Results 26 to 50 of 941
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11-02-2016, 06:39 AM #26
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11-02-2016, 07:56 AM #27Gel-powered Tech bindings
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
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- Amherst, Mass.
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- 4,684
With the caveats that:
- I'm not very scientific about all this (as compared to, say, my skimo race gear).
- I'm a fairly cautious driver in general (i.e., not whipping around corners at high speed on country roads).
- I'm almost never driving through deep unplowed snow.
My experience is as follows:
- Starting in the late 1990s, on a 1995 Subaru Legacy sedan and then a 2007 of the same, I would use various winter tires (with separate wheels) from around mid-November to early April, with all-season tires for the rest of the year.
- On dry roads, the switch to winter tires each November definitely felt worse, and the switch to spring tires each April definitely felt better.
- For the final set of winter tires on the 2007 Legacy, I went with the Nokian WRG3. Now the switch back-and-forth on dry roads was pretty much imperceptible.
- For my 2015 Legacy, I just replaced the original all-season tires with a set of WRG3, which I now use year-round.
- Overall, I don't miss my dedicated winter tires, and I don't miss my all-season tires for the summer. If you want more winter grip than all-season tires, but the vast majority of your driving (even on powder days) still entails lots of driving on dry interstate highways, then they sure seem perfect to me.
Mo' skimo here: NE Rando Race Series
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11-02-2016, 08:00 AM #28Gel-powered Tech bindings
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- Dec 2004
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- Amherst, Mass.
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- 4,684
Mo' skimo here: NE Rando Race Series
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11-02-2016, 08:03 AM #29Gel-powered Tech bindings
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- Dec 2004
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- Amherst, Mass.
- Posts
- 4,684
Might be because Nokian has deliberately limited its distribution.
So can no longer buy them from Tire Rack.
Ditto for our regional 300 lb gorilla:
http://www.townfairtire.com/
... which otherwise has pretty much everything.Mo' skimo here: NE Rando Race Series
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11-02-2016, 08:11 AM #30Gel-powered Tech bindings
- Join Date
- Dec 2004
- Location
- Amherst, Mass.
- Posts
- 4,684
Just realized that I should specify what true winter tires I’ve previously used.
No longer have the records for the 1995 Legacy, but for the 2007 it was:
• Blizzak LM-25
• Blizzak WS60 (just one winter, then died an early death the following fall on some interstate potholes from hell)
• Blizzak LM-25 RFT
The all-season tires for the 2007 were just the OEM (stretched out for a looong time when I combined them with some leftovers of the same from my wife’s Legacy) then the Cooper Zeon RS3-A.
Size for both winter & summer was 205/50 R17.Mo' skimo here: NE Rando Race Series
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11-02-2016, 08:27 AM #31
IMO they're pretty much the best budget snow tire you can buy. They don't equal a Blizzak or Nokian, but those are typically around double the price. I've had the Generals on two cars now. The first was a rear wheel drive Miata that was absolutely hopeless with all seasons with even the slightest dusting of snow. It made the thing driveable on plowed roads around town. Now they're on my front wheel drive hatchback and I've taken it up Berthoud Pass in a storm with no issues at all.
However, my main mountain rig is still a 4x4 truck with Duratracs (severe snow rated). If I didn't have that I'd probably pony up for Nokians. A buddy has them on his AWD Evo and the thing is a monster in the snow.
No experience with all weather tires.
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11-02-2016, 08:51 AM #32
I just bought a set of these for my XV. I have a 330mi commute to Mammoth, so a full snow tire is not ideal. Tire is great in rain, haven't gotten it on snow yet.
I had Geolandar ATS on my old Forrester. Its a full all terrian truck tire with a size small enough to fit a suby with a 16" wheel. That tire is very manageable on snow and so much fun on dirt roads. Most of the new subys have a 17" wheel and come stock with the passenger version Geolandar. Which is not that great on snow. I was really debating buying 16" wheels and going back to the ATS.Best Skier on the Mountain
Self-Certified
1992 - 2012
Squaw Valley, USA
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11-02-2016, 09:19 AM #33
Not sure if geolander go15 is replacing the full A/T but clearly the version I got is more oriented toward snow. More sipes and feels like softer/more malleable compound.
