Snow Tire Question

[Yonder_River]

Hey Y'all,

I have the opportunity to buy a set of Cooper WinterMaster Plus snow tires for $125.00 that have maybe 10,000 miles tops on them. My dilemna is that I can't afford to buy another pair for summer travel. I've never owned snow tires before (btw, these will be going on an Outback).
Has anyone used these tires before and can comment on their dry road handling at interstate speeds? I know they will be a bit louder and I will sacrifice some handling. I'm ok with that as long as I'm not losing the ability to feel comfortable driving at 80 mph on dry mountain roads. Thanks for any input.

[extreeski]

Don't do it. I put coopers on my outback, well my dad gave em to me as a birthday gift, but they are cheap ass tires. They wobbled, never balanced well and drove me crazy whenever I sped past 70mph. they were rated at 80000 miles but at 50000 they're worn and deflating too quickly without any noticed holes in the tread or cracks in the stem. I am grateful to my dad for them but coopers suck. That's why they're so cheap.

Outback should be outfitted with Bridgestone Potenza G009's. Or yokohama avids. Look it up at tire rack.

More expensive. But you get what you pay for.

[Obstruction]

I dunno, the cooper summer and winter tires I have on my 318 are some of the best tires I've ever owned. Good traction, corner hold and wear. No high speed shimmy at all. Weren't super cheap but my snows are going on year three with good tread at about 12-15K per season.

I had shit luck with yokahamas (wore down like the pink end of a pencil in the hands of an enron accountant).

Contis on my wifes Passat wear shitty also.

That said tire quality can vary a great deal from set to set because of how they are built.

[summit]

I'm debating between the Dunlop Wintersport M3 for $92 or the Nokian Hakkapalita RSi for $112...

Unless someone has a single Wintersport M2 195/65/15 to sell me...

[BakerBoy]

Nokian Hakkapelitta's...

[yesIsaidyes]

Nokian Hakkapelitta's...

those are awesome...

[Snow Dog]

I'm debating between the Dunlop Wintersport M3 for $92 or the Nokian Hakkapalita RSi for $112...

Unless someone has a single Wintersport M2 195/65/15 to sell me...

Three words: Used Tire Store.

Real winter tires will wear out fast with summer driving.

[BakerBoy]

Three words: Used Tire Store.

Real winter tires will wear out fast with summer driving.

Yup. I swap summer tires for the winters when the season is over. Works better that way, just like a quiver of skis.

[extreeski]

I dunno, the cooper summer and winter tires I have on my 318 are some of the best tires I've ever owned. Good traction, corner hold and wear. No high speed shimmy at all. Weren't super cheap but my snows are going on year three with good tread at about 12-15K per season.

I had shit luck with yokahamas (wore down like the pink end of a pencil in the hands of an enron accountant).

Contis on my wifes Passat wear shitty also.

That said tire quality can vary a great deal from set to set because of how they are built.

You're prolly right. I was told that I had a bubble in the tire. no matter where I rotated em or balanced em my car shook. It sucked.

That being said, I know that an awd car with m+s tires qualify as a traction device in most western states and you don't need more than that. no chains or snow tires or studs. (If you can only afford one set of tires.) that's why I am going with the G009's.

[freshies]

Nokian WRS, They only all weather tire w/the full on snow and ice rating (the little mountain symbol w/the snowflake). All other all weatehr tires are a compromise, and dedicated snow tires suck the rest of the year on pavement. I put these on my Outback last fall and have been really pleased by them, even in the summer. in the snow, they kick-ass.

[powndnstein]

Don't worry about driving with them after winter as they will perform fine in the off season, but will wear the tread down with more miles. Think about getting to the mountains in winter you are not driving on snow packed roads but on interstates and highways. it's gonna cost you $50 to mount them so for $175 bucks you have winter tires. Lots of people swap them on and off each season which costs a $100 a year. If you just leave them on and get two seasons out of them that is not bad. I drive very little distance in the summers so I might only put 5000 miles on my winter tires which is really nothing so I have had very good results with mine lasting three years, while leaving them on. If you swap them on and off you still usually have to get new ones after three years.

[YoEddy]

I've found the best pure snow tire to be the Bridgestone Blizzaks (the original WS-10, I believe ?). I had them on a rear wheel drive BMW and never had any problems in any kind of conditioins ... except the dry.

Downright frickin scary-ass tires in the dry. This is generally true for any micro-sipe technology tire, but the Blizzaks are especially scary. I always thought they should have a race series on them to lower the limits of any car.

"Normal" mud+snow tires use tread blocks instead of micro-sipe and are a better bet for 4 season use, but they're loud, handle for shit (not as bad though), and suck more gas.

I use dedicated snows when the snow flies, and summer tires the other 3 seasons. I'm currently running some Michelin Arctic Alpin, which are nowhere near as scary as the Blizzaks in the dry, but not as good in the snow either (That's saying something since they're on my AWD WRX instead of a rear wheel drive).

[BakerBoy]

Don't worry about driving with them after winter as they will perform fine in the off season, but will wear the tread down with more miles. Think about getting to the mountains in winter you are not driving on snow packed roads but on interstates and highways. it's gonna cost you $50 to mount them so for $175 bucks you have winter tires. Lots of people swap them on and off each season which costs a $100 a year. If you just leave them on and get two seasons out of them that is not bad. I drive very little distance in the summers so I might only put 5000 miles on my winter tires which is really nothing so I have had very good results with mine lasting three years, while leaving them on. If you swap them on and off you still usually have to get new ones after three years.

Huh? If you buy tires from almost any shop, they typically swap them on and off for free. But if you have two sets of wheels (you can get cheapie steelies from lots of places), then you can just do it yourself in about 20 minutes.

[Twoplanker]

those are awesome...

Just about the throw down for a set of those.

[extreeski]

my dad, the mechanic, advised me to make sure I have two sets of wheels one for each set of tires if I was to have two sets of tires.

You risk warping the original wheels every time you take the tires off and on.

Just a thought. If you've got some great chrome wheels that came with your expensive car it may be worth it to buy some cheap steel wheels to go with your snow tires.

[YoEddy]

You risk warping the original wheels every time you take the tires off and on.

No shit ... I don't know about warpage, but those jaboffs at the shop scratch the shit out of my rims every fall and spring.

I used to have 2 sets for my old car - I do miss the simplicity of it.

[Yonder_River]

Thanks for the info. I decided not to get the dedicated snow tires since I hate making purchases based on "a good deal" and regretting it in the end. I bought a set of the Nokian WR's instead. After extensive internet searching, I couldn't find one negative comment about these things. A set cost me $620 installed, but they should be worth it. Now I just gotta wait for the snow to fly..