I had to go back to work tonight to pick up my school schedule which I left there. So once there I decide why not put on my 13s with Blizzaks since it is supposed to snow this week. So I put them on and try and get a feel for them on the way home.

I went from 205/50R15 Kumho 712s to 175/70R13 Bridgestone Blizzaks.

The handling is real floaty but the car drives like a Cadillac since the fat sidewalls absorb so much of the bumps. You really have to slow down a lot more around corners since less dry grip. However since the Blizzaks are made from really soft rubber they still stick pretty decent to the road all things aside.

By the end of the drive home I had a good feel for them. I can't wait for it to snow. With 712s and snow you might as well be riding on drag slicks because thats about all the snow grip you will get. It should be awesome to have a 9.4 rated snow tire once the white stuff starts falling.

 

Yeah, my Dad's Audi TT normally runs around with Bridgestone RE040 summer tires but we got one snow storm here and he put on his Blizzak LM-22 snow tires which are supposed to be a "performance winter" tire. Now the car grips like crap. It's not floaty though because the tires are still relatively low profile 17's.

 

Yeah I went with such small tires because...

1. I had 13'' rims laying around and tires for 13s are a lot cheaper than 14, or 15 which are the other rims I have.

2. Skinny tires are actually better in snow since they cut through instead of riding over. But not so hot on dry pavement.

I have the WS-50 which is the hardcore snow tire. I was thinking about getting LM-22s but I decided it was a waste of effort since I work in a garage I can just switch back to my old rims whenever the snow melts.

 

i've got kuhmo 712's on my car right now...too poor to buy snow tires to put on my stock wheels, hopefully by next winter i'll be able to afford them. there hasn't been any snow that i've had to deal with yet though, being at school with no car, then being here

 

They supposedly last 3 seasons, so we shall assume winter is 3 months, so than 9 months of driving on them before they are worn out.

My next car is assuredly going to be AWD or 4x4 or something so this is probably the only snow tires I will ever buy for my Hatch since I will drive the other vehicle in crappy conditions.

 

Snow tires rule. I'm using Micheline Pilot Alpin 2's and they're great.

 

215/40/16 712's to 185/65/14 Blizzak's. I felt like I was driving a caddy.

 

you could at least buy some cheap all seasons for the winter for like $50 a piece or buy used all season tires for like $20 a piece then you wouldn't be riding on skiis on the snow. :dunno:

 

Thank God I live in the South.

 

yeah, but then you've gotta deal with southerners, and they aren't seasonal :ugh: