Yes another Winter Tire question

[Scooby Don't]

snip

snip

I've only driven ABS vehicles a few times, but have had the experience of
going thru a stop because of it. I found the pulses too hard, and not as
rapid as I would have expected -basically jerky braking so it was no wonder
it would break traction. Just getting a '01 legacy, so it will be
interesting to see what it is like with ABS on canadian snow and ice.

I had no problem driving around in Quebec City with my Miata. It had 4
Nokian Hakka Q's on it and I was driving up some very steep streets in
the snow. No ABS and no problems, although when the plows are going
they leave almost 2 feet of snow across the road so you really have to
Mat it to get across, got some air a couple of times.
I'd be too nervous driving the WRX with the ABS active to have fun.
Their ABS system is crap, sad to say.

 

[TW-Ohio]

Yes another Winter Tire question

From: (e-mail address removed) (J999w)
Date: 9/15/2003 2:29 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: <(e-mail address removed)>

Invest in a decent car jack, then you can swap out the tires in 20 minutes
and
have the best of both worlds.

jw
milwaukee

Or even just go to WalMart with the other set of four tires in the back, and
have them do a 4 wheel rotation - 4 on, 4 off. $10
Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[TW-Ohio]

Re: Yes another Winter Tire question

From: "Diva" (e-mail address removed)
Date: 9/16/2003 5:02 AM Eastern
Man! Where do YOU live where you can get on the highway in the snow and
people are driving 20 mph???? Around here you could die in the snow from the
jackasses that don't know you shouldn't go 70 mph on it. I often see them
off the road further down the pike after they've passed me because I'm
driving a safe speed and they aren't. I think I'm going to check into the
Hakka Q's. What is the difference between the Q's and WS tires from Nokian?

June

I have often cruised right along near the speed limit as I have had 4 snows
on my fwd, and now awd, cars for the last 16 yrs. But ~8 yrs ago, around
Northfield and Macedonia, OH (southern Cleveland - well I guess that's a given,
unless you're driving on Lake Erie!) a group of holiday shoppers & travelers
were all going 15-18mph on I-480, a 55-65mph highway, and were playing follow
the leader. It was the worst visibility I've ever driven in. So the leader
decides to exit at Rte82, and so did our little gaggle of 10-12 cars!
Unfortunately many of us were not intending to exit for another 6 miles or so!
I can't believe we didn't rear-end each other accordion-style at the bottom of
that exit ramp. But then we were only going 15mph...!

Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[TW-Ohio]

Yes another Winter Tire question

From: Scooby Don't (e-mail address removed)
Date: 9/16/2003 11:57 PM Eastern

Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[TW-Ohio]

Re: Yes another Winter Tire question

From: Scooby Don't (e-mail address removed)
Date: 9/16/2003 11:57 PM Eastern
the highway is more like the autobahn as far as speeds. In the winter there
is little if any treatment on the roads when I leave for work at 6 am, so I
need the best snow and ice tires I can get. I'll buy 4 steel wheels and just
change them back and forth between winter and spring. Thanks!

Well Detroit is a different area and has different needs than we do
here. I don't leave until 9am and by then the plows have been out. Of
course I get home a lot later but it's worth it to me to avoid the
traffic.

If I had to be out before 6am I would have to have winter tires and
just hope a set could made it through a single season.

Sorry about that last non-post. SOB, I hate when that happens! lol
Anyway - on with the show:

June,
On our Legacy-based Subies, I think Blizzaks will be worth 3 winters, but it
depends on how far you travel, how many months they are on the car, how hard
one drives (espec. accelerates), how clean, dry, warm the road surface
becomes... (Scooby_Don't must be using a good dose of the fun-pedal in his Rex!
only acceleration could be eating up Bliazzaks *that* fast! ;-) ...and I know
how nasty 495 and US-20 can be -my G'ma is in Stow, MA - exit 26 or 27). Twice,
I've had Blizzaks for 3 snow seasons on a fwd car, and will most likely get
three seasons with them on my LegacyGT. This yr will be season #2 for them, and
I can see them lasting one more winter after this one, unless they get left on
too long, or the roads are unusually clear & dry, or it is unseasonably warm. I
drive 5000-5500 miles in those 4½ months. They go on the car ~Nov.20th, come
off during first week in April; unless a storm is on the way - then it's a last
play time in a big wet snow! I will likely go for Nokians next time around,
but right now the closest dealer is 55 minutes away. Maybe in two yrs there
will be a closer one.
(This yr, my wife will use the new RE92s in her first season in an awd car,
unless she dislikes them enough to buy a set of wheels and snows too.)
Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[TW-Ohio]

Re: Yes another Winter Tire question

From: Scooby Don't (e-mail address removed)
Date: 9/17/2003 6:21 PM Eastern

If you have bad snow and ice and roads they don't really bother to
plow then the Hakka Q's are worth every penny.
The RE-92's are a summer tire and suck in the snow.
I'd rather use the Kuhmo All seasons than the RE-92's.

