dedicated snows v. uhp all-seasons

[bergkamp]

Greetings, all.

Just took delivery on Friday of a fabulous, CPO '08 335i w/6MT, Sport Pkge, etc.

First light snow here today in NYC. So, as I look forward to the next three months of fun w/my new toy, the question becomes, dedicated snows or UHP all-seasons? We don't get that much by way of accumulation, but freezing temps IS a real issue. I've had Blizzaks on Audis in the past and didn't like their noise or dry/wet-road handling.

Thoughts/suggestions, please!

TIA,


H

[TyKBlue82]

What is more important to you? Traction or Road Noise? There's your answer....UHP all seasons aren't going to give you much grip on ice/light snow......my $.02

[MJA95]

Depends on where you live and how you drive. Uhp all seasons also vary quite a bit. Check out Consumer Reports. They did a good comparison. I have Perelli P6 4 seasons and they are quiet and handle very well in the dry and rain. I just don't live in an area that gets much snow and only some ice. But I just don't think they are aggresive enough to be very good in any but very light snow. Any tire that is made to handle all 4 seasons probably won't do very well in any of the 4. Also my $0.02 worth.

[M62pwrdE38]

Try some Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Positions. I have several friends that use them in all conditions (one guy uses them on the track and on snow all year around) with excellent results. The Blizzak WS0-60 definitely isn't as noisy as the past Blizzak lines, but that's not the main purpose behind its design.

[ZIPNBYE]

If you've got a second set of wheels for this scenario, and don't really want to go the route of full-on winter tires, consider the Nokian Hakkapeliitta WR-G2 (I can't post links yet, so you'll have to look it up at www dot nokiantires dot com yourself). Though listed in their Winter Tire section, it's what they call an "All-Weather" tire. All-Season tires are never all seasons...but the Hakkapeliitta WR and the newer WR-G2 are, and Nokian calls them all-weather to further differentiate from the piss-poor image that no-seasons have.

The WR-G2 is much quieter than its predessesor the WR, and should fit your dry-weather with occassional snow requirements...but again, only if you have a second set of wheels for this through the winter months.

[pbonsalb]

Real snows are far and away the best for snow, but handling is much worse and they are noisier. A compromise is a compromise. All seasons are also a compromise in that handling is not as good as a summer tire, but they may get you where you need to go if it is not too bad out and the summer tires won't get you far.

[samger2]

Honestly IMO you really don't have to compromise much at all. I've been selling Blizzak LM22 runflat snows for at least 4 years...I'll probably sell 15 sets a year if not more, and never once have I had someone complain about noise. Plus they are a runflat tire with the same ratings as many OEM runflat tires, so the handling is very close to the OEM setup. The biggest difference is that you typically drop to a smaller size, so that in itself COULD affect handling.

The only way you're going to get poor handling is if you drop down to a Q rated snow tire which will probably feel like you're driving on jello...but if you stay with a similar performance rating, with today's technology in tires there's no reason handling should falter too much...and there's really no reason to suffer from road noise...especially in comparison to a UHP summer tire...I've heard more complaints about irregular wear patterns and road noise on UHP tires than I ever have on snow tires.

[bman6074]

This might help answer the winter tire questions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGfvyPtYR0Y&eurl=http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20224&highlight=wheel

[Abel1337]

That looks like a really good package man I think you will be happy you got it

[E36sareSLOW]

I would just get dedicated snows if you can afford to buy a second set of wheels. If not, just get all seasons if you are going to be driving in VERY LIGHT snow. Medium snow? Just buy 4 blizzaks and make sure to tell the guy doing the tires to not ruin the old tires.

[bergkamp]

Thanks to all!

We have a forecast of between 2-7" of snow for tomorrow here in NYC. So, I took the plunge and ordered up a set of LM25 Blizzaks that I'm getting fitted tomorrow. Not exactly cheap, but well worth it, I'm told.

Again, thanks.

[ZIPNBYE]

Good for you...a wise choice to go with full winters.

[illogik]

Yup - good call. Safe driving.

[My3rdTurbo]

I asked the dealer if snow tires would be covered under the road hazard warranty on my 335i xDrive and he said that with the stock tires I wouldn't have a problem in the snow because they're very good. While I'd like to believe this, I used to think the same thing with the all seasons that came on my previous vehicle (03 Audi Allroad quattro). I figured with the AWD and stability control the car would be good in the snow. It was actually pretty scary to drive in the snow, especially if you push it a little. I ordered snows for the Audi and it made it very stable in the snow. Does anyone have experience with the stock tired on a 328/335i xDrive in snow??

BTW, from the reviews I read on tirerack.com for the stock 335i tires, they're not very good in the snow. They got a 1/10 rating for "would buy again".

[pmgreer]

All season tires are not very good for deep snow. Also, consider that you're running all season tires all year, so the tread is wearing down.

If you're in a place that gets real snow, it's better to have snow tires in winter. There are lots of good high-performance snow tires out there...

[raleigh29]

I wouldnt recommend the general UHP's for snow. I live in NC and they are already slippery on water.