First time driving Snow Tires + first time driving tuned sports car = set me straight

[chris82]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

2000 chevy cavalier with a fiber glass hood with huge scoop in it; supercharged, cracked and faded, banner across front windshield; supercharged badge on the trunk = no supercharger and missfire in cyl 1. not fixing it. dash only being held on on the passenger side. with check engine light shining bright. besides that interior is great. no rust. no fluid dripping at all. can tell front end was cut and welded on at some point. perfect for going as fast as i can through snow plow trailings at the bottom of my driveway and sliding into just about anything.

Sounds like a real gem ya got there

[sparky1_2007]

I got the following last winter for my 135i

215/45R-17 Michelin X-Ice Xi3
on 4x 17x7.5 wheels

never really had an issue with dry pavement, but I did drive it very carefully when it was cold out.

[maxdriver]

I don't run snows on the 135 as it only comes out of the garage in the winter when the roads are clear. I used to run snows on other vehicles and got around great with H rated snows. It was a good mix of performance and bad weather traction.

[MuNkY6913]

Originally Posted by Chrisar82

Sounds like a real gem ya got there

Feels like high school and the geo metro all over again.

[Kgolf31]

OP - Be careful with mounting snows too early. WS tires need to see temperature below at least 45 consistently to be okay. If they see too high temperatures you will burn the rubber up...and you will smell it (back in a Scion tC I took to college I was forced to drive in 60*F weather back home for 3 hours in Michelin Ice-X tires, they did not like it).

Secondly, LM tires are absolute garbage. I'm fairly sure they are below par of what all-season tires can offer. I had them on my car from a set I bought used, and took them off in less than a month. They cannot handle built up snow.

Snow tires are a very soft compound. Even more soft when you are running them in hot temperatures. You'll need to take it easy on the tires now, and even when you get to freezing. They will not give you a response like a summer tire, and they will feel like utter crap. But they will keep you away from a pole so you deal with it until spring time.

[JB007]

I normally swap my summer wheels for my winter wheels when I start seing snow on the weather forecast.
So, normally mid-November. But some years, was not until mid-December.

[dtwyim]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

2000 chevy cavalier with a fiber glass hood with huge scoop in it; supercharged, cracked and faded, banner across front windshield; supercharged badge on the trunk = no supercharger and missfire in cyl 1. not fixing it. dash only being held on on the passenger side. with check engine light shining bright. besides that interior is great. no rust. no fluid dripping at all. can tell front end was cut and welded on at some point. perfect for going as fast as i can through snow plow trailings at the bottom of my driveway and sliding into just about anything.

A true beater

[EldRick]

...are we talking about a situation where the car might go far enough out of control that it's not even worth putting 13psi of boost and ~320WHP to the rear tires?

Yes.

[MuNkY6913]

Originally Posted by dtwyim

A true beater

And trust me. I treat it as such. And love every minute. Haha.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Secondly, LM tires are absolute garbage. I'm fairly sure they are below par of what all-season tires can offer. I had them on my car from a set I bought used, and took them off in less than a month. They cannot handle built up snow.

I don't know if they changed since you've had them but I've ran LM tires on my car for the past 2 winters and I never have any problems in the coldest of temps going through whatever snow I need to. Going up/down/braking/turning, I'm very pleased with them. I've had the LM60 18" size in 225/235 and also switched to 17" in 205 for last winter. I bought both my sets used and they still performed.


I think it's a good trade off because the dry performance is okay. You can easily run them on the highway and even do some 'spirited' driving (wouldn't push em though) compared with pure snow tires. They seem to wear great in the dry too.


Were yours worn out? What year were you running them?

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by Chrisar82

I don't know if they changed since you've had them but I've ran LM tires on my car for the past 2 winters and I never have any problems in the coldest of temps going through whatever snow I need to. Going up/down/braking/turning, I'm very pleased with them. I've had the LM60 18" size in 225/235 and also switched to 17" in 205 for last winter. I bought both my sets used and they still performed.


I think it's a good trade off because the dry performance is okay. You can easily run them on the highway and even do some 'spirited' driving (wouldn't push em though) compared with pure snow tires. They seem to wear great in the dry too.


Were yours worn out? What year were you running them?

Ran them last year, probably one of the worst years we've seen for snowfall.

Barely made it up the street in the mornings in 6" powder. It was terrible.


Switched to Ice-Xi3 tires and the difference was stupid. I would have thought that the LMs were all season tires.

[chris82]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

Ran them last year, probably one of the worst years we've seen for snowfall.

Barely made it up the street in the mornings in 6" powder. It was terrible.


Switched to Ice-Xi3 tires and the difference was stupid. I would have thought that the LMs were all season tires.

Yea I will be going to those next. Not that I'm not happy with the LM tires, but of course a pure winter tire will be better

[ejm3]

I just went out to the Tire Rack web site and it said my preferred winter tire package was Blizzak WS80's + steel wheel (a decent deal at $800).

What's the difference between the W80's and W70's?
It says the W80's are Load Range "XL" whatever that means.

[BMW135pls]

Originally Posted by ejm3

I just went out to the Tire Rack web site and it said my preferred winter tire package was Blizzak WS80's + steel wheel (a decent deal at $800).

What's the difference between the W80's and W70's?
It says the W80's are Load Range "XL" whatever that means.

Pretty sure just higher weight load rating, like for heavier vehicles.

[PA135i]

Originally Posted by MuNkY6913

2000 chevy cavalier with a fiber glass hood with huge scoop in it; supercharged, cracked and faded, banner across front windshield; supercharged badge on the trunk = no supercharger and missfire in cyl 1. not fixing it. dash only being held on on the passenger side. with check engine light shining bright. besides that interior is great. no rust. no fluid dripping at all. can tell front end was cut and welded on at some point. perfect for going as fast as i can through snow plow trailings at the bottom of my driveway and sliding into just about anything.

Thanks for the description of your beater.. I'll be staying far away from you or anything looking like that on the road.. coz I know that bumping into things is not a worry .... waaaaaaaaaaa ... stay away...!!!!!

[MuNkY6913]

Originally Posted by PA135i

Thanks for the description of your beater.. I'll be staying far away from you or anything looking like that on the road.. coz I know that bumping into things is not a worry .... waaaaaaaaaaa ... stay away...!!!!!

Hahaha. That is a very good idea! I don't trust it for more than a 5 mile radius around my house. I should get some bumper car bumpers and put it the whole way around the car. Haha.