"All Season" Tires

[Larry C Leung]

I used to live in the snow belt, and when I had a 60 mile one way commute
(all highway, frequently Icy/Slushy), I determined that a GTi prepped for
Solo 2 racing was totally inadequate for the commute, even with dedicated
snows, hence my first quattro, a 4KQ. Even with the quattro, I found a
few reasons for dedicated (non studded) snows:

- In heavy slush, the low tread to void ratio makes hydroplaning
resistance much better (and in a relatively light car, no less)

- in a relatively low powered car (115 HP), the added traction in the
snow/slush/ice wasn't an issue, especially with quattro, but the added
braking effect was QUITE noticable (no ABS), things that would cause the
car to twitch and skid on my all-seasons (BFG Comp T/A HR4s, Firestone
Firehawk GTH4, Dunlop D60A2 can't recall the others), wouldn't even be an
issue with dedicated snows (Continental Contact TS740, Vredestein Snow +
and Snowstar, Kelly Pacemark, no Blizzak nor Hakkas on that car)

- Quite possibly I tend to drive fairly aggressively, hence, one weekend
when we had a freak LATE season (first or second week of May) storm and I
had the D60s on, when I drove around on the D60s the way I drove on the
snow tires (okay, okay, I was testing them to see how they'd do in snow),
I slid on braking, and actually spun taking a downhill corner on the
D60s, things I'd normally would have had no problem doing in the same way
on the snows. 

- When I first purchased my 200Q, it had all season Michelin MXVs on it.
They had limited traction for braking and turning whenever it was snowy
or slushy, ABS became VERY active. Not an issue on dedicated snows. 

So, emperically, IMHO, you CAN get away with all seasons all year, as
long as you recognize their limitations, but I don't think you will be
able to enjoy the drive as much as if you had dedicated snows (at least
if you live somewhere where snow/ice/slush is a regular part of the
winter). I'd admit, now that I'm no longer in the snow belt, dedicated
snows seem a bit overdone MOST of the time, but when the occasional big
snows do hit, I'm usually the only one able to to go anywhere I want
without fear (and stop and turn, too!), especially because the roads are
usually empty!

LL - NY

On Fri, 26 Oct 2001 11:39:33 -0400 "Roger M. Woodbury"
<rmwoodbury at downeast.net> writes:
>Well, yes and no.
>
>When I owned an insurance business here, I travelled around 45,000 
>miles a
>year in the car, and, naturally, a lot of that was in severe winter
>conditions.  I had a variety of cars during that time, but found the 
>best
>vehicles for my specific purpose were Mercedes diesels.
>
>My first MBZ was a 190D 2.2 diesel, which was put into service during 
>the
>time of the 55 mph national speed limit...the good ole "double 
>nickel".  I
>ran that car in all weather on its factory spec all season tires, and 
>found
>the combination of low power and relatively narrow wheels and tires to 
>be
>exceptionally good for a rear wheel drive, front engine car.
>
>I had an Audi two wheel drive coupe one winter (1982), which was 
>absolutely
>wonderful on standard tires, regardless of the weather.....except the
>combination of relatively short wheel travel, wide, 60 series tires 
>and hard
>seats made it an impossible car to use day in day out on uneven rural 
>roads.
>
>After the 2.2 Mercedes diesel got around 85,000 miles on it, along 
>came a
>better idea from Mercedes, and that was the 190D 2.5Turbo diesel.  All 
>the
>good things that the earlier car had been, plus some real power and 
>over the
>road performance.  The "double nickel" had disappeared, and the 
>smaller
>diesel had been really challenged to churn out miles above about sixty 
>miles
>per hour.
>
>The 2.5 diesel came with "V" rated tires, and with the power that the 
>turbo
>could deliver, I NEVER considered running the standard tires year 
>round, and
>had steel wheels and studded, winter tires for all four wheels.  As I
>recall, the tires used were Continental radial snow tires that were 
>double
>row studded.  Aside from being relatively loud, the traction overall 
>for my
>purposes, was excellent, although I never forgot that I was driving a 
>rear
>wheel drive car.
>
>One fall we had an early winter storm that started out in 
>Massachusetts as
>rain.  I was at a National Guard Drill in Worcester,a nd got back to
>Portland, Maine, around ten in the evening.  The Massachusetts rain 
>had
>turned into freezing rain, and the roads were periodically covered 
>with
>black ice.  The appointment to change the tires and wheels on the 
>Mercedes
>was the next week, but when I turned off the Maine Turnpike onto 
>secondary
>roads, I came over a rise at about 35 miles per hour, and totally 
>lost
>control on the black ice.  The car did two three sixties, and ended 
>up
>facing the way I had come, after striking some object frozen into the 
>ground
>with the right rear tire.  I limped the two miles home, having broken 
>at
>least two of the rear suspension links.  The change in tires that took 
>place
>the next week, involved replacing one wheel and some suspension
>pieces....about $2200, plus the wheel and tire, as I recall.  The next 
>year,
>the tires were changed at the beginning of  October and not the end.
>
>After retiring, and moving way "downeast", down the end of a series of 
>dirt
>roads in serious rural country, one day I borrowed a 120,000 mile 
>Audi
>5000CS Wagon.  I just wanted to try it overnight, and my friend the 
>dealer
>had just traded the vehicle.  It was in pretty good shape, despite 
>the
>miles.  That night we had about four inches of snow.  I went out and 
>drove
>out through the snow like it wasn't there, and I bought that car that
>afternoon.  My first Quattro.
>
>It had Michelin "all season" tires on it, and when I replaced them, it 
>was
>with my first set of Firestone Touring LH tires that I mentioned, and 
>I used
>them on that wagon, and the one that replaced it.  VERY satisfied.
>
>I have never used the Graspics or Blizzark tires, although Iknow that 
>many
>people love them.  From my experience, it is hard to imagine an Audi 
>Quattro
>needing more than a set of all season radials with a decent amount of 
>life
>left in them.  It seems to me that if more than that is needed, then 
>studded
>radial snow tires on all four wheels are what should be used....or 
>maybe
>even chains.
>
>Roger
>
>
>