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good all season tires?

37K views 15 replies 5 participants last post by  stunt 
#1 ·
ive only had my subie for about a week but im thinking the first investment for it is going to be all season tires for winter my car came with after market wheels and no stock rims so unless i can find a cheap set of wheels for a 09 wrx to put snow tires on i was thinking of just swaping out the summer rubber with a good set of all seasons any suggestions would be great i seen the mich. pilots had the best reviews. how do these cars do in the winter with all seasons?
 
#3 ·
It makes no sense to use all seasons only in the winter. Every tire intended for winter use is not a snow tire. There are lots of performance winter tires designed to handle light snow but primarily intended for more moderate conditions with low temperatures.

Tire compound is a key component of tire performance and is extremely temperature dependent. Summer tires can use more aggressive compounds because they don't have to worry about handling cold weather. All seasons use crap compounds because they have to handle a wide temperature range. Good performance winter tires can use aggressive compounds just like summer tires. Ones designed for a cold temperature range.

Something like the Dunlop Wintersport 3D you might want to look at. If you already have summer rubber keep it and just use a winter performance set in the winter.

Two sets is not really more expensive. You may have the expense of two sets of wheels but as far as cost of rubber per mile, having two sets does not add cost. Both the summer and winter tire do not get worn at the same time so even though they both have cost, their lifespans are independent. An expensive all season tire will be more expensive than using a cheap summer and a cheap winter. A lot more expensive. The only reason NOT to go with two sets is space and storage.
 
#6 ·
Spend a few bucks and buy a second set of wheels. You can get very high quality sets on nasioc for <$400. Some way less than that. tirerack often has sales on new wheels that will be $99 or less per wheel as well.

You can change tires yourself. Worse case you use the jack in the back of the car. It's very safety oriented which is good for new people not used to working on cars anyway. I'd also invest in a decent torque wrench so you can sleep easy knowing your lugs were tightened correctly (not too tight!). I've used the jack in my car to change winter/summer for years. Takes me under an hour. It's about as complex as washing it (less if your username is view). If you're uncomfortable changing tires, that's a problem. You never know when you'll have a flat and need to change on the side of the road. Every driver should be able to change a tire purely for safety reasons, winter/summer stuff aside.
 
#5 ·
I have been using a set of Dunlops for the passed 3 years, for all year driving. Probably not the best "snow tire", but I get where I'm going and haven't even had a close call. I just keep an eye out and drive slow if it's been snowing. If there is ice on the road it doesn't matter what kind of tires you have, it will be dangerous...
 
#9 ·
If you keep an eye out on nasioc you can often find sets for <$600 with wheels and slightly used winter tires already mounted. You can't be that picky about how they look if you're trying to save that much money but they are often totally functional solutions.

Remember, AWD does nothing when your foot isn't on the gas pedal. In other words, it doesn't help you stop. Tires help EVERYTHING about your car. You can't run summer tires in the winter no matter how good the traction of the car is, the tire compound is all wrong. And worse, if you run into snow, you're in for real trouble. They'll quickly suck up some of the moisture and turn into hockey pucks rather than tires.

And yes, it's kind of odd to have an AWD, all season friendly vehicle sold with just summer tires. 09 was the first year they did it. They were getting pissed off at car magazines (C&D, etc) for comparing their WRX to the mazdaspeed3 and similar while leaving the all season tires on the WRX. It's "competition" in these types of articles (usually FWD monsters with no grip) always had summer rubber so they just caved and put summer tires on the WRX so it could compete properly.
 
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