Winter tire experiences...

And that wider gap causes more noise on dry pavement too.
 
tquattro said:
It is possible that a tire started to bulge and that could cause that vibration, even if the bulge is unnoticeable with the naked eye. This is what happened to me at the end of the summer and I had experienced similar symptoms. I went to three different shops to re-balance the tire and only at the third shop I was told that there's a problem with the tire itself. I bought all 4 tires brand new in march, so I got it replaced on warranty.

I also fitted my winter wheels a week ago because we had some cold days(+1 to +7 degree C) and with my summer tires the ESP/ASR light started flickering very easy when starting from traffic lights, during summer I never saw the ESP light on when leaving from a traffic light. On winter tires the things came back to normal but the ride feels more bumpy and the road noise increase is really noticeable in my case too. My summer tires are Dunlop SP Sport FastResponse 205/55 on 16"x7j wheels and my winters are Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D 205/55 on 16"x6.5j wheels.
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I guess that is a possibility - one of the rear ones had developed a noticeable bulge in the sidewall and I had it replaced under warranty. There's a chance another one started to go to...

As for tire noise - I am used to it now, it doesn't bother me. In the past week it had warmed up to to about 24C (getting cold this weekend again, and expecting snow). I can definitely tell the difference - in the warm weather the winter tires don't feel as nice. They feel hard and rough.
 
GRtak said:
And that wider gap causes more noise on dry pavement too.
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I have heard that at least studless winter tires meant for nordic market are usually very silent even compared to normal summer tires. I don't know why, but I would quess it's because of their softness.
 
225 is insanely wide for winter rubber for an S70. Take it easy in deep snow and slush.

And since your tires is a studded design that was sold without studs, they won't have quite the same grip as a "proper" studless winter tire. The reason for that is the blocks of solid rubber where the studs are supposed to go. The car partly rides on them instead of allowing the tread pattern to sink into the surface properly. I don't think the difference is that big, but still.
 
My most recent winter tyre experience is carrying up a few sets of winter rubber on steelies from the basement. Now I'm :yawn:
 
I think I might be going crazy here but...I can tell a definite change in ride quality depending on weather. We have warm days in the high 60C (16-17C) and the car rides like shit. Harsh and bumpy. Then we have cold days, highs of 40-45F (under 10C) and the car feels smooth and rides comfortably on the road. It really feels like a different car in the cold.

Am I crazy or what?
 
Tire pressures go up when temperatures go up. Makes sense.
 
_HighVoltage_ said:
I think I might be going crazy here but...I can tell a definite change in ride quality depending on weather. We have warm days in the high 60C (16-17C) and the car rides like shit. Harsh and bumpy. Then we have cold days, highs of 40-45F (under 10C) and the car feels smooth and rides comfortably on the road. It really feels like a different car in the cold.

Am I crazy or what?
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Not crazy, although my tires seem to work the other way. In high temperatures, the soft winter rubber goes floppy and bends more, but in cold weather, the rubber is more rigid and handling is tighter.

My summer tires go rock hard in the cold and have no grip.
 
I know this isn't a recommendation thread, but if I just may...

Nokian Hakkepelitans (did I spell that right?): Best bloody winter tire I ever had (and boy, have I had my share of them, growing up around Ottawa). I used to love throwing my Civic SiR around everything on these things when everyone else was swaying and doing the nervous dance of winter driving. They never put a wrong foot forward.

Most places tend to charge a fortune for them, but if you're willing to road trip to London Honda (Ontario, not 'cross the pond), you can get 'em for a song.
 
Finally found some time to stop by my mechanic. We raised the car on a lift to check the wheel bearings -all is well. All the noise is coming from the winter tires. Can't wait to put the summers back on in the spring.
 
Did you put the tires on your alloy wheels (what size are they)?

The alloys on my 'Rolla are 195mm wide, but I got brand new 185mm steelies and winter tires.

It's always a better idea to just spring for steel wheels to mount your winter tires on because you can get a narrower wheel/tire (worse handling in the dry, but better in snow, better on fuel, better ride, less noisy, and cheaper). Also, you won't have to pay for balancing every time you switch between sets of tires.
 
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Well, you can get alloys on varying widths too, and most of the winter time driving is done on tarmac anyway, so having wide winter tires is not that bad idea. It's true that 155 wide is better on ice than 225, but in the end you can have larger affect on your driving behaviour.

On the other news, I've been enjoying Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7s couple of weeks. Not very good on tarmac, but they offer nice grip and behave nicely when honed. Also according to my previous experiences with Hakkapeliitta 4s the studs hold all the abuse pretty well.
 
Lastsoul said:
Well, you can get alloys on varying widths too, and most of the winter time driving is done on tarmac anyway, so having wide winter tires is not that bad idea. It's true that 155 wide is better on ice than 225, but in the end you can have larger affect on your driving behaviour.

On the other news, I've been enjoying Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7s couple of weeks. Not very good on tarmac, but they offer nice grip and behave nicely when honed. Also according to my previous experiences with Hakkapeliitta 4s the studs hold all the abuse pretty well.
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Yes, but the cheapest alloy wheel will cost at least twice as much as the cheapest steel wheel and the difference between my all-seasons and winters is only 10mm, so I traded a bit of dry grip for a bit more snow grip. Plus, I don't think it's wise to have a choice of tire widths with a difference of 70mm for the same car. :p
 
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Mine are mounted on my alloys. I wasn't sure if I can find proper steelies for the car - due to the bigger brakes some Volvo 16" wheels don't fit over them. I didn't want to take a risk on a 16" steelies that wouldn't fit.

So yes - I'm running 225/45/17 winter tires on alloys. Form>Function :p
 
Even my massive 225s will kick out the rear end on a hard shift into 2nd if it's too warm...
 
LeVeL said:
pfft, 175/65/14 here. Fantastic in snow; fun around corners; terrible in a straight line.
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Good thing you have no power or torque for straight line speed :p
 
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