Icey/slush tires

[Lawrence C Leung]

Two things. From what I've heard, from an owner that's had both, he'd go
(against your wishes) for the Guardex's. So would (gulp!) Consumer's
Reports (CU) whom rated the Guardex's as best on icy conditions, but poor
in wet, non-icy conditions. Since said friend donated his wheels and
tires (guardex) from his Quantum Syncro to me (wanted the wheels for
auto-x'ing) for helping him dispose of the car, I got the chance to try
them on dry and wet-no ice conditions. They don't feel good in the dry,
albit squirmy and vague, but I don't feel that they were any worse in the
wet. They seemed to grip just fine in both conditions, but the feel is
nothing like the summer only Bridgestone RE-71's I run on the GTi
normally (as if they should!). However, my friend says that the Guardex
600's were absolutely amazing on ice, packed icy snow, and slushy snow on
frozen mud, the conditions he was living with at the time he used them.
He said that the Blizzaks were similar, but only when new (< 10,000
k-miles). He also said the Guardex's ran strong like this for two
seasons. He also said that they made mincemeat of snow, when run on his
Quantum Syncro. He went for them on his Chebby Astro AWD, and said in
snow, that truck is UNSTOPPABLE. He didn't really get snow to test out
his set on his A6 Avant, but the fact that every car in his stable of 4
that are wintered are wearing the Yoko Guardexes, I'd say he's sort of
endorsed them, and his, your's and my conditions are ablout the same. 

LL - NY

On Fri, 13 Oct 2000 13:25:51 -0400 "Doyt W. Echelberger"
<Doyt at nwonline.net> writes:
>Thanks to all the posters who already reported on their winter tire 
>experience. It helped a lot.
>
>Now, I want to hear some more about tires that grab on wet ice at low 
>
>speeds (below 10 mph), and which can be driven on wet or dry pavement 
>
>without squirming or smearing during a fast dry stop. They will be on 
>a 
>1987 5kcstq. Because of reports of "like driving on an inch of Jello" 
>I'm 
>not looking at Blizzaks or Guardex. Don't know about Yoko Prevue.
>
>My quattro system pulls through snow with any tire, so snow is no 
>problem. 
>Any winter tire I buy will give me excellent snow traction with the 
>quattro. I don't need snow tires....I need ice tires. Wet ice tires.
>
>Ohio winters give us about 100 days of unpredictable weather, of which 
>
>about 10 days are on local roads covered with  2 inches of 
>traffic-packed 
>snow that has a half-inch top layer of wet ice. That wet ice defies 
>any 
>traction from all-weather tires.  I can drive slow, but I want a tire 
>that 
>offers SOME grip (beyond zero grip) on that rutted wet ice-covered 
>snow. 
>Then I can move around town and not slide into curbs or crunch into my 
>
>neighbors fenders and doors.
>
>The above driving conditions are the only motivation I have to fit 
>"winter 
>tires" on my quattro.
>
>And once they get me out of town, those winter tires have to take me 
>60 
>miles away on mostly wet and dry roads that have been cleared and 
>salted 
>pretty well. Maybe those highways will have patches of that slippery 
>icy 
>slush that happens after the salt takes effect, and which infrequently 
>will 
>freeze and get pretty nasty when the temps drop down around zero.
>
>Anybody else have experience with winter tires that handled those 
>conditions on a quattro?
>
>So far, I'm looking at 205-65-15 Michelin Arctic Alpin (Q)  and Nokian 
>
>Hakka 1's without studs, and I'll even consider the Nokian Q's or 
>NRW's if 
>the wet ice performance is close to that of the Hakka 1's.  I don't 
>see any 
>need for "H" rated winter tires in Ohio, with a 55 mph limit on most 
>roads, 
>and some at 65.
>
>Talk to me about driving on wet ice and slow driving under control. 
>I'm 
>pretty sure any of those tires will be OK on the bare wet and dry 
>roads at 
>65 mph.
>
>Doyut Echelberger
>
>
>
>
>
>
>