Help Buying All-Season Tires
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Help Buying All-Season Tires
This is for my '02 WRX Sedan.
I am looking at buying new all-season tires and was hoping to get a little help. I live in San Francisco and during the winter drive to Tahoe each weekend to ski. I am also a fast and aggressive driver, so I have been looking at higher-performance all-season tires.
The tires that looked good to me were the Continental ContiExtreme, Yoko AVS dB, Kumo HP4 716, and Sumitomo HTR. The Michelin Pilot Sport and Bridgestone Turanza LS also looked good, but a little expensive. I'm kind of leaning towards the ContiExtreme, what are people's experience with them?
Also, I was thinking a wider tire (225/50/R16) might look a little better than the stock size. These would fit on the stock tires, right? What do people think? And will this affect the tire/car-handling performance? Does a wider tire footprint give better traction in the snow?
Thanks for all your help.
Sean
I am looking at buying new all-season tires and was hoping to get a little help. I live in San Francisco and during the winter drive to Tahoe each weekend to ski. I am also a fast and aggressive driver, so I have been looking at higher-performance all-season tires.
The tires that looked good to me were the Continental ContiExtreme, Yoko AVS dB, Kumo HP4 716, and Sumitomo HTR. The Michelin Pilot Sport and Bridgestone Turanza LS also looked good, but a little expensive. I'm kind of leaning towards the ContiExtreme, what are people's experience with them?
Also, I was thinking a wider tire (225/50/R16) might look a little better than the stock size. These would fit on the stock tires, right? What do people think? And will this affect the tire/car-handling performance? Does a wider tire footprint give better traction in the snow?
Thanks for all your help.
Sean
Registered User
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 104
From: SEPA
Car Info: '98 Neon R/T
I use 512s on my Neon, and although I can't say what they do in the snow (they look so-so for snow), their wet and dry grip is quite good.
We used BFG Touring T/A HR4s on my wife's Neon, and they performed okay in the dry, great in the wet, and well enough in the snow. The local Scooby service manager said that they're great on his Forester. Can't beat the price from the tirerack, either.
Also, you want a smaller tire footprint in the snow--look at the tiny tires they use in Rally Scandinavia or any other snow-based rally.
As long as they aren't wide enough to interfere with the spring perches, you can use a wider tire on a stock wheel. Talk to other people about how wide they have gone on stock wheels.
We used BFG Touring T/A HR4s on my wife's Neon, and they performed okay in the dry, great in the wet, and well enough in the snow. The local Scooby service manager said that they're great on his Forester. Can't beat the price from the tirerack, either.
Also, you want a smaller tire footprint in the snow--look at the tiny tires they use in Rally Scandinavia or any other snow-based rally.
As long as they aren't wide enough to interfere with the spring perches, you can use a wider tire on a stock wheel. Talk to other people about how wide they have gone on stock wheels.
Last edited by Mat - 98 R/T; Oct 28, 2003 at 09:14 AM.
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,402
From: Bay Area
Car Info: 02 WRX wagon=dead; rollin' in a Craptastic Camry!
I've been very pleased with my Nokian NRW's living in the bay area and driving up to Tahoe as often as possible. Their not cheap, but they have a 50K mile guarantee and the warm winter road conditions in the bay area won't destroy their snow capability.
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Thanks for your input everyone.
I had trouble finding reviews on the Falken's. I read the Consumer Reports, but haven't found any other good reviews. How do they fare in the snow?
What do you think, Dexter? Any other tires I should consider? What do you think about the 205 v 225?
Sean
I had trouble finding reviews on the Falken's. I read the Consumer Reports, but haven't found any other good reviews. How do they fare in the snow?
What do you think, Dexter? Any other tires I should consider? What do you think about the 205 v 225?
Sean
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225's will ride a bit stiffer, but will give you better traction...
I would go with the 225's.
My roommate has a set of the Falkens (not the 512's though) and really likes them. Most of the posts I have seen about the Falken's have been good.
KK
I would go with the 225's.
My roommate has a set of the Falkens (not the 512's though) and really likes them. Most of the posts I have seen about the Falken's have been good.
KK
All Weather Tires
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 681
From: Warsaw, Indiana
Car Info: 02 WRX Wagon White
Though the Conti is not my favorite all-season tire in the summer, I consider it the best ultra-high-performance all-season in the snow. It seems to me like it would be a good match for you in the 225/50 size on the stock wheels.
I'm also Tahoe weekend skier. I used to run all-seasons, but last year I got a set of winter tires. Best thing I ever did. All-season don't come close to the traction of winter-specific tires. That being said, if I had to go, I'd go w/ Dunlop SP 5000's. Many members of this board have used those tires in areas where bad weather traction is paramount.
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Just ordered a set of Dunlop SP 5000 tires in the 225/50/WR16 size. 
I finally decided on these tires based on the many recommendations by members, the many positive reviews by WRX owners on tirerack.com, and Dexter's input in an offline email exchange. Given that I am a much more aggressive driver in dry and wet conditions and very cautious in snowy conditions, I decided I wanted to optimise dry/wet performance over snow performance. I narrowed my choices down to the Dunlop or the ContiExtreme. I might have gone with the ContiExtreme because they are less expensive, but they aren't available right now for another month, so I went with the Dunlop.
Also, the Falken 512 were on my short list, but I decided against them because I didn't know if they could match the Dunlop performance and more importantly I wanted to reward, and further take advantage of, Tire Rack's costumer service.
Again, thanks for everyone's input.
Sean
I finally decided on these tires based on the many recommendations by members, the many positive reviews by WRX owners on tirerack.com, and Dexter's input in an offline email exchange. Given that I am a much more aggressive driver in dry and wet conditions and very cautious in snowy conditions, I decided I wanted to optimise dry/wet performance over snow performance. I narrowed my choices down to the Dunlop or the ContiExtreme. I might have gone with the ContiExtreme because they are less expensive, but they aren't available right now for another month, so I went with the Dunlop.
Also, the Falken 512 were on my short list, but I decided against them because I didn't know if they could match the Dunlop performance and more importantly I wanted to reward, and further take advantage of, Tire Rack's costumer service.
Again, thanks for everyone's input.
Sean
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