Outback All Around Tire

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Interesting, the roads and my driveway compress to ice here for a few months each year and I don't have a problem with all seasons. I drive around people in 4wd and awd alla time on the way to the ski hill, but I drive like it's winter and brake and accelerate accordingly.

[El Chupacabra]

Discount Tire is having a Pres Day sale -- either $25, 75, or 100 rebate off a set of 4 tires. If you buy with Discount's credit card, rebate is doubled.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/th...nkYouSale.html

Same deal is going to be offered at Discount's retail stores.

[Sessiøn]

You're in Oregon? You'll be better off with a good all season. Anecdotal evidence of running a winter compound tire and getting good wear is silly. Especially if you're going to put most miles on the tires commuting.

Why is is silly?

All seasons suck a bag of dicks compared to my X-ice.

I don't want to buy another set of rims

I don't want my fucking TPMS light on all winter

I don't want to have to change my wheels.


This is my third winter on these tires, and i'll replace them in the fall.

[EaglesPDX]

Why is is silly?

All seasons suck a bag of dicks compared to my X-ice.

I don't want to buy another set of rims

I don't want my fucking TPMS light on all winter

I don't want to have to change my wheels.


This is my third winter on these tires, and i'll replace them in the fall.

Spot on!!

Just one correction. You can just swap the snows for as's on the same rims and Les Schwab or America's Tire will swap the TPS transmitters are part of the deal. I'll do that with the new tires I took off the Legacy. I'll put them on this summer and extend the life of this pair of Xices. You don't need two sets of rims.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Why is is silly?

All seasons suck a bag of dicks compared to my X-ice.

I don't want to buy another set of rims

I don't want my fucking TPMS light on all winter

I don't want to have to change my wheels.


This is my third winter on these tires, and i'll replace them in the fall.

Spot on!!

Because you'll get better wear, improved fuel economy and better overall four season traction by using all seasons vs. winter tires. Winter tires are great when it's cold and you need more traction but if you want only one set of tires and wheels, all seasons are the best option.

Where do you live in Oregon? I can almost guarantee that the driving in winter is worse here unless you live in the eastern part of the state.

[EaglesPDX]

Because you'll get better wear, improved fuel economy and better overall four season traction by using all seasons vs. winter tires.

I get way better traction and safety hitting Hood and Bachelor 30-40 times a year and that is the key with a ski mobile. Huge traffic jam at Hood around New Years as all the AWD All Season folks were stuck on the ice blocking the road. They shut down the road and made those of use who could drive in the snow and ice park at HRM and take the bus.

Hit I take in summer is minimal as the Xices do not look or perform like traditional snow tires on non-snow/ice pavement. They come with a 40K mileage warranty and they live up to it. The new high tech snow's have changed the equation. Especially if one is looking for a single set of do it all tires for frequent skier.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I probably drive in conditions like you are describing 120+ days a year and all seasons are fine. I've used X-Ice and Arctic Alpin before, they wear out fast if used all year compared to an all season.

[EaglesPDX]

I probably drive in conditions like you are describing 120+ days a year and all seasons are fine. I've used X-Ice and Arctic Alpin before, they wear out fast if used all year compared to an all season.

40K is about it on the Michelins. Plenty of tread left at that point for summer driving but not enough for good ice/snow driving though probably better at that point than any AllSeason.

The new high tech snows don't look or sound like old time snows.

For a single tire quiver for a skier's car, the Xice is a good deal.

[char]

I put the X-Ice on when I was commuting over Santiam and Tombstone 2 times a week. It's a great tire.

It would be great not to store a set of snow tires if I could get away with it. I will probably end up with a new set of all seasons anyways.

Aaron, I wonder if you are really saving much with that aggressive all season?

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Aggresive all season? I don't follow. I'm saving over a comparable tire that has a similar tread life, speed rating and load rating but costs more.

[char]

Aggresive all season? I don't follow. I'm saving over a comparable tire that has a similar tread life, speed rating and load rating but costs more.

Sorry, that was poorly worded..

Are you getting better gas mileage with the Arizonan versus the X-Ice? Cost per tire is obviously lower.

