Real snow tires versus all-season

thcri · Feb 9, 2003

Yeah Twinkle,

I would like to know what dust tires are also. I did a search on the web but could find nothing.

Murph

BigDave · Feb 10, 2003

Trev,

May I offer a little glimmer of hope for a one tire solution. Have your all season tires siped by a tire store. As I recall, Discount Tire (primarily a southern chain) used to offer siping as an option for their tire sales. It is a compromise between All-Season & Snow Tires: better traction than all season and better wear than snow tires. If you look around, you might find a local dealer that sipes tires. I have a rear wheel drive car, with all-season sport tires(235/50-17 & 250hp) and it is just terrible in the snow. The current OEM tires are candidates wear warranty replacement, so I'm not touching them for another 10K miles. Maybe, I'll get a new set for free. The next set of tires will be siped, and hopefully, I'll be able to get up my driveway like my wife and her front-wheel drive car.

rationalizer · Feb 10, 2003

Trev,

Summer tires do not have to be "high performance" tires. Instead - the term refers to a tire that is designed to work in "non-freezing" conditions - so the tread compound is optimized for wet and dry conditions (not snow).

It is true that most summer tires offered here in the states are "high performance" - but that is because that is where the "market" is. It is rare to find "summer" tires here in the US - because most people want one set of tires and that is it. So their vehicles come with one set of M&S tires and they are happy for 50K miles... Which means they are always accepting a significant compromise. In Europe it is much more typical for people to have two sets of wheels and tires.

The tire market in Europe is much more competitive - with more suppliers and a more demanding market.

Bill

Anonymous Poster · Feb 10, 2003

I have seen sawdust tires....we use to have a set on a 57 chevy when I was a boy,it was sawdust mixed in the rubber of the treads when the treads were molded,it helped add to the traction of the tires by giving them an abrassive surface in the tread.

Egon · Feb 10, 2003

Those go back a long way.

Egon

Egon · Feb 10, 2003

Sawdust tires:

A tire that incorporated sawdust in a Town and Country thread pattern for better traction in the winter. Didn't wear well in the summer.

Egon

Trev · Feb 10, 2003

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Have your all season tires siped by a tire store. )</font>

Hmm. There's no downside to this? No increase in noise, decrease in dry traction, etc.? Sounds like it's worth looking into. I wonder why someone doesn't offer such a tire, built that way at the factory? Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Bob

Anonymous Poster · Feb 10, 2003

Trev, talked to my neighbors yesterday one has a 7series bimmer runs Bridgstones and the other neighbor put Michelin Alpins on his MB AMG55 and his wifes M3 bimmer both guys have summer and winter sets of tires. Both guys are impressed with the "winter" tires. If your unsure about winter only tires just go with a good set of allseason tires. We have always had very good luck with Michelin which is the parent to BFG. If your dealing with really deep snow well cars kinda have a problem with ground clearance anyway so once you bottom out with snow doesn't matter how great the tires are /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif The 5series you have bought is a great car very good ballance for its size should give you alot of pleasure on the hwy or a fun backroad /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Look at the wear rating on the tires and have the sales person explane the differance winter tires "typically" won't last as long.

Cheer
Tony

Trev · Feb 10, 2003

Thanks, Tony! I'll pick up the car tomorrow, and find out how it does with the all-seasons that come on it... experiment with it a bit.. and then make a decision. As it turns out, tomorrow is supposed to be a crummy day, weather-wise, so it might not take me long to make the decision! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Thanks again, to all....

RobertN · Feb 10, 2003

Oh, getting close to 40, and read a lot of off-road magazines years ago. Seems one magazine republished some of those articles a year or so ago. One was how to remove a blown piston and rod and drive out without it(when you are WAY out in the boonies and break down). Another was how to pull the top off a stick tranny, and get it into gears after a shift mechanism breaks, agian, way out in the boonies.