[BavFan_08]

Some of you on this forum said that Hankook iPike w409 tires would not be right for a BMW 335i in Toronto.

Boy do the tires ever suck on dry roads. Tires spin like crazy when waiting for a right turn. Sure I'm accellerating a little fast, but hey its a BMW! Dry traction is absolutely terrible. Wish I had gone with Bridgestone or Pirelli's.

I wish I had listened. I don't drive up north. I guess I really didn't need a true snow tire. Anyways, there is no such thing as a true snow and performance tire. I think it's one or the other.

Oh well - BOO HOO for me. to the people who said not to bother with iPike w409s if you're only driving with-in the GTA.

[CanadianDriver]

Originally Posted by bmw_newbie

Some of you on this forum said that Hankook iPike w409 tires would not be right for a BMW 335i in Toronto.

Boy do the tires ever suck on dry roads. Tires spin like crazy when waiting for a right turn. Sure I'm accellerating a little fast, but hey its a BMW! Dry traction is absolutely terrible. Wish I had gone with Bridgestone or Pirelli's.

I wish I had listened. I don't drive up north. I guess I really didn't need a true snow tire. Anyways, there is no such thing as a true snow and performance tire. I think it's one or the other.

Oh well - BOO HOO for me. to the people who said not to bother with iPike w409s if you're only driving with-in the GTA.

Within the Hankook range, the H-rated W300 Ice Bear would have been sufficient for your needs or even the H-rated Semperit Speed Grip

[2kaccordocoupe]

my snow tires have yet to see snow this winter... *knock on wood*
I have the dunlop ds3's and I find them pretty good in the dry and even better in the wet. They are probably better in the wet than the stock RFT's

[dassub]

I've been running 3 season-old OEM RFT Blizzaks, and they've been fantastic in this non-snow GTA winter we've had. The very few times we've had any snow, they've worked pretty well, especially since keeping them this season was questionable. I'll probably get similar new ones next season.

Edit - sluggish 325i helps (compared to OP's 335i), and also 6MT helps.

[jasonintoronto]

if you're shopping next year, bridgestone just announced the ws70 (i'm using the ws60):
http://www.canadiandriver.com/2010/0...inter-tire.htm

[Hedges]

Go pirelli's! winter performance , amazing in dry!

[jasonintoronto]

i don't think the tire themselves is to blame, but maybe the choice in the type of tire. the ipike is a "full winter' tire which will do great in snow but not so much in the dry. the compound is soft and will wear fast, and will be noisy.

"performance winter" tires have a stiffer compound, better in the dry, can handle prolonged use at higher speeds, but will have less winter traction.

i don't know hankook's product line, but i belive the ipikes are full winter and the ice bears are performance winter.

[pokerface]

I have the W409s.. they are definitely a solid ice and snow tire.

[only1]

I'm running hankook w300 icebears on my modded 335 and they're great.
Much better than my previous toyo garit kx's. I would think that a performance snow would be more appropriate for a 335 as opposed to the more aggressive 409.

[Road Cone1]

Blizzacks rock!

I've used Michelin's, Pirelli's, Continental's and lots more in the snow and I always love the Blizzacks. Been using them since they first came out and boy have they changed.
Currently using the WS60 so it's a performance winter.
Couldn't be happier. I'd highly recommend them.

I have Pirelli on my other car and I H8 them. I've never used a Pirelli that I liked. They suck! Winter or Summer.

[jasonintoronto]

Originally Posted by Road Cone1

Blizzacks rock!

I've used Michelin's, Pirelli's, Continental's and lots more in the snow and I always love the Blizzacks. Been using them since they first came out and boy have they changed.
Currently using the WS60 so it's a performance winter.
Couldn't be happier. I'd highly recommend them.

I have Pirelli on my other car and I H8 them. I've never used a Pirelli that I liked. They suck! Winter or Summer.

the ws60 is not a performance winter. the lm60 is.

i have lm60 and i think they will be one of the better performing performance winter tires. this is because they used the same tread pattern as the full snow tire ws60 - they just don't use the multicell compound.

i had pirelli 210 wintersports and they were ok, but didn't do well in deep/lose snow.

[Hedges]

+1 pirelli 240's here they were "decent" but i'm glad i got them this year because it seems like a dry winter!

[pokerface]

i think its just unfortunate (fortunate?) that we're not getting as much snow as we used to this season. However if we did, then you'd probably appreciate the extra snow/ice traction the W409s offers a bit more.

[jasonintoronto]

the trend has been that people with performance winters complain about poor snow traction, and people with full winters complain about poor cold/dry traction and road noise. whatever you pick will have some compromise. choose the one you think will fit both your driving style and what weather you expect to get.

if you use your car for commuting every day, even on highways, i would recommend full winters. they'll get you through the drive when you HAVE to drive in the snow to get to work.

if you have an occasional use car, or tend to drive only when the streets are plowed, performance winters will probably do and they'll last longer.

[who's ur daddy?]

Originally Posted by jasonintoronto

the trend has been that people with performance winters complain about poor snow traction, and people with full winters complain about poor cold/dry traction and road noise. whatever you pick will have some compromise. choose the one you think will fit both your driving style and what weather you expect to get.

if you use your car for commuting every day, even on highways, i would recommend full winters. they'll get you through the drive when you HAVE to drive in the snow to get to work.

if you have an occasional use car, or tend to drive only when the streets are plowed, performance winters will probably do and they'll last longer.

Agreed.

I have Dunlop 3Ds and I tell you it was quite a scary experience going down the hill on Yonge right after Hog's Hollow (toward York Mills...) just the other day (was it Tues or Wed we had the winter blast?...). I couldn't have been going more than 15 kph in stop and go traffic. Because of the snow/icy conditions, I'd step on the brake and the car started to slide. On days like this, you wish you had less performance orientation and more snow/traction orientation.

Mind you, I've never been a fan of my Dunlop 3D. Overpriced for what you get IMHO...

[halB]

Your need to gear down more and rely less on the brakes.

I use Dunlop 3D in my E350 4Matic and they are fine, but not as good as the WS-60 on my GTI even with 4WD drive vs FWD.

When I was shopping for tires in the fall the tire shop told me it was not a good idea to put WS-60 on the Benz becasue the sidewalls are, especially because they are 40 series, too soft for the car's weight, and recommended the Dunlop 3D. They let the car slide a bit more on snow than the WS-60 but some of that could be due to the car's weight.

Problem with the GTI is that it has too much torque on the driving wheels so the front tends to skip a lot on acceleration. Even the superior snow/ice traction of the WS-60 was no help. Having stick shift helps a lot, nonetheless. It allows me to modulate the amount of torque that goes to the drive wheels by selecting the right gears.

[perfectg]

Blizzak ftw