Ordinary tyres that are good in the snow

[MitchT]

Has anyone noticed that different types of ordinary tyres (i.e. not winter tyres or snow tyres) can be vary variable in the level of traction that they provide in snow?

My experience on my E36 318is coupé which I've owned since July '99...

Dunlop SP Sport 2000E with a few months wear: No problem in the snow.
Dunlop SP Sport 2000E down to less than 3mm: No problem in the snow.
Falken FK452 with a few months wear: Totally useless in the snow.

The tread patterns are very different...

Dunlop SP Sport 2000E:


Falken FK452


Does anyone else have experience of running similar patterns to these and have you noticed similar variations in performance on snow?

[MX7]

Uniroyal Rainsport.



Very good in wet and dry.
Abysmal in the snow.

[tr7v8]

The FK452 is not great in low temps either. Otherwise I was more than happy with them.

[DaveH23]

In the little snow we had last year my Toyo T1R's were good despite people telling me I would most certainly die if I used them.

[MysteryLemon]

Whatever is on my partners Scenic are not good in the snow. Terrible things.

The bog standard Kumho's on my Lupo we're fantastic this morning.

[RogueViper101]

I have Uniroyal RainSport2 fitted on all fours and didn't have a single problem getting to and from work yesterday. They lived up to there reputation of being good in snow vs other 'summer tyres'. I guess having 8mm tread depth helps?

Edited by RogueViper101 on Saturday 19th January 12:27

[Liquid Tuna]

I had some brand new Kumho Solus's fitted to my Legacy last year, the day before we had snow. They were fantastic, significantly better than the Pirelli things that were on my other 4x4. I expect having loads of tread helped but they were good enough to not bother fitting winter tyres to it this year.

[MitchT]

MX7 said:

Uniroyal Rainsport.



Very good in wet and dry.
Abysmal in the snow.

I wonder if it's the tread pattern that makes them useless. They look very similar to my Falkens.

tr7v8 said:

The FK452 is not great in low temps either. Otherwise I was more than happy with them.

I like mine too - I've found them to be indistinguishable from the Dunlops most of the time, but I did have the ABS going berserk when I had to brake on a damp surface recently and they don't seem to be as grippy when it's very cold.

Wondering whether to go back to the Dunlops next time or get a cheap set of wheels with winter tyres to use during cold, bad weather.

[MysteryLemon]

MX7 said:

Uniroyal Rainsport.



Very good in wet and dry.
Abysmal in the snow.

very similar pattern to the things fitted to my partners Scenic. As mentioned above, they are useless in the snow.

[jimmy156]

DaveH23 said:

In the little snow we had last year my Toyo T1R's were good despite people telling me I would most certainly die if I used them.

Mine are pretty hopeless. Got in to work okay today though!

[andy-xr]

Anything with a V I think is going to be good in the rain, but not have much bite in the snow

[DaveH23]

jimmy156 said:

Mine are pretty hopeless. Got in to work okay today though!

I had mine on a 106 GTi and dont do alot of hill driving, never got stuck so cant complain.

[McSam]

Interesting. So the Rainsport 2s I've been thinking of buying for the BMW are both abysmal in the snow, whilst also living up to their good reputation of performing well in the snow.

I bloody love tyre threads.

[jimmy156]

McSam said:

Interesting. So the Rainsport 2s I've been thinking of buying for the BMW are both abysmal in the snow, whilst also living up to their good reputation of performing well in the snow.

I bloody love tyre threads.

Its almost impossible to get an idea of how tyres perform without trying them. I can only say that the T1R's on my alfa arent as good as Michellin Effeciancys on a peugeot 306, and a BMW 118d with bridgestones is fun but gets stuck a lot, as this is my extent of experience driving in the snow

[MX7]

RogueViper101 said:

I have Uniroyal RainSport2 fitted on all fours and didn't have a single problem getting to and from work yesterday.

I haven't got stuck, but I have struggled to get grip in places that I was expecting to be no problem.

I guess both the car, and your expectations, make a difference.

[sparks_E39]

Dunlops on my E39. They are fine.

[P I Staker]

The 195 width Toyo T1Rs I had on my 106 are very poor in the snow I currently have a set of 175 mismatched ste and they are much better, I haven't even died once yet despite not a single tyre being the same as the other and three of them being pretty much on the wear indicators.

[McSam]

jimmy156 said:

McSam said:

Interesting. So the Rainsport 2s I've been thinking of buying for the BMW are both abysmal in the snow, whilst also living up to their good reputation of performing well in the snow.

I bloody love tyre threads.

Its almost impossible to get an idea of how tyres perform without trying them. I can only say that the T1R's on my alfa arent as good as Michellin Effeciancys on a peugeot 306, and a BMW 118d with bridgestones is fun but gets stuck a lot, as this is my extent of experience driving in the snow

Exactly, I'm still going to buy the Rainsports and see for myself! +1 for BMWs on Bridgestones being hilarious in the snow, though, not been stuck but there's something very elegant about massive slides at 5mph

Incidentally, my mum has a set of Falken FK452s on her Mk3 Mondeo and said they performed very well getting home last night, when she didn't see any clear tarmac at all!

[y2blade]

MX7 said:

RogueViper101 said:

I have Uniroyal RainSport2 fitted on all fours and didn't have a single problem getting to and from work yesterday.

I haven't got stuck, but I have struggled to get grip in places that I was expecting to be no problem.

I guess both the car, and your expectations, make a difference.

Same here.
My Uniroyal Rainsport2 are living up to their reputation for being very good in the snow, I've had no problem whatsoever




You never mentioned DRIVER ABILITY surely as big a factor as any.

[Deerfoot]

RogueViper101 said:

I have Uniroyal RainSport2 fitted on all fours and didn't have a single problem getting to and from work yesterday.

I've got them on my Polo and had no real dramas getting around in Wiltshire yesterday.