Anybody on Bridgestone Blizzak?

 

I've had them for two northeast winters and would highly recommend them

 

Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi for real winter circumstances.

The link.

 

Hey Rudy,

Do you change off the tires on your existing rims? Also do you get a staggered set as I've heard that staggered gives you less traction in winter, ie snow rain etc. Was just looking for option b/c NYC weather is not great especially in the winter.


Thanks,
P

 

PP - I'm sure Rudy will chime in with his experience, but for what it's worth I put the winter Dunlop M3s on the OEM 124 staggered wheels and it works great. Yes, there may be a difference when plowing through deep snow between a thinner tire and a wider tire, but I don't expect to be out in deep snow much with the 550i.

With all of the salt and crap they lay down on the roads around Chicago, we mostly just drive around in wet, sloppy stuff anyway - and the fat tires may be more of a help in those conditions.

I think the deal with winter tires is that the rubber compound matters more than tread design or tire size. Winter rubber stays softer and therefore grips better than year-round tires when it is cold outside - that's the payoff for using dedicated winter tires.

 

I think I will just leave the same tires on as I do for the summer -

 

PP - I'm sure Rudy will chime in with his experience, but for what it's worth I put the winter Dunlop M3s on the OEM 124 staggered wheels and it works great. Yes, there may be a difference when plowing through deep snow between a thinner tire and a wider tire, but I don't expect to be out in deep snow much with the 550i.

With all of the salt and crap they lay down on the roads around Chicago, we mostly just drive around in wet, sloppy stuff anyway - and the fat tires may be more of a help in those conditions.

I think the deal with winter tires is that the rubber compound matters more than tread design or tire size. Winter rubber stays softer and therefore grips better than year-round tires when it is cold outside - that's the payoff for using dedicated winter tires.
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I have the Dunlop M3's mounted on 17' rims (same tire size all around -- purchased from Tire Rack). I just wait until the first substantial snow is falling then I yank the summers and put on the winters right in my garage -- been doing it that way for many years. It takes about an hour to do the changeover (using the BMW jack).

Pistol_Pete, the winters in NYC aren't much different than here in Pittsburgh. Once in a while we'll get a lake-effect snow from Lake Erie but usually it's not too bad.

tachyon, the rubber compound is clearly a huge factor in winter grip but don't discount the size either. A narrower tire will always provide more traction in the snow because a smaller contact patch on the ground means the car's weight is distributed over less area which yields a higher pounds per square inch pressing down on the road. Now keep in mind that cornering will suffer with a narrower tire and, at least on the V8 cars, the traction control will kick in much more often because the car's torque is greater than that smaller contact patch can handle.

As far as the others who mentioned the Nokian and Blizzak tires, I have experience with both. The "original" Blizzaks that I used to buy were unbelievable in the snow and ice but the dry pavement performance was significantly lacking. I realize that there is now some additional choices in the Blizzak line so there may be a model that provides a better balance by sacrificing some snow/ice performance for some gain in dry performance. The Nokians are wonderful tires and I would have purchased them for my E60 except that they didn't come in the size I wanted. Since I couldn't get the Nokians, I went with the Dunlops. I can't say whether or not one is better than the other (Dunlop or Nokian) since I never got a chance to test the latest Nokians but I can't say anything negative about the Dunlops. Keep in mind that the Dunlops don't have Blizzak-like snow performance (but they're still very good) but I'm happy with them because the dry performance is also very good. One negative about the Blizzaks, at least the early versions, was that "the good snow tread" seemed to wear out fairly fast leaving the "all season tread" behind...

Are all you Texans wise guys?

 

The newest Nordic carmagazine joint winter tyre test came out today.

The winners were Continental ContiVikingContact 3 and Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi.

Then Gislaved Soft Frost 2, Bridgestone Blizzak Nordic WN-01 and Michelin X-Ice.

 

I have the Bridgestone Blizzak MZ-03 18's and I like them quite a bit. I'd say they are "ok" in the dry but I wouldn't call them great. They perform fantastic in snow, I wait to put them on as late possible and take 'em off ASAP as well.

 

I live in Florida, and there is no such thing as winter.