Snow tires on heavy, high HP cars.
 

I'm thinking of putting all-seasons (Conti DWS 06?) on the Tesla for winter.

1. I will drive the truck any time I expect the weather to be nasty. The Tesla might still see snow but it'll be a rare event.

2. I'm worried a 4000lb+ car with 400+ HP will chew through snow tires in no time.

3. It's AWD so I'm not too worried about getting stuck


Does anyone have experience with #2? Am I concerned over nothing?

In other news, despite all the tire reviews available, it's shockingly difficult to find comparative reviews of tires across categories: Ex: how does a Conti DWS 06 All-Season compare to a Michelin X-Ice3? I've never owned a DWS 06, but it has to be less awful on dry pavement, right? Rolling resistance also matters now that I'm range challenged.

I did really like the Pirelli Sottozero 3's or whatever they were called though. I'm toying with the idea of them, but am still skeptical.

I've been running DWS on my e46 and X5 for a year + now. Nothing but positive feedback for the use cases they take on. The e46 gets Hakkas on it in the dead of winter, but runs the contis into late nov/early december. The x5 runs the contis all winter long.

Good to know, thanks!

DWS has a reputation for being decent in snow. Does your experience match that?

They are (when new) usable on my E46 M3 in the snow. Not winters, but usable. TireRack tested the DWS as about 70% of the Bridgestone performance snow that was current at the time.

In my testing, a new DWS is about equivalent to a half worn Dunlop M3.

Thanks Nick. And in the drive the DWS are better than the snows, right? Do you recommend them for a fair-weather winter car?

They are gooshy, but quiet, great in the wet, and have okayish dry traction. I’ve got a winter set on my E90 right now. They have more straight line traction in cool weather than Michelin PSS. Not quite as much cornering grip.

I have had no problems with Hakkas on my e70 (400hp) and F15 (450hp) x5s. They both weigh over 2 tons as well. You know how I drive...

EDIT: not sure I would get hakkas on the Tesla, but they are so fantastic on the X5.

I say no, but that's me.. It's not like you're going to run the DWS year round. If you have the awesome michelins for summer or 3-seasons, get winters for winter.

I've had the predecessor of the DWS on a Subaru and yes, it did ok to Whiteface trips in whiteout conditions. But the e39 rwd on snow tires felt better (we took two cars on one trip back in 2007). Neither were particularly high power cars either. But when they let go, the DWS or A/S will tend towards white knuckle as opposed to more progressive slip of the winter.

If you are worried about #2, wear, go for H or V rated winter tires, e.g. Dunlop winter sports, wear slowly or the blizzak LM series. And drive easy on dry. I've not had a problem with wear.

The 535i is 4000 lbs, not as high hp as the Model3 (used to be 300 now up to 340ish?). But the torque hits early and the car loses grip even with snows. I can't imagine it with A/S's.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VSQEA411ph5CJXcy7

Maybe spec XL versions of whatever tire you choose? Extra benefit of getting stiffer sidewalls. For performance snows, we have always been happy with Bridgestone LM series when in Maryland. Also Michelin Pilot Alpins.

Yeah I see the logic that if I'm swapping tires, using all seasons is a little silly.

In the past when I used full snows they were too squishy for my taste on dry roads. But they were also 205 width so it's hard to compare.

In the Teslas weird size if 235/45-R18 I can get the

Xice xi3: likely better in snow but worse in dry. Had them on the wagon in 205 and they were mush in the dry (H / XL rated)

Sottozero 3: had these on the e46 and really liked them in the dry. But never really used them in snow. (V rated)

Blizzak LM001: don't know anything about them (V and XL rated). Maybe this one checks all the boxes

I thought you were thinking about running DWS all year long. If you're planning on swapping tires anyway, I'd agree to go the snows route. Otherwise, just don't bother and drive the truck anytime it looks sketchy out. That's what I've done with the 1er. I leave Conti DW (summers) on all year long and drive the e46 whenever the possibility of bad weather arises. I've only had a couple of uncomfortable moments when a rogue snow sqall popped up.

Yeah, I definitely don't want the high performance tires on there. I'll be driving it and never know when I'll get surprised with some snow

Somehow I spaced and thought you were shopping snows. I have Michelin A/S 3+ on my 2 series and love them--all year round. I even prefer them in summer to the previous PSS the car came with. I swapped them out because one had a slow leak and I wanted year-round competence for the car without having to have an extra set of rims and do the swap twice a year.

They were a little sketchy when we had a rogue snow last year, but that was with RWD and a very sharp turn uphill with acceleration. I can't remember whether I was in first gear or second trying to make the corner from a standstill (there's a stop sign there), but the car started to fishtail. Backed up and went a different way...This is a turn that can feel funky even in wet conditions.

Edit: I don't see them in your size. Can you go slightly narrower, wider, or taller? https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Speed+Rated%29

I think I am now? :ack:

And you may have talked me into the Blizzak LM's. They're decent in dry?

EDIT: Just saw this in a Blizzak LM0001 tirerack review "Dry grip doesn't come close to other performance snows I've tried (Sottozero and Dunlop SP Sport)"

I might just stick with what I know...

We had the LM-60s and whatever preceded them (LM22 or 25?)--not the LM0001s: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...RatingsReviews

I have hakkas on the 5,800 lb LR4. It's no dragster but does have 375 ft-lbs. They are holding up just fine. The tires are especially rated for the extra weight.

Nothing to contribute here personally, but I'd expect you'd find some discussions on this point on Audi forums if you desire more information.

As long as I have a snow tires thread.......

Any reason to believe these are the wrong tires for the Colorado? They're the new Hakka R3 and SUV / XL rated. Good enough, right?

https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/435...4R-XL-T430656/
I ordered them from here:
https://www.tiresbyweb.com/p-12642-n...suv-tires.aspx


I also ordered the Sottozero 3 for the Tesla. From what I'm reading they're the best in the dry of all the performance snow tires that, which is what I want.

I have Hakka R2 SUV XL’s and they are simply superb.

:thumbup:

You've sort of answered your own question. You're going to drive the truck when it's really bad, so why get the full soft low speed rated snows? I say go for the dunlop winter sport or the michelin (alpin instead of xice for your purposes) or the sottozero or perhaps the blizzak Lm, the softest of the bunch. At least H-speed rated.

Also, I'm less and less a fan of going very narrow. I feel like the 5er would do better if I had 245's instead of 225's on that 4000lb car. I had the s4 on 245 snows. Don't go narrower than 235 if you can avoid it. I'm going to run the Macan on stock width 235/265. We run the GTI in stock width 225 (just 17" instead of 18") and it does great at 3100lbs.

Oh, I missed your post on the sottozero order. Good stuff, that's the class of tire you need. My audis did great with them and so should your "M"3.

I had the Blizzak DMV somethings (T-rated and weight matching) on the Jeep GC and they did incredible. Once again, stock widths, 265. I learned something these last two years about widths.

Yeah I stuck with the stock size of 235 on the Tesla. I hated the narrower snows every time I got them on the other cars.

The hakkas are in a class by themselves when it comes to bad weather traction. Noisy af but unstoppable in bad weather

FWIW, I have the snow-rated BFG All-Terrain KO2.

I really like these and have tested them in all weather conditions. Just put some weight (I use cut firewood) between the axles of your truck and you're golden. The good thing about using firewood is that you can use them to put under the tires SHOULD you get stuck.

If there's ANY chance of snow, my E46 stays in the garage and my Silverado gets the call.

I also have the Hakka R2 SUVs and can verify - fantastic.