Tires

 Am reviewing tires to buy for my car before winter sets in.  2010 Prius
bought in Oct. '09, went through last winter with original tires - Yokohama
Avid S33 - & although last winter was not all that snowy, driving with them
was -not- good.  Actually, have never liked the tires that came on my new
Toyotas (often Integrities, which were also lousy in snow).  After switching
to all-seasons (vs. studded snows which I used before before radials came on
the scene), always wound up buying new tires that were better suited for
snowy winters.  And dry roads/cornering, for that matter. Liked the Goodyear
Regatta & Regatta II the best.

Have whittled it down to 2 all-seasons and 2 dedicated snows.  All-seasons
in the running: Yokohama Avid Envigor and the Goodyear Assurance
TripleTreds.  Snows: Michelin X-Ice Xi2 and Dunlop SP WinterSport 3D.  All
have TireRack ratings in various categories ranging from 7.5 - 9.2.  I've
done a mini spreadsheet to compare them, & it's basically a wash.  Will need
to check local prices.

Anyone know if there's a way to retro look up the ratings for the
discontinued (several years ago) all-season Goodyear Regattas that I bought
for my '90 & '98 Corollas, by any chance?  Would give me an even better idea
re: choosing the new tires, since I was happy with the Regattas in all road
conditions, summer & winter.  Held dry roads well, & were good in snow.

I also looked up the ratings for the tires that came on the Prius: the
Yokohama Avid S33.  Holy crap - no wonder I dislike them so much!  Their
ratings range from 2.9 - 6.1, with only 3.1 - 3.3 for snowy conditions!
Arghh - *why* they're supplied on cars destined for snowy winter areas is
beyond me.

Cathy

 


Up here in the Canadian Sub-Arctic, in Edmonton, the majority of drivers, at
least in urban areas, do NOT use snow tires. We simply carry a shovel in the
trunk for that maybe once in 5 years it is necessary to use it, instead of
waiting for a tow. Simply modify driving habits to allow for greater braking
and accelerating distance and NO NEED to spend hundreds of bucks on snow
tires plus to labor to change them twice a year. All seasons rule except for
those who do a lot of driving on rural side roads OR have a lot of unsanded
hills to deal with. Hype from tire manufacturers aside.

 

Ummm... you two don't seem to have noticed that - with the exception of the
tires that initially come on the cars - I mentioned that I've been switching
to/using all-season radials that have good ratings, incl. for snow - of
which we tend to get a lot ("lake effect" country here), for the last 20+
years.  If, OTOH, you want to pay no attention to that sort of detail &
don't care about how your tires drive in snowy conditions, feel free to go
slip-sliding around on snowy roads. I don't recommend it, but hey - to each
their own, n'est-ce pas?

Thanks for your ever-so-helpful replies.

Cathy

 On Sat, 20 Nov 2010 20:53:18 -0500, Cathy F. wrote:


During and since the winter of 2007 I have gone back to dedicated snows on
the cars that go out in the winter. 2007 was BRUTAL, it was also the year
I was delivering newpapers from 1:30AM to 3-4:30 AM, and of course, when
it snowed, the storms would start at...um, 1:30AM! I had some decent
all-seasons (that cost a whopping $
9 NEW) but on the days it would snow
and then RAIN! UGH!! Since I basically have to work anytime FEDEx does, I
went with snows. I left the last set I bought on the Mazda and got three
years out of them.

 

That's another scenario I'm considering - if I don't get the all-seasons
with excellent-superior ratings, & go with dedicated snows instead (their
snow ratings, esp. for deep snow, are of course even better than the best
all-seasons), I may simply leave them on all year.  Their ratings for dry
pavement driving are *way* better than the all-season ones that came with
the car, so...

Cathy