Quote:
Originally Posted by babymog
Blizzaks are good new, but when you get to the 60% point you're on summer rubber, so you need to keep new ones on, the other (better IMO) tires I mentioned have winter compound down to the cords (the reason that Jonathan is having trouble with his car and used Blizzaks).
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Almost correct, but not 100% Blizzaks have the specialized winter compound for the first 60% of thread depth. The remaining 40% are rated as all season mud and snow, not summer only. The Michelin xIce, which is another excellent tire, has the winter compound for the first 70 or 75% of depth, I can't remember which. The Blizzaks score a tiny bit higher for snow handling, the Michelins score a tiny bit better for dry weather handling. The Bizzaks were my choice because I figured I would be driving closer to the limits of traction on the snow than I would be in the dry, so I'd rather have the extra grip there.
My Blizzaks, although 6 years old, only have about 35,000 kms on them (about 22,000 miles) so they have tons of the winter compound left, which is another reason I passed on the Michelin - I'll never get even close to the tread life out of a tire before wanting to replace it based on the age. The car just has a very light back end.