[s-cars] Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 not good in deep snow

[Wylie Bean]

To me, logically, if tires are the constant and the awd systems are the variables producing differing results, then I'd say, discounting some other variables like weight distribution the superiority of one AWD system over another is being proven-out over the inferior ones.  It's on all the time, proactive (all-mechanical) design is what sets quattro apart. Sometimes its the cake, not the icing.   
Wylie Bean
TheRingmeister at triad.rr.com
90 cq
91 90q20v
92 UrS4
08 Q7 3.6
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-----Original Message-----
From: Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:08:52 
To: Joe Pizzimenti<joe.pizzimenti at gmail.com>
Cc: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 not good in deep snow

How much fresh snow were you driving through?

Not for nothing, my STi couldn't get through 8" of fresh powder easily with
Nokian NRWs- the ones I had were too wide for the weight of the car. I had
to lock the center diff to 50/50 in order to get any sort of stability in
deep snow.

All I know is that my old '86 5ktq was unstoppable with cheap Firestone
Winterforce tires. No problem driving in deep snow- braking, turning,
everything was a piece of cake. That's with the diffs open.

My old A4 1.8T was similar even with Dunlop Wintersport M2 tires- no issues
driving in the snow.

It was really dicey in the Volvo this weekend.

Please keep in mind I said *PILOT* Alpin, not Artic Alpin- everyone seemed
to miss that part.

I'm sure if I was on X Ice 2, I'd be fine. Then again, what do you expect
from V rated snow tires? :-)

Taka



On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 8:09 AM, Joe Pizzimenti <joe.pizzimenti at gmail.com>wrote:

> Had no such issues in my Blizzak LM-60's.  Maybe you want to swap for
> those.
>
> Then again, we didn't get as much up here as you did down there.
>
> On Mon, Dec 21, 2009 at 7:57 AM, Taka Mizutani <t44tqtro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Just FYI, since we're talking about snow tires- Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3
>> are
>> not good in deep, fresh powder.
>>
>> Directional stability and braking are poor- the tires cannot handle it.
>>
>> I had to completely disable DSTC (aka traction and yaw control) in order
>> to
>> drive around Saturday- a good 10" of fresh powder on unplowed streets and
>> I
>> had to disable DSTC, put the trans in manual mode and drive rally-style to
>> make it through- carry speed through the corners, accelerate hard and
>> countersteer the whole way around- very hard to do in a car with a long
>> wheelbase and a poor turning circle like my Volvo wagon.
>>
>> They are awesome in the dry, awesome in the rain, but they're really a
>> tire
>> that is only good on plowed streets. Don't drive in deep snow with these
>> tires.
>>
>> I'm thinking about contacting Tire Rack and seeing if I can exchange these
>> for Primacy Alpin or possibly General Artimax.
>>
>> Taka
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>
>
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