Good Year Sava Snows any good?

[subaruplatt]

Just got off the phone with my tire guy and he had some interesting info.

 

He tried to steer me away fro the Nokian WR but when hard pressed he didn't have any real experience with them. He said I could buy a set and try them.

 

The reason most people find snow tires mushy feeling (especially the blisaks)is that they don't get the H rated ones, which are of course more expensive.

 

He also recommended Good year sava tires, which he said were in the same league as Blisak Michelin the dunlop and Nokian rsi.

 

Am I on to something here? These are almost half the price of the rest of the top rated tires.

[Rooster2]

I can't speak about any knowledge of that Good Year tire. However, over the years, I have purchased Good Year tires, or bought a car used with Good Years. Over time, I developed the opinion that Good Years are slightly over priced, don't perform any better than average, and don't offer good tire wear. I don't evern consider them when time to buy tires.

 

For good performance at reasonable cost, I buy Kuhmo tires.

[subaruplatt]

I can't speak about any knowledge of that Good Year tire. However, over the years, I have purchased Good Year tires, or bought a car used with Good Years. Over time, I developed the opinion that Good Years are slightly over priced, don't perform any better than average, and don't offer good tire wear. I don't evern consider them when time to buy tires.

 

For good performance at reasonable cost, I buy Kuhmo tires.

 

I agree that kuhmo tires are value leaders but. The Good Year Sava Snow tires are ranked up with tires that are nearly twice the price. So that shoots down your performance and your price arguments.

And they are an anomaly in they are made in Slovenia, which is where the original Sava brand came from.

http://www.sava-tyres.com/eng.htm

[RallyKeith]

From what I can tell Sava is a brand Goodyear bought out, and you are looking at the Eskimo S3 tire. I agree with Rooster2 about goodyear, but these tires are not really goodyear, they are Sava tires. Sava just happens to be owned by Goodyear. It would be like me saying I'm going to buy GM 9-3, which is not a GM but a Saab. I've owned several sets of Hakkapaliittas. They are great tires in the snow and ice down to the last few 32nds of tread depth. It's all about sacrafice when dealing with tires. NOBODY makes a tire that excels in EVRY catagory. To get good ice traction you will have to put up with some squishyness on dry pavement. A tire that does well in the snow will not have superb traction on just wet pavement. Just like a tire that has excellent traction on hot dry pavement will have horrible peformance on anything cold, and anything desinged to work in the cold will wear very quickly in the heat. Things have gotten better over the years to bring these gaps closer together, but there are still comprimises to be made.

 

Several people I've talked to have said the Hakka WR is a great comprimise of summer driving and tread life, and winter snow and ice performance. My best friend's father has them on a giant RWD BMW and commutes some 80 miles a day with them, summer and winter. So far tread wear has been good and winter performance has been excelent. I would recommend them to anyone looking for an all year tire.

 

As for the Eskimo S3, it looks like it would be a decent winter tire. If they are really cheap I would give them a try. It has all the right things to do well. Open tread pattern, lots of sipes, and directional tread pattern.

 

If you get them let us know how they are.

 

Keith

[thatswhatshesaid]

Reviews seem to look good...if you can find them in English!

 

Anyway, they look like a good compromise between winter traction and dry-pavement driveability. Plus there's no stud hummmmmmmm to worry about.

 

Give 'em a try and let us know!!!!

[rverdoold]

Dunno who is owning the brand but slovenia is nearby here (well relative), anyway.

 

I got the Sava Eskimo3 (who makes these names) and they got tested by the German ADAC for road safety as the better cheap winter tyres. Since winter tires are obligatory in germany i have to have them while even going there for shopping.

 

http://www.adac.de/Tests/Reifentests/Winterreifen/195_65_R15T_2006/tab.asp?ComponentID=163558&SourcePageID=163625

 

Its in german though but:

Trocken = dry surface road

Nass = wet surface road

Schnee = snow on road

Eis = iced surface road

Gerausch = tire noise

Rollwiderstand = roll resistance

Verschleiss = wear resistance

Sehr empfehelenswert = Highly recommended

empfehelenswert = recommended

bedingt empfehelenswert = not really recommended

nicht empfehelenswert = dont even think of getting them

ok thats for the translation 0.1 is best 5.0 is worst

 

Some others:

http://www.adac.de/Tests/Reifentests/Winterreifen/205_55_R16H/tab.asp?ComponentID=194874&SourcePageID=195661

http://www.adac.de/Tests/Reifentests/Winterreifen/195_65_R15_T_10_2005/tab.asp?ComponentID=127019&SourcePageID=127155

[rverdoold]

Reviews seem to look good...if you can find them in English!

