[Mods - Despite my car being a Civic, I'm posting this here because I'm not getting all the answers from the Civic forum that I need to make an informed decision. I'm hoping the Integra people might be more likely to have used these high performance snow tires.]

I drive an two hours 5 times per week on 60% highway and I'm used to the setup detailed in the signature link to my HT garage. This winter setup only needs to last one winter because if all goes according to plan I'm going to move to someplace warm and get the car detailed in my signature. Cleveland gets some reasonable sized storms but the constant lake (Erie) effect snow is the major opponent. I leave the house at 8AM most days.

1. Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 (185/65/14 -- pure snow and ice) mounted and balanced on 14x5.5 inch steel wheels = $478.24 shipped from the TireRack

More info about the WS-50: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...1=yes

2. Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 (195/55/15 -- performance winter -- worse on snow than the WS-50 but better at everything else) mounted to 15x6 steel wheels = $666.48 shipped from the TireRack

More info about the LM-22: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...LM-22

3. Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 (195/55/15 -- performance winter -- worse on snow than the WS-50, slightly worse than the LM-22 on snow, but better at everything else) mounted to 15x6 steel wheels = $642.48 shipped from the TireRack

More info about the Pilot Alpin PA2: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...n+PA2

I'm looking for personal experiences with these tires, other options with the exception of "park it and get a beater," and above all which tire would you choose and why?

This is what people in the Civic forum are saying about this post: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1020375

Additional info the future searcher may find worthwhile: I moved to OH a year ago and ran my 16 inch Rota's w/ high performance all seasons (205/45/16 Falken Ziex ZE-512s) last winter. Big mistake. The traction was OK but I bent two of my rims thanks to monster potholes. That's why I want more higher profile tires and better traction this winter. It's going to be hard to take off the Bridgestone Potenza RE750s I have on now. They are sweet summer tires that offer great traction without the noise and tread wear of their grippier brothers.


Modified by lowrightor at 1:18 PM 10/22/2004


Modified by lowrightor at 1:29 PM 10/22/2004


Modified by lowrightor at 1:30 PM 10/22/2004

 

I personally would use the LM-22 due to the fact that bridgestone tires, IMO are a bit better than the Michelin's. In addition to that, you don't want the best snow performance to be the No. 1 determining factor. You say that you will be on the higway, and last I checked, MOST highways are plowed quite frequently as well as salted or sanded, or both depending on location. You want something that is good on ice, and I believe that the LM-22's are it.

P.S. My dad uses those on his car, so it's not like I have absolutely NO experience.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by marsbike &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I personally would use the LM-22 due to the fact that bridgestone tires, IMO are a bit better than the Michelin's. In addition to that, you don't want the best snow performance to be the No. 1 determining factor. You say that you will be on the higway, and last I checked, MOST highways are plowed quite frequently as well as salted or sanded, or both depending on location. You want something that is good on ice, and I believe that the LM-22's are it.

P.S. My dad uses those on his car, so it's not like I have absolutely NO experience.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the response. This is why I thought posting in the Integra forum was a good idea. Couple questions: How are the LM-22s better than the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2s in your opinion? Are you just generalizing by saying that the Bridgestone is better than Michelin? What car does your Dad drive? Does he drive on the highway? What's his summer tire?

You're correct about the highway comments. Driving on mostly plowed highway is exactly why I even considered the "performance winter" tires.

 

I have a set of the michelin artic alpin's (195/55/15). They always did the job. Drove to colorado with them for a ski trip and they took the mts just fine, never lost control of the car well... ever. If your intrested I'd sell them to you, I don't have my prelude anymore so there are just sitting in my garage. They are mounted on black steelies with both the 110X4 and 114X4 bolt pattern.

long story short, I'll back the michelin.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by stevieteg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a set of the michelin artic alpin's (195/55/15). They always did the job. Drove to colorado with them for a ski trip and they took the mts just fine, never lost control of the car well... ever. If your intrested I'd sell them to you, I don't have my prelude anymore so there are just sitting in my garage. They are mounted on black steelies with both the 110X4 and 114X4 bolt pattern.

long story short, I'll back the michelin. </TD></TR></TABLE>

PM sent

 

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lowrightor &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Thanks for the response. This is why I thought posting in the Integra forum was a good idea. Couple questions: How are the LM-22s better than the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2s in your opinion? Are you just generalizing by saying that the Bridgestone is better than Michelin? What car does your Dad drive? Does he drive on the highway? What's his summer tire?

