what all season tire do the rally drivers recommend?

[RS68]

I could use some tire suggestions from the rally folk. We need a set of all season tires with the best possible grip in snow and rain for the 86 SPG. The car is (rally) driven daily on long commutes in all types of weather, and driven very aggressively. Need good grip in poor conditions to aid in maneuvering around people who can't drive. We don't have anywhere to keep a set of snow tires so they must be all season. Can't break the bank either. Any suggestions?

[matt]

snow and ice = not an all season. Dedicated snow tires will outshine all season tires (which should be called 3 seasons). Even the cheapest snow tires (I like Sams' club specials on the subaru) will do better than a non snowtire.

[DeLorean]

I have never run snow tires, and probably never will. For the 3 days that it snows here, it's stupid to go through the trouble buying & mounting snows on a separate set of wheels I don't have. However, Summer tires in the winter turn to a consistency of plastic will leave the car totally disabled and basically not drivable when it snows or ices, and I have had that happen before... Summer tires also start to work very poorly in the cold.

I have 2 cars that could potentially be driven in the winter, thusly they have all-season tires.

the 9-5 has Conti extreme contact's and the 91 900-T has Hankook Ventus V4 ES's Both work fine in cold temperatures and also will not leave the car disabled if it snows. surely, they are probably not as good in the snow as even cheap dedicated snow tire, but they are about 5X as good on dry and wet ground, which is 99% of what conditions the car will see, so it makes sense.

[max]

Throughout college, and this past winter, I've always run snow tires (But I went to school in rochester where it snowed like 110% of the time), but I'm getting seirously sick of hte handling (or non handling) characteristics of serious snow tires, and yes, it's really not necessary in connecticut. I think this year I may sell my Hankook W409 iPike's (185/60/15 if anyone might want to buy them), which are basically a korean copy of some Hakkas, and go with a more sporty snow tire, or nice all seasons.

[Geoff]

I agree with Matt (and most everyone else here) that there really isn't such a thing as an "all season" tire. If you need good grip and want to drive aggressively when there is ice or snow you have no choice and you need snow tires. If you want to try to get by with one set of tires then you need to be careful when there is snow or ice. If I were to lose my mind (wait, I haven't?) and try to get a set of tires to use all year long I'd look at what Nokian has. They make superior winter and summer tires and their "all season" tires are supposed to be good too.

[matt]

The Nokian WR is labeled an all season but it also has the "snow" designation. It's the only tire rated as a snow with a mileage warranty and acceptable handling (imho) in dry conditions. I had them on my Aero and they performed well enough, in all but deep snow and slush. The bargain snows on my subaru are noisy, and soft but handling wise are on par with the craptacular stock potenza re92's.

[fiasco]

I'd second the Nokian WR if you need a "one tire does it all" application.

When we got our Legacy wagon, we ran the RE92s on it the first winter (bought it new in late November). They were fine. We racked up 20k miles in a year, the tread still looked good. First snow storm...Kara comes home saying there's something wrong with the car. I take it out, and immediately call the local Nokian dealer.

Can't complain about them. They are a compromise, not quite as good as a real snow in the summer, and noisier than a regular summer tire and not quite as much grip. Now that we're living in interior NH I've elected to go to two sets of tires.. The second set of WRs have been summer tires the past two years and I have some Hankooks (Hakka RSi tread pattern knockoff) on in the winter.

But they're not cheap. I remember something like $150 each several years ago for 205/55 16. I did cut one once while working Maine Forest Rally. But if you're looking for something you can actually run in all seasons without too much fear, they're the only choice I know of. Otherwise stay home in the bad weather.

[Sam]

I have the goodyear assurance tripletred with the 80k mile warranty. The way the saab goes through tires I figured it was time for something other than the kumho garbage i'd been running. Here are the tires i've had.

michelin mxv4 - crap
toyo proxes 4 - also crap and very loud to boot
kumho ecsta ASX - dangerous in snow but a great value
dunlop winter sport M3 - probably the best tires I ever had but have a short lifespan. Handle awesome with or without snow.
goodyear assurance tripletred - I can't believe how well they handle for such a hard tire. Very good performance in bad weather. Not as good as the dunlops but very good

The goodyears are definitely the best compromise tire i've seen and there are a lot of reviews out there to back me up. They'll run you a lot less than the nokians too.

