bye bye goodyear eagles...

[///M]

A few of you may have remebered a while back I was planning to use a set of Toyo Proxes4 this winter on a set of GramLights rims. Turns out that the suppliers had problems locating what I wanted (Rays wheels take forever to order in from Japan), so that plan went out the window. The Proxes4 don\'t come in a size to fit the stock rims anyway.

Today I got a set of Toyo SnowProx S950 intalled onto the stock 17\" rims in matching stock size 205/50/17. Driving on them makes me wonder if I really needed winter tires - not only do they grip worse than the RS-As (which were bad enough) in dry (only about 70% of the grip of the RS-As), they\'re noisier on the highway and make the steering feel mushy too. Am I expecting too much from winter tires? They\'re not cheap either, at $220 apiece.

I still think I should\'ve gone the all-season route. Last winter I was learning to drive stick in a Mazda 626 on all seasons and without ABS and I did just fine.

Pics to come later.

[bluntman]

Hmm, it\'s a good thing I didn\'t buy the Toyos. Honestly, give it some time, let the temperature get colder and check the inflation of your tires. Winter tires are generally noisier than summer/all season tires because of their larger lugs and the sipes.

[///M]

What did you get? I was originally going to buy Blizzak LM-22s but they weren\'t in stock.

[bluntman]

Kumho KW17

[///M]

How much did they cost and how do they grip in the dry?

[bluntman]

I paid $170 each, installed and balanced. I don\'t have them installed yet as the tire store I bought them from (Extreme Wheel & Tire) was swamped last Saturday. I left my rims with them and I\'m going to have them installed tomorrow. My dad has the same tires (we bought 2 sets at the same time) and they don\'t seem any louder than our Yokohama ES100 summer tires.

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by autoexe

Today I got a set of Toyo SnowProx S950 intalled onto the stock 17\" rims in matching stock size 205/50/17. Driving on them makes me wonder if I really needed winter tires - not only do they grip worse than the RS-As (which were bad enough) in dry (only about 70% of the grip of the RS-As), they\'re noisier on the highway and make the steering feel mushy too. Am I expecting too much from winter tires? They\'re not cheap either, at $220 apiece.




that\'s weird...my KW17s perform far better than the RS-A and they are also an H-Rated tire.

oddly enough, in the past winters, a maxima owner commented how great the snowprox are and he claimed to drive hard with them.

oh, and yes, you ARE expecting too much from a winter tire in the dry weather.

[///M]

A few points to add after driving on them for a bit more:

- The only become significantly noisier than the RS-As above 120km/h. Otherwise, they\'re fine.
- They are stable and handle okay at up to 150-160km/h. Haven\'t tested it further.
- Steering feedback has decreased. Turn in isn\'t nearly as precise (maybe increasing the tire pressure would help? I was running my Eagles at 38-40psi).
- They break loose quite a bit more easily than the Eagles, though the loss of traction is progressive and predictable. Maybe I am expecting too much. My um...\"liberal\" driving habits don\'t help either.
- From reading reviews, I get similar conclustions. The tires are mediocre in dry weather conditions, but apparently they\'re really good in the snow. Can\'t wait to test this.

and a few pics:
http://individual.utoronto.ca/cc_706/snowprox/01.jpg
http://individual.utoronto.ca/cc_706/snowprox/02.jpg
http://individual.utoronto.ca/cc_706/snowprox/03.jpg

[///M]

that\'s weird...my KW17s perform far better than the RS-A and they are also an H-Rated tire.


you mean you get better dry traction than the Eagles with the KW17s!?

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by autoexe




that\'s weird...my KW17s perform far better than the RS-A and they are also an H-Rated tire.


you mean you get better dry traction than the Eagles with the KW17s!?

yup...i said it in other threads too....better in the dry, better in the wet, and no considerable road noise to boot.

[///M]

wow...so much for the RS-A being a \"high performance\" tire...:sarc

[///M]

btw...I forgot to add...
it\'s the lateral traction that\'s decreased compared to the RS-As...acceleration and braking traction seem to have improved quite a bit

[MajesticBlueNTO]

Originally posted by autoexe


btw...I forgot to add...
it\'s the lateral traction that\'s decreased compared to the RS-As...acceleration and braking traction seem to have improved quite a bit

lateral traction on the KW17 is close to the RS-A...but they are nowhere near the T1-S (which, of course, is expected).

the RS-A is a garbage tire...it\'s a wanna-be performance tire that Good(for a)year sold CHEAP to mazda. never in my life was driving in a torrential downpour a white knuckle experience than when i had the RS-Ass on.

[///M]

the RS-As are crap, but on dry pavement I still prefer them to my winter tires...

maybe next year I\'ll try my Proxes4 in the snow

[FLIPDADY]

The KW19\'s are great, I driven cars with other brands of snows on them and they were all noisy. The Kumho\'s are nice and quiet, can\'t wait to do some actual winter driving in them.