Re: Snow Tire Price Showdown

[John Allred <jallred@rtimeinc.com>]

Thus spake John Karasaki <johkar@teleport.com>
>I've narrowed my search for 205/55/16 snow tires down to the following:
>
>Hakka 1 (studded)	$510.56
>Dunlop Graspic HS2	$453.60
>Bridgestone Blizzak	$480.96
>Cooper Winter Master	$416.88
>(studded)

>I am leaning towards the Blizzak's but the Hakka 1's are quite reasonable,
too.

John:

I live near Seattle, and had Blizzaks on my 1990 Coupe Q last winter.
While they were great in the snow, they left a lot to be desired in the dry
and rain.  The Blizzaks are Q rated and have the spongiest sidewall I've
ever driven on.

>From what I've heard here and elsewhere, the Hakkas have a better dry ride.  

Ideally, we'd all have two sets of tires and wheels -- one for "normal"
driving, and one for snow/ice.  If you don't have this option, you have to
choose which condition you want to optimize for.  Here in the Seattle area,
we tend to have more rain and less snow, so I have a good all-season tire
(Yoko S4-V) and chains at the ready.  One might describe this strategy as
betting on El Nino :-) -- the prediction is that the Pacific Northwest will
have a warmer winter this year.

John

--
John Allred				phone:	(206) 281-7990 x114
Chief Technology Officer		fax:	(206) 281-7686
RTIME, Inc.				email:	jallred@rtimeinc.com or
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