[s-cars] Re: SUV Snow Tire?

[Paul D]

Kirby,

I know in my case the tires lasted 70,000 miles due to a couple factors: 
the SUV weighed in under 3,000 pounds, the tires were 33"x11" with a 
tread depth of 20/32 when new (aggressive, deep lugs), and I usually ran 
them low on air pressure - 28 to 32 psi.  I agree that softer compounds 
are better on hardpack and ice but with the aggressive tread on the Mud 
Terrain tires and running on the low side of pressure, they were quit 
remarkable on hardpack and ice.  I never spun out, never hit anything 
(deer don't count around here), and never got stuck (makes that winch 
purchase look kind of overkill now).

I think most SUVs tiptoe around because they have tires designed to 
carry the heavy load, be quiet on the road, and generally not made for 
true snow conditions - instead they rely on the 4WD systems to make up 
for it.

But you are right Kirby, given a choice of compounds on tires with 
similar tread designs, I'll pick the softer too.

Paul Dooley
95 S6

Kirby Smith wrote:

>30k miles?  70k miles?  If I bought a tire that lasted more than 20k
>miles I would assume that the compound was too hard.  Perhaps these
>examples explain why I see so many SUVs tiptoeing through the snow.  A
>mud tire may be great in slush, but I would worry that the compound
>would be non-optimal for hardpack and ice.
>
>kirby
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