Tires BRIDGESTONE or Nokia
They're sort of expensive I think, but the Bridgestone Battlax S20 is really nice in the wet. I had Pirelli Diablo Corsas and moved away from them specifically because of their poor performance in the wet.
Saab with Potenza RE970AS Pole Position tires. Best 3 season tire IMO.
Everybody has their favorites based on dynamic values i.e., cost, grab & release, noise, and/or life of tire. I just completed a modified Cannonball Run with my daughter on her Spring Break from college. Near the end of our 2,300 mile run we arrived one night in Niagara Falls with 34 degrees and slick rain. When we left the following day we cruised south to NYC via Wyoming County NY which was 78 degrees and sunny. We made it to NYC a day later in pouring rain. My Nokian enTyers were superb! Quiet, all weather dominance, and (Subjectively) a slow wear rate. The OEM Continentals had a firmer sidewall and turned in great fuel mileage but the Nokians earned my loyalty with how quiet they are.
Myself I am on stock breaks with upgraded components. I am running 18x8.5 235/40/18 Bridgestone(RE71R) VMR v810 One thing is when or if you lower the car the 8.5 at ET45 wheel might rub.
Interesting, still doesent change the fact that Nokian makes insane winter-tires, studded or not. Their lifespan is not as good as other brands, but when they're new, damn do they stick well.
All I know is the Hakkapeliitta R2s on my Volvo grip harder than the Michelin all seasons that were on it when I bought the thing in ALL conditions, even in the dry. They're significantly less responsive, but I mean they're winter tires, with those massive gaps between the tread blocks they're gonna feel a bit squidgy. IDGAF what the CEOs are doing, it's still a damn good tire. I got through every bit of snow I attempted that wasn't higher than my actual ground clearance, they're fucking great.
I own a pair of Nokian zLine summer performance tires. Bought them brand new last year, did around 15000~20000km with them and the tread is almost half gone.
They grip magnificently though.
My first two sets were the OEM Conti's and PureContact. They were both great in fuel mileage and (Dry) grab & release specs. I just put on a set of Nokian eTyers 8,000 miles ago . The three areas where (IMHO) the Nokians out perform the Contis is in: quietness, rain & snow. The Contis were better on dry pavement but were noisier.
Stock bridgstones suck in the snow, the best systems can't help wrong tires for the conditions. 18" X-ice3's, have PP and Jb1 power and the traction systems are very impressive in my opinion. The car limits the power aggressively to maintain traction and control even in very slick conditions (good thing).
I have had a few sets of blizzacks, and while they were great on slick roads, I found they were not good going through a few inches or more of snow and were terribly "mushy".
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