Snow Tires

["Jerry Faber" <jfaber@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, I waited until there was some snow (NJ) and had accumulated some miles
(5k) to comment on the snow tires I purchased.  So even though it's mid-Feb,
here's the story.

My car is an '88 325iX and previously I had all-season tires on the stock
alloys (15").  It was clear that the tires were now only good for summer
driving and I decided to go for a "winter ensemble".  My decision was to go
with narrower, higher profile tires on 14" steel wheels because of the
better winter footprint and pothole deflecting steel.  I went to my local
dealer (Hunterdon BMW in Lebanon, NJ) and purchased BMW steel wheels with
full-wheel covers.  Center caps were my first choice and they were listed in
the parts computer, but NLA.  So, hence the hub caps.  The rims had to be
shipped from Germany and they showed up in about a week.  Now I had to
decided on the tire.

I read all of the posts here on the digest about this snow tire and that.
Thanks to those who shared their experiences.  The place that I've gone to
for a long, long time for tire-related work is EuroTire in Fairfield, NJ.
They are simply great and caring.  I indicated that I wanted a "snow" tire.
Not an ice tire, not a tire that would compromise handling in snow, and
certainly not a tire that would be good for a couple of seasons but then
lose its edge.  While they sell a variety of brands, they recommended
Vredesteins.  Now, you could get cynical and say, oh they make more profit
on this brand, but I've always found EuroTire to be truthful.

Vredestein makes three winter car tires.  A new WinterTrac for "sport sedans
and performance cars", a SnowTrac, and an IceTrac.  The IceTrac was out
since this is NJ not Alaska.  The WinterTrac sounded interesting and capable
but not up to the SnowTrac for snow.  I checked Vredestein's website and
called their office in Metuchen,NJ to see what they had to say about
themselves.  They struck me more as an engineering type company than a
marketing company, and that's a plus with me.

EuroTire mounted and balanced SnowTrac 196/65/14 tires on the steel wheels
and also did a wheel alignment.  Now for my qualitative assessment.  The
tires are quiet (even by summer tire standards), great in the dry (no
squirrelyness), and now after a couple of light snow storms, are wonderful
in the snow.  And yes, the iX is instrumental here as well.  I often forget
that I've got snow tires on as I charge an on-ramp or am cruising on the
interstates at traffic flow speeds (read high).  These snow tires are
smooth, stick, and are predicatable.  In fact, given that the iX understeers
more than your run-of-the-mill 325, the tires actually have helped turn-in
response.

Now the story continues.  My car was needing struts and shocks (145k on
originals).  So after discussions with Jack M., Gordon H., and other iX
owners I opted for Bilstein HDs and cut the front springs.  The car is now
tight and quickly responds to steering inputs, throttle (Jim C chip), and
brakes.  It seems that the car could use more bar front and rear, but this
is only the winter package.  I'm now in need of winter driving schools since
it's clear that the limits are too high to explore on the street.

In conclusion, I can highly recommend the Vredestein SnowTrac.  So far I
haven't found anything about them to disappoint, and I now keep wishing for
more snow.

Jerry
ready for winter (will it ever come)

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