Winter Tire stability
 

I have been reading up on winter tires and it seems the gripier the winter tire, the less high speed stability it has... I am normally driving on 60-80km/hr roads driving 70-90km/hr on them and on the highway doing 120-140... of course that slows down in the winter... but canada has spotty winters... so a lot of the time it does get dry and salty... so, is a winter tire an asset as it is normally icy for a day or two until it is cleared up? cause all-seasons i am thinking might just get me right through it... I'm not too sure... I just want something thats stable, but i would like something that has wicked ice traction for safety too, but I also don't want to be on the highway and have it unstable as well... any ideas?

a good set of all seasons will do for toronto type winters, assuming they aren't more than a couple years old (not much wear)......personally I run winter tires because I like having added security, they are fine interms of stabability and stuff on the highway,....but I would think going 140 on the highway will wear them out faster than going 100 in dry weather...

Winter tires are not necessary for GTA winters but they are nice to have. Like it was said a good all season tire can get you through the winter if you want to save money.

Winter tires are an assest in snow and ice because of the tread, gripping surface ans the softer compound they are made of. They have a better stopping distance in snow and ice.

As far as stability the reason why a lot of people thinks it bad is because they run a skinner tire in the winter than the rest of the year. A skiny tire will cut through the snow instead of pushing it or sitting on top. This is why stability is effected but not a concern as a skinny tire will make you car seem like it being pushed from side to side at highway speeds.

You can get the best of both worlds out of a high performance winter tire, like the tires I run, (Bridgestone Blizzaks LM-25), but expect to pay $200 each and only get 2 winters out of them (if lucky).

I should tell you that I run my stock size through Winter (205/50/16) so I need to pay alot for tires.

^ u can downsize to 15" if u want so u pay a lil cheaper on ur tires...

I wish, the 15" won't fit around my front brakes, 16" just clears.

Q speed rating is 160km/h, so winters are rated to 160, although I try to keep it much lower.

its only cornering you have to know there are soft tires, if they weren't, they wouldn't grip ice. cornering they flex alot since the sidewall is soft, but some are better then others.

I have blizzaks and Dunlop Graspic DS-1, the dunlops are soft and soft sidewall, the blizzaks are soft compound but stiffer sidewall.

when there wear and I got 185/60/15, i'm planning on trying a performance H rated winter tire

what about high performance all-season? are they better in winter or are just regular all-season better? i am thinking high performance all-season would be better in summer and have more grip but in winter maybe be not as good. or would they be better? my main concern is the ice... would an all season do ok on ice?

ice, all season...people here will tell you it will work go slow, but the truth behind it is, all-season is trash in summer compared to a summer only tire and all-season is laughable in winter compared to all-season tire. if your cheap, go all-season. if your concerned about grip and stopping in icey conditions, go winter tire. search and there are a few threads of arguing over whether winter tires are needed, even though its Canada and snows quite a bit in winter.

electronblue was stating high performance winter, not high performance all-season. All-season are only good at one thing...they have long treadlife. a performance winter has a stiffer sidewall and carries an H rating, which is good to 210km/h i believe.

I have Ultra High Performance All Seasons. Put it this way, They are decent in the summer, but any all round summer tire beats it, and in snow.. it has like a 4 out of 10 rating. So it can get you through the snow, but barely. The only reason I bought Performance all seasons was because of treadlife, noise reduction, and the ability to get through the first few snowfalls before I get on my winter tires.