Ski Cars

[Glenn]

i am thinking about replacing the stock Yokohama Geolanders on my Forester. I only have about 27000 miles on them but they look like they are wearing out quicker than i expected. I think the Geolander is just a soft, mushy, dry pavement tire.

any recommendations for an all season tire?

I like reading the reviews on tirerack.com and looking at the overall rating of the tire.

We just put a set of Yokohama Avid T4's on our A6. I'm looking forward to seeing how they do in the snow.

 

[air0rmc]

i am thinking about replacing the stock Yokohama Geolanders on my Forester. I only have about 27000 miles on them but they look like they are wearing out quicker than i expected. I think the Geolander is just a soft, mushy, dry pavement tire.

any recommendations for an all season tire?

What area of the North East do u live in...? And what type of rd do u travel and mileage.....?

 

[2Planker]

Depends on how much driving you actually do in/on snowy roads. Even w/ AWD ( Audi Quattro) we use 2 sets of rims + tires. That cars gets more miles put on it in the winter 'cause it's our dedicated ski ride. Every weekend it logs 400+ miles from Boston to Sunday River.

Pirelli's which came on it OEM from mid April to mid November. Then the Blizzak WS-60 go on for 10,000+ miles during ski season. I dropped down from the stock 235/45/17 to 215/55/16 for the winter. Wideer dedicated snows tend to float when you're on 4"= of unplowed untreated roads at 50+mph. Went to Tire Rack and picked up a set of 16" steel rims w/ some plastic hub caps - Not too pretty, but easy to maintain - they don't ice up and get unbalanced at highway speeds as the stockers did, plus changing things over 2 times/year only costs $20 rather than $100 for re-mounting + balancing.

 

[Philpug]

i am thinking about replacing the stock Yokohama Geolanders on my Forester. I only have about 27000 miles on them but they look like they are wearing out quicker than i expected. I think the Geolander is just a soft, mushy, dry pavement tire.

any recommendations for an all season tire?

All season tires are the worst of both worlds, they do everything equally poorly. Keep an eye on Craigslist for Snowtire/wheel combos. You need a 5x100 lug pattern.

 

[tekweezle]

i'm in NYC and most of my driving is of the weekend, highway, access road variety.

just looking for recommendations better than than the stock tires.

 

[Geoff]

i am thinking about replacing the stock Yokohama Geolanders on my Forester. I only have about 27000 miles on them but they look like they are wearing out quicker than i expected. I think the Geolander is just a soft, mushy, dry pavement tire.

any recommendations for an all season tire?

If you ski most weekends, the Nokian WR. It's an all season tire but it has a 'severe service' emblem on the sidewall (a snowflake and a mountain) so it's also a snow tire. It has a lot of siping so it also performs pretty well on black ice. I know people who leave them on all year and get 50,000 miles out of them. YMMV.

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11899&group=1.01&name=Nokian+WRG2

Edited:
In metro-NYC, the STS Tire chain carries Nokian.

 

[gmcunni]

just looking for recommendations better than than the stock tires.

my 2 cents..

Blizzak WS-60 on steel rims. swap them on and off at beginning and end of ski season. i had these on a fwd saab 93 and they were excellent in all types of winter conditions. if your car normally has 16 inch summer tires, go with 15 inch winter wheels with "taller" sidewall + narrower tread tires. Cuts through the snow much better, less surface area to slide on. Get 4 tires, not just 2 for the drive wheels, it makes a huge difference.

got mine @ tirerack.com. they arrived mounted, balanced and ready to go.

 

[air0rmc]

If you ski most weekends, the Nokian WR. It's an all season tire but it has a 'severe service' emblem on the sidewall (a snowflake and a mountain) so it's also a snow tire. It has a lot of siping so it also performs pretty well on black ice. I know people who leave them on all year and get 50,000 miles out of them. YMMV.

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11899&group=1.01&name=Nokian+WRG2

Edited:
In metro-NYC, the STS Tire chain carries Nokian.

NOKIAN...........!
if u can find a set of wr's buy them they have been replaced by the wrg2.The wr will be at a discount I would assume.If u cannot find wr's or the price is the same for wr or wrg2 the wrg2 is an improvement in slush ice perf and ice braking.The wr was the best tire I have ever owned.They would best fit your situation plus you can leave them on and just rotate them and you will get good perf for atleast 40 - 50k.Check out the website...

 

[Edd]

Get 4 tires, not just 2 for the drive wheels, it makes a huge difference.

I've never had snow tires. Can anyone explain why 4 snow tires would provide more traction than 2 on a 2WD car? On the non-drive wheels I'm not clear on how it makes a difference.

 

[bvibert]

I've never had snow tires. Can anyone explain why 4 snow tires would provide more traction than 2 on a 2WD car? On the non-drive wheels I'm not clear on how it makes a difference.

