quattro digest, Vol 1 #4424 - Snow tire "hardening"

[Greg Galinsky]

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One possible reason for the soft feel is that the tires may have been stored
under favorable conditions.  Were they kept out of UV rays and sunlight when
not in use? Were they also stored in a kind of a controled temperature; in
the 50 to 75degree range?  Those two things will help prolong the life of
the rubber; or more accuratly the miles that the rubber compounds work
effectively.

I'm not 100% certain how the multicell rubber compound in the Blizzaks
respond to sun or heat. Their chemistry may help prolong their lifespan;
when driven it certianly does not.  They seem to be good for 15 to 18k on
the outer tread compound

Greg Galinsky
G & G Service

-------Original Message-------

From: Doug Johnson
Date: Sunday, January 05, 2003 11:07:01 PM
To: Larry C Leung; quattro at audifans.com
Subject: RE: quattro digest, Vol 1 #4424 - Snow tire "hardening"

I've got a set of the original Blizzaks (1996?) that are still incredibly
pliable.

I was expecting them to be hard by now. Could the rubber still be soft
because they've got only about 1,000 miles on them?

- Doug

-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-admin at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-admin at audifans.com]On
Behalf Of Larry C Leung
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 2:45 PM
To: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Re: quattro digest, Vol 1 #4424 - What I did over Christmas


Greg Galinsky or Marc Rosenkratz
could probably correct me on this,
but snow tires tend to have more
elastomers or some such to keep their
durometer soft in cold weather conditions
(i.e. lower the glassing point so that they
actually act like rubber when cold, rather
than like glass), but these additives are
rather volatile and eventually get driven off
by high temperatures (generally caused
by extended highway travel, especially on
dry pavement). So generally, snow tires
become "hard" and less capable with age
MUCH quicker than other types of tires, in
spite of their tread depth. When I used to
commute 120/day in the snow belt, I used
to give up on my snowies on a 2 yr cycle
religiously, even though most of the time I
had between 30 - 50% original tread depth.

By the time the 2 yrs were up, the tire rubber
was so hard that the tires were useless as
snows by the third season. Now, with a shorter
commute, I can generally pull about 3 -4 yrs per
set, and even wear them down to maybe 4 -5 32nds
tread depth with no problems. The biggest problem
at that this point of tread depth wear is snow stability
(not traction), ice capability is less compromised.

LL - NY





> Date: Sat, 04 Jan 2003 11:47:11 -0500
> From: B Vibert <blur at sympatico.ca>
> To: Fred Munro <munrof at sympatico.ca>
> Cc: TM <t44tq at mindspring.com>, 'Robert Myers' <robert at s-cars.org>,
> s-car-list at audifans.com, 'Quattro list'
> <quattro at audifans.com>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] RE: What I did over Christmas
>
> I was playing around in the slushy snow yesterday and noticed my
> Eagle
> Ultra-Grips weren't gripping as much as they did the last two
> years.
> This will definitely be their last winter. Good thing we don't get
> much snow in my area or they'd be replaced this year.
> Probably why I see used snow tires for sale all the time, they just
> don't work once they get worn down a bit.
>
> Burl Vibert
> 1987 5kcstq
> Kingston, Ontario
>
>
>
> Fred Munro wrote:
> >
> > Hi Taka;
> >
> > As a rule of thumb, I always replace my snow tires when they get
> down to 50%
> > remaining tread depth. I find the high speed traction and
> stability in slush
> > and snow falls off considerably at this point and they act more
> like
> > all-season tires than snow tires. If you spend most of your time
> toodling
> > around town it probably doesn't matter as much, but 90% of my
> driving is
> > highway.
> >
> > Fred Munro
> > '94 S4
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: s-car-list-admin at audifans.com
> > [mailto:s-car-list-admin at audifans.com]On Behalf Of TM
> > Sent: January 3, 2003 10:38 PM
> > To: 'Robert Myers'; s-car-list at audifans.com; 'Quattro list'
> > Subject: [s-cars] RE: What I did over Christmas
> >
> > Bob-
> > That sounded pretty much like my Christmas, although it was
> driving in
> > heavy rain in the morning and snow at night.
> >
> > Is it just me or do Dunlop Wintersport M2s drop off dramatically
> in
> > terms of traction and directional stability once you use up 1/3
> to
> > 1/2 of the original tread?
> >
> >
>
>
> --__--__--
>
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>
> End of quattro Digest
>
>

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