snow for 20 years and have SCCA racing experience so I have 0 worry about driving in show, but it sounds its just too risky Im gonna need some new shoes for this car and I need to stop being a cheap ba$tard.

The RE090A's bite in the snow, but having said that, the Yokohama W4S is not much better (still sucks in the snow), only comes in a 225 (instead of 215), and rubbed the rear fender liners on my car for several months in hard corners until either tire or the liner wore to the point that the don't rub anymore.

Thanks for the data point on the Yoko's. The V4S is the same tread, but one notch below the Yokos on speed rating, obviously.

My long term plan is to save the stock wheels and Potenza's for autox in D-stock that means one set of wheels/tires ONLY for autox and theyll last for a few years if dedicated for that.
I can either buy 2 MORE sets of wheels/tires for dedicated winter and non-winter or one more set to carry me all year. I only have money for the latter.

Im definitely going to buy some 17 rims and as of now, Im trying to be practical and get some tires that might actually last me a few years, like these:
Yoko Avid V4S
Bridgestone Potenza G 019 Grid
BFGoodrich Traction T/A V
Kuhmo Ecsta ASX

Ive read everything on TireRack about each of these tires, both in surveys and the test results.

Anyone got any experience with 2 or more of the tires listed above in snow/ice driving?

 

[robin2660]

I am in Missouri so I probably get similar winter weather.

I did not attempt to drive the stock tires (RE050A) in the snow.

When the temp gets below 40 degrees these tires struggle for grip.

I wasn't willing to chance driving in the snow and I am an experienced

winter driver (35 years). I purchased a set of all-season tires.

Pirelli P Zero Nero 215/45/18 that do a good job for a mid-west winter.

If I lived farther north and got heavier accumulations of snow I would

certainly opt for winter tires.

In my opinion all-season tires are plenty for our amount of snowfall.

I run the Pirelli's on my stock wheels and my summer tires are on a set of

Rota P1's 18x8 w 48 offset.

I used to drive all-season tires but, after buying the MS3, I decided to try some winter tires. Man, the difference is like night and day. All-seasons are ok, and a world better than performance summer tires, but snow tires are the shiz-nit.

I'm recommending this to everyone now (that is, everyone who has to contend with snow).

 

[robin2660]

Summer tires are designed to be soft when it's warm and put a lot of rubber on the ground (not much tread). However, once it gets down near freezing temps, they get hard unless you take some air out of them and of course, they don't hold a lot of snow.

A minor correction, if you don't mind.

Letting air out of the tires won't make them any softer.

AND, a tire isn't designed to "hold" snow. A good snow tire grabs the snow and releases it. If the tire's gummed up with snow it cannot get traction.

 

[imac]

A minor correction, if you don't mind.

Letting air out of the tires won't make them any softer.

AND, a tire isn't designed to "hold" snow. A good snow tire grabs the snow and releases it. If the tire's gummed up with snow it cannot get traction.

also, letting air out of tires would make them squat more, essentially giving them more contact area with the road. this is NOT good for snow. a light car on wide tires is THE WORST in snow... the car more or less can end up floating on the snow and then you have absolutely nothing but a hope and a prayer.

 

[Stamperman]

Thanks for the data point on the Yoko's. The V4S is the same tread, but one notch below the Yokos on speed rating, obviously.

I had a set of the V4s on my old Volvo 850 Turbo Wagon, and they actually worked pretty well in the snow. I'm not sure you can get them in 18's (or at least tire rack won't sell them to you for our car).

I don't know what is different about the W's, but they really are not much better than the stock bridgestone's in the snow. They do have pretty good traction when it's dry out, but to balance that out there is no waranty for the life of the tire, unlike the V4's.

I grab some 17's and stick some V4's on there in hearbeat for winter.