If you have snows only on your front (drive) wheels then you're more likely to have the rear end come around during cornering or stopping since they'll have less traction. There's more to traction than just getting the car moving.

 

[2Planker]

You absolutely need to have the same rubber on all 4 wheels. Especially if you have ABS or traction control....

 

[Geoff]

I've never had snow tires. Can anyone explain why 4 snow tires would provide more traction than 2 on a 2WD car? On the non-drive wheels I'm not clear on how it makes a difference.

It's not traction, it's how the car performs when braking.

 

[2Planker]

It's not traction, it's how the car performs when braking.

Exactly ! Thus my point about the computerized systems such as ABS and traction control.

I work w/ a "chapskate" who only bought 2 snow tires for his FWD car. He hit brakes hard on an icy corner, and the rear end swung out and passed him, by then it was too late. He went backwards into the ditch at 50mph, and flipped the car over, killing his wife.... A tragedy for sure that could possibly have been avoided if he'd spent the extra $250...

 

[Philpug]

Do you have 2 braking wheels on the car or 4?

Walk in the snow with one dress shoe (50% less) and one snow shoe, what happens?

 

[muleski]

Our 21 year old son is D1 racer, and an "enthusiastic" driver. He, and we, run four snows{he runs studded snows} on all of our cars in the winter{other than on a Landcruiser, which has Blizzaks}. I've overheard some of his conversations on the subject. His headline about tires, be they summer tires, snows, track tires, etc, is: "there are FOUR things that stand between your 4000 lbs and the pavement, YOUR TIRES. DON'T be stupid and cheap out on them."

You can buy a very good set of snows for a very reasonable cost. Hankook, for example makes a direct copy of a Nokian RSI. I have the RSI's on my car, and decided to try a set of Hankooks on our daughter's H6 Outback. Seems like a heck of a tire, for well under $400 mounted and balanced for a set of four.

The tires help you brake, accelerate smoothly, steer, and in general keep your car on the road without making you exhausted and on edge. A huge part of that is the softer rubber compound, and siping that makes them so good on ice and hardpack. Those "all season" tires" with the 60,000 mile guarantee just were not designed to perform on snow. I would not put a car on the road in New England without four snows. That may be overkill, but I have never regretted it.

 

[thinnmann]

Wow - this thread has unexpectedly maintained a lot of traction in this forum

 

[bobbutts]

i am thinking about replacing the stock Yokohama Geolanders on my Forester. I only have about 27000 miles on them but they look like they are wearing out quicker than i expected. I think the Geolander is just a soft, mushy, dry pavement tire.

any recommendations for an all season tire?

Vehicle: 2005 SUBARU FORESTER 2.5 XT BASE MODEL

Item Description Availability Qty. Price Each Item Total 225/60R16 Yokohama AVID Touring IN STOCK 4 $66.00 $264.00
---
Nice replacement for the Geolanders. + these for winter:

215/60R-16 BRIDGESTONE BLIZZAK REVO 1 IN STOCK 4 $94.00 $376.00
New Steel Wheel 16X6.5 Black Painted IN STOCK 4 $49.00 $196.00

 

[MadPadraic]

I know you were talking about an Audi at one point... I've got a 2004 A4 (sedan) with the 3.0 v6 (6 speed) and my mileage is pretty much similar to what you posted except when my girlfriend drives the car... with her it's easy 15% better than when I drive... just as an FYI... and I love my car in the snow, it was great last year (first winter with it). AWD + all seasons... when these tires are done, I'll be getting a winter setup and a summer setup. the A4 avant may be just what you want. There are some great deals on just off lease stuff (how I got mine) and buying it certified is great for peace of mind.

-w

I second most of the comments on the A4. We get 30.5 mpg in the winter (but we have the smaller engine and a manual). The seats are really comfortable and it plows through the heaviest blizzards as if they are pests to be ignored. That being said, I'd recommend against buying one used certified from a dealer. Unless they come out with clean diesel for Audi, I suspect that we will switch to Subaru when the time comes (can you put Audi seats in a subaru)?

 

[Glenn]

(can you put Audi seats in a subaru)?

Anything is a possible with the right tools and a fistful of $. :grin:

 

[TheBEast]

Yeah, the transmissions in those vans are prone to failure.

Call me crazy, but now is a good time to buy an SUV. People are spooked by gas prices and that's dropped the prices quite a bit. A buddy and myself were drooling over some 06 Grand Cherokee's on E-Bay last week. Nothing like 2 year old loaded $40k Jeep going for under $20k.

Replaced my '97 Toyota Tacoma in late June with a '06 fully loaded Tundra double-cab for $22K (sticker was $38K brand new - had 11K miles on it). Everyone was saying, what are you crazy? And I was like, yeah but gas prices are so variable......and now I drove past $1.83 for 87 octane this afternoon......oh yeah loving my Tundra!! While I agree gas mileage is a concern, they're giving away these vehicles and for someone who will drive this truck for probably 150k+ miles that's a steal!