Ignore this topic if you happen to be in warmer climates or store your baby for the winter. Bastards..

For those who have ice and snow, what winter tires do you guys put on your ITRs?

I went with Nokian NRW - H (speed rated) 195/55/15 stock size and they look phat and perform well on the dry surprisingly! I originally wanted to go with Hakka 1 model of Nokian, but unfortunately they were sold out on the 195/55/15 size.

I've taken it to 180KM/Hr to test how far I can take this H speed tire. The car feels shaky at that spped. The car is only steady at a max of 140KM/Hr.

Bring on the snow!

ITR winter performance!

 

Because of this board, I went with alpin piolts. I can tell they are going to rock when there is snow and the dry isnt that bad.

 

A search on "winter tires" (as they're properly called) will turn up this thread:
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=77028

 

I'm using 185/55/15 Pirelli W210Ps on mine.

 

Arctic Alpin Pilots are a great winter tire. I was stunned at both how good they are in the dry and how they dig into the snow. Highly recommended

 

i've been in another car with those nokians, and they perform better than my michelin pilot alpins... dammit i should have waited 2 weeks but i couldn't because the white stuff was looming on the horizon... sigh.

 

I went with Yokohama Guardex in stock size. They're Q rated and feel fairly squirmy compared to the RE010's. Looks like they should do well in any kind of snow/slush and seem to stick better on dry roads than the RE010's did when under 40F degrees.


[Modified by NBP #0933, 3:27 PM 12/8/2001]

 

Michelin Pilot Alpins here. Haven't driven the car much at all in the winter though.

 

The Nokian NRW is not a winter tire. It's an all-season tire. It won't do as well in frigid temperatures or on snow and ice as a true winter tire like the Nokian Hakkapeliitta or the Michelin Arctic Alpin.

More information about Nokian's tires is available on their website at http://www.nokiantires.com/indexen.html

I haven't put my winter tires (Arctic Alpin) on my R yet because winter hasn't hit here yet. It's supposed to be in the forties again all this coming week, too.



[Modified by nsxtcjr, 6:01 PM 12/8/2001]

 

I used to have a set of Hakkapelittas. Now I am on an old skool set of Swedish Gislaved tires. The Swedes know snow LOL. Sucks they are only Q rated though.

 

I was using (and just sold) a set of Toyo Observe G02s 195/60/15.

Worked like a charm in the few days of snow in Vancouver of last year...

 

A bus pass

 

Finland's "all season" is different from Toronto's "all season" weather. I imagine Finland's weather is colder than ours.

Check out the Tire BBS for more user feedback on Nokian tires: http://209.15.66.87/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi?

 

Get a thinner tire too.... all the WRC race with what look like 165 50 !!!

 

I have Pirelli Winter 210 snowsports on now.

 

Yeah, but their warm weather is warm, and all-season tires are a compromise - okay not great in the cold, okay not great in the warm.

If you're going to bother changing tires for the winter, then it makes sense to switch to real winter tires.

 

I don't think they are comprimising. Awesome braking and handling, aggressive tread pattern, so far performed extremely well in wet and dry cold Toronto weather.

Have you tried Nokian NRW?

Just because Nokian site says they are all season, you discount their ability to be capable winter tires.

Benjamin Tang, attest to their winter performance compared to his michelin pilot alpins...

Comprimising.. well not if they perform the task in the winter on par as other popular winter tires, plus giving excellent rain and dry tire performance. I don't think that's a comprimise but rather a HUGE PLUS!

To each his own.

 

Sounds like you've never driven in winter conditions using real winter tires.

Here's what the Nokian website says about all-season tires:

"Customers are expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of their all-season tires on snow and ice. All-season tires cannot provide high level Winter driving control and safety on snow and ice because the all-season tread patterns and rubber compounds are primarily designed to reduce rolling resistance for improved fuel efficiency."

Now, as long as you're going to go to the trouble of changing your tires for winter weather, why wouldn't you want to use tires that are designed for winter weather like the Hakkapeliitta or the Arctic Alpin, and not tires designed for "hot and cold weather" like the NRW?

Ben only mentioned Nokians. I bet he was talking about the Hakkapeliitta winter tires and not the NRW all-season tires. How about it, Ben?



