[s-cars] Dunlop Graspic DS3 Snowies

[ron kirkham]

LL,

I have had three sets of the Graspics, the DS2 and the DS3.  I will concede
that they are a bit "squishy", but this can be said for every snow tire I
have ever used.  I've had them all, Blizzak, Dunlops, Nokian, Gislaved,
etc. all "squishy" when compared to a summer high performance or even an all
season.  This is the price you pay for good snow grip, and a very reasonable
trade-off.

Here in the Colorado High Country, we get lot's of snow usually pretty light
and fluffy.  When compacted by traffic, it can be almost sheet ice until the
road crews get to it.  A fair amount of "black ice", but that's a different
matter.  Most of my experience is with I-70 between Vail and Denver, but I'm
also on the lesser maintained two lanes pretty often.  Unfortunately, this
requires that I run snows from Labor Day to Memorial Day to be safe and
confident.  I can get two full seasons of use out of almost any snow tire,
and have pushed a set of DS2's for three seasons. (not recommended).

My conclusion is that the Dunlops are a very good snow tire.  I have
recommended these to several friends not just because they are cheap, but
because I think that in my driving conditions, they are tough to beat.  Yes,
the Nokian and Gislaved tires may be very slightly better, but not by a big
enough factor to justify paying double+ the cost.  For use on my S4 and S6A,
they are a great buy.  I did try the Dunlop Wintersport M3 on my former A8
and those were also good, but at a higher price.

All this being said, I took delivery of a fresh set of DS3's just last month
and look forward to another two winters of unstoppable Quattro fun.  BTW,
not once since buying my S4 in '99 have I ever felt that I needed studded
winter tires.  Maybe if we had more true ice, I might feel differently, but
a dedicated snow tire is all that's needed here.

My two cents, HTH.

Ron
'93 S4 (with fresh set of DS3'3)
'95.5 S6A (almost never see's snow, but with DS3's also)

On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 9:58 AM, LL - NY <larrycleung at gmail.com> wrote:

> Anyone with experience with them, or their predecessors, the DS2?
>
> Nokians have priced themselves out of contention for my current budget.
>
> TIA,
>
> LL - NY
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