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Old 10-19-2011, 12:17 PM   #1
NcKidd
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Subaru Stars What's ur Fave All-Season Tire & Why???

Folks that live in places with wet winter weather, what is you favorite high or ultra high performance all-season tire to run on your Suby?

Just moved to the Pacific Northwest last year, I now clearly see just how important they are for safety

Just to simplify the thread, please omit 'snow tires' and focus on AS....
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Old 10-19-2011, 12:20 PM   #2
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conti dws. best all season in snow and rain that i have driven on. not a sharp handling tire, but all seasons are a compromise and you might as well focus on the reason you are buying them in the first place.
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Old 10-19-2011, 12:25 PM   #3
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I've been a fan of the Bridgestone RE960AS for a long time. Pricey, but a very good, well rounded tire.
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Old 10-19-2011, 07:48 PM   #4
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My bfg supersport A/S in 205 55 R16 on my stockers work great in the winters in the tristate area.
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Old 10-19-2011, 07:59 PM   #5
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General Altimax Arctic.....yes they are snow tires but....I run mine All Season and thrash them daily. They wear like iron and grip like a mo-fo 22k on my set with more than 3/4 tread left. I actually bought another set of 4 sitting because how impress I am with them.
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Old 10-19-2011, 08:20 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dangerousatom View Post
General Altimax Arctic.....yes they are snow tires but....I run mine All Season and thrash them daily. They wear like iron and grip like a mo-fo 22k on my set with more than 3/4 tread left. I actually bought another set of 4 sitting because how impress I am with them.
they wear a lot better than blizzaks and other really soft snows, but i think the dunlop 3d's wear and especially handle a lot better.
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Old 10-19-2011, 08:30 PM   #7
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perhaps but the dunlop 3d are like +20% more $$$$ and more so the the further the size get pushed up...... :/
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Old 10-19-2011, 08:33 PM   #8
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Quote:
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perhaps but the dunlop 3d are like +20% more $$$$ and more so the the further the size get pushed up...... :/
true, but if its something you have to drive on year round, they would be more enjoyable.
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Old 10-19-2011, 09:04 PM   #9
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Falcon Espia FTW!!! by far my favorite on my 93 subaru for winter. lots of control and the rubber is super soft so it grips all the snow. ive gone threw 3 feet of snow litterally with them.
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Old 10-20-2011, 08:56 AM   #10
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I'm excluding "popular" in terms of what the current talk is about and "cheap" in terms of price.

Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season

Why?

*The tire is stable at high-speeds, both wet or dry.

*When changing lanes in the rain, there is no 'floating'. This is also considers being reasonable in terms of driving when raining.

*When encountering pooling water, the tires will, by and large, cut through it with little loss of track or stability. This also considers being reasonable in terms of driving when raining. Meaning, don't expect to drive 80mph, for example, hit a standing pool of water, and have the car continue straight as if the water were not there.

*If the car is pushed in the rain (I don't recommend this) the car will stick.

*Is designed for use in light snow. Note however that if your suspension / chassis is moderately to heavily modified, the overall set-up may be too stiff and so you start to take away the tire's ability to continue to 'give' with respect to driving in light snow.

If this is the case, then an actual snowtire is recommended. Otherwise, you can use the tire in light snow, but must consider all factors at hand.

Comparison:
Bridgestone Potenza RE-92
*Original equipment
*All-season tire
*New

Were fine on an unmodified car for both wet and light snow conditions. If the car were pushed a bit in the rain, they would break loose every now-and-again.

Once the suspension / chassis was modified, they were still fine for wet condition use, but they would break loose every now-and-again. They would also float if there was too much water on the road: pooling or between lanes.

Once the suspension / chassis was modified, they were no longer appropriate for light snow use.

The need for a better high-performance non-summer tire was warranted.

Comparison:
Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Specs:
*UHP summer tire
*New
*Used in conjunction with a modified chassis / suspension
*Used in the summer
*Used the day they were installed during very wet weather conditions

While driving straight, staying in one lane only, the car would float very slightly.

When changing lanes, the car would float.

These are a great dry-weather tire.

*******

All factors must be considered:
*No two drivers are alike
*No two cars are alike
*Your drivng habits
*Your driving needs

You cannot rely on what only one person says.

Using my Star Spec example above, these tires, when new, on my car, were not good in the rain. Other have had different results.

Some people don't like Goodyear as an overall brand. Some say they don't like the F1 A/S.

You must consider the source and the conditions: modified suspension? Track car? Daily driver? etc?

Last edited by Big-E; 10-22-2011 at 05:49 PM. Reason: Grammar / Sentence Structure
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Old 10-20-2011, 07:50 PM   #11
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I also have a set of rims with the goodyear f1 a/s and they are great as big e says but they are noisy as hell compared to any tire i have ever owned.
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Old 10-21-2011, 07:44 AM   #12
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Have money? Potenza RE-970 A/S Pole Position. Solid, stiff sidewall, responsive handling, very good wet traction, and undeinable and sticky dry traction. Lower treadwear and kinda expensive.

Don't have money? Kumho Ecsta 4x looks like a promising contender for the RE-970 with slightly lower traction capabilities and near-useless snow traction but a significatly better treadwear at a significanly lower price, but still has very crisp and sharp handling. Brand new tire so i'm still following reviews to see how well it fares.

