so yet another one of these threads about winter tires, but this one is slightly different than "what is the best winter tire?" anyways, i plan on getting winter tires for my stock wheels then in the spring putting the stock tires on some new wheels. my car will be daily driven and i like taking it out in the snow so i need a tire that can hold up to this. here's the kicker though, i want to do a little bit of racing up in NH/VT on some of their frozen lakes. nothing serious, maybe make it up once or twice, but i need to be able to do it. studded tires are out too cause i couldn't stand them every day.

i was looking at the blizzak ws-50, seems like a pretty good tire for the price. i also looked on tirerack.com and i dropped the size to 225-45-17 instead of the stock 235 and there were a lot more options and they were cheaper so i was thinking about those. i know in general it's better to have a narrower winter tire for the snow but i was wondering how this would effect racing. and no, i don't have extra money to throw around so the cheaper the better without sacrificing too much, i'm guessing around $150/tire.

also on tirerack they have tires listed as "performance winter" and others listed as "studless ice and snow." i'm guessing for my needs i want "studless ice and snow", just wanted to make sure. on my previous car i had nokian hakka q's and they served my needs well, just a bit on the pricey side, so i'm looking into other options

 

anyone? ice racing studless tire for daily driving on an evo? help?

 

where do u live? I just use all-seasons for winter use cause here in KC we only get maybe a half dozen snowy days a year.

As for ice racing, i have not idea. Blizzaks are most peoples choice for the really snowy parts of the country.

 

sorry, i live in northern CT, i should go update my profile

all seasons aren't gonna cut it around here, i like driving in the snow and i'll go out in anything, so yea, all seasons won't do

 

Depends how you drive.

If you're like me and want a snow tire that handles almost as good as a summer tire in the dry and your not concerned with money then check out the Continental 810S, it's a V-rated tire and it's supposedly better than the 790 which was an awesome tire. If you want to spend a little less money you can't wrong with the Dunlop Winter M3, or the Michellin Pilot Alpin 2, or the Blizzak LM-25.

 

The studless ice and snows are the more aggressive of the bunch. Best tires for the worst conditions. They aren't as responsive and a bit softer than the performance tires, but they will offer the highest level of snow and ice traction.

The performance winters are a lot less aggressive and tuned for more urban areas where you see clear roads and highways. More emphasis on handling, but not as harsher condition based as the studless.

So there is a tradeoff both directions. With a studless ice/snow and AWD you will have NO problem going anywhere you want.

 

well the tire i had on my past car that i don't see the size for this car and don't really want to spend that much is the nokian hakka q and i would like something comparable. i'm not gonna drive real hard on roads if it's dry but i'll still go 80-85 on the highway. all of the tires you mentioned are "performance winter", and i think now i'm looking at more "studdless ice and snow". i'm thinking either the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 or the Dunlop Graspic DS-2. the graspics are $20/tire cheaper, which is nice. i've had some M3s recommended and the tread pattern looks decent on them. i'm still shopping around though, so we'll see

 

so due to the ice racing i want to do (only a few times), i should lean more toward the studless ice and snows and have the sacrifice be dry handling, right?

 

Get the Dunlop M3's. I bought them last year and put them on my stock rims in stock tire size. Work great here in Michigan.