Next set of tires

AS tires are not very good in the snow. Some are better than others but most will just get you home in very light snow compared to summer only tires. If you want to do it right I would get snow/Ice tires.  The Spyder can be tricky to drive compared to other cars with forgiving loose suspension so having the best grip available is very important.  I know of local members that drive all year round and they switch to their winter tires.  

Thanks Dev.

I was leaning this way already. My previous A/S wounds are still weeping a little, but I also remember the things I learned otherwise.

I know some members here and on AdChat basically swear by their A/S tires, and that's fine, and their recommendations are appreciated. I dont know the details of their local climates, though. I've hit some black ice in the Spyder a couple of times already. Has cost me two pair of underwear; I am glad that was all it cost.

I've been pleased with my s.drives, so I assume my ~$400 budget for a snow/ice set is reasonable, then? I'd rather spend a bit more here than increase my undergarment budget, so $412 is ok. Cheap insurance for The Frog too.

I'll be off to shop teh interwebz soon, but again, I have scars from that and don't know which amazing tire to trust. We all know everything they all sell is just the very best, right? Riiight. And, I suck at tire shopping research, I'll just be honest. I still have two marsmallows that are really amazing... at being space-taker-uppers in my shed. They excel at that.

If you look hard enough you might find tires that are advertised as AS but end up on the other side of spectrum as being ok for ice and snow but no where near what a set of snow tires will give you.  The trend for a lot of AS tires made today is trying to come close to summer only like performance which badly sucks for snow and ice. AS tires are a mixed bag and a very generalized category that can have poor performance tradeoffs depending on which one you choose. 

 Its also better to have a tire that has a larger sidewall and a tire that is not wide. If you do go with a snow tire you have to keep in mind that most of its wear will happen on dry roads and they are not very good at higher speeds or handling.  

 Either way if you plan to use tires for cold weather performance I would not drive like I would during the summer or take  corners at all for fun.  I would be even more cautious around intersections than I would be with a normal car with softer suspension.    

@dev,

You really hate AS tires dont you? 😉 your reasoning is sound, though. And we have inhabit the same climate, for the most part.

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I was just getting ready to ask for confirmation that narrower and taller really ought to be preferred. I will have 16×7 wheels. Is 185/55 going overboard on the narrow side? 185mm =7.28 inches. But 185s are significantly more expensiver.

I am pretty sure 55 is the right aspect ratio, though.

As for fun driving, I do hang up my grin hat when it is cold. If I could afford it -- if I had an alternate vehicle, which i sorta do -- I wouldnt drive The Frog in sub-50F temps at all. Not quite there yet, though.

My choices include Blizzaks and Michelin X-ICE, but I have only just begun shopping. The options seem far more limited, but that's to be expected. For X performance cars out there, many do get parked overwinter without ever seeingvwinter tires at all, so i would expect the summer tire market to be fuller.

Also, am I ignorantly breaking some unwritten rule about specific product recommendations? If so, its an innocent mistake, and please let me know and I will stop doing that.

I can understand if it is along the lines of avoiding "you recommended Product X and I hate it and now you are a big fat poopy-head." I won't do that; all I expect is "theses work for me, and I live in Buffalo NY, but YMMV, etc."

I don't hate AS tires. I just hate the misnomer of AS.  I have them on two other cars and they do what they do best and that is get me home safely not to go driving in the snow to go shopping.  I don't depend on them for sporty like performance, rain duty, snow duty or any other metric  than just being a tire you can use all year round that doesn't excel as well as a purpose tire.  I have some expensive AS on one car and cheap ones on the beater and you can tell the difference right away so there is something to be said about cost as they are not created equal but I still would be very cautious when the weather gets rough.  

 I had to rescue my Sisters mother in law once because she couldn't drive her SUV in the snow and ice.  She was complaining he whole way about how the tires she has are new all season but they were slipping  down hills that freaked her out.  

 There is also something to be said about experience of driving in snow and ice. I had some Russian neighbors when I was growing up that could drive though anything where everyone else was getting stuck. They mentioned that it comes from experience not tires.  

As far as snow tires go I did try a set of Blizzaks one year on my Spyder and they were fun in the snow.  I was passing SUVs and kicking out the rear safely at slow speeds having the time of my life.  When it got dry they were noisy and the ride sucked.  

