Tires Continental or PHANTOM
My choice is Continental DWS 06 Plus. It truly is an ultra high performance All season tire, it does great in the snow, it's quiet and sticky, I used the non plus version before this and it was fantastic.
I left run flats and slapped on Continental ExtremeContact. They look great and ride amazing. Also I went wider and kept the thickness so it feels a lot more comfortable
Continental ExtremeContacts. Made a huge difference in traction, noise, and comfort. Even more of a point and shoot go kart now.
I live in the PNW, we don't get enough snow to warrant a whole set of tires (for me, anyways). I've been running the Continental dws06 Plus (and the prior non plus version) for years, they do exceptionally well in a couple inches of snow, even ice. I have cable chains for when it gets really bad.
Replaced my Geolandars with Conti ExtremeContacts and the ride and handling both improved.
I had the precursors to those viking contacts on my 17 forester and thought they were great.
I've run Hakkapeliittas, Blizzaks, and currently VikingContacts on my various Subarus. They've all been great but the VikingContacts have been my favorite of the 3.
I've had the Altimax in the past and they are totally fine. But the Vikings are really great. Between these two I would get the Contis unless you can get a killer deal on the Altimax
Maybe I'm just luck as far as flats go, but I've never really been pleased with the ride and grip trade off for something like the 4 Season compared to something more in the "performance" category.
Not caring about rolling resistance is one thing, but something like a GP5000 (or similar tire from whatever brand,) just rides better.
Every set of Contis and Michelins I have ever seen wear for absolute crap, lose all of their grip after a short amount of mileage, poorly riding, compromised in handling, and are LOUD to the point of distraction....Right up until they are a bare, poorly weathered carcass at less than 20k in mileage. They have never seen worth the price that they charge for them.
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