Date: 28 Dec 2004 18:47:38 GMT From: Gary Fritz <fritzxxxnospamrii.com> Subject: Re: Winter Tires
The Michelin Pilots that came on my '02 9-5 Aero were absolute death in the snow -- sliding through intersections like you say was almost unavoidable. I didn't want to go through the remounting &etc like Dave mentioned, but I didn't want to cough up hundreds of $$ for alloy rims either. (Everybody including the dealer said the Aero cannot use steel rims, though I don't remember why.) So I tried high-performance all-seasons. Ended up with the Pirelli PZero Nero, which were rated very highly at tirerack.com including for ice/snow. Pretty good tires on dry roads, though they "tramline" badly on rain grooves. (Rain grooves tend to grab them and throw you to one side or the other.) In the snow, though, I was seriously unimpressed. They're barely acceptable for my driving, which only involves light snow maybe 4-6 times a year. There is no way you could call these things "winter tires." Maybe somebody knows of good all-seasons that actually work on snow. But unless you get a good solid recommendation or very seldom drive in snow, I wouldn't go the all-season route. Gary