Better late than never dept. (was: Rally tire/Winter tire question)

[Jon Auringer <J.Auringer@astronautics.com>]

HCharvat@aol.com wrote:

> FWIW most people who live in the snowy regions only drive on snow about 5% of
> the time.  The rest of the time they are on wet and/or dry roads.  All out
> rally tires may work in your neck of the woods, but if you drive aggressively
> on asphalt - holy tire chunking batman!  I use the Yoko Guardex with great
> luck - the best all around tire yet.  Blizzaks are also very good - but are
> only a snow tire for the first 50% of treadwear.
 
This is true about the Blizzaks, after the first 50% they are only
really good all season tires. I think this holds true to some degree
for all snows. Once you have worn off the soft sticky portion of the
tread, you are left with shorter, less compliant tread blocks. And
yes, I know about the microcell compound only being present in the
outer portion of the Bridgestones.

The first set of snows I bought for my 88' 16V were Yokohama A633s.
These tires were great in deeper snow. They were perfect for passing
the snowplows on my way to and from work. I was, and am, about the
only person I know that sits at work with a grin on my face watching
the snow pile up outside. After I wore these out, I found out they
were no longer available. :(
 
This was when they first introduced the Blizzaks. Preliminary
reports were good, so I went with them. The more closed tread
pattern concerned me, and doesn't seem to work quite as well in
deeper snow as the A633s. But the overall performance is far
superior. Here in Wisconsin, as Hugh mentions, most of the time you
are dealing with hard pack or re-frozen snow and ice. The Blizzaks
are very confidence inspiring in these conditions. Even if the deep
snow performance is not quite what a more aggressive tread design
would allow, I have never come close to not being able to get where
I am going. This is true even in snow deep enough to be leveled off
by the air dam. :O The other nice thing about the Bridgestones, is
that they are much quieter on dry pavement than the old Yokohamas.

If you can not tell, I would highly recommend the Blizzaks. I do
have to qualify the recommendation with the fact that I have not run
the Guardex, Artic Alpin, or any of the other newer designs.

Later, much later if there is snow to play in, :)

         Jon

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