AWD and Winter Tires

In the autumn of 2011, I had prepared for the upcoming winter by placing on a set of Dunlop Winter Tires. In the hopes of filming an awesome snow episode and a full review of the tires, I had waited a long time for snow to fall. Just a couple of days ago, snow had fallen, but there was only five to ten centimeters of precipitation. There was only enough snow for me to drive and test the tires in, but not enough snow for a good shooting location. Therefore, as of now, I cannot deliver a snow episode. However, I could give you guys a written review.

When I had initially put on the new tires, Spades had reviewed that the tires were extremely soft compared to the summer tires. However, since winter tires were made for extremely cold temperatures, it wasn't until the snow fall that I could see how great these tires were. I was able to push the car faster than most cars on the road with the same amount of confidence. It hardly felt like I was driving on snow and ice and if there was a loss in tire traction, the Symmetrical AWD system more than made up for it.

In a small open parking lot, I had an opportunity to test the grip of the tires with a simple skid pad turning excersize. With the steering wheel turned to full lock, I had started to experiment with different speeds, gears, and weight transfers. At speeds enough to swing yourself out of your seat, the car finally started to lose traction. However, you can't even blame the tires or the AWD system, at those sort of speeds, it was all physics baby!

Stop and go traffic on a snow covered incline plane was simple as well, absolutely no loss in traction.

In conclusion, these tires were a very good investment. However, I am pretty sure most winter tires slapped on any AWD Subaru will give you similar results, so feel free to check out other brands and models. Also, just a reminder for everyone that AWD plus winter tires does NOT make you invincible. If you are driving 60 MPH on a snow covered zig zag mountain run, please attempt at your own discretion. More than likely, you will lose traction, and physics will dissapoint you as you drop to your doom. Yes, based on what I said, it sounds like I felt invincible, but I was also driving safely and responsibly.

If there is more snow fall in the coming weeks, I will try to film something. Otherwise, drive safe everyone!