Is anyone here running with steel rims besides me? Just curious :D
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Easy Vape Vaporizer

 

Sometimes the words give it away

 

The Ice Guards are rated for sever snow and ice. I took them out after a good snow and a packed slick parking lot and they did their job nicely in both conditions Smooth ride, but since they are sever rated and soft, they have a speed restriction of 90 mph. or something like that, but driving in traffic, I can't reach that anyways, but I don't come close to that mark with winter driving.

Yea it has the micro-bubble compound in them. http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/031022.htm

So far the wear has been great. The go on the 1st part or Nov. or the middle part of Nov and come off in mid March. So far they are doing good. They saved my butt a couple of times last year when we'd get freezing rain or a light dusting on packed roads.

 

It's apparent that the cold has affected my ability to read.. :p
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Chrysler patriot

 

I see..... thanks for the link.... I guess I should've done more research before buying mine I wanted a severe ice and snow tire that was in the 225/45/18 size but I only looked at blizzaks and pilot alpines and they only made 17 inch sizes. So I guess my next winter tire's gonna be the yokos then

 

I had 3 months to hunt down tires so I read a lot about tires...more than I ever wanted to know...since no one had winter tires in stock let alone 18's.

When I need to replace these I'll probably get something similar. But hey, I don't know about you guys in the great white north, but here in MN we're looking at brown x-mas.

 

In the Toronto, Ontario area it's pretty brown. The summer tires (18" OEM Dunlops) do not stick in cold temperatures. I could invoke the DSC, driving at a moderate pace in corners with the Dunlops in 0 degree celcius temperature. With my winter tires (Hankook W300 225/50-VR17) I can drive a lot harder in the same conditions and there is no change in steering response or feel (V rating and stiff side walls); they also worked great in the last bit of snow and ice we had last week. Silica rubber based snows last about 2-3 winters depending on how much dry and warm weather driving you do before they loose their ice capabilities, it may not be worth buying very expensive snows (Hankooks are the lowest priced V rated tires) if it is mostly brown during winter.

 

I installed 17" Toyo's on mine. I live in Ottawa, so there's snow everywhere. Car handles great in snow, light or deep. Handles badly on wet ice (either warm tire or temp. around 0 degrees. But nothing will help on wet ice so we still have to drive carefully.

And yes mine smell of burning rubber when driven on asphalt for some time. I always had winter tires on my cars and never had this smell, but then these are wide high performance tires and they are much quieter than any other ice and snow tires I've owned.

Will they last as long as others? Probably not, but then all performance tires don't last as long as normal ones.

I use the 8 every day, all day (13K km in 3 months), and would I drive without the winter tires? No way, they improve traction greatly, stop faster (except on ice), take off is faster and wife feels safer.

Deep in snow, in Ottawa.

 

Hey Bellef,

Are your Toyo's H-rated or V-rated?

 

Very little snow here in Bolton but I took it out to a parking lot last week and was impressed at the handling with DCS\TCS and the Toyo Garrit's. Still waiting for a good dump of snow to give a real test.

 

I had Pirelli SnowSport 210s (215/55 17s) installed on Monday. Tonight was my first run in the snow. I'm very happy with the handling of the tires and the 8. I was concerned about the rear-wheel drive when deciding to buy the car. But wow ... it handles great. And when you do fishtail a bit either on a corner or when accelerating, the TCS kicks in and straightens you right out. The ABS rocks too...this is my first car with ABS.

 

I just got to work . I had a chance to test out my new hancook icebear 225/40/18 snow tires. These things are great. SNOWPLOWS and cars/trucks were getting stuck and i'm passing by them with no problems at all!!!

 

Well it finally snowed in the T.O. and the tires did there part..although starting from a dead stop was a little sketchy...otherwise the drive in wasn't that bad..

oh..i have Toyo Garrits HT (17")

 

Well, as I described in another thread, my first experience today with the Blizzak WS-50s was a bit hairy. Nonetheless I did manage to complete the 12-mile commute to work, whereas with the stock Bridgestones I know I would have never made it down my driveway! The conditions don't get much worse than they were this morning, so I think I'll be okay this winter.

 

Michelin Pilot Alpines here. Got down the driveway no problem. Then had a lot of trouble getting started from that point as the snow was about 8-10 inches high and heavy (because it was just below freezing). Once I was moving no issues excpet for the little slippage now and again when accelerating to hard and then DSC comes in.

Howvwer, I figured out the best way to get going in deep heavy snow:

- Turn DSC off
- Start in either 2nd or 3rd feathering the clutch a bit to get going.
- Once you got momentum, put DSC back on by letting off the gas temporarily

Once I got on to the main roads which were driven on, no problems and very good performance.

I beleive the ultimate reason why I had trouble getting started was that the snow was about 8 inches high and the whole bottom of the car was being suspended a bit.

 

Toyo's here.
Worked well this morning , bit of an issue on a couple of the streets due to the realy deep stuff. Generaly the car work quite well ... so long as there isn't anthing deeper then we got today.

