[m1cha3l]

Hope this helps!

I live in Chicago suburbs with some inclines and almost no curves so I bought a set of performance winter tires as regular snow tires such as Blizzaks as way too soft for me and our road get plowed rather quickly.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...num=45VR8WTPXL

Mounted on

https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...utoModClar=2SS

Don't like the wheels all that much but that's another story.


Tires are great at temps around 45-50 or less, it gets a bit dicey if its below 0 and or if there is like 6-8 inches of snow but snow mode helps a lot. It won't take you immune to winter conditions but it buys you 500-1000 rpm or so.


When its dry out I would say that I have about 75% of summer tire capabilities. You can ease into the throttle and once you are around 1500-2000 you can floor it without loosing traction. In my experience spirited driving in touring mode is just fine.

When it's wet out you will start slipping around 3000 rpm depending on how much throttle you apply and how quickly you apply it.

When its snows and it's cold you basically have to baby it in touring mode or snow mode.


Even with moderate to significant traction loss car stays planted mostly in a straight line. Traction and stability control will cut power significantly so you have to get used to that.

When we first got a lot of snow this year it took me 3 tries to get into my garage which is on an incline, I just needed some momentum, so I reversed into the street and tried again.


Never tried snow driving without all of the nannies off.

[Chris Durant]

Links do not work ?

[m1cha3l]

Originally Posted by Chris Durant

Links do not work ?

Fixed. Thx!

[PostalLDMC]

Living west of you it takes a little bit to get use to snow. We have 1 mt. more and it will warm up. Blezsx. work well and your right soft when warm. The ground frost is harder to handle. It can be a pain to see or feel. On your driveway use some 35- salt for dog paws. It's easier on the Camaro too. Also drive in other car tracks help some too.

[WhiteMale]

YOu have about the same snow on the ground conditions and I also chose a winter performance tire (over an A/S), but don't need a studless snow and ice. Too soft as you noticed. Though I use and suggest the Alpin PA4, I'll look at your links as I think I'll need a new set next winter.

[m1cha3l]

Originally Posted by PostalLDMC

Living west of you it takes a little bit to get use to snow. We have 1 mt. more and it will warm up. Blezsx. work well and your right soft when warm. The ground frost is harder to handle. It can be a pain to see or feel. On your driveway use some 35- salt for dog paws. It's easier on the Camaro too. Also drive in other car tracks help some too.

We had a little bit of frost yesterday morning when I was going to a doc appt and traction kicked in a few times on a short 15-20 minute drive. But I was driving in touring mode and didn't baby it.

Yup, salt is quite handy so is following others from a safe distance :P

[m1cha3l]

Originally Posted by WhiteMale

YOu have about the same snow on the ground conditions and I also chose a winter performance tire (over an A/S), but don't need a studless snow and ice. Too soft as you noticed. Though I use and suggest the Alpin PA4, I'll look at your links as I think I'll need a new set next winter.

Just checked out Alpin PA4 on Tirerack and their reviews are very close to Vredestein. Looks like you are in MO. I drove there last year for work when temps were still in the 70's but I was on stock tires. It always seems to be 5-10 degree warmer in St Louis vs here .

I honestly picked Vredesteins because of reviews and proven track record in Europe but also due to price as I also needed to get wheels, sensors, and other misc crap and it was like 2K ish out the door for everything. They also had a $150 mail in rebate thing which I for in the mail few weeks ago so :P