Tire Business Article on Winter Tires

I've hydroplaned before (when there were puddles due to road condition) and have seen the result of pileups on wet roads. It's clear that stopping and steering are poorer when the road is wet. It's not quite as dramatic as ice or snow. I've never lost control in wet weather because I would slow down.

However, the worst thing for me when it's raining hard is visibility.
After having Kumho Ecsta LX I got brand new when I bought VW CC as CPO, I do not want to see Kumho tires on youtube as advertisement let alone having them on a car. That is how bad they were in wet. Hydroplaning? They were excellent! But braking and holding road? IDK< I think if I opened door and put my foot out to help slow down vehicle, it would work better.
 
Reading I did suggests that sipes catches and keep snow. Snow on snow provides best traction according to things I read. So, yeah, they look less rugged but with thousands of sipes.
VikingContact7 I have on BMW is ridiculous in number of sipes, far more than Michelin Xi-2 on SIenna or WS90 on Tiguan, I have. But of those three, they are best performer and surprisingly, they are just good tire in every condition: wet, dry, ice, etc. It just does everything good.

I believe holding onto snow (plus good flexibility in colder temperature) is key. I've noticed that quite a few dedicated winter tires have jagged looking channels that look like they're designed to trap (rather than clear) snow. This guy's theory is that the tire rubber absorbing and redistributing some of the water (i.e. Bridgestone's multi-cell compound) helps to improve contact.

 
After having Kumho Ecsta LX I got brand new when I bought VW CC as CPO, I do not want to see Kumho tires on youtube as advertisement let alone having them on a car. That is how bad they were in wet. Hydroplaning? They were excellent! But braking and holding road? IDK< I think if I opened door and put my foot out to help slow down vehicle, it would work better.

I've learned never to judge a manufacturer's tires based on the quality of OEM tires. I would have sworn off all Michelin tires based on the XGT V4 (known for squealing like a pig) or all Bridgestone tires based on the Potenza RE92 (horrible all around, but especially when wet).
 
I've learned never to judge a manufacturer's tires based on the quality of OEM tires. I would have sworn off all Michelin tires based on the XGT V4 (known for squealing like a pig) or all Bridgestone tires based on the Potenza RE92 (horrible all around, but especially when wet).
No, these were aftermarket that dealership put on. Vehicle had 28k and bcs. it was CPO it had to have I think minimum 6/32, if nit, they put new tires.
 
No, these were aftermarket that dealership put on. Vehicle had 28k and bcs. it was CPO it had to have I think minimum 6/32, if nit, they put new tires.

But still I wouldn't necessarily judge an entire brand based on one bad experience with a single model. Every tire is different. I tried out the Continental ExtremeContact DWS and hated how it squealed easily in fairly mild cornering. It wouldn't stop me from considering a different Continental model.
 
But still I wouldn't necessarily judge an entire brand based on one bad experience with a single model. Every tire is different. I tried out the Continental ExtremeContact DWS and hated how it squealed easily in fairly mild cornering. It wouldn't stop me from considering a different Continental model.
That is different from being borderline dangerous in certain conditions. DWS checks all boxes performance wise. It brakes good etc. Some people like softer walls, some don’t. Reason I go Michelin, Bridgestone, Continental is that you know you are getting very good product that won’t be problematic.
I personally find problematic when company releases product that has such poor performance yet it is considered as mainstream.
 
I've learned never to judge a manufacturer's tires based on the quality of OEM tires. I would have sworn off all Michelin tires based on the XGT V4 (known for squealing like a pig) or all Bridgestone tires based on the Potenza RE92 (horrible all around, but especially when wet).
Had those on a '08 Yaris . Ditched them not long after purchasing due to hydroplaning .
 
Do people really fear wet roads that much? I've never felt that much of a loss of traction on wet roads, and never to the point of feeling unsafe or losing control. I've only ever felt that on ice and snow.

This is just based on my experiences and i have no idea if its backed up by science, but to me it feels like the reduction of grip in the wet due to lateral forces is not significant enough that an average driver even driving quite aggressively will commonly reach the limit of grip, BUT breaking all traction due to spinning the tires via power is. So it essentially becomes like driving the same car with more power. With FWD, just lifting off the throttle will get you grip back since the lateral force is still too low to limit grip in a potential roadgoing wet situation. But RWD can get people in big trouble cause the tail rapidly whips back to align with the front whilst simultaneously shifting weight/grip off of the rear when you lift off the throttle(the classic "Mustang driver leaving the car meet parking lot" situation). So since most cars on the road these days have traction control, driving in the wet is no sweat. Again, just my experience from driving alot of crappy RWD and FWD cars on really crappy tires in stupid ways.

Hydroplaning is a completely different matter of course.
 
Back
Top