General observation
Get winter wiper blades ( my last vehicle had a defroster that would defrost the wipers as well (hint , hint Mazda)
Clear the rims out or you get nicly UNbalanced wheels
Clear the snow scoop out of the front of the car:D

I'll have to go out to a parking lot tonight and have some fun

 

Toyo Garrit HT's on 17" and they worked great, very impressed by their performance and the Rx-8 with it's TCS/DCS. Was able to get through some heavy stuff as well as heavy stuff on certain inclines without too much trouble. Braking was great, ABS worked well and I didn't have to turn off DCS at all in the thick stuff. Hope to have some time tomorrow to hit a parking lot.

 

Took a late night run to Future Shop ..really to test the Hankook's. Very impressive. No surprises..stayed on the less plowed sidestreets.. kept the revs in check on ice with TSC/DSC off for a 1/2 k of excitement. Have fun RotorWheee! Merry Christmas to all RX-8 GTA'ers!

 

Not a true winter tire, but I'm quite impressed with the set of 245/40 Conti ExtremeContacts I'm running now.

I use a 4Runner as the winter vehicle, but the first impressions of the Conti's are that the tire is a significant improvement over the stock Bridgestone 040 rim protectors. Ride is better, the noise levels are way down (the 040's were deafening after 22,500 km), and the dynamic behaviour is better than I expected. Traction on the unplowed streets in my neighbourhood is fine - I'm not even engaging the TCS.

As a "touring" tire, as opposed to a summer performance tire, the Conti's seem to work well. I'll keep you posted.

Also - Tiretrends have them on for $180 Cdn/tire, which is a sizable discount to what I could get the comparable Pirellis or Michelins for here in Calgary.

Cheers

 

I recently installed Nokian RSI 225/45R17 winter tires. I am amazed at the performance. Stopping, starting and turning all great. The DSC system is always on and is definitely worth the price. Time will tell how these tires will last.

 

I have the Pirellie 210 ..got stucked in a side street with heavy snow build up. Need some push to get out fo the mess. The snow is about 10 inches so many car got stuck even front wheel so I do not surprise. Have to trun off the DSC to get out of the mess. Other than that the rest of the drive seems ok. ABS started a lot during today's icy condition and the TSC was on when I rev it over 4 K while making some turns but its a predictable fish tail. DSC self adjusted the car so it won't go more than a couple feet of swings.

 

Pirelli Wintersport 240's 225/45/R18 - V Rated on Stock Alloys
Dry & Wet Cold Weather - Excellent - better than summer RE040's in sheer grip.
Not as good in quick transitions - mainly due to added tread depth.
Main thing is they track very well - better than the RE040's in ruts.
They are also very quiet.
Snow? Adequate. Drove in lots of varying conditions from slush to ice to hardpack.
If I had to drive on snow most of the winter - I wouldn't advise these tires. I'd mount a narrower tire on 17's with a more aggressive tread.
But 95%+ of my driving in the GTA is dry to slush covered roads.
Best winter driving style? Slow and steady gets there in one piece.
Does that stop me from being the fastest on the road? No pride in being in the ditch with all those people you just passed laughing at you!
I drive at a speed that I feed comfortable with. 4 snows with DSC ON, and an easy accelerator is quite good. I don't have any problem keeping up with traffic.

Funniest test was trying to start on a snow covered hill - about 6% grade - just spun the rear tires and slipped back down the whole hill.

Try the same thing in an awd, and I would have made some forward momentum.
In terms of snow confidence - awd with lsd and 4 snows is a whole bunch more fun, but the 8 is ok.

I'd say as long as the car is moving it isn't too bad. Stop and beware - it may be a problem to get going again.

As for the LSD and DSC off - works very well - easy to hang the tail out in a controlled fashion.

 

Rotator, try starting in 2nd or 3rd. It works great actually even without DSC. The only problem I have is starting when the snow is packed higher than the bottom of the car, Basically like my Fu--ing street which still has that much snow on it! I don't know where my tax dollars are going , quite frankly. Anyway. DSC off, start in 3rd, you can pretty much get through any winter road. Once you start rolling, put DSC back on.

 

Shamblerock,
Thanks for the tip - I'll try it. Clutch be damned!
As for my clutch? I think it's on its way out anyway. Something is wrong - I can smell burning clutch after coming off the hiway.
Doesn't make any sense. I've run clutches well over 200K km's on much more powerful cars. This clutch has problems with any kind of shifting above 8K. There is major hesitation before power is applied in the next gear. That's with granny shifting!

 

Rotator, what your smelling is not clutch but the snow tires melting off at higher speeds or aggressive acceleration. Next time, boot it around for 5 minutes, stop and smell the rear tires. You will smell burning rubber. Not to worry, eveyone gets this smell regardless of winter tire brand.

As for the hesitaqtion you are feeling, the clutch characteristics on this car is that you have to keep you foot on the gas a bit. basically don't totally remove your foot or do it very quickly so that when you engage the clutch when shifting upwards a gear, gas is being pressed simultaneously . Failing this will cause that hesitation/jerking at any speed. I know the clutch is a funny one and is not similar to other clutches. However, the reward is when you do a number of nice smooth shifts in an evening, it feels great. Its kind of a sporty clutch I guess and certainly not too dumby proof. You can't get lazy with it, it must be feathered in every shift a little.

After a while, you'll be able to chirp the tires going from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to third everytime!