A/S tires for winter

Rich, did anyone get back to you? I've moved to Utah with a 2011 Prius, and I need to buy winter tires too.

 

I have the Continentel PureContact I use all year best tire and very quite...........

 

How is the gas mileage with the pure contact? Did you drive with them on ice or snow?

 

No lost in gas mileage...............this will be the 1'st winter on them............

 

Of those listed the PureContact is likely the best bet. Put the Micheline Premier A/S on your list too. Please keep in mind that all-season tires begin to lose pliability and this stopping traction once temps get below 45F regardless of any snow or moisture on the road surface. Winter tires are designed to remain pliable in low temperatures and so braking distance will be better with them. If you can afford to do so I would recommend two sets of wheels/tires. One for winter and one for the rest of the year.

Expect to lose a couple of mpg with the PureContact and any other good performing tire.

 

That's what i started doing 3 years ago and only use the winters from Nov - Feb, unless it snows later in the year as it did this year here. I take a 5-8 mpg hit with my GY ultragrips, but the traction is something else in the snow. I'm alot more confident than with my GY summer tyres.

 

^ Further on separate snow tires, likely on extra rims: they are an extra investment up-front, and need storage. OTOH, they extend the tread life of your regular tires, afford an opportunity to detail their rims thoroughly and just keep them outa winter's worst.

 

For the lurkers who might want more information on tire dynamics.

(really like this one)

 

Yes, initial hit on rims (i bought a cheap (€40/50) set of 4 Avensis rims, same as Corolla I think and sprayed them myself with a rattle can) and also had the 4 tyres from my Golf. The winters seems to have a very deep thread so will last a long time anyway as I've ran them 3 winters now and cannot see much wear at all.

My tyre guy said to avoid the A/S as they are neither summer or winters and somewhere in between and that suited me. I have decent LRR Goodyear summers for 9 months of the year & decent branded winters for the other 3 or so months. It's a win win for me in my situation

 

Hey Rich I am getting the True Contacts from TireRack mounted on Friday on our Prius.

 

I'm eager to hear your thoughts on the TrueContact tires!

 

I'm in the same boat. Looking to replace my Yokohamas. I am leaning towards Continental Pure Contact. Have read some reviews that they don't last and have road noise...but I think I am still leaning towards them. The Michelin Energy Saver A/S And Ecopias don't seem to have good wet, snow or ice performance. I had the Pirellis on my 2006 Prius and they were great in all conditions and lasted forever, but my MPG suffered. I wanted to look at the Nokian WR G2 as those were softer tire but doesn't look like those are available anymore.

Although now after looking at that first video that F8L posted about temperature and tires I thinking about doing winter tires and summer tires!!! UGH! But I do some highway driving (holidays) in the winter and I do more "country" driving than city - so wont that just chew them up more?

 

I'm not sure if we have enough data on the longevity of the PureContact. A lot of reviewers confuse them with the ProContact which did have longevity issues. You could also consider the Michelin Premier A/S. It's pretty much better than the PureContact all around or at least close enough to it.

You can drive winter tires on the highway. As long as the temps are not very high the wear shouldn't be an issue. It's definitely the safest option. If you are not completely strapped for cash this is the route I recommend. Sure people get by with A/S tires in snowy regions but lots of folks also have accidents too. Why gamble?

 

Don't have time to read everything, but I'm in the same boat. I've read here, and elsewhere, that Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 tires are a great fuel efficient dedicated winter tire. No experience with them. But I'm seriously considering giving them a try.

I can't go another winter with A/S tires. They just don't cut it in Minnesota. I do way too much driving, at all times of the day and night, and need to be at my destinations on time, so I'm going with dedicated winter tires this year.

Windows Phone ?

 

Update:
I bought a set of these tires and went a full winter with them last winter AND kept them on all summer. Winter traction was great in almost all conditions, but not as good as previous non-LRR winter tires I've had in the past on different vehicles. But clearly more traction than an all season tire. The most impressive attribute to these particular winter tires in their incredible resistance to wear while driving the car in summer. Our temps in MN regularly reach into the 80s and 90s and we have stretches of 100 degrees here and there with oppressive humidity levels. These tires seem to be wearing as if they're all seasons. THAT sets them a part from all the other winter tires I've owned. Now, I realize you're probably thinking, "that's great, but I don't buy winter tires for use in the summer." True, but if the wear is this good while driving in the summer, they're going to wear even less while driving in the winter. That's my point. They're worth the money for that reason alone. Also, the fuel economy hasn't suffered as much as I expected. I still average 45 MPG, whether in the summer with the AC on, or the dead of winter in sub-freezing temperatures. The only thing that suffers MPG for me is running the car too long in the winter to warm it up before I get in.

LG-H810 ?