Need light snow traction and excellent treadwear at the expense of responsiveness? Continental ExtremeContact DWS. Softer sidewall makes it significanly slower to respond to steering input and more mushy, but the added benefit is a softer and softer ride. Very impressive snow and cold traction, good dry traction, and extremely impressive wet traction and hydroplaning resistance. The treadwear has been extremely impressive as well, lasting significanly longer than the Potenza. Priced between the Potenza and the Kumho.

I have had the RE-970's and my gf's 08 STi has the ExtremeContact DWS, i'm looking at getting the Kumho's as my next set as snow and wet traction is less of a priority for me.
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Old 10-21-2011, 11:32 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by atomicfire
Have money? Potenza RE-970 A/S Pole Position. Solid, stiff sidewall, responsive handling, very good wet traction, and undeinable and sticky dry traction. Lower treadwear and kinda expensive.

Don't have money? Kumho Ecsta 4x looks like a promising contender for the RE-970 with slightly lower traction capabilities and near-useless snow traction but a significatly better treadwear at a significanly lower price, but still has very crisp and sharp handling. Brand new tire so i'm still following reviews to see how well it fares.

Need light snow traction and excellent treadwear at the expense of responsiveness? Continental ExtremeContact DWS. Softer sidewall makes it significanly slower to respond to steering input and more mushy, but the added benefit is a softer and softer ride. Very impressive snow and cold traction, good dry traction, and extremely impressive wet traction and hydroplaning resistance. The treadwear has been extremely impressive as well, lasting significanly longer than the Potenza. Priced between the Potenza and the Kumho.

I have had the RE-970's and my gf's 08 STi has the ExtremeContact DWS, i'm looking at getting the Kumho's as my next set as snow and wet traction is less of a priority for me.
this. my re960 is very impressive speciaaly stiff sidewalls.
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Old 10-21-2011, 02:28 PM   #14
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F1's are decent
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Old 10-21-2011, 10:15 PM   #15
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Nokian WR2 all weather tires are great for the Pacific NW. They are snow rated but are good in all conditions - I use them year round.
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Old 10-22-2011, 11:06 AM   #16
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For the money and performance I have Goodyear Eagle GT's and I'm pretty happy with them but as I said for the money. I'm sure there are better tires just out of my price range. I heard those Conti's DWS were pretty good.
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Old 10-22-2011, 03:53 PM   #17
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Just read that you needed cold weather snow/slush traction. I would highly recommend the Conti ExtremeContact DWS in as narrow as you can get it to mount on your wheel.
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Old 10-22-2011, 05:53 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ernest View Post
I also have a set of rims with the goodyear f1 a/s and they are great as big e says but they are noisy as hell compared to any tire i have ever owned.
I don't disagree with this. They do seem a little bit noisy, but then again with suspension and chassis mods, any incremental noise tends to wash-out.

I think it's hit-or-miss with respect to the noise. Some say when the tires start to wear that they tend to become more noisy. It also depends on the road surface as well.

Unfortunately one cannot "test drive" a set of tires. Or at least that's what I know.
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Old 10-23-2011, 01:51 AM   #19
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Thinking of going with the Continentals, great reviews on Tirerack.com- decided to go with the 18x8 Rota Tarmac 3s, the 235/40/18s would fit just fine. Could use the softer sidewalls for the bad Oregon roads

Snow isnt really an issue other than the short trips to Hood for board time, mostly rainy winter NW conditions other than that...
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Old 10-23-2011, 10:05 AM   #20
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The continental DWS is a great all-season tire. My wife had these on her Audi A4 (225 width) and I gave them a good testing last winter and they handled the snow great. They also handled rain and anything else great.
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Old 10-23-2011, 02:15 PM   #21
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if you plan on driving bald peak RD, I would get a dedicated set of winters
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Old 10-25-2011, 08:11 PM   #22
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Personally, I enjoy the Continental DWS. So far they have shown to be reliable on nice days and rainy days. I'm pretty excited for driving it in the snow, rumor has it that it's great in the snow.
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Old 10-25-2011, 11:47 PM   #23
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There's a new kid in town... General Gmax AS-03. They got very good reviews back in the spring. Conti/General either underestimated the demand or were slow to get the tires out, but they're available now. So far I've been able to thrash them in the dry and during a couple of days of gully washers. Their dry traction is amazing (subjective) for an all weather. I really got a chance to put them to the test making a "brisk" run from Boise to Lowman and back. The wet weather traction really blew my mind. I mean their wet grip is a thing of beauty. The tread blocks have a generous amount of space that makes me think that they will provide excellent (light) snow performance for an all weather. The side wall seems stiffer than my buddy's Conti DWS's too.

There aren't a lot of reviews out yet, but given time I think that they will be a very viable option compared to the (ever popular) Conti's.
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Old 10-26-2011, 12:02 AM   #24
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Continental DWS for sure. I've had them for a few months now and driven through very torrential rain, with some hard stops during it and the tires felt great the whole time. I'm waiting to see what they're going to be like in the snow but so far from all the reviews I've found they should be pretty good.

I think TireRack did a review of comparable All Season tires in snowy conditions and the DWS came out on top by a good bit.

Considering that they are better then the RE960AS and cheaper, they are a great tire for the money.

(FYI, I used to have RE960AS and yes they were great but for the price and the reviews I've seen so far, the DWS is better all around)
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Old 10-27-2011, 05:50 PM   #25
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Pirelli p zero nero a/s, i drive them yr round in ut & the handle great in all conitions
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