winter tires

[Grant Lenahan]

Good advice (and a nice scam if you can pull it off!),

What I would add is that sipes do a great deal for ice traction. If you 
really see a lot of ice, look for a lot of sipes.

Grant
On Oct 6, 2006, at 10:16 AM, Louis-Alain Richard wrote:

>> -----Message d'origine-----
>>
>> The real question you need to ask... do you want studs for the ice
> control
>> on not?  Modern studs aren't as noisy or problematic as the older
> studded
>> tires, but you definately can hear them on dry pavement.  On ice,
> nothing
>> is better.
>
> Mark is right about this. Studs are for ice, and only for very cold 
> ice.
> So for you USA guys, it means that the studs will be useful only a
> couple days each winter. But for a "normal" driver, I wouldn't 
> recommend
> them as they are skittish on dry cold pavement. Actually, I have a set
> of Pirelli winter Carving (studded) on my Quattro, but these are only
> for the lapping sessions at www.Mecaglisse.com ice-racetrack.
>
>
> A bit of advice for you all regarding "optimal traction in winter": buy
> the best tires you can afford, use them to half their wear limit, and
> then sell them used for half the price. This way, you'll have always
> fresh tires for exactly the same cost. And the key for winter traction
> is wear, and only wear.
>
> There is a HUGE market here for used winter tires, mainly because of 
> the
> 3-4 years long leases. People use the 4 seasons for the first years,
> then decide they need more traction but don't want to pay full price on
> a new set because the lease will end soon, hence the used tires market.
> If you have a brand-name winter tire set used for sale, it's an easy
> sell; the bigger the name, the easier the sale.
>
> Conclusion ? Buy good un-studded real winter tires (in a popular size)
> and change them each 2 years.
>
> Louis-Alain
> Montreal PQ
>
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