 

Anyway, they look like a good compromise between winter traction and dry-pavement driveability. Plus there's no stud hummmmmmmm to worry about.

 

Give 'em a try and let us know!!!!

 

If you need translation from German, Dutch, Dannish i can help.

Have the S3 for the 2nd season now and they were very good for the price they costed.

[Olnick]

Dang, we are a worldly bunch aren't we? I love it!

 

Thanks rverdoold.

[rverdoold]

Dang, we are a worldly bunch aren't we? I love it!

 

Thanks rverdoold.

 

Thats whats makes this message board so nice. There are people around the world willing to help others.

(the dutch subaru board only has people who are not good in communication) This is just a great board.

 

The problem with winter or snow tires is that they perform really bad on wet surfaces. This seems very strange to me because the rubber compound is much softer than summer tires. I have driven several rental cars with the cheapest winter tires which were a complete pain to drive when it was raining (ok maybe not that dangerous but still dont like on every pulling away the wheels skid)

[subaruplatt]

Give 'em a try and let us know!!!!

 

Well Looks like We're getting the Eskimos. Had to have them after hearing the name :-) They should get installed sometime next week.

 

One Question. Apparently the 16" steel rims with a 55 mm offset are unavailable.

I am told that a 16 inch rim with a 50 mm offset will work.

Any thoughts on this?

[rverdoold]

Give 'em a try and let us know!!!!

 

Well Looks like We're getting the Eskimos. Had to have them after hearing the name :-) They should get installed sometime next week.

 

One Question. Apparently the 16" steel rims with a 55 mm offset are unavailable.

I am told that a 16 inch rim with a 50 mm offset will work.

Any thoughts on this?

 

Might be, what is the normal tire size you have now 205/55 R16???

Because you might go to a smaller tire like the 195/60 R16 or the 185/65 R16 if they fit on the rim. Usually >205 tires are cheaper as well.

check:

http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp

[subaruplatt]

Might be, what is the normal tire size you have now 205/55 R16???

 

Yes they are normally 205/55 R16. I'm getting 205/55 H16 Eskimo's.

By my calculations the wheel base will be 2/5 of an inch wider than before.

 

I also discussed the downsizing theory with My tire guy and he suggested that with the new Silica compounds you get better traction on ice with more tread.

So the better ice traction equals out the decreased snow performance.

 

Just concerned with the offset of 50 vs 55.

He also said that is what most people get even though they think they're getting a 55 mm offset.

 

He told me that if I were to go to the dealer for the rims to be sure to have them prove the offset.

 

Thanks for all your great replies by the way!

[fnlyfnd]

offset is a big deal because of suspension clearance or caliper clearance. A search on this board will yield some good info, also cars101.com has a offset chart for all years of subaru IIRC.

 

EDIT: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/tiresandwheels.html

 

Hope this helps

[subaruplatt]

offset is a big deal because of suspension clearance or caliper clearance. A search on this board will yield some good info, also cars101.com has a offset chart for all years of subaru IIRC.

 

EDIT: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/tiresandwheels.html

 

Hope this helps

 

I found this Chart that says 50mm offset or higher is OK.

 

http://wac.addr.com/auto/obs/wheels.html

[bigjim5551212]

The Nokian WR is very popular in Western Canada.... It is an all season tire that is good for snow. It is different than Blizzak or other snows. I put on the Bridgestone G009. Pretty good so far... have not seen the snow yet.

[subaruplatt]

As for the Eskimo S3, it looks like it would be a decent winter tire. If they are really cheap I would give them a try. It has all the right things to do well. Open tread pattern, lots of sipes, and directional tread pattern.

 

If you get them let us know how they are.Keith

 

Got them on this morning! 16/55/205 Sava Eskimo S3 on 16/7 inch steel wheels 50 mm offset.

