Winter tires in the south?

"LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com" (limitedtimeonly)
12/13/2016 at 09:30 • Filed to: VW, GTI, tires

I had my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! service done on the GTI. This included rotating the tires, which on the GTI means fronts go to the back. The inspection report I was given shows the rears at 6/32, and the fronts at 9/32. I was trying to figure out why the rears were so low, when I was sure I had abused the fronts.

Then I realized that the report must have been from AFTER the rotation, and those were the fronts that I had abused.

I was going to ask if Oppos knew of a way that a front-drive car could wear the rears quicker than the fronts. Heh-heh. Duh.

I thought Oppo might find that amusing. Anyway . . . . . .

Looks like I’m well on my way to replacing the Bridgestone Potenza all seasons. In the dozen years I have lived in the Piedmont of the Carolinas my vehicles have run all-seasons year-round. But I feel like this car would benefit from summer tires when I replace the ones that came with it.

I’m not sure that I can get away with summers year-round in the Charlotte area, but I also don’t think that winter tires are necessarily warranted here, and it seems silly to have a set of summers and a set of all-seasons. It does get fairly cold in January/February, but almost never snows, and only ices up four or five times a winter on average.

Any Oppo-pinions on that?

DISCUSSION (20)

random001 > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 09:38

Oh, that’s wicked easy to do. My MINI S wore the rears out faster due to alignment.

Rico > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 09:41

While it might not seem to make sense, if it doesn’t snow or really stay below freezing for multiple weeks at a time than your all seasons could be fine.

If it were me I would cop a new set of wheels and Summer tires. Keep the all seasons on the stock wheels for the Winter until they need to be replaced (could last you at least this winter and maybe next) and then replace the all seasons with winters later on (maybe a barely used set of Blizzaks or equivalent off of Craigslist after the winter is over and people are trying to unload them that can be a great deal).

Comes over to help work on your car and only drinks beer > random001
12/13/2016 at 09:46

Another possibility is a stupid tax I paid...went on a vacation with my ‘05 Altima SE (V6) fully loaded. Doggo in back seat, full cooler and luggage in the trunk. A bit of sag, but nothing that appeared dangerous. However, in driving 10+ hours a day at highway speeds (did a trip from midwest to black hills, yellowstone/tetons, and back thru rocky mountain NP in 10 days, just over 3K miles), I essentially trashed the rears, I assume by hanging that much weight behind the rear wheels for that long and at that speed, the tires got hot and wore prematurely.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 09:49

I would go for a set oh UHP summers, you’ll be glad you did, and then pick up a set of Dunlop SP Wintersport 3Ds. They are a pretty real performance tire that just happens to be made of a rubber compound that works in cold weather and has lots of sipes for ice grip. My favorite winter tires when I have a car that I can get them in a size for (they don’t make a Wintersport small enough for the FieSTa...).

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > random001
12/13/2016 at 09:54

Alignment is the fastest way to destroy tires in a car with under 200hp. I did about 3000 miles on my all seasons after changing the shocks on my old Outback and did about 15-20k worth of wear to the front tires.

random001 > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
12/13/2016 at 10:00

This was my part time track car at the time, so I just left the track alignment on there. Oops...

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 10:04

I imagine having a nice set of summers for 75% of the year and some high performance all seasons for the other 25% would be ideal. You don’t get snow and cold is only temporary down there. Even up here in NJ, I could easily get by on all seasons through the winter and just not drive when it snows. But down there you definitely dont need em! No way would i ever run all seasons through the summer though, that would just make me sad.

Tazio, Count Fouroff > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 10:10

Conti Sport Contacts...not even an Audi A4 quattro could keep these from turning into slick, hard bricks at low temps or in snow. Scary :( These had me convinced tire / weather recs are real till I found Michelin...

personally have used Michelin tires *recommended for summer use* all through the winter in Atlanta but never tried driving in snow on the really high-performance ones (Pilot Sports, PS 2's). These have done fine at colder temps, Georgia’s version of cold anyway, even in rain. However, with Pilot Exaltos on a BMW 7 Series I foolishly was even one of the last cars to make it over Afton Mountain, VA, in a heavy snowstorm, on I-65. I-65 was closed for days afterward haha

Also Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus, actually these are officially all-season, have been fine in snow even with rwd

Hopefully this will be of help

(Yep, Michelin fanboi here)

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > random001
12/13/2016 at 10:18

That will do it.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 10:45

How cold does it get? I live somewhere it gets and sometimes stays in the 30s-40s for extended periods, so I’m right on the cusp of being able to run winters.

