goof_ball Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 (edited) Not sure if this is the right place for this, but this is my first real winter w/ my 96 outback 5 speed. I did have half a winter last year w/ the all seasons. I got the Winterforces because they were buy 3/1 free at $75 a piece and I picked up a set of oem alloys for $100 on craigslist. Guy even delivered them to my front door. Got the stock 205/70/15 size. Been using them in lake effect snow mostly, not sure how that is different from regular snow. Was also caught in the Christmas weekend Blizzard and drove from CT to NY the first day the snow finally stopped. Freeways were still snowy and the NY thruway was pretty crappy with severe winds and drifting snow. A lot of people at work complain about sliding off the road on a regular basis, why aren't the roads plowed, or they leave 3 hours earlier to drive super slow. I've not experienced any slipping or sliding or abs activity that wasn't on purpose to keep my winter skills sharp. Gas mileage is about 21 mpg while the all seasons were around 25-27. No stop and go city driving, but short around trips combined with highway speed back roads to work. When there's lots of snow it's not uncommon to see cars off in the ditch maybe 3 times a week. Once I saw 2 Jeep Cherokee types in different spots on the same road. Point being the roads are pretty crappy and are not maintained like the freeways. Car has 185k miles and is stock w/ cross bars across the roof rack. I don't have any other experience with other winter tires, but they seem pretty good. Don't notice any increased road noise or poor dry handling. Sorry for the novel... Edited January 22, 2011 by goof_ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyeights Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I am currently running Winterforce 205/70R15 tires on Alloy Pugs on my '83 wagon with a FT 4wd trans. So far they do very well in the snow we have had this year in the PNW. I would like to have a second set of street tires to run the rest of the year as I believe the fuel economy would be better like your information shows. Thanks for the info. BTW mine is a Gen II wagon with a 4" lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suba9792 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I have the Toyo Observes on my 97 Lego, and they are sweet, grip like crazy in the snow a little slippage on ice but no complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 You are driving a tank. Probably the most solid car out on those roads. Your gas mileage is gonna go down in the winter. Winter gas, warming up your car uses gas. Driving through lots of snow takes more power because its more resistance, so that'll use more gas. Also when you're on pavement snow tires will get worse gas mileage because they have more friction on the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I'm not sure what the op was really saying but I have winterforce tires on my car and it's great but my last gas mileage was only 17 MPG at best but then again the last full tank I put in was like 3 weeks ago and before that I was having to get cars unstuck.. but good tires they did very well in 10 inches I decided to drive in a unplowed lot.. too bad I had no camera set up. this past snow we had I felt ok driving 60 MPH on the highway with about 3 inches of snow/slush mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goof_ball Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 I'm not sure what the op was really saying <snip>. I was just saying what my experience with these tires is. There are a number of different tire shops in my town. I checked them out getting estimates and info. A Goodyear store wanted something $500-$600 for winter tires. Can't recall which model but i was not going to spend that much. I didn't recall too much about this tire on this site when I searched before and wanted to add my experience. It wasn't directed towards any specific request for tire recs. Sorry if that wasn't clear. Tirerack reviews were okay but some seemed like they were written by Firestone interns. This board seems pretty good compared to other soob forums and I wanted to contribute something. Also, my tires are not studded which I failed to mention originally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 wow i would never pay that much for winter tires.. this is my first year with them and mine are not studded. I looked at those reviews on tirerack as well.. it was between this and that General winter tire.. I think they were both the same price at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Winterforce are good winter tires - but as you have already found, fuel mileage does suffer a little - reason being they are a softer, "stickier" tire which means more rolling resistance - Great for use in snow/slush as they softer compound has much better traction, not so great on dry road. kind of a trade off. in the interest of my safety, i will take the better gripping tires in crappy weather and deal with the lower fuel mileage. and yeah - the colder the temps, the lower your fuel mileage will be also (even without much warm-up time) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 So 17 MPG for my last fill up sounds kinda about right? I have to really wait for my next full tank fillup so I can re calculate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
987687 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 17 still seems kinda low. In my 96 sedan I don't think I've ever seen less than 22 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 17 still seems kinda low. In my 96 sedan I don't think I've ever seen less than 22 or so. I think it must be because of that exhaust leak really between the first cat and the center pipe it's gotten a bit larger.. I plan on taking care of that next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heartless Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 yeah, 17 does seem pretty low - but i guess it depends on what engine, driving style and what not - but still.... my 90 LS wagon, auto AWD, normally gets 28-30 in the summer with a summer type tire on (harder compound than winter tires) got 25 just the other day on a longer trip - interstate - 75mph or so - and the softer winter type tires... the other half's 90 L sedan, 5SPD FWD - did 32mpg on the same trip yesterday - he has gotten as high as 36 before on that trip with different tires and warmer weather - currenty same tire i am running both are 2.2's with over 200K on them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-3-2-4 Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Question I was driving today and this morning I noticed my rear tires sounded kinda funny.. like when changing lanes (people must of thought I was nuts) if you kinda move quickly over to the right lane the left rear tire sounds kinda loud but not the right rear. it's hard to describe the sound but it's noticeable, I will say I haven't checked the air pressure in them since I had them mounted back in Nov. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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