High per formance all season tires in winter

[EPSU3]

hey guys, I'm tire shopping for a good all season tire that will perform half decent in summer, and not kill me in the winter. I'm currently between falken ziex 912 and kumho ecsta asx. Any reviews or insight would be great. I live in Pittsburgh/state college, so I see some snow each year. thanks guys.

[MugsyTheGr8]

will never be as good as dedicated snow tire. i go to school in michigan and my kumho asx barely cut it. looking into 14" blizzacks on steel wheels for next season.

[talonXracer]

All season tires are not for driving in the snow, they suck almost as bad as high performance summer tires. With studded snowtires there was no issue at all driving in the snow, slush and ice.

[RedSiBaron]

hey guys, I'm tire shopping for a good all season tire that will perform half decent in summer, and not kill me in the winter. I'm currently between falken ziex 912 and kumho ecsta asx. Any reviews or insight would be great. I live in Pittsburgh/state college, so I see some snow each year. thanks guys.

ive found that bridgestone potenza all seasons do exceptionally well in the snow...but of course nothing beats a snow tire like blizzaks...and you'll only need those in the fronts...

[FCobra94]

My brother has no problems with his Ziex-512's during Maryland winters. They handle light snow just fine. But yeah, even crappy snow tires will handle snow better than really good all-seasons.

I guess it depends on how much snow you actually get up there, etc.

[v1c10us]

I run the hankook icebear's all year round, love em even in the summer, good tire.

[EPSU3]

hmmm, i'm still on stock 03 rims and can't new wheels. I may just go with the falkens and then find some steelies to throw winter tires on in that case. Craigslist is always good for that. thanks guys, I needed some insight since those tire comparison charts are all relative.

[NovakSI]

ive found that bridgestone potenza all seasons do exceptionally well in the snow...but of course nothing beats a snow tire like blizzaks...and you'll only need those in the fronts...

I wouldn't suggest this [front only snows] based on personal experience; front-only snows lead to scary oversteer. You'll have great traction for climbing hills, but when you hit a turn your fronts will be glued to the ground and your rears will slide around like, well like something really slippery.

[civictype_r04]

Most all season tires suck. Get performance tires for the summer and snow tires for the winter.

[RedSiBaron]

I wouldn't suggest this [front only snows] based on personal experience; front-only snows lead to scary oversteer. You'll have great traction for climbing hills, but when you hit a turn your fronts will be glued to the ground and your rears will slide around like, well like something really slippery.

nah...i dont know what tires you had on the rear, but when i did this on my 86si i had potenzas in the rear, everything was fine...and that was in vermont end of winter snowfall, so anywhere from no snow to 2 feet...and everywhere in that range...it never had problems...but then again how wide were your tires and what sidewall? when i did this i had 185/60/14s on the front and rear...if you have too low a profile or too wide a tire youre just asking for trouble regardless...or you need to train yourself a smarter right foot...

[NovakSI]

nah...i dont know what tires you had on the rear, but when i did this on my 86si i had potenzas in the rear, everything was fine...and that was in vermont end of winter snowfall, so anywhere from no snow to 2 feet...and everywhere in that range...it never had problems...but then again how wide were your tires and what sidewall? when i did this i had 185/60/14s on the front and rear...if you have too low a profile or too wide a tire youre just asking for trouble regardless...or you need to train yourself a smarter right foot...

My experience with this was in Vermont mostly, with my '93 eg, with cheap all seasons (but with plenty of tread) on the rear, and Arctic Alpins on the front, if I remember correctly... Couldn't tell you dimensions for the rears, but lots of sidewall and as narrow as stock). I was driving 60,000 miles per year at the time, so my right foot was pretty smart... I'm not doubting your experience, and I never tried fronts only on the ep, but the difference in traction was considerable. Add thicker sways, etc into the mix and I would think the ep would behave similarly.

