PFF member, tayne, earlier inquired about the subject of this thread in 2008.

His inquiry to which I'm referring, now in what is an (understandably) archived thread, ("Snow Tires VS the Best All Season tires"), to which I no longer can reply directly to on that same thread, was:

quote Originally posted by tayne: Blizzak 50's sound a great tire. I am told if you leave them on all the time they will only last 2-3 seasons. How long have you been using your set?

At the time, I responded to his question by noting, "My answer to your question unfortunately won't help you much, as my records show I've had the Blizzak WS-50s on my car only since August of 2006."

***Fast forward to 2009:

My Blizzak WS-50 snow tires were installed on August 30, 2006, and they were replaced by the next-generation, Blizzak WS-60 snow tires, on December 1, 2009.

Accordingly, my belated answer to tayne's question re Blizzaks being used year-round --- is that because I don't have the time, patience, or garage space to fool around with switching wheels and tires during different seasons on my year-round DD Fiero --- they lasted about 3-1/4 years --- used year-round.

If, on the other hand, anyone does have the time, patience, or garage space to fool around with switching wheels and tires on a year-round DD Fiero, I'd think you'd get considerably more mileage out of Blizzak snow tires, than the 3-1/4 years mine lasted before I decided to replace them.

What kind of mileage did you get out of them? And what was your driving style? Did hold the road in heavy rain or were they squirrely

How did they do in high speed dry cornering? I've heard they can give up easy, until worn down a few /32's of an inch. I'm also concerned with wear in hot weather. How many miles did they last? Thanks for the update.

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'84 Sport Coupe (third time's a charm?)

Ive never ever used snow tires. I use the same all season tire year round with no probs at all. Only real tire issue Ive ever had was Hankooks on my 86 Corvette. They were trash on a wet highway. I might as well have driven on bald tires. It would change lanes on its own without warning, or steering wheel had very little effect making it turn. If it was going to rain, I made it a point of either not driving it or staying on roads with a 45 or 50 mph speed limit.

quote Originally posted by MaverickFiero84: What kind of mileage did you get out of them?

I can't find my records on that, but I'd guess it to be around 16,000 miles.

quote Originally posted by MaverickFiero84: And what was your driving style?

My Fiero is a daily driver, and I didn't autocross or otherwise race it.

quote Originally posted by MaverickFiero84: Did hold the road in heavy rain or were they squirrely

I didn't have any problem with those Blizzak snow tires in heavy rain.

On another car with very different tires, however, I was caught in an unexpected thunderstorm while coming back from the drag strip. Although D.O.T.-approved, the "cheater slicks" I'd had on the car (street-legal tires which came new with minimal tread for very good dry traction) made for a truly white-knuckle driving experience in that thunderstorm that I don't ever want to repeat again.

quote Originally posted by JohnyGt67: How did they do in high speed dry cornering? I've heard they can give up easy, until worn down a few /32's of an inch.

For whatever reason, my experience has been that all new tires seem to need to be "worn in" --- just a bit --- for the high-speed dry cornering you'd asked about, but perhaps not by as much as the "few 1/32ths" of an inch you'd mentioned.

Initially, IMO, high-speed dry cornering was not good. However, I've experienced that same problem with any new tires --- regardless of whether they've been "snow tires" or not.

Nonetheless, in decent weather, a Fiero with snow tires probably shouldn't be expected to be competitive with a Fiero without snow tires.

Conversely, I'd suggest expecting a Fiero with snow tires to handle much better in snow (which mine does) than does a Fiero without snow tires.

In summary, my snow tire suggestions are...

1. If you don't regularly drive your Fiero in snow for one or more winter months during the year (which I do), don't spend money for snow tires on your Fiero.
   
   
2. If, however, you do regularly drive your Fiero in snow (which I do), spend the money for good snow tires. They're a night-versus-day, HUGE difference and improvement in the snow versus so-called "all-season" tires (which, from experience, I've decided I'll never again use during the winter's snow here).
   

They would only be good for a short while on any of my cars as i easily put 20,000 miles on them in just a year.

Winter tires are great - on snow/ice.
Here we install our winter tires/rims at first snowfall (probably next week), and replace them with summer tires/rims in March.

I drove with Blizzaks on pavement, wet/dry, they're not any worse than other winter tires.

But like all winter tires, they suck on pavement.
A Car and Driver test recently done shows that summer tires outbrake winter tires on dry pavement even in cold weather.

If you can't be bothered to change tires twice a year, go with all-seasons instead.
During the winter, most of the time it's dry pavement anyway, in between snow storms.
There are only a few days where there is actually snow covering the roads.

You're better off with all season tires and poor traction a few days a year, rather than with winters and poor traction almost all the time.

That's just my opinion though.

I just installed a set of Pirelli P6 , on my 15" rims, these are a 4 season tire better than an all season, there are other brands of 4 season tires but I only found 4 different brands in the sizes that I was looking for, 205-55-15 for the fronts and 225-60-15 for the rear, Other makes in this combination of sizes were Kumho's also the cheapest but they were not available in Canada, Continentals were difficult to find and Michelin's were the most expensive. I have a set of Blizzaks on my other Fiero, and summer tires in basement. I only use the Blizzak's in the most extreme cold and snow, I only use them for about a thousand miles each winter for the past 6 years.

quote Originally posted by pmbrunelle: If you can't be bothered to change tires twice a year, go with all-seasons instead. During the winter, most of the time it's dry pavement anyway, in between snow storms. There are only a few days where there is actually snow covering the roads.

That may be true in Montréal, but it's not true here. Generally, once the snow falls here, it unfortunately "stays fallen" here, and for quite some time. Accordngly, so-called "all-season" tires just aren't a good bet for the snow conditions where I live.