Driving home with them gave me a very good first impression.

Ride is much smoother than the brigestones.

Handling is very good!

Fan like "wrrr" when churning through slush or water. .

Reasonably quiet when dry.

 

Were predictable on the highway during lane changes crossing frozen slush. -4c

 

I was curious to see how a 91 load rating compared to an 87 load rating

tire?

The car feels taller, more solid, which I attribute to a change in load rating and or in wheel offset and rim thickness. Or is it just the much smoother ride that I'm feeling from these new tires?

[rverdoold]

Same here, on snow surface they are fine and have good grip. On dry roads (where mostly use them) the noise is less than my summer tires which are 205/55 on 16 while these are 185/65 on 15. Never had aquaplaning with them on water filled streams on the road (those ones made by trucks). THey are very good, especially compared to the price.

 

 

Still they are in no comparisson to the Pirelli Spikes i had on the rental car in Latvia 15mm spikes eating into the ice/snow (uhm and asphalt:lol: ) (thinks something that its a rental car anyway)

[subaruplatt]

As for the Eskimo S3, it looks like it would be a decent winter tire. If they are really cheap I would give them a try. It has all the right things to do well. Open tread pattern, lots of sipes, and directional tread pattern.

 

If you get them let us know how they are.Keith

 

Got them on this morning! 16/55/205 Sava Eskimo S3 on 16/7 inch steel wheels 50 mm offset.

Driving home with them gave me a very good first impression.

Ride is much smoother than the brigestones.

Handling is very good!

Fan like "wrrr" when churning through slush or water. .

Reasonably quiet when dry.

 

Were predictable on the highway during lane changes crossing frozen slush. -4c

 

I was curious to see how a 91 load rating compared to an 87 load rating

tire?

The car feels taller, more solid, which I attribute to a change in load rating and or in wheel offset and rim thickness. Or is it just the much smoother ride that I'm feeling from these new tires?

 

 

 

 

Effortlessly crawls through 1 foot snowy unplowed roads! Forward and in reverse.

Wide footprint.

Higher load index means that you don't really need to pump them up as much.

Amazing with slush and wet.

 

These tires are good on cold dry highway, they have amazing stopping power, Like bigger brakes!

 

To the point that you have got to be careful that you don't out stop the guy behind you.

 

 

I always rebalance before I reinstall winter tires again for the winer, because they have very soft rubber.

Too bad they have to come off after + 6 c

[Setright]

For a few years I have sworn to using Bridgestone winter tyres, but Continental TS810 has surpassed them.

 

Had these on a Forester 2.5XT last year...so much grip it was hard to get it to slide...on packed snow.

 

I've got a set on my Impreza 2.0 now and they still impress me. If you look closely at the tests you'll notice TS810 is the best for stopping hard in wet conditions -but they move them to 2nd and 3rd place because of wear and fuel consumption.

To me, that's daft. Over here the big discussion every winter is the longer braking distance of winter tyres in rain....then someone addresse the problem and makes a tyre that grips in wet and snow. And the testers almost ignore it.

 

Conti's for me

[rverdoold]

Whats the difference in price then with the conti's and the Sava's cause that is usually the issue.

[Setright]

COuld be.

 

Of course, when it comes to tyres I don't like to pinch the pennies. Tyres are the most important component on the car.

 

Yes, yes, I know lot's of people are more interested in getting 50K miles out of a set of tyres.....but I care about grip.

[subaruplatt]

For a few years I have sworn to using Bridgestone winter tyres, but Continental TS810 has surpassed them.

 

Had these on a Forester 2.5XT last year...so much grip it was hard to get it to slide...on packed snow.

 

I've got a set on my Impreza 2.0 now and they still impress me. If you look closely at the tests you'll notice TS810 is the best for stopping hard in wet conditions -but they move them to 2nd and 3rd place because of wear and fuel consumption.

To me, that's daft. Over here the big discussion every winter is the longer braking distance of winter tyres in rain....then someone addresse the problem and makes a tyre that grips in wet and snow. And the testers almost ignore it.

 

Conti's for me

ContiWinterContact+TS810 appear to be excellent according to tire rack.

I would guess that they cost at least twice what the Eskimos cost.

So many great winter tire to choose from.