GY Ultra Grip GW-3 or Firestone Winterforce

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Push is coming to shove as I guess I picked the wrong time of year to buy a RWD car. (These for the Charger)

Will be placing order either today or tomorrow with Tire Rack getting the 18 Steel Police knockoffs and one of these tires

Giving NH is more prone to snow........

The Winter Force seems to have a cult following as all reviews from the rack sing their praises but then you hear others say horrible etc...

Either tire will probably see a lot of dry pavement with the 100 miles a day.

I've probably over analyzed but thought I'd ask one last time before doing it. The Firestones make the most finacial sense


Size will be 225/60 18 which appears to be a valid alternate size
 
You can get Winterforce in 18"? When I looked at Tirerack I couldn't find 'em in that rim size. Maybe I looked in the wrong places.
 
Ah, thank you, I had missed those when I looked, probably because I wasn't looking at LT's.
 
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
Either tire will probably see a lot of dry pavement with the 100 miles a day.

You're looking at two very different tires. The Ultra Grip GW-3 is a V-rated "performance" winter tire. The Winterforce is an S-rated heavy duty winter tire.

You have to decide what's more important - dry pavement handling or heavy snow handling. Considering how much time and how many miles you'll be spending on dry pavement, I'd be inclined more toward the Ultra Grip. But on the other hand, dry pavement driving is easy. Any tire can do it. What's difficult is managing serious snow/ice, and from that perspective, I'd expect the Winterforce to be better. I typically buy winter tires based on the worst conditions that I might encounter, even if those conditions aren't the most frequent. But I'm not saying everyone should have the same approach.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
Either tire will probably see a lot of dry pavement with the 100 miles a day.

You're looking at two very different tires. The Ultra Grip GW-3 is a V-rated "performance" winter tire. The Winterforce is an S-rated heavy duty winter tire.

You have to decide what's more important - dry pavement handling or heavy snow handling. Considering how much time and how many miles you'll be spending on dry pavement, I'd be inclined more toward the Ultra Grip. But on the other hand, dry pavement driving is easy. Any tire can do it. What's difficult is managing serious snow/ice, and from that perspective, I'd expect the Winterforce to be better. I typically buy winter tires based on the worst conditions that I might encounter, even if those conditions aren't the most frequent. But I'm not saying everyone should have the same approach.


Very true Pete....

The issue I'm running up against us because it is so late in the season to buy snow tires my choices are fairly limited.

I suppose I could drop down to a 215/65 17 tire but I wouldn't be able to buy a bolt on package like I can in the 18 size from the Rack
 
I'm also a little worried about tread wear giving the miles I do. I know bad combo.

NH can be real fickle with snow...could be dry until February or we could get hammered in December. Hard to predict
 
A lot of snow and minimal ice? Wnterforce. I can't imagine a Charger not having sound deadening material for noise.

This late in the year .. get what you can!

Treadwear is not an issue for me. They don't wear at all on the front of the focus. The rears did wear ... but until this sumer, the alignment was messed up bad.
 
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
but I wouldn't be able to buy a bolt on package like I can in the 18 size from the Rack

Do you have a Discount Tire location near your? Have you checked what winter tires and rims they have available? They can be competitive with TR when you look at final out-the-door pricing.

Some DT locations now carry Nokian tires, too.
 
I still get a hum out of my Yokohamas, it's not bad but it's there.

Unless you think you need the performance aspect of the GW-3 I think you'll be fine with the Firestones. I always tend to take the back road bends quite a bit easier when I have the winters on and interstate travel usually isn't that hard on tires.

Don't put them on too early or leave them on too late and you should be good.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
but I wouldn't be able to buy a bolt on package like I can in the 18 size from the Rack

Do you have a Discount Tire location near your? Have you checked what winter tires and rims they have available? They can be competitive with TR when you look at final out-the-door pricing.

Some DT locations now carry Nokian tires, too.


Yeah no DT anywhere NH
 
Originally Posted By: cp3
I still get a hum out of my Yokohamas, it's not bad but it's there.

Unless you think you need the performance aspect of the GW-3 I think you'll be fine with the Firestones. I always tend to take the back road bends quite a bit easier when I have the winters on and interstate travel usually isn't that hard on tires.

