Summer Tires and Winter - I'll accept the I told you so's graciously
 

Per the subject line.. I was wrong.. I figured I could get away with summer tires with minimal amount of snow, and chains in the deeper stuff..

Well, it snowed yesterday in the DC area.. and with just a 1/4 of an inch of snow/slush on the ground (I tried to drive just after it started snowing), my car was doing donuts idling in gear.. Time to get me some snow tires.. or atleast all seasons (Conti DWS should be okay in minimal snow).


So all those who advised me against chains in various other threads... let me have it..

:)

Don't get blizzaks, I'm very unhappy with them. We're driving on ice/snow now, probably had about 2 feet of accumulated snow thus far. Also, throw some bags of salt in the back to help keep those tires on the ground.

I drove my E500 around on the DWSs in that snow yesterday. I was fine, but I lost count of how many RWD sports cars were stuck. They were all most likely still on their OEM summers tires.

I learned my lesson many years ago.

skip the all-seasons and go with dedicated snows.

I was being cheap (and trying not to annoy my wife.. driving her suv last night probably annoyed her more then spending money...) :)

Use winter tires in the winter.

So simple. :)

whats your guys' experience with performance snow tires? ive heard mixed reviews that they perform only slightly better than all-seasons. I thought we couldnt use AS tires cause of clearance issues?...
No snow yet in vancouver, but the few days we did have some, the C63 with the stock tires was a rear-wheel-drive axe-murderer... useless, as expected.

I have Pirelli Sottozero W240 Serie IIs. They are phenomenal. All-seasons are a compromise in winter and in summer. If you're looking for a more economical solution, try the Hankook W300 IceBears. They're a great bang for the buck.

Werd.

The DC area, where the OP lives does not have "winter" weather for much of the year. Dedicated winters are overkill, good all-seasons are perfect here. The DWS can handle the torrential rains we can get with thunderstorms and the occassional tropical storm/hurricane blow-by, and can handle any snow that a car would be driven in by a sane motorist.

I know this because I live there, too, and had a set of DWS for the past year on my S55 daily driver.

What ^^ said.. except for last years shenanigans by mother nature, we get a small amount of snow, which is usually slushy, salty and sandy in short order since they tend to (I used tend to instead of always as a couple of times the plows decided to not show up in my area) to plow pretty quickly and treat the roads.

+1

This is my second season with dedicated snows and last year
I had no problem getting around.

Get the vredestein wintrac extreme, 245/40 and 265/35, they're performance winter tires. I tested them a few weeks back with 3 or 4 inches and had no issues, even on packed snow. They drive great in the rain and dry, and you'll only slightly notice the handling change due to the softer rubber. I would never get all seasons. All seasons = no season.

I was going to get Vredestein Wintrac Extreme 235/40R18 95W all around, but that didn't work out... so I went with Dunlop Winter Sport 3D 235/40R18 95W on 18x8 MSW Type 12 BDC w/ TPMS all around and they seem to be pretty crisp and the grip is good. Handling is much crispier than on V-rated Dunlop Winter Sport 3D 225/45R17 I used on my CLK55. I think it is probably not only due to speed rating, but also due to lower profile and the P30 suspension, but the bottom line is that these work pretty well on a c63.

Nokian Hakepelitas for me!!

Where did you get your Vredesteins from???

James or Peter at ACGSD.

Amen! All season tires are mediocre at everything and good at nothing.

Those are not winter, but all-season tires.

No, the latest are made of Orange Oil (which mine are and do have a unique smell) are not all season. They are dedicated winters.



Nokian Hakkapeliitta R SUV
Nokian Tyres’ new Hakkapeliitta R SUV Nordic studless winter tire offers the best performance in harsh winter conditions and temperature fluctuations while maintaining grip on any road surface … ice, snow, wet, dry. Specially designed stabilizers in the Hakkapeliitta R SUV support the additional weight of an SUV without compromising its superb winter abilities.

These are a DSI of: Winter!!!

Put my Dunlop Winter Sport 3Ds on last week and I am sure happy I did. I would have been slipping and sliding all over Northern VA yesterday had I not. The one thing to keep in mind when you do put winter tires on your vehicle is that the winter tires do not make you invincible. Yesterday we only had about two inches, and while the Wintersports handled the snow just fine, my rear wheels were still slipping in the slush. IMHO, where the winter tires really come into play is on inclines and particularly on turns. The beefy rubber treads and sidewall absolutely make a night and day difference in helping to control the body movement of the vehicle when the rear tries to slide out from under you on a particularly snowy turn.

I have been researching Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme vs Dunlop Winter Sport 3D for a while and came to the conclusion that these tires are pretty much on par. Although, looking at the tread depth Vredestein is probably has a slightly better dry performance while Dunlop is slightly better in snow.

Vredestein Wintrac Xtreme
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_s...Vredestein.jpg

Dunlop Winter Sport 3D
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/na_pro...5_Dunlop_4.jpg

Bridgestone Blizzak LM25
http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_s...ridgestone.jpg

Yesterday Tru-Line in Bellevue, mounted the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D's I purchased from TireRack. I put these on my OEM wheels & I went with the same size tire all the way around: 235/40 18

My Forgestar F14s (18x8.5 & 18x9.5) will be here in a week or so with Vredestein Sepessas (245/40-18, 275/35-18), optimized for clear (but wet) roads.

Swapping wheels on and off the car is a 30 minute ordeal so I figure I should optimize.

Thus for my winter wheels, I choose to optimize for really bad roads (and mountain passes) over anything else, hence going with 235s all the way around.

I drove the car a bit yesterday with these tires on it. It was wet out but no where near freezing.

I WAS SHOCKED at how much grip I had. Granted my PZeros had 6500 miles on them and the rears were at the indicators, but the car "stuck" both during acceleration and cornering at least as well as it did with the Pzeros in moderately hard driving.

I was also SHOCKED at how little "roll under" these tires have. My blizzaks on my '95 540 M-Sport were so squishy it was scary. Not these Dunlops. Even with the "skinny" 235 tire on the rear 9" rims the car felt solid & planted.

All the reviews I've seen say these winter tires perform as well or better than any of the other brands out there. I know first hand from my Daughter's (2 wheel drive) A3, how unbelievably well Michilen Xi2's perform in really nasty icy conditions. So I have complete confidence my C63 will be able to regularly get me up to Steven's Pass or Alpental for skiing. :y

Call me impressed.

I have the same exact winter setup. This is my second season with
the Dunlops and I'm highly impressed too. The car feels very stable
with them on.

Also, I am expecting Forgestar F14's too(18x8.5 & 18x9.5):) in January.

Havent' decided which tires to go with yet, maybe Nitto 555ZR's
(245/40ZR18) for the front and 555R drag radials(285/35ZR18) in
the rear.:naughty:

I have LM60 and so far works fine.

You need to get winter tires as long as you get snow; no matter how "mild" your winter is.

C63 a 451bhp rear wheel drive car. You need winter tires 100%