Think 60 section as low as they come.Life of a repo man is always intense.
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11-02-2016, 10:51 AM #34
I had the truck rated geolanders on my tundra as summer tires for a few years. I hated them. They made the vehicle really unstable in the corners as the edge lugs where too soft compared to the Nokians and duratracks. However they did wear like iron even for summer use. I would highly recommend the duratracs over them.
FWIW my new truck came with General's on it stock, and those tires suck ass. Cant wait to burn threw them and replace with duratracks for summer use. I have not used the duratracks for winter driving but I know a few guys that use them for weekend use i the winter and say they do well.
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11-02-2016, 11:02 AM #35
When I had wr2's, the high silica winter-oriented tread was a relatively thin layer on the outside of the tire. Is this still the case for these "all weather" tires (not the snowflake rated AT tires).
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11-02-2016, 01:35 PM #36Registered User
- Join Date
- Mar 2006
- Location
- da hood
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- 1,119
I put continental extreme contact dws on my daughter's toyota matrix and they have been phenomenal 3+ season tires. At 25k miles, they just started showing wear. They are quiet riding and do great in rain and occasional snow. She runs studded hakks in the winter though.
I wouldn't trust the dws tires for everyday mountain travel unless they were on an awd car. That said, it sounds like their mileage longevity significanlty outlast the WR2 and WR3.
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11-02-2016, 02:20 PM #37Registered User
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
- Location
- Squamish BC.
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- 707
Had two sets of WR's on my RAV. They were a good snow tire for an AWD. They didn't have the stopping grip of winters, but forward traction was good. They were good in summer and had good wear resistance. I didn't get the full guaranteed Km's out of them, but they discounted me on the next pair the percentage they were short on the guarantee, about 20% as I got 80km on a 100k warranty. They worked well as a summer SUV tire as well.
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11-02-2016, 02:55 PM #38
Braking power/ability is the most important part of a tire in snow, wet, or other frozen conditions.
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11-02-2016, 05:16 PM #39
I had some WRG2 tires I used as winter tires on a fwd Ford Fusion, and loved them the first few seasons. Season three, was a bit sketchy, and by four they sucked. Seemed like a good idea for new england where most interstate miles are wet pavement.
Replaced with Goodyear Ultra Grip which I really like.
I've been running Goodyear Triple Treads on an awd Suby year round and really like that combo. I've had multiple sets on multiple Subys.
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11-03-2016, 07:25 AM #40
What price should I be paying for the Nokian WRG3? About.
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11-03-2016, 02:14 PM #41
I just buy whichever regular tires are rated best for snow by Consumer Reports- recently that was the general Altimax RT43. Seems to work out well
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11-03-2016, 07:56 PM #42Registered User
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- Dec 2015
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- Oakland
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- 150
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11-03-2016, 09:21 PM #43Registered User
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
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- Donner Summit
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- 1,251
Same size is $116/tire with free shipping from tiresbyweb.com. Figure another $50-60 (per set) for mounting and balancing depending on your local shop.
Just looked back and I've ordered 3 sets for my car, same size, about 2 years apart (2010, 2013, 2015) and each set was cheaper than the last. Falling EUR/USD exchange I guess.
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11-03-2016, 10:09 PM #44
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11-03-2016, 10:36 PM #45
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11-03-2016, 10:46 PM #46Registered User
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- Feb 2008
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- Donner Summit
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11-03-2016, 10:53 PM #47Galibier Designcrafting technology in service of music
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11-03-2016, 11:51 PM #48
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11-04-2016, 12:41 AM #49
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10-23-2017, 04:20 PM #50
"All weather" tires in place of winter tires
Any experiences with the Conti Xtreme Contacts? Looking to use them on my AWD MDX for I70 driving.
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