And the RE92s are barely that! I am savin' my pennies for some real summer
tires (Mich Pilot Sport) and my RE92s only have 26+k miles on them. Ooops, no,
subtract 5300 for the mileage the snows were on last winter.
Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[CWu]

Are the RE-92's that bad?

I just got my WRX and have a set of summer wheels/tires for them. I
was going to use the brand new stock RE-92's for this upcoming winter.
Are they that bad that I should replace them with winter tires? Don't
know what i would do with the RE-92's then... don't think there is a
market out there for them.

Carleton

 

[Diva]

I'm going to try the Nokian Hakka Qs. I appreciate the dates as I probably would've chosen just about the same dates but hadn't put much thought into it. Now I don't have to.

June

Re: Yes another Winter Tire question
From: Scooby Don't (e-mail address removed)
Date: 9/16/2003 11:57 PM Eastern
the highway is more like the autobahn as far as speeds. In the winter there
is little if any treatment on the roads when I leave for work at 6 am, so I
need the best snow and ice tires I can get. I'll buy 4 steel wheels and just
change them back and forth between winter and spring. Thanks!

Well Detroit is a different area and has different needs than we do
here. I don't leave until 9am and by then the plows have been out. Of
course I get home a lot later but it's worth it to me to avoid the
traffic.

If I had to be out before 6am I would have to have winter tires and
just hope a set could made it through a single season.

Sorry about that last non-post. SOB, I hate when that happens! lol
Anyway - on with the show:

June,
On our Legacy-based Subies, I think Blizzaks will be worth 3 winters, but it
depends on how far you travel, how many months they are on the car, how hard
one drives (espec. accelerates), how clean, dry, warm the road surface
becomes... (Scooby_Don't must be using a good dose of the fun-pedal in his Rex!
only acceleration could be eating up Bliazzaks *that* fast! ;-) ...and I know
how nasty 495 and US-20 can be -my G'ma is in Stow, MA - exit 26 or 27). Twice,
I've had Blizzaks for 3 snow seasons on a fwd car, and will most likely get
three seasons with them on my LegacyGT. This yr will be season #2 for them, and
I can see them lasting one more winter after this one, unless they get left on
too long, or the roads are unusually clear & dry, or it is unseasonably warm. I
drive 5000-5500 miles in those 4½ months. They go on the car ~Nov.20th, come
off during first week in April; unless a storm is on the way - then it's a last
play time in a big wet snow! I will likely go for Nokians next time around,
but right now the closest dealer is 55 minutes away. Maybe in two yrs there
will be a closer one.
(This yr, my wife will use the new RE92s in her first season in an awd car,
unless she dislikes them enough to buy a set of wheels and snows too.)
Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[Cam Penner]

Are the RE-92's that bad?

They are less than stellar. They are not dangerous - as
long as you know how to drive. I've driven on worse tires,
and I've driven on FAR better tires. My next set won't be
RE-92s, but I'm not tossing the ones I have.

AWD + RE-92 ~= FWD + Good Tires

 

[TW-Ohio]

Re: ABS

From: "(e-mail address removed)"
(e-mail address removed)
Date: 9/18/2003 3:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Message-id: <(e-mail address removed)>



Just take the fuse and hook it up to the battery to blow it and put it
back. You can always say "Gee, I didn't know the fuse was blown".
A lot more believeable in court than "Gee, I didn't know the fuse was
missing".

And this will also light up the warning light in the dash. Defeating a
warning light always unerves me because then you won't know when you do have a
real failure. That is why I haven't done the DRL hand-brake-ectomy that then
leaves you with a lit dash light..
Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

 

[Scooby Don't]

On our Legacy-based Subies, I think Blizzaks will be worth 3 winters, but it
depends on how far you travel, how many months they are on the car, how hard
one drives (espec. accelerates), how clean, dry, warm the road surface
becomes... (Scooby_Don't must be using a good dose of the fun-pedal in his Rex!
only acceleration could be eating up Bliazzaks *that* fast! ;-) ...and I know

Actually the Blizzacks really will wear dowwn on dry roads. I drive a
LOT of highway miles at about 80 mph fairly constant. The Blizzaks
were on my Miata and they did not last a season before they were into
the all season tread.
This wasn't true for the Nokians on the Miata. They had a lot of meat
left even after a ton of highway driving.

(This yr, my wife will use the new RE92s in her first season in an awd car,
unless she dislikes them enough to buy a set of wheels and snows too.)

I have the RE-92's on my WRX. They are crap in the snow. I was very
unhappy with them. They still have a fair amount of tread left on them
too. I'll be interested to see what you and your wife think of the
RE-92's when there's real snow and ice on the ground. For me they were
very scary tires in the winter.

 

[Scooby Don't]

And the RE92s are barely that! I am savin' my pennies for some real summer
tires (Mich Pilot Sport) and my RE92s only have 26+k miles on them. Ooops, no,
subtract 5300 for the mileage the snows were on last winter.