[Gaz]

I agree with the others that a dedicated set of snow tires/wheels will be your best friend.

I personally have a set of Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3s (stock 205/55/16)mounted on 16 inch steelies. I had one Cleveland winter with the Si and the stock Michelins and knew I needed snows.

I tossed the Michelins last spring for Dunlop Direzzas (205/55/16). Very nice for the price I paid ($56 per tire, Dad's Goodyear/Dunlop discount FTW).

[RedSiBaron]

My experience with this was in Vermont mostly, with my '93 eg, with cheap all seasons (but with plenty of tread) on the rear, and Arctic Alpins on the front, if I remember correctly... Couldn't tell you dimensions for the rears, but lots of sidewall and as narrow as stock). I was driving 60,000 miles per year at the time, so my right foot was pretty smart... I'm not doubting your experience, and I never tried fronts only on the ep, but the difference in traction was considerable. Add thicker sways, etc into the mix and I would think the ep would behave similarly.

hmm thats interesting, it was prolly a balance difference between the ea-t and the eg...there really isnt ANY weight in the back of a 3g civic...like none...plus i had bilstein shocks on the car...was your car lowered? im guessing it was really just a setup difference, my car wasnt lowered...plus remember really good potenza all seasons on the rear...things would NOT pack with snow at all, they threw snow better than the blizzaks...

[v1c10us]

i had some kumho ecstas in a 205/50/16 on before these hankook icebears in a 205/50/16 and i can comfortably say that on dry smooth payment the icebears grip just as good if not better than the kumho ecstas, especially around corners.
The difference seems to be that once the icebears lose traction they dont gain it back as easily as the kumho's, which i'm sure has something to do with the compound, the ecstas probably heat up and then regrip much quicker than the icebears. I donno if any of you have tried them in the winter, but they are very good.

but this next winter(even though we don't get snow often) I'm just throwing some autosocks on my summer tires.
my dad lives in wyoming and everywinter the sides of the road are like 8 feet high in snow, he got the autosocks for his 64 baja beetle and said they work just as good as snow chains without being a bitch to put on.

edit: he said the only downside is that on roads that arent slushy wet or snowy you can tear through them pretty quick, but that might have something to do with the turbocharged porshe 914 type 4 engine making 380hp in it?

[EPSU3]

yeah, i've decided on kumho ecsta asx, or falken ziex, then I'll buy steelies with winter tires. I saw some locally on craigslist that my still be available

[RedSiBaron]

yeah, i've decided on kumho ecsta asx, or falken ziex, then I'll buy steelies with winter tires. I saw some locally on craigslist that my still be available

i suggest the falkens over the kumhos...while i dont hate my kumho asxs, i still liked my falken ziexs better

[siver-SI]

All season tires are not for driving in the snow, they suck almost as bad as high performance summer tires. With studded snowtires there was no issue at all driving in the snow, slush and ice.

I would have agreed with you till this winter. In October I got 205/55/15 Continental ContiExtremeContact and they were great in the snow and they are great for autocross. I did over 6-8" on the road of fresh snow with very little loss of traction. When it rains they are gret also. Over $500 for the set installed though. I am not sure how they are made to work so well but I was shocked. I know though I will be lucky to get 2 years out of them with the racing though.

[EPSU3]

I would have agreed with you till this winter. In October I got 205/55/15 Continental ContiExtremeContact and they were great in the snow and they are great for autocross. I did over 6-8" on the road of fresh snow with very little loss of traction. When it rains they are gret also. Over $500 for the set installed though. I am not sure how they are made to work so well but I was shocked. I know though I will be lucky to get 2 years out of them with the racing though.

wow, I'm looking at getting 205/55-15s. I looked at the coopers but i'm trying to stay under 400 out the door. falkens are 311 plus 45 to mount and balance, with the kuhmo's costing 350 plus mount and balence. so i think falkens are winners. plus my dad had ecstas on his impala, and that car sucked.