After narrowly avoiding an accident last night (It involves driving to fast, and people driving on the shoulder) I Impulse bought a set of Dunlop winter tires.


I have no idea what to expect, as I've never even driven a vehicle with anything but all-season tires.


The order was $200 shipped from tirerack. These are just 13inch tires for my new diesel rabbit; but at that price I think it's a good investment.

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

Positively a good investment. I keep four snows on the 400 and the TE from late November to around March. Makes a tremendous difference in winter driving.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

Get rid of that death trap!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRbwTutw-Hk

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http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../relief123.jpg.http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...-319744759.gif

It's no bug.


It has a 20mph bumper, and nicely made crumple zone upfront. (heck, it even has a engine upfront.


I commute all of 10 miles a day to work and back, and not much further for anything else.

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

Just be careful, snows will make you go like hell but you'll stop just the same as without.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Did you watch the second collision in the rabbit,same year as yours? Knew a girl years ago that was killed in one from a relatively "normal" impact.The car was FUBAR

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http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../relief123.jpg.http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...-319744759.gif

Um, how do you figure that? Shouldn't you get the same traction gains benefits for acceleration and deceleration?

that's a golf, BTW - slightly different.

The key is not to hit/get hit. It's a commuter car, to be driven to and from work.

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

I don't know, when driving in snowy/icy conditions I see more 4x4's in the ditch than cars and they've got a lot more traction. I think because snows (and 4WD) tend to give drivers a false sense of security because they have the traction to get going easier and they drive faster than they should. Once you lock the tires up on ice/snow the traction will be near equally as bad, whether you've got 4WD, snow tires or all-season radials. On dry pavement snows have less stopping grip (because of less surface contact) than all-seasons, too. I'm no tire expert (as if I needed to say it ) but in my years of plowing and driving in unsafe conditions I've seen enough overconfidence by other drivers to form my hypothesis.

When matching speed to conditions there probably is a measureable advantage to snows, when exceeding that speed that advantage disappears.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Completely false.

Properly inflated snows have a larger surface contact than A-S tires.

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

I just bought a set of Dunlop graspic snow tires on mercedes rims for 250 on craigslist. 2 days later we got clobbered by a snow system. The car handled like it has steel studs. I was very happy, and that is in a rear wheel drive 124.

i too see more SUVs in the ditch then cars. The conditions allow about 45-55 mph speeds tops in a 65 mph zone when the snow is really coming down and these A holes rip past you at 75 because of course you must always go 10 over. Its no mystery why they end up in a ditch.

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

Also false . Surface contact is determined by size, tread shape, and compound as well as inflation.

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1984 300TD

We don't get much opportunity to drive in the snow or ice here in Virginia, so all-season tires are all we really need. Around here, the real benefit to having different tires for summer and winter is the opportunity to have some really nice summer tires.

That's pretty much all there is to it. The 4x4 drivers you see in the ditch all seem to believe that the laws of physics no longer apply to them. They get to learn about the inertia/mass relationship on the way to the ditch. If you drive for conditions properly, snow tires absolutley help in every aspect of driving. You can accelerate with less slipping, you can brake in shorter distances and you can turn more effectively. I've run them for the past 15 years every winter, and can't imagine doing without them.

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Jonathan

2011 Mazda2
2000 E320 4Matic Wagon
1994 C280 (retired)

I have lost count of how many 4wd trucks and SUV's I have seen slide off the road. They get over confident and slide right off the road at 40mph.

Years ago I first learned to drive I was in a pretty bad snow fall and was going 20 because it was SLICK, you had to hit the brakes like there was an egg between your foot and the pedal, it was that wonderfull ice snow we get along the coast. 4wd Ford SUV thing comes blazing up behind me, rides my bumper, and then blows past me, he has 4wd so he figures he can do whatever he wants. 1/2 mile up the road was a stop sign on a slight hill, he had to have been doing 40-45, so when he hit his brakes very little happend, he must of went side ways, take out the stop sign, finally ending up in someons front yard with there fence. I enjoyed that!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200