Hey you can always buy my OZ Superleggara Rims and they have S03 Pole
Positions on them. Those are great tires! I've decided to sell the
summer tires then I'll probably sell the WRX.
I've got a job offer out of State no more driving zillions of highway
miles. But the roads there are crap and I'd need a truck.

 

[Scooby Don't]

Are the RE-92's that bad?

I just got my WRX and have a set of summer wheels/tires for them. I
was going to use the brand new stock RE-92's for this upcoming winter.
Are they that bad that I should replace them with winter tires? Don't
know what i would do with the RE-92's then... don't think there is a
market out there for them.

I have them and depending on the winter weather you have where you
live you could find yourself sliding through intersections and stop
signs. If there are any hills in your area you are boned!
We have a lot of hills here and just small ones but between the ABS
constantly going off and the RE-92's less than stellar grip. It's a
receipe for disaster. One decent snow storm and you will want some
other type of tire. We get Snow, Ice, Slush, Wintry Mix, Freezing Rain
and Black Ice.
I drive 2-3 times the highway mileage most people do, many times up to
500 miles a week or more. Winter tires can't handle that very well.
All Seasons don't grip like winter tires, but some are better than
others. The Kuhmo HP 716's are supposed to be a pretty good all around
tire and for $53 each I'll take a chance they are better than the
RE-92's.

 

[Jerry and Bea]

Or even just go to WalMart with the other set of four tires in the back, and
have them do a 4 wheel rotation - 4 on, 4 off. $10
Terry - '03 Silver Legacy SE sedan - 36 miles!
'02 Regatta-Red GT wagon 5spd - 23k miles
Yakima / TandeMover / Rockymount rack
To reply, get rid of the "nonsense"

http://www.walmartsucks.org/

 

[Felix Crashalot]

Have a look at the Pirelli WinterSport series. Not the best on ice
because of harder rubber, but they last longer because of the harder
rubber, and they handle like sports summer tires. Not too noisy
either.

 

[No-No_Bad_DOG!]

Hi.
I have the Blizzack LM18's and they are great on snow and ice. I am
going on the third season with them....Just need to find a nice set of
rims for them.....

 

[meld_b]

Yes, the Potenza crap that came on the car are really scary in the snow -- and just dreadful on ice. I went through last winter on them, and I'm not doing it again.

I'll get the Hakka Q's.

Great thread! - I kinda wish I read it before buying Blizaks.. although
so far they are very quiet and compared to some Haakapelliitta's I had
on a SAAB once they seem a lot smoother.

I've been thinking that the ABS on our 2001 Outback wagon wasn't working
right. Seems like when it kicks-in the stopping distances go UP.
Although one time it went on while stopping quickly on gravel, and that
seemed to work very well. Most people had trouble faulting the car when
we were still running Potenza's. We'll see.

As far as folks going really slow on expressways, that does happen
around here (upstate NY) Then it doesn't matter how good your tires are.

-D

 

[Alan]

ABD does not decrease stooping distance. The purpose of ABS is to allow you
to steer and maintain control when your breaks would otherwise lock.

snow -- and just dreadful on ice. I went through last winter on them, and
I'm not doing it again.

 

[Edward Arata]

Absolutely, ASB is designed to allow you to have control during "panic
braking" some people do, and will lengthen your stopping distance. You can
do better than ABS with threshold braking anyday.
Interesting side note about ABS it has increased the number of roll over
accidents in SUVs because people used to lock up the brakes and turn the
wheel while sliding straight, now people panic brake rip the wheel and roll
over instead.

Back to Subaru ABS. Subaru's ABS are tuned to work on ICE and snowy
conditions. This setting is much more sensitive than most other
manufactures, meaning Subaru's will engage ABS well before most other
manufactures on all surfaces including dry pavement. (This is probably why
your ABS worked so well on Gravel, surprise surprise Subaru does rally
racing, wonder why that works.) This is good for the average driver when
they use Subaru's on ice, which is one of the great things about Subaru.
However, this can be a problem when trying to "performance drive" a Subaru
on dry pavement and is sometime disabled for this reason.

Ed

 

[Diva]

Well but I ended up getting the Michelin Arctic Alpins and not the Hakkas.

June

Yes, the Potenza crap that came on the car are really scary in the snow -- and just dreadful on ice. I went through last winter on them, and I'm not doing it again.

I'll get the Hakka Q's.

Great thread! - I kinda wish I read it before buying Blizaks.. although
so far they are very quiet and compared to some Haakapelliitta's I had
on a SAAB once they seem a lot smoother.

I've been thinking that the ABS on our 2001 Outback wagon wasn't working
right. Seems like when it kicks-in the stopping distances go UP.
Although one time it went on while stopping quickly on gravel, and that
seemed to work very well. Most people had trouble faulting the car when
we were still running Potenza's. We'll see.

As far as folks going really slow on expressways, that does happen
around here (upstate NY) Then it doesn't matter how good your tires are.

-D