Snow tire help

[LL - NY]

My assumption is that the General Altimax Artics are more of a typical full
snow, IOW, the compounds (and high tread blocks and siping) would be a poor
summer season tire. The compounding needed to keep the tires soft and grippy
at low temps would make them mushy and eraser like at summer temps. The
tread design would only make the problem worse.

As for Nokians, I'm sure Greg can pipe in, but according to the Nokian
website, there are actually two choices of winter biased All Seasons. The
"W", which is the old WR, the WR-G2.
I've had the WR-G2 which are okay as 3 season tires, but a bit sloppy, which
wasn't unexpected.  As snowies, if you were okay with NRW's, they are
probably (never had them, so I don't know) pretty equivalent. IMHO, the
WR-G2's weak points are in the sticky wet stuff (thicker than slush, they
were fine in that) and pure powder. In both cases, stability was less than
it was when I had RSI's. Hydroplane resistance in rain wasn't as good as my
RSI's either. They were not bad, but again somewhat sloppy in the dry.

Try the Nokian website for more info, but Greg could pipe in as to
availability in the US. In spite of the price, I'd venture that the the
Nokians are the only real snow capable All Season
As point of reference, I did try BFG Traction T/A H's on 1st Gen Scoob
Legacy beater. For local snow driving, they were adequate, at best. I
wouldn't want to depend on them for a longer distance highway run. There the
WR-G2's were notably better.

LL - NY

On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 9:29 PM, Dave C <dconner at gmail.com> wrote:

> What would the General Arctic Altimax be like as a year-round tire?  Would
> they be acceptable in the summer in a northern clime like Michigan or
> Toronto?
>
> I've been >very< pleased with Nokian NRW as a year-round tire here in Ohio.
> I still have a set on my 89 100, but they are fading and will need to be
> replaced someday.
>
> I know Nokian replaced the NRW with WR awhile back, and now I understand
> they've replaced the WR with soimething else.  I never tried the WR's but
> heard they were also quite good, similar to the NRW.  What does Nokian have
> today as a replacement for the WR?  Is it as good as the NRW for
> year-round?  I know the prices are >much< higher now.  But the benefit of
> not needing to swap tires/wheels with the seasons makes it worth paying
> something extra for the tires.  Is there anything else out there comparable
> to the NRW?  Anything even close?
> - -
> Dave C
> Columbus, OH
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