I don't really care about the winter driving characteristics of the tire, more interested in spring, summer, fall with lots of rain in the PNW. I just inevitably end up in the shoulder season in the snow prior to or after taking off the snows.

I put alot of summer miles on in high temps so I would probably shred the Xice.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Sorry, that was poorly worded..

Are you getting better gas mileage with the Arizonan versus the X-Ice? Cost per tire is obviously lower.

I don't really care about the winter driving characteristics of the tire, more interested in spring, summer, fall with lots of rain in the PNW. I just inevitably end up in the shoulder season in the snow prior to or after taking off the snows.

I put alot of summer miles on in high temps so I would probably shred the Xice.

I didn't have the X-Ice on my Outback, I had them on my Eurovan for winter.

If you're looking for spring/summer/fall with a little snow driving why would you consider a snow tire for a full time tire? Yes, the X-ice didn't last long over here during the summer and with occasional road trips to see the in-laws in the Bay Area. I tried the snow tire year round, that's why I'm recommending against it.

[char]

If you're looking for spring/summer/fall with a little snow driving why would you consider a snow tire for a full time tire? Yes, the X-ice didn't last long over here during the summer and with occasional road trips to see the in-laws in the Bay Area. I tried the snow tire year round, that's why I'm recommending against it.

Because they are on the car already and only have 15k miles on them. If I buy a new set for non-winter driving then they will be aimed at spring/summer/fall and I'll put the snows on in the winter. I'm not buying a new set of XIces to run year round.

Sounds like I am buying a new set.

[roundabout]

Running Pirelli Four Seasons on my '11 outback. Would not recommend for anything more than somewhat wet. When we went through a couple week stretch with highs in the low 30's I felt like I was filming the next Fast and Furious: Bozeman Drift.

[AweShuksan]

For a single tire quiver for a skier's car, the Xice is a good deal.

I'm running the X-ice on my Mazda CX-5 AWD and I really like them. They are not as good on ice and slush as other winter tires I've had (Arctic Alpin's) but they are far superior on bare pavement so it's a good trade-off. I run them at 37 psi except I'll drop them to 35 psi for a little more traction if conditions are hairy.

What psi do you use?

[kokomas]

Like the x ice a lot on my Forrester .15k winter miles and they look like new.

[bodywhomper]

I have run a set of wr's on a subi year round, a set of blizzaks on a fwd sedan year round, and i finished-off a set of blizzaks in the summer on a minivan. Personally, i would recommend switching tires during the shoulder seasons if you have the storage available and altering driving behavior to the roadway conditions. With all of those tires, i observed significant wear during the dry season, especially after longer drives in hot conditions. There's also a noticeable performance difference in cornering on warm and dry pavement. Im in the camp that you are saving $$ when change tires for the season. I dont have experience with the xice under discussion, but there are noticable changes in snow/ice performance for the tires i mentioned above once you wear past the first (winter rubber) wear bar.

[char_]

I ended up running the Xice3's into the ground.

I bought a set of Arizonian's at AaronWrights suggestion for ~$500 after doing some additional research. As he indicated, they are just an old Cooper tread pattern and are built by Cooper. While not as confidence inspiring in ice and snow as the Xice3 they get the job done and most importantly are predictable. No issues after ~1000 miles and a few trips over the Cascades in the last few weeks.

[Sessiøn]

Update here. Sitting at 50k miles on my X-Ice's. Snow on the ground here in PDX. Still great on the snow. Ice performance is a bit degraded. Enough that I will be getting a new set next week. Overall very happy with the use I have got out of these tires. Gas mileage loss was negligible.

[galibier_numero_un]

So what I'm hearing is that the siping effect on X-Ices lasts far more than Blizzaks? I initially stayed away from Blizzaks based on stories of getting only 20K miles out of them.

I went with a pair of Nokian Hakapalletas for my '08 Outback and this will be their last Winter. When I mounted them a month ago, they had 23K on them. My sense is that their snow goodness has degraded a bit and that I'll get maybe 30K miles before they're best left to running in the Summer and wearing them out.


... Thom