You're correct about the highway comments. Driving on mostly plowed highway is exactly why I even considered the "performance winter" tires. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Well. I just personally prefer bridgestone over the michelin. Michelin makes great SUV tires, but for sport compacts...yeah...My dad has a 98 lude, and he uses dunlops for the summer. Well, the lude in addition to the 87 MB 560 SEC, the 95 MB E300 Desil, 95 Chrysler Conchorde, and the 69 MB 280 SE. I personally am running Falken Ziex, which Zuck for summer tires, and I gotta start in Second gear just to get traction in the rain. Haven't had a winter on them yet... kinda scared... Well, that's my .02

 

185/65/14 will generally achieve better traction/control in snow than 195/55/15. That is why you see cars with wide tires sliding all over the road.

 

artic alpins on the integra and my sister's civic hx. pilot alpins on the E320 4matic, 300E and 190D. all have been excellent tires in utah winters. been on mountain roads where chains or 4wd was required, in the integra. did very well for traction and the car has also gotten through a foot of snow with ease. the artic alpins for the integra have about 8k miles on them from last winter and there is hardly any wear. in fact, they are going back on next week. it's already snowing like crazy in salt lake city.

get the artic alpins in stock size or with whatever will fit your brake application. those will do better in snow than the alpin pilots. also, another tire company that specializes in winter tires is vredestrien...i think they are scandinavain. but their winter tires are excellent, from what i've read.

note, like the guy above is biased about bridgestone, i am also biased towards the other.
we are a michelin/bfgoodrich family...been that way since the 60's.
for other than winter(from may to october), we run michelin pilot primacy on stock 17inch wheels for both E's. and the integra runs bfgoodrich comp t/a's. my F250 runs michelin 4x4 XPC, along with my dad's company exploder.

hell, even my mountain bike has michelin tires.

good luck man.


Modified by TEXNTEG at 10:22 AM 10/25/2004

 

Helpful post. Thanks.

How are the Arctic Alpines on the dry highway in the Teg? What wheels/tires do you run in the summer?

How do the other family cars (equipped with Pilot Alpines) do in the snow and on the dry highway?

 

just updated that post above.

the integra(DA9) runs GSR "swirlies" with bfgoodrich comp t/a. they are nearing the end of their life, with 42k miles on them. the other cars do exceptionally well in the snow on twisty mountain roads. i've run the E320 on a dry canyon road with the alpins and it did exceptionally well, car floated a little more through turns than with the pilot primacy tires due to sidewall difference. but, that car does have 4wd. both the 300E(rwd) and the E320 do very nicely in the snow. you have to understand that my parents live in a small mountain town, park city, and to get to salt lake you have to drive I-80 which is 8% grade for 15 miles with turns. the day before christmas last year, i had to make an airport run. the plows couldn't keep up with the snow and i went through about 6 inches of snow up hill without the need for ABS, ESP and all the other stuff. braking was quite good on the city streets. tires are very quiet too. the car can be fun in slush. the 190D was a little trickier to drive with such abundance of torque from a turbodiesel, a manual transmission and only a limited slip diff. but the tires always found traction with ease.

the thing with winter driving is that no matter what you drive, you can't haul ***. people out here get a false sense of security with suv's and trucks. they are the ones in the ditch. it's all about taking it easy and knowing how to time turns and stops just right. i don't know how the snow is in the midwest, but out here it is constant(and not as wet).

 

1. Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 (185/65/14 -- pure snow and ice) mounted and balanced on 14x5.5 inch steel wheels = $478.24 shipped from the TireRack

More info about the WS-50: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/...1=yes


I ran this same setup on my GS-R, but I also had a limited slip differential. They were absolutely amazing. I say go for it, and I guarantee you'll be fine. This is my first year putting them on the civic, we'll see how it works out.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sean96gsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I ran this same setup on my GS-R, but I also had a limited slip differential. They were absolutely amazing. I say go for it, and I guarantee you'll be fine. This is my first year putting them on the civic, we'll see how it works out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

What wheels/tires do you run in the summer? How was the dry highway performance of the WS50s?

