Friendan

I have a set of 15" cookie cutters I'm mounting on my 86 for the winter, and I'm looking at getting some winter tires.

Does anyone know the stock size for cookie cutters and/or the best size for winter driving (little snow, mostly rain and some ice), and what brand is reasonable in price and performance?

Vjgtrybno1

My son has the same situation - he is very happy with his Nokians - I'll look up the size he bought and PM you...

Tom R.

for winter tires i would go with four 195 or 205s. if you were using the car in the summer i would say 205 or 225 on the 7" rims.

i think the early 944s came from the factory with 195s.

i have blizzaks on the gto and am happy with them, had pilot alpins on the legend, arctic alpins (lower spped rating) on the aurora, now on the rendezvous and was happy, and had dunlop M2s on the Z28. all got me through whatever i had to get through - about 6" of fresh powder - more with the legend since we took that car skiing.

Scott at Team Harco

Nokian (Hakkapeliitta) are the best winter tires you can buy.
Proper size for our cars are either 195/65R15 or 205/60R15.

RSi and WR views attached...

gman1868

"It depends" If you're going to drive on icy/hardpacked roads alot during the winter, then the best tires are the Nokian RSi. The Hakkas are great too.

Blizzaks only have the good rubber in the first half of their tread depth.

Scott at Team Harco

Not to split hairs - but Hakkas (Hakkapeliitta) are from the Nokian family of tires. The RSi is labeled as a Hakkapeliitta. There seems to be more of an effort (from Nokian) to get the Nokian name out there on the Hakkapeliitta branded tires these days.

CBM

I have heard amazing things about all of the Hakkas. However, their performance comes with a price.

I have Hankook W404's on my Subaru. 205/55-16 were $95 each. In the snow they are fantasitc - I have been through over 12" in them. They do not offer as good dry performance as certain Hakkas and Blizzaks, but the price is right.

lucifer_sam

i've driven on RSi's on a rally route in michigan in the middle of winter. they were right nice. (i was just bannering, but it was still a blast)

i also put the 4-season WR's on my S2 and they perform excellently. i haven't been able to take them through any extreme winter weather yet, but i can tell you that in the rain, the harder you push them, the stickier they get.

mad props to dave parps for setting me up. he's the nokian super salesman of southeast wisconsin!


-------------------
LS
89 S2

924Superwagen

My mom bought the Nokian RSi last winter for her mk4 Jetta... let's just say she is never buying another brand ever again, even if it empties the bank account.

Scott at Team Harco

Say 'Hi' to Dave for me. I'm his distributor in SE Michigan.

Chico Valdez

I have used Michelin All weather Sport Pilots in All sorts of weather including snow so deep I had to stop and unplug the radiator, with no trouble and very good wear. Many miles in the Colo. Mts. and Washington rain.

Serge944

First ask yourself - how are you going to be driving and if its going to be used in snow/dry/wet or strictly snow. The Dunlop M3s are supposed to be the best if youre going to be doing a mix of driving in the snow and the dry. They are also V rated, so quite stable in high speed cornering. A lot of strictly snow tires are AWFUL in the dry.

Blizzaks are a waste of money - they are outdated technology (especially the popular ws50) and are overpriced.

Currently, the absolute best -snow/ice- tires are Gislaved Nordfrost 3. The Nokians trail behind slightly. This is based on extensive private party European tests. Heres an ebay link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-NEW...QQcmdZViewItem

I've been trying to decide on what to buy for my audi this winter, as I will be making numerous ski trips. I want to get the M3s but think I will cheapen out and get the Hankook IceBear tires that Discount sells, for nearly half the price.

Friendan

Well, I don't expect to see alot of snow here in Vancouver, but definitely ice and alot of rain and wetness. Many people have mentioned the best available snow tires; I just need a decent set of tires for PNW driving. What are the Hankook IceBear's like? Any other reasonably priced good tires?

Rich Sandor

It only snows for 1 or 2 days (per year) in Vancouver, and it's usually only 1 - 2 inches, and gone within a couple of days. It's also usually SLUSH within the first hour on all the main roads. Only the untravelled back streets in the suburbs get any packed snow - and again, that's for 1 or 2 days maybe.

I would stray away from SNOW tires because you don't want to be driving them in the rain/dry 99% of the time, and in the snow only 1% of the time. It's better to get All-seasons!

I'd also stay away from the cheapie tyre brands like hankook when it comes to rain tyres.

Friendan

Ya i agree with your Rich. I think I'm just gonna get a half-decent set of all seasons. I'm not looking to spend what I did on my Fuzions, like maybe $400-500 range if possible. Where do you suggest going Rich? I called national tire wholesale and they quoted me for a set of Nexum's (?) for like $470 taxes and mounting incl. The guy said he had them on his car and he thought they were fine.