A lot of people here run summers most of the year and all-seasons in the winter. Some run winters in the winter, which I only do because I got a cheap set of Blizzaks mounted on stock wheels for my car. Last year I didn’t even get them mounted because it wasn’t below 50 for an entire week during any week I was here.

For where you are, it’s a dice roll. I’ve heard of nasty ice storms there, but I bet in most cases you’d be fine with decent all-season tires in the winter and summers the rest of the year.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Eric @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 10:55

As I said, both cars that I manage (mine and wife’s) have run all-seasons year round for 11 winters here, and I have been fine with it. It typically will be at or below freezing for a week a couple of times in the winter here. Most of the time the daytime high gets above freezing otherwise. And it is a two month winter, as far as I judge it.

When everything is coated with ice, no one goes anywhere, or at least no where fast until on the state maintained roads, and those get cleared pretty well.

ateamfan42 > Tazio, Count Fouroff
12/13/2016 at 11:01

personally have used Michelin tires *recommended for summer use* all through the winter in Atlanta but never tried driving in snow on the really high-performance ones (Pilot Sports, PS 2's).

In my experience here, pushing summer performance tires late into the fall (when I really should be making the swap to winter tires already), the cold temperatures aren’t TOO bad so long as things stay dry. There definitely is a drop off in grip as you get down to the freezing point (or below), but on dry pavement things aren’t too sketchy. But one little bit of snow or slush, and things get very interesting very fast.

I also cannot give any feedback on summer tires in really cold temps (like -20 degF). I imagine they are pretty scary there.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 11:03

As long as you’re extremely careful when it is icy/cold (or, preferably, don’t drive) and they can endure the cold, you could probably run summers year round.

My wife’s car has been running on the cheapest summers Les Schwab sells year-round since the original set of all-seasons wore out. Their tread pattern isn’t amazing (sometimes she can’t get up icy hills), but the compound is still soft enough that they aren’t damaged by it. Can’t recall their model, though. My Eagle F1s are basically useless under 40 degrees - they develop flat spots very quickly (very rough ride), they feel slippery like skateboard wheels, and some have claimed that they’ve cracked from minor impacts while driving when used in these colder conditions.

That said, there are reasons so many went to no-seasons. People don’t like changing tires to match the season.

Textured Soy Protein > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 11:38

You say you have Bridgestone Potenza all-seasons. Looking at the OE tire options for the GTI, I’m assuming they’re these Potenza RE97AS which look to be rather, well, crap.

I personally have summer and winter wheels but I also live in Wisconsin where I really need snow tires so I might as well get proper summer tires for the non-winter wheels.

But in your case there are plenty of more performance-oriented all-season tires that will both be a massive handling upgrade over your OE tire and be fine for your mild winters.

Check out the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ (but not the original version without the +) and BFGoodrich g-Force Comp-2 A/S. If you want a budget option there’s the Kumho Ecsta 4X II which isn’t as good in winter but still half decent and otherwise mostly in the ballpark with the other 2 in dry & wet.

Any of those 3 will be a big improvement assuming I guessed your OE tire correctly.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 11:53

I’m getting cheap Nexen All Seasons for the winter. $65 a tire, and they lasted well over 50k miles on my Mom’s car.

That’s said, I’m not much further south, and I’ve been fine running summers.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein
12/13/2016 at 11:54

You are correct in that the tires are the RE97AS. It is something to consider that a better all-season might be the answer. Thanks.

MyJeepGetsStuckInTheSnow > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/13/2016 at 22:29

Snow chains for the few days we get ice?

Textured Soy Protein > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/14/2016 at 11:26

I think you’d be very happy with the upgrade you get from any of the tires I mentioned. The ratings on the RE97AS are terrible. It’s yet another in a long line of frankly ridiculously bad OE tires.

I’m in the same boat with the OE tires on my wife’s Impreza. They’re fine enough in regular driving but the first time I took it out in not-deep snow I got the back end to step out in a turn and got into the ABS while braking down a not-steep hill.

The only difference is her car’s a lease and she puts such low miles on it that they’re unlikely to wear out before the end of the lease. She talks about buying it at the end of the lease but the new 2017 Impreza is apparently a nice upgrade so that’s not guaranteed to be the outcome. Which means we may stick it out with the shit OE tires.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > Textured Soy Protein
12/14/2016 at 12:33

The downside to better all-seasons is I don’t have an excuse to get cooler wheels for a second set of tires. The plus is that my wife doesn’t get upset about me storing a set of wheels in the garage at all times.

Textured Soy Protein > LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com
12/14/2016 at 13:28

If your wife is anything like mine, that stack of tires in the garage will be a point of contention. But at least I have the excuse of “hey we’re in Wisconsin, this is how I make my car work in the winter.” She’s fine with it but I still hear about the space being taken up from time to time.