[Modified by nsxtcjr, 10:50 PM 12/9/2001]

 

the nokian-equipped corolla i was in was using nrw's. my friend drove me home using the same route i go and he fared better than i did on snowy hills. but on dry pavement i found it a bit average.

but if i found nokian's a/s tires to be this good... i can't imagine what their dedicated snow tires are like...

use common sense. if your winters are ugly, go full snow tires.


[Modified by Benjamin Tang, 11:59 PM 12/9/2001]

 

Michelin Blizzak LM-22

195/55/15 HR rated

 

The NRWs are all season? That might explain why I wasn't as impressed with them as I expected to be. They were okay in the snow, but I was expecting legendary performance. I did run them at an autocross once and won my class, so I think their dry performance is decent.

The Toyo FZ4s might have an M+S rating, but they're probably the crappiest tire I've ever used. After one snowfall I gave up on them completely. I think bald RE010s were even better! They're **** in the snow, in the rain, noisy, and are squirmy until they get under half tread depth, at which point the horrible rain performance turns into dangerous rain performance.

I already put on my Pirelli 220s and they're great. Squirmier than half tread depth FZ4s, but they're amazing in the rain and reasonably grippy in the dry. All I remember about them from last winter was that there was never too much snow. I didn't think they did anything, since my car just tracked straight, turned well, and braked normally. It was so transparent how well they actually worked. That's a good snow tire.

 

I had the Nokian NRW on my prelude, they were the best I have used compared to the G-02 and the garit HT on snow. The garit HT was the best for ice. The nokian NRW WERE snow tires when I had them, they are no longer rated snow tires because in north america, snow tires are required to have a little ice logo on the side walls. Anyways, the NRW didn't or Nokian came out with a newer version, so the NRW just became M+S. At least that's what I have read in the past.

Even people say the NRW are not snow tires, they were awsome when I had them on my car, and I NEVER got stuck due to the tire. I was driving in Ottawa and the snow was BAD....that's when we had the ice storm back then. NRW


[Modified by Crunch, 9:21 AM 12/10/2001]

 

i just picked up a set of hakkapeliita Q's in 175/65/14 for my civic. we had our first snowfall of the season saturday night (about 5-6") and i stayed out half the night screwing around with them. they are unbelievable. they bite right through the snow and have great lateral stability when pushing thorugh 3 or 4 inches of the white stuff on the highways. i was easily able to go 50-55 in these conditions without a lot of worry....but i mostly stayed around 45 for the sake of safety of the others on the road going 30...he he he! sunday night i got to test them out on glare ice and was equally imnpressed. using the brakes in a normal manner yielded no sliding whatsoever....just perfect linear stops every time. acceleration was the same way. all in all these are the best snow tires i have ever driven on. i have previously driven cars with blizzak ws-50's, dunlop winter sport m2, firestone winterfire, pirelli 210's and a myriad of no name snows. the only other tire that i have seen perform nearly as well is the gislaved nordfrost. those are a nice tire as well. the blizzaks have good initial grip and control but wear entirely too fast for my liking. the hakka Q's have good treadwear and awesome control and grip. oh yeah, and if you are looking for studded snows, go with teh hakka 1's...can't beat 'em. good luck, have fun! btw, for an ITR the correct snow tire size should be 185/60/15...you want it a bit thinner and higher side-walled to dig thourhg the snow better.

CHRIS

 

I live in Canada! I know winter!

Where do you live? ... Alaska maybe? JK

I can put Nokians NRW for dry months starting November and run them through the cold until spring time (March).

Nokian all seasons are not the regular all seasons you're used to seeing. Other can testify to that.

 

Update: It snowed for the first time in Toronto today!

Rain and slush these Nokian NRW work like it was dry weather.

Snow started piling this evening. Instead of parking it for the night I took the car out for a spin... intentionally going to unplowed residential streets. The tires slips under semi-hard acceleration, gradual throttle modulation is required. I don't feel like the car is going out of control at any time. These tires are really good and can give you control to easily maneuver around slower traffic.

The tread is deep and aggressive. They spit the snow out nicely and leave well defined marks in the snow.

Type R winter performance