Snow tire help

[Dave C]

Hi Larry,
That's what I would expect, but the survey results at TireRack caused me to
wonder ...
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Altimax+Arctic
Check out those results.  They show the General Altimax snow tire as being
an outstanding year round tire.  But maybe I'm mis-interpreting the
results.  Maybe the "dry handling", cornering, noise, etc, is based on a
comparison only to other snow tires.

thanks,
Dave C.
On Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 11:07 PM, LL - NY <larrycleung at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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