 

 

I drove with the ws-50's on my ls for the entire winter, and just put them on again for this season...about 7k miles worth so far on them...very little wear so far.

The did fantastic in the snow, the car was really stable on the highway, driving during my commute in 3+ inches of snow on many occasions...speeds were up to 55mph at times. Even on long drives 3+hrs in the deeper/continuous snow...I found that I didn't have to fight the car at all to keep it on the road, and I felt comfortable driving...while many others were pulling off the highway. At stop lights on hills i didn't have much wheelspin either(car is manual)...while cars behind me couldn't make it up due to the snow. A jeep wrangler got stuck in a slightly inclined lightly iced parking lot next to me, and the driver looked at me with one of those WTF looks on his face when I started up the car and i drove by him without any problem and his 4wd wasn't helping.

Dry- it is real easy to break the tires loose when hammering it from a stop. One specific instance to point out- I had to switch lanes very suddenly at about 60mph on the highway and I was really suprised by the responsiveness of the tire. I expected them to fair much worse, but they gripped suprisingly well. As of now, they are getting a little bit noisy...but nothing bad.

I will buy them again when they need to be replaced.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 85pokey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I drove with the ws-50's on my ls for the entire winter, and just put them on again for this season...about 7k miles worth so far on them...very little wear so far.

The did fantastic in the snow, the car was really stable on the highway, driving during my commute in 3+ inches of snow on many occasions...speeds were up to 55mph at times. Even on long drives 3+hrs in the deeper/continuous snow...I found that I didn't have to fight the car at all to keep it on the road, and I felt comfortable driving...while many others were pulling off the highway. At stop lights on hills i didn't have much wheelspin either(car is manual)...while cars behind me couldn't make it up due to the snow. A jeep wrangler got stuck in a slightly inclined lightly iced parking lot next to me, and the driver looked at me with one of those WTF looks on his face when I started up the car and i drove by him without any problem and his 4wd wasn't helping.

Dry- it is real easy to break the tires loose when hammering it from a stop. One specific instance to point out- I had to switch lanes very suddenly at about 60mph on the highway and I was really suprised by the responsiveness of the tire. I expected them to fair much worse, but they gripped suprisingly well. As of now, they are getting a little bit noisy...but nothing bad.

I will buy them again when they need to be replaced.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Informative post. What wheels and tires do you run in the summer?

 

Yokohama Avid H4S- ok , not fantastic, better than the blizzaks...I drive like an old man so its all relative...f-ing gas prices...long commute.

Good treadwear, good in wet, fine on dry, quiet---good bitch tires.

oh yeah...on steelies...same for both.

 

 

depends how much snow you really get

the first tire is Q rated speed, so if your going say about the speed limit, on dry pavement, the tires are gonna be scary

the other two tires are H rated speed, up to 130mph, they will also be scary if you do like 100mph, but less scary than the Q rated tire wich is only rated to a max speed of 99 mph.

 

if your willing to change tires often, and have other tires that you could use on dry days, than the dedicated snow/ice tire will rock

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dan GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">depends how much snow you really get

the first tire is Q rated speed, so if your going say about the speed limit, on dry pavement, the tires are gonna be scary

the other two tires are H rated speed, up to 130mph, they will also be scary if you do like 100mph, but less scary than the Q rated tire wich is only rated to a max speed of 99 mph.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct. We get a lot of snow, but not huge storms.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dan GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if your willing to change tires often, and have other tires that you could use on dry days, than the dedicated snow/ice tire will rock</TD></TR></TABLE>

Haha. You better not be serious.

 

During the summer I run Dunlop SP Sports on the stock 96' GS-R wheels. They were good too, buch better than those crappy falkens they sell at the dealer. And the dry handling of the WS-50's... Well it's a snow tire man, I wouldn't autocross them. But seriously, there's a definite difference, but it's not like it ruins the handling. Just recognize what they are, no snow tire will handle well. My gas mileage was good though.

 

I dig. So you think the WS-50s are a better choice.