[s-cars] Winter tires - minimum tread depth

[Ingo Rautenberg]

He, he.  You'd be surprised how many of us nuts do exactly this.  I have
"normal" snow tires, "ice driving event dedicated tires", performance
all-season, and performance summer only.  Yeah, I need another garage just
for tires and wheels ;-)  Oh, wait, that's what the basement is for -- I
feel for those of you who don't have a basement.

-Ingo
'91 v8 pearl quattro 5-Speed (not exactly stock) :-)
'84 Tornado Red Urquattro
'91 200q20v...gone

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mark Strangways" <Strangconst at rogers.com>
To: <mlped at qwest.net>; "'S-Car-List at Audifans.Com'" <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 9:18 AM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Winter tires - minimum tread depth


> Mike,
>
> You could of course have 2 sets of winters...
> Some nice expensive snow and ice trashing skinnies for the "Ice Events",
and
> a set of last years "Ice Event" tires or  somewhat cheaper yet safe tire
> mounted on separate rims. Somewhat like we do for track tires.
> It could be a new trend, summer high performance tires, summer track "R"
> compound tires, winter performance tires, and winter "Track" tires. Most
> people thing we are already crazy for running Ice Events and the such,
this
> should just drive the nail home.
>
> The next problem is finding a house with more Sq.Ft in the garage then the
> actual house to store all those tires and rims and misc over bits and
> pieces.
>
> Mark
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "mlp" <mlped at qwest.net>
> To: "'Tony Curran'" <tony.curran at sympatico.ca>;
"'S-Car-List at Audifans.Com'"
> <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2005 9:58 PM
> Subject: RE: [s-cars] Winter tires - minimum tread depth
>
>
> Two, maybe three things at least t consider.  According to our local Nokia
> supplier,
>
> 1.  There are age factors to consider, as well as tread depths.  Depending
> on what kind of rubber your winter tire is made of, age &/or oxidation and
> the manner in which the tire has been stored, affects the winter tire
> compound, some more than others.  One of those YMMV things.
>
> 2.  Like with water and resistance to hydroplaning, tread depth
performance
> isn't a linear function.  A half worn, or more probably a 3/4trs worn tire
> may have a lot less foul weather traction left in it than "3/4ths" when it
> comes to "loose" snow, and my guess is that will also be different for
> polished ice.  Other than probably no "special" low temperature rubber
> compound left on well worn tires, my understanding has been the more
rubber
> you can put down on a polished piece of ice, the better off you would,
> generally speaking, be.  No idea if that's universally true, but it seems
to
> me the ersatz "Zamboni" the University of Denver used way back when on the
> DU hockey arena, ran on what essentially looked like slicks.
>
> 3.  I think some tires, i.e. the older Blizzaks for example, were "built
to
> wear out."  The "special" rubber ice compound, which was rather soft,
didn't
> run all the way through the tread.  I've no idea how many, if any other
tire
> manufactures did or still do the same; or even if this is true of the
newer
> Blizzaks.  Good luck finding a truly knowledgeable tire sales person who
> will be able to provide you with reliable information on this.
>
> I know my views on snow tires have certainly evolved from the "Can a save
a
> $buck and squeeze one more season out of these tire" to "Steamboat's
really
> a lot of fun, have these tires lost their edge for STOPPING (and
cornering)
> on ICE."  For me, while getting stuck is, or would be a pain in the butt.
> Being unable to stop, and sliding into something hard, is a really,
really,
> really big pain in the ass.
>
> With the Quattro, I find myself not so very worried in most cases about
> being able to get moving.  But I am a lot more concerned about stopping
> ability.  Personally, I find myself leaning towards changing tires out,
> regardless of tread depth, if it looks like the winter tire compound layer
> is compromised.  I wish I knew of a magic objective yardstick for making
> that determination.  I find myself at the mercy of (1) the seat of my
pants,
> and (2) a trusty local winter tire wholesaler who I prefer to believe will
> give me honest advice.
>
> Cheers
> Mike
>
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: s-car-list On Behalf Of Tony Curran
> >
> >Just put on my winter tires which are probably on their last
> >season. What is the minimum recommended tread depth?
> >
> >TIA
> >
> >Tony
> >96 S6
> >
>
>
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>
>


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