The thing about the winter tires is that if you run them in the summer, in most cases you will kill the tread life. The soft rubber turns to mush in the heat. Well, unless you bought the walmart tires that max did which are hard as a rock. How many miles did you put on those things max?

[max]

I dunno about the rest of you, save for Sam, but the two Saab's that have been in my family wear tires like you wouldn't believe. I dunno what it is about them.

[Crazyswede]

I dunno about the rest of you, save for Sam, but the two Saab's that have been in my family wear tires like you wouldn't believe. I dunno what it is about them.

Cars wear tires for 2 main reasons...1 they need an alignment, 2 the ball joints are bad. I have not had an issue with wearing tires. My Hakka studded 2's just finished their 3rd winter.

If your tires are wearing quickly its either because you put some sort of performance tire on there good for only 10,000 to 15000 miles or the alignment is off and is wearing the tires irregularly.

[Sam]

I dunno about the rest of you, save for Sam, but the two Saab's that have been in my family wear tires like you wouldn't believe. I dunno what it is about them.

Cars wear tires for 2 main reasons...1 they need an alignment, 2 the ball joints are bad. I have not had an issue with wearing tires. My Hakka studded 2's just finished their 3rd winter.

If your tires are wearing quickly its either because you put some sort of performance tire on there good for only 10,000 to 15000 miles or the alignment is off and is wearing the tires irregularly.

The cars max and i drive/drove are a bit different than you solid rear axelers. Part of my problems were because I jumped at the cheapest tire I could find. Only now that I have changed out the bushings/swaybar links/springs/shocks, and shimming the rear do the tires seem to be wearing evenly. Ball joints and all the important stuff are still fine. Never had an issue there.

[RS68]

I like the Nokian WR but I can't afford them right now. The Goodyear Assurance Trippletred seems more like what I am looking for, but they still seem a bit expensive. I guess anything would be better than the nearly bald set of Nitto NT450 tires I was driving on last winter.

Does anyone have experience with the General Tire brand?

[DeLorean]

the fact that the Assurances are a 700 treadwear and have an 80,000 mile warranty make me suspect that they probably suck. As for generals, I have a set of the Exclaim UHP's on the 86 900-T notchback, and I like them a lot. The treadwear has been reasonable for a high performance tire and the traction is excellent. It is however, a summer tire. Strangely, it has an M+S rating but they state specifically that it is NOT intended for winter use, so it is probably one of those tires that will leave the car totally disabled in even light snow.

[Jordan]

The cars max and i drive/drove are a bit different than you solid rear axelers.

I think both of Max's saabs were solid rear axle, and why would that make any difference? If you got bad tire wear going on in the rear you've got bigger problems than your tire selection.

I think the fact that Max drove like a tool (I know, I was there) the majority of the time he owned the car then proceeded to bend the front control arm had more to do with his tire wear issues

[Sam]

The cars max and i drive/drove are a bit different than you solid rear axelers.

I think both of Max's saabs were solid rear axle, and why would that make any difference? If you got bad tire wear going on in the rear you've got bigger problems than your tire selection.

I think the fact that Max drove like a tool (I know, I was there) the majority of the time he owned the car then proceeded to bend the front control arm had more to do with his tire wear issues

ha yeah. i've ridden with him too. the gm900 and 9000 have a flex axle (the beam actually sits behind the wheels) I'm sure they did it to make the ride more comfortable but it sure didn't help handling on that car. It could also get bent pretty easily on the newgens from what i've heard in which case no alignment would be able to make it right.

I know you guys are skeptical of my grandma tires but I think after driving on them you would at least agree that they are an improvement over the all season kumhos that many team members praise so much.