Funny, after reading just a few reviews, it was looking like Blizzaks were the gold standard. These were reviews of other tires. They just arent Blizzaks, etc.

I know its sour, but reading many of these reviews is about like reading product reviews on Home Despot: I just end up thinking "... or maybe you are just a dumbass, Tom from Newark?*  I am truly sorry you could not figure out how to open the cardboard box or operate your dixie cup hot handle."

*I am not bashing Newark.

Posted by: @nottamiata

Also, am I ignorantly breaking some unwritten rule about specific product recommendations? If so, its an innocent mistake, and please let me know and I will stop doing that.

I can understand if it is along the lines of avoiding "you recommended Product X and I hate it and now you are a big fat poopy-head." I won't do that; all I expect is "theses work for me, and I live in Buffalo NY, but YMMV, etc."

 There is no rule like that. Maybe on Spyderchat as that is part of their rules (haven't enforced yet) that they want to police recommended products that are not paid sponsors. 

Posted by: @nottamiata

Funny, after reading just a few reviews, it was looking like Blizzaks were the gold standard. These were reviews of other tires. They just arent Blizzaks, etc.

I know its sour, but reading many of these reviews is about like reading product reviews on Home Despot: I just end up thinking "... or maybe you are just a dumbass, Tom from Newark?*  I am truly sorry you could not figure out how to open the cardboard box or operate your dixie cup hot handle."

 

*I am not bashing Newark.

I don't trust reviews or review ratings. However I do use reviews to find specific information written by reasonable reviewers that  seems probable.  People that receive lemons think that all are lemons and believe they are doing everyone a favor by telling others not to buy.  

 I have found that the majority of dumb people write reviews for hobbies that have no clue of how to operate or the tradeoffs that make a product not shine in all areas.  Often times people expect way too much. I see this in my high fidelity audio and coffee hobby.  

 I like it when people troll Amazon reviewers.   

I am leaning toward the Michelin X-ICE i3 at this point. Does anybody have any encouraging or discouraging words about those?

You can't go wrong with the X-Ice, they always get good reviews, and they have a mileage warranty. My cousin in Chicago swears by Nokian Hakkapeliitta. I believe Nokian actually invented the "winter tire". But I live in Southern California, so what do I know.

This article makes for a good read: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a15102773/best-snow-tires-for-winter/

If you look elsewhere --- SC ---- you can read about my experiment with driving Itsy-Bitsy on snow and ice using Blizzacks.

In summary, I was able to buy a set of gently used Blizzacks from a Mini owner and put them on my old Spyder rims.  They were square and slightly narrower than my regular tires.

Long story short, the car went like a tank.  The only problems I ran into were:  other driver's driving stupidly; the low Spyder ground clearance meant I had to watch total snow accumulation, plus dodge frozen snow chunks falling off trucks and such.

I don't think you would go wrong with Blizzacks and/or Michlein X-Ice tires.

Hope this helps.

Paul

I did a lot of research and comparison over the weekend and settled on Toyo Observe GSi-6, as the best option overall, for me. I wanted everything -- for twelve bucks, of course -- but I had to compromise here and there.

The final decision came down to picking based on tread pattern. I like the four circumfrential channels for the mostly-rainish winters I encounter most often.

I did see plenty of love for the blizzak and x-ice, but they also got more negative reviews, especially for wet performance. I give credible negative reviews more weight than positive ones, and balanced reviews factor higher than fanboi fetishism or hater-hate. I was hard pressed to find anything really negative AND credible written about these. Blizzak WS80 was my first choice. Naturally, I could not find any.

But, its a crap shoot without going to a tire library. Almost got Yoko IceGuards, since I like my s.drives well enough (I can't get the back out anymore, which is both good and bad), but they seemed pricy compared to what I was reading, and I read lots of consistent complaints about road noise. The Frog is already loud, so no Yoko.

None were directly from God, Jesus, Bob Dobbs, or even Pope F. You do the best you can.

Thanks to everyone for taking time to put in your two bits.

I also get the impression that any decent "performance" Winter tire will be superior to most, if not all A/S tires at 45F and below.