Is there a tire out there with good all-weather (mostly rain, with very few instances of snow), with good performance, but also with a decent tread life warranty?

I bought AVS-Sports awhile back to replace my RE92s on my '02 WRX, and love them in dry weather. It is getting time to get some new tires, and would like better rain capability, and some snow, but would love to try to keep most of the dry capability if possible with a decent (30k+) tread warranty (so I am not buying tires every 15k miles).... just curious if such a beast exists..

I will sacrifice snow for more dry, since around here most roads are cleared pretty quickly during winter season, since all the bay area people don't know how to actually drive in snow with those giant suvs....


Philip

 

Consumer Reports just rated Falken Ziex (ZE 512) number 1 in the performace all-season class in November ‘03. They beat out the Bridgestone RE950, Michelin Pilot & MXV4 and Dunlop SP AR in this class. They are only $60.

I just ordered 4 yesterday. I should have them on my 2000 Legacy next week. The 60 Series, has a 60,000miles warranty.

I never heard of Falken until recently. Check out their website. http://www.falkentire.com/html/

You will need the website to find a retailer that can get them. No one in New York carries them in stock.

I will post my opinion of them when I try them out. I wish I had them now, it’s snowing in NY.

 

any updates on teh falken ziex tires? wondering what you thought now that you've had them on the car for a bit.

 

Re : Joe Mama's questions regarding NE snow conditions - I posted this on another thread but it seems relevant here. BTW, for those considering Falken ZE-512's - I've had Falken ZE-502's (the 512's predecessor) on two of my legacies and found them to be the best dry/wet pavement tires I've tried on my Subarus. Highly recommended. I tried the Sumitomo HTR+ tires for a change on my Forester to see if they would have better grip in the snow (the Falkens were ok, but not as good as the HTR+ in the snow, see below)

I just got a new set of Sumitomo HTR+ tires from the tire rack (for my Subaru Forester), and just got back from a trip to the mountains where I drove in some deep snow, and later in moderately heavy rain (as well as on dry pavement most of the trip).

The tires were slightly less sharp steering than the previous Falken ZE-502's I've used, but had great traction in the rain, and were surprisingly good in the snow.

Went through snow deep enough to drag the exhaust system and up some pretty steep hills on the back roads with hardly any slipping (probably no slipping if I hadn't tried to provoke it ;-)

The HTR+ tires seem to have very sticky rubber, and may not wear that long (only have a couple thousand miles on them so I can't say) - but was very very happy with them on the slippery stuff.

When they do break loose (with severe provocation) in the wet, they are very easy to get back into control by easing off a little on the brakes or accelerator. Almost too much traction - I can get the inside wheels light doing my skidpad routine in an empty wet parking lot. Don't do this at home - no lightpoles or parked cars were harmed in this test ;-)

Also highly recommend doing business with the tire rack. Good advice, ship promptly, good prices, etc. Have used them several times.

For Falkens - also great tires in my experience (but not carried by the Tire Rack), search the web for a dealer near you. If I weren't concerned by deep snow traction, would probably go with them again. But I still am grinning about the traction in the rain with the Sumi's ;-)

Hank Murdoch
98 Forester w/225/60-16 Sumitomo HTR+ tires

 

I have Dunlup SP5000 for my Impreza RS and it works great on rain and snow.

 

I give a second on the Conti-Extreme Contacts. The all-around grip is the best of any multi-season tire i've ever run. jimr can back this up as he recently experienced them in my car in varying traction conditions.