falken ziex 512s in the snow?

[nando]

anyone ever use these on ice/snow? I have too many wheels/tires, and the 195/60-14 snow tires I have were already not enough when my car was stock.. I don't even want to attempt driving in the rain with them now (all I got was wheelspin with a stock automatic).

considering the falkens in 205/60-14, and I can also use them during the "slushie" season of autox. this would allow me to ditch the bottlecaps/snow tires.. right now I have 4 full sets of wheels and tires, when I really only have room for 3. :(

it doesn't snow a *ton* up here, but we do get a couple weeks of packed snow/ice during the winter. I'm mainly concerned about stopping ability, I managed to get through one year with Yokohama ES100s so I'm figuring the falkens should be a bit better than that! :D

[Mastrcruse]

I went from bald, strictly performance tires on my Audi and put the 512's on....100% better. I thought they were very good in the snow and ice. Going from very bad to very good doesnt give me the best experience but they were great when I got them.

[Kruzen]

i've found that pretty much every tire in an e30 sucks in the snow unless you're going 3mph, don't even attempt to go up a slope from stop or its wheelspin central

[moatilliatta]

well... you probably have an open diff..

Edit: 1 single open diff..

[nando]

i've found that pretty much every tire in a 2WD e30 sucks in the snow unless you're going 3mph, don't even attempt to go up a slope from stop or its wheelspin central

fixed for you :D

[e30 gangsta]

Damn ix owners.

[nando]

anyone else? Mystical? I know you really like these tires so I'd be interested in your input..

[asubimmer]

mmmkkay I've used them for a mild season up here in boone. They are pretty good I guess. I was always out everytime it snowed but I also used chains when it got bad. W/ snow they are ok up to about 1" I would say. If you are trying to use them on ice w/out chains you might as well stay in the house. One night I took off my chains after a icey drive, mind you on an almost FLAT parkinglot, and when I took off the chains I couldn't move the car forward 3' on a really really slight incline. I had to roll back into another spot on the other side of the parking lot.

so cliffnotes:

snow OKish <1"
ICE, don't even warm up the car

[asubimmer]

lol I wonder how my azenis are gonna do this winter, they are calling for a harsher than normal year up here :twisted:

[moatilliatta]

This is a diffrent tire but....
I was running a set of traction T/a last winer and they was amazing. I only almost got stuck once. that was because it was a mixture of snow/slush and deep mud, with a mixture of an open diff. other than that i was pretty suprized how i moew'd threw the snow.
And stopping was pretty amazing also considering i was in snow.

[nando]

If you are trying to use them on ice w/out chains you might as well stay in the house. One night I took off my chains after a icey drive, mind you on an almost FLAT parkinglot, and when I took off the chains I couldn't move the car forward 3' on a really really slight incline. I had to roll back into another spot on the other side of the parking lot.

there must be a huge difference between AWD and RWD in the snow.. the year I got caught in the snow with the ES100s, my buddy with a 318is had the same tires. he couldn't move his car at all, but I had no trouble. the only thing that sucked was stopping.. I nearly rearended somebody at a red light but fortunatley the light turned green just in time and I was able to take a right.

you can see the ES100s in this pic.. definitely NOT a snow tire:


so I guess I'm really interested in how the falkens stop in the snow, not how well they get moving.

[asubimmer]

I would say the Zeix are good in slush to about maybe 1.5/2", but 2" is really pushing it imho. The times I ran in the slush that high I was sliding sideways a lot. Its fun but you really have to be carefull, your awd would deff help w/ that. In 2" slush I would start to slide sideways even if I wasn't trying when I started to go above 35mph, so you gotta keep it down a bit.

But I think you should be better off than me in all these situstions b/c of your awd. So take it for what you will. Hope it helps

[Axxe]

Should be alright, not great. The tread pattern has zero sipes, but it does have plenty cutting edges. Won't be as good as a "normal" all season tire, and no comparison to real winter tires.

[asubimmer]

I actually was pretty impressed w/ their stopping in the snow/ice. I only slid a few times stopping. Now I was takin it easy but I was expecting it to be a lot worse than they were. Honestly I think you should be ok w/ them in an IX. You can try some Inital-D stuff but I wouldn't w/ those tires, other than that you should be fine I think ;)

[automatic]

I think you guys are crazy to even consider Ziex's in the snow. This will be my first winter with RWD and I have a set of Blizzak's waiting for me in my basement.

Even AWD vehichles suck in the snow without the proper tire. I speak from experience My first two winters with my WRX I ran allseasons and I was all over the place, last year I ran M3 wintersports and I would never go back.