[CanadianGatorBacon]

Doing some research on Tire Rack for a winter setup, they gave me a choice of performance winter/snow tires (explanation and test results http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=181) and studless ice & snow winter tires (explanation and test results http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=167). Basically, the former are better in cold wet/dry, but still good on snow and ice, and the latter are better in snow and ice, but sill good for cold wet/dry.

I live in the DC area and I'm a bit torn. I'd say generally the amount of snow and ice we get merits performance winter/snow tires, but when it does snow the road management is horrible and might even necessitate studless ice & snow winter tires.

What kind of winter conditions do you drive in? And what tires did you chose? Any advice from DMV residents?

[BEM-S4]

Is it hilly by you at all? I got max performance Blizzak LM in Philadelphia so not that far off weather-wise. Totally useless on hills. That said handle very well considering it's a winter tire on dry days.

Next time I'm going studless since new house has a big hill and it's more difficult to get out to dad's place to swap for one of his AWD cars.

[Transfer]

Would you rather compromise a some snow traction in favor of wet/dry performance or vice versa. I lived in Arlington for 2 years and the terrain varies but no big hills really. For me it would be performance winters for sure. I'm in Seattle now and we don't generally get a lot of snow but we have HUGE hills. I went with perf winters.

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by Transfer

Would you rather compromise a some snow traction in favor of wet/dry performance or vice versa. I lived in Arlington for 2 years and the terrain varies but no big hills really. For me it would be performance winters for sure. I'm in Seattle now and we don't generally get a lot of snow but we have HUGE hills. I went with perf winters.

Yeah for me it wasn't an issue when I was less than a mile away from a Macan, AWD Volvo and Audi I could take whenever I want. Neither is a bad choice just depends on your personal situation including both road conditions and what else you have access to drive.

[CanadianGatorBacon]

Certainly no mountains, but some small to medium size hills on the highway i drive out Virginia on a daily basis. But, that's on the toll road which is cleared better than the regular interstate.

[MikeG12]

I live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where we got ~85" of snow last winter. Had Bridgestone performance snows and they worked fine. Had several other cars with performance snows including a VW GTI and E36 M3 and they worked well too. Had snow and ice Blizzaks on another E36 and they worked great in snow but destroyed the handling. Unless you live in a very heavy snow belt, performance snows should work fine.

[CanadianGatorBacon]

Thanks Mike. Is driving on the Cape pretty flat? And did you drive in the bad stuff or wait until the roads were managed?

[BEM-S4]

I got stuck once last year and things were a little dicey on a few occasions on the Blizzak LMs. I got VERY lucky as I got stuck at the bottom of a hill a Good Samaritan plow driver saw me and dumped half a truck full of salt going up the hill so I could get enough traction to make it up. As long as everything is reasonably flat and you don't drive like an idiot the performance tires should be ok.

[Bobdaxx]

I live in dc and went with the performance winter tires...
michellin pilot alpin pa3

Only question I have is what should the tire pressure be?
32/38?

[MikeG12]

The area of the Cape I live in is medium hilly and I have a sloped up driveway. The car has low clearance so if there was snow deeper than the clearance of the car, I waited until plows came through, but I did drive it in fresh snow too. When I had the GTI, I lived on the mainland in a snow belt area, and drove the car in every kind of snow with the performance snows. You should be OK in the DC area for the majority of storms.

[mge92]

I would say if you are only in DC and don't plan on roadtrips then all seasons should be fine. I drive a lot between DC and NYC so I went with Dunlop Wintersport 3Ds. They performed last winter amazingly.

[jgunnz]

I'm in Baltimore and have Dunlop Winter 4Ds. For the limited amount of snow we get, i figured dry performance was paramount. But they acquit themselves well in snow too. Drove to western Massachusetts in a big snowstorm last winter and felt rock solid. Had an SUV sliding sideways down a hill at me and my car went nimbly around him no problem!

[augerpro]

I'm debating the same issue as the OP, but even further: performance snow versus performance all-season like the Conti Extremecontact DWS.

