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Which Blizzaks did they use for the test? There is a huge difference between the Revo/WS line designed for heavy winter conditions and limited to Q (99mph) and T (118mph) speed ratings vs. the LM line designed for "performance" driving and allow up to V (149mph) speed rating. I find the claim from the shop that Nokian studdable winter tires running without studs would outperform the studless winter tires not credible at all, unless we are talking about a Nokian studless "performance" winter tire like the Blizzak LM series. It's as if hearing people talk about turbo engines with turbo disabled our-performing non-turbo high-compression high-rev engines . . . makes no sense at all, why wouldn Nokian then make/market the studless tires at all instead of just make/sell the studdable tire (unless it's a "performance" winter tire like the LM series)?
The reason I suggest rotating winter-capable all-season tires into staggered service across a few years is so that one can always have nearly brand-new tires for the winter seasons. What exactly would you do with the tires when the original 12/32" tread depth on your winter tires are worn down to 8/12" after a couple years (and with 2/3 of its legal tread life left)? Are you sure they are still better performing in snow and ice than some of the latest winter-capable all-seasons at 12/32" tread depth? Also, because summer tires perform extremely poorly in any snow at all (or even freezing rain), one has to switch over to winter tires very early. The back-and-forth temperature fluctuations like we have now in November and December (it was 15F three days ago, 55F less than 24hrs ago, and will be 14F again in less than 24hrs) will kill the winter tires very quickly on days of 50+F, and bring on the dilemma mentioned above all the sooner. In the staggered all-season approach, the switch over time is not of critical importance so long as the brand new tires are put on before the heavy snow arrives, and the brand new all seasons can handle 50+F temperature quite all right on their own even if you guess wrong / stay safe and put them on too early. After 2-3 years of winter-only service, when the brand new tires are worn down to 10/32" or 9/32", they will be used for the other three seasons, with another set of new all-seasons with then latest technology, at 12/32" tread depth, inducted into winter service.
For deep snow use, tread depth is by far the most decisive factor in tires; compound (and to a lesser degree sipes) play very little role in deep snow. You know what else? in the other three seasons, tires with 9/32" tread depth remaining actually provide more buttoned-down and less floaty driving feel than brand new all seasons at 12/32". The ultra high performance summer tires often start at 8/32" or less, which is one of the reasons why they are nearly useless in any snow at all after some wear.
posted by 96.233.42...
, Sun, 12 Dec 2010 11:12:16
, Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:19:28, Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:48:02
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