Don't put them on too early or leave them on too late and you should be good.



I'm thinking the Winterforce may be ok as most of the miles will be highway without many turns

I'm probably over analyzing but dropping a grand makes you tend to I guess lol
 
No doubt but sometimes it's worth the extra head space. I spent a lot of hours thinking about this last year. Had the Hankooks I've been using been available in my size I probably wouldn't have thought too much about it. Settled on the Yokohamas that were new and no one had experience with after much inner debate. I still don't think I came out on top because those Hankooks are available now and I find myself wishing I had the cash to get them and sell off the Yoks.

To your point though, any one of them should give you more piece of mind when the white stuff does indeed start falling.
 
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
but I wouldn't be able to buy a bolt on package like I can in the 18 size from the Rack

Do you have a Discount Tire location near your? Have you checked what winter tires and rims they have available? They can be competitive with TR when you look at final out-the-door pricing.

Some DT locations now carry Nokian tires, too.


Yeah no DT anywhere NH



I used to buy my Nokians from Vianor in Concord. I think Vianor has some other outlets, but Concord was closest to me.
 
If you are going to get separate winter wheels, why not go with 17"? That's the other OE size for the Charger SE. If you are set on getting both wheels and tires from TR, I would be hard-pressed to pass up the GY Ultra Grip Ice WRT seen here in the OE 215/65R17 size: http://is.gd/Y5HyCP

If you can and will spend (much) more, then the Nokian R or R2 sounds perfect for you. http://is.gd/t2q3RJ Just don't plan on more than two winters out of them, with your commute....good luck.
 
I have not owned either of the tires mentioned, but I have owned the Goodyear Ultra Grip GW-2's before. Had them on a 2001 Grand Prix GT. That particular model was only available in one size, 225/60VR16. From what I could tell it was aimed at the police car market.

They killed my gas mileage more than any other tire I have ever owned. On the other hand, they would easily out handle a typical all season tire on wet/dry conditions. I would say they also were comparable to the Blizzak WS-50's I had on the car before it in deep snow. Ice, definitely better than all seasons, definitely not as good as a Blizzak. They were better than anything I've ever owned for plowing thru slush at highway speeds.

I'm sure the police car focus may have had something to do with fuel economy not being a priority on the GW-2's, hopefully the GW-3's would be better. Ice and fuel economy were the only negatives for a winter tire for me. I don't think the Firestone's are a great ice tire either from what I've read. I'd rather have the GY GW3's I think. If ice is a real issue, try to find a better alternative.
 
Yeah....Treadware and fuel efficiency play a part in my decision making...the tread on the GW3 doesn't look like it would kill mpg...did the GW2 have same pattern?

6-10 inches forecast for tomorrow...looks like I didn't get them in time
 
both of those tires are old school and below average.

If you get michelin xice xi3's the fuel economy would be close to 10%.

In some sizes (mostly smaller ones) the winterforce tires sometimes have durability issues.

Those goodyear tires are a performance winter..but much better ones out there like dunlop 4d

Both are ok tires but much better ones out there.
49.gif


you need to make a couple basic decisions and rate what you want from the tires

the first 2 offset each other.. for example if you get 10% better fuel economy and the tires last 3/4 as long.. its still a better deal because you save 1/2 the price of the tires in gas.

1.Fuel economy
2.Treadlife

Other things to consider
3.Packed Snow traction
4.Deep snow traction
5.Ice traction
6.Noise, Vibration and comfort
7.Dry traction/handling
8.Wet traction/handling

Once you decide what you want from the tires it will really help you pick a tire

Id rate the unstudded winterforce based on criteria
same order as above vs other winter tires

1.Poor
2.above average
3.Good
4.Excellent
5.poor-but better than AS
6.very poor
7.Average
8.Average

the good years
 
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
Yeah....Treadware and fuel efficiency play a part in my decision making...the tread on the GW3 doesn't look like it would kill mpg...did the GW2 have same pattern?

6-10 inches forecast for tomorrow...looks like I didn't get them in time



Fuel economy is largely a tire design issue not a tread pattern. For example even the blizzack ws-80 are poor in fuel economy vs michelin xice xi3 or nokian R2's because its not a design priority in the ws-80's
 
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