^ Damn! Do you have a lift?!!! That's impressive!
It takes me about 45 minutes from the time I pull the cars out on the driveway to the time I put the last tool back, to do our two cars.
- jack
- breaker bar w/socket
- electric ratchet (I need to take the socket off the breaker bar, so that wastes a little time)
- torque wrench w/socket
- anti-seize
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Was originally going for the Blizzaks. But then I started to dig around a little and noticed the General Altimax Artics getting a lot of accolades. And even scoring higher the. The Bridgestones in a Tire Rack test which may explain why they are now sold out.
Probably means nothing at all in reality but I ended up with the the Artics.
I have arctics too. They're a copy of a nokian style. Their forte is thick snow but still score well for ice traction. It's almost like having all terrains. Love em. Bkizzaks are great for road ice but a little less string in snow.
The General Altimax Arctics are a mold clone of the Gislaved Nordfrost 3, which was very good tire in its day. Both Gislaved and General are under the Continental Tires umbrella. The Nordfrost 3 is a number of generations behind present designs (only 2 generations, in terms of "internally" with in Gislaved), but its basic pattern - a great snow-moving pattern - was also seen with the Nokian Hakka 5 (current top-tier Nokians of this sub-genre is the Hakka 8) as well as the Pirelli Winter Carving and Winter Carving Edge (currently Ice Zero) tires. Of these, the Winter Carving Edge was able to hold on to very respectable finishes in various highly-regarded overseas tests until well into the 2011 test-year (winter of 2011-2012).
[
One thing that remained unclear is whether or not Continental/General continued to update the compounding of the Altimax Arctics since the discontinuation of their Gislaved counterpart. The fact that the Pirelli Winter Carving Edge was able to retain its place among its the top-tier sub-genre counterparts was due to continued tweaks in its compounding over the years. ]
To obtain best ice traction with these tires, they'll need studs, as their compounding is not optimized for friction use in *extreme* cold, and furthermore, their tread lacks the macro/micro developments/improvements of current top-tier "Studless Ice & Snow" friction tires.
Tire Rack continues to sell-out of these tires every winter simply because they are one of the few good choices in this particular sub-genre that's available to us here in North America, and additionally because these tires are very reasonably priced.
Make no mistake, though, they are not considered top-tier in the overall scheme of things, and those Tire Rack results have been the point of many contentions in the enthusiast community.
They're a great tire in their own right, but they're far from the be-all and end-all. :wink: Nevertheless, in the real world, they continue to fare very, very well, and have developed a loyal following that exceeds just that of Subaru owners. They're more than worth their cost, studded or un-studded.
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Probably means thinner. Thinner tires generally do better with more pressure on a smaller contact patch. I stayed with the same width and I crawl all over the place with this thing. Love em.
In terms of running a narrower tire, you're only going to really start seeing differences when you jump "two sizes" - i.e. from a 225 to a 205 or a 235 to 215 jump in section width.
Exactly how this will play out is something that tire testing authorities will need to follow-though and examine.
Remember, however, that the "cutting through the top layer" only works if there's actually something that affords traction underneath. If the surface below does not give the tire any traction, it does no good to cut through the overlying layer.
In most larger municipalities in the lower 48, we see road grooming after a snowstorm has passed, and generally, fresh powder snow and slush overlays a layer that's plowed or otherwise treated, and as-such, we see better traction when the tires cut through the overlying layer.
However, in instances where there's hardpack or glare ice underneath - a common occurrence at interactions of side-streets with the main thoroughfare, it's sometimes possible to see the reverse in-action, and that's where matching the tire's capabilities (i.e. studs versus modern premium "Studless Ice & Snow") to your conditions (i.e. temperature) will show its best worth.