[Transfer]

Originally Posted by augerpro

I'm debating the same issue as the OP, but even further: performance snow versus performance all-season like the Conti Extremecontact DWS.

If you're in CO as your profile says, why would you get all seasons? Modern performance winter tires are incredible. Stick with Dunlop 4D, Michelin PA4, or Pirelli Sotozero 3.

[augerpro]

Well there isn't snow the ground the whole winter. So from what I know even modern snows give up considerable dry performance. Hence I'm thinking extreme performance all seasons. Are performance snows really that good?

[CanadianGatorBacon]

Originally Posted by augerpro

Are performance snows really that good?

Testing Performance Winter / Snow Tires
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=181
Tests all 3 tires mentioned by Transfer

[augerpro]

Right, but they're all in the same category. I'm trying to decide across categories. Here is the concern from that article "Dedicated winter tread compounds molded into aggressive patterns provide better snow and ice traction than the best all-season tires, while tweaks to the compound and internal construction help them also approach the all-season tire's level of clear road handling."

So I'm guessing they are comparing them to the Grand Touring All Season category, where Michelin Premier AS and Pirelli P7 cinterauto plus are tops. What I want to know is how the Ultra High Performance All Season fit in? For example in that review they don't even bother taking it to the track, so I was hoping I could compare the braking and cornering figures to the UHPAS, but since they took those to the track they did not run those tests: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=201

So if I were looking for high performance in the wet and dry, but better snow performance than the best "grand touring" all season, does the UHPAS category deliver that? Or do I really need to go with the performance snows?

[CanadianGatorBacon]

A bit old (2009), but have you seen these tests from Tire Rack? Should give you some basis for comparison to the winter performance tire test.

Winter Testing at the Arctic Circle: Ultra High Performance All-Season
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=124

Unfortunately, it seems like their next test for the newer UHPAS tires in winter will be coming this winter, so a bit late to help. But as far as which to choose, no one here can likely tell you how prioritize dry/wet performance vs. snow traction, that's really up to you. I'm personally in the "I want the snow traction in case I needed it, even if it's rare" club, so I sacrifice a few months of fun for security.

[Transfer]

Personally I can't tell much difference between my Michelin PSS and PA4 when they are each driven in their appropriate seasons, other than the PA4 are a bit more quiet and comfortable. This is my second BMW with PA4 and I think they're giggle inducing good in all cold weather scenarios.

I just don't see any significant advantage going with all seasons unless you'll virtually never see snow and are almost always on dry roads. If you're in that scenario, the DWS would still not be my personal choice. They have great traction, but horrid handling characteristics.

[CanadianGatorBacon]

In the end I went with real snows, Blizzak WS80. Could only get about 1/3 up the driveway out of my building's garage yesterday during the snow here in D.C. Traction control was going nuts and the rear was not wanting to keep a straight line. Eventually I was making more lateral movement than I was vertical. Had back down the driveway and to switch to the wife's x1 with xdrive and stock all seasons. Made it up the driveway like it wasn't even snowing. So I think the real answer to this question for me was it doesn't matter because I'm screwed either way.

[Legal Bill]

Originally Posted by CanadianGatorBacon

In the end I went with real snows, Blizzak WS80. Could only get about 1/3 up the driveway out of my building's garage yesterday during the snow here in D.C. Traction control was going nuts and the rear was not wanting to keep a straight line. Eventually I was making more lateral movement than I was vertical. Had back down the driveway and to switch to the wife's x1 with xdrive and stock all seasons. Made it up the driveway like it wasn't even snowing. So I think the real answer to this question for me was it doesn't matter because I'm screwed either way.

That's discouraging.

[CanadianGatorBacon]

My driveway is steep and I didn't have much weight over the rear wheels. I'd say it rises 15+ feet over a distance of about 50 feet in a nonlinear manner, steeper at the bottom. And I was doing it in very loose snow. But it reminded me of days I missed school when I lived in Montreal and my mom couldn't get us up the driveway in her RWD Volvo.