s.hasan546

BS. I would not call my Si boring. Exciting? Not really. But boring? The 2005 Civic Value Coupe (117 hp automatic, no options whatsoever) I drove for 4 years? THAT was boring.
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boring is relative.... to me a Si is boring as hell. Even a WRX needs to get tuned to be semi-fun.
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Drive a 117 hp slushbox on a daily basis for nearly 5 years and then start driving a Si. You'll have a different perspective on what is "boring as hell".
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like i said boring is relative... i couldn't drive a Si everyday let alone a 117 hp econobox. especially for 5 years. id kill myself.

s.hasan546

biggest thing that annoyed me about the 2015 wrx i would have paid more to have a hatch.

WolfpackS2k

All 3 cars being discussed here come with OEM tires that are not suitable for winter driving. Ego, your argument is void since the OP will mounting winter tires regardless of his choice.

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I drove up to Snow Bowl in Flagstaff last week, and there was a lot of fresh snow, some of it on a very twisty road w/ huge elevation changes. My Civic Si performed like a champ w/ the OEM 4 season tires. Would awd have been better? Sure, but IMO the limiting factor is braking, and all else being equal the lighter car (Civic Si, under 3K lbs.) is going to stop better. I'm very satisfied w/ my Civic Si in all weather conditions, though the WRX will be a candidate for its eventual replacement.
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Very nice. I was under the impression that the Civic Si came with summer tires. Guess that's just for the HPD package?

My Integra does just fine in the snow on semi-new all season tires. However if I lived in a cold winter climate (anywhere north of MD, as far as the east coast goes) then I would want an AWD vehicle, or at the very least would own a dedicated set of snow tires for the winter. Here in central NC winter tires are pointless, because even though it does snow sometimes in the winter all that will happen (if you're on the roads) is you'll get stuck behind some moron that crashed on his balding summer tires.

All season tires are satisfactory at everything, but great at nothing.

TommyDeVito

Same here. I had a 2008 hatch STi and miss it. If the new one would have had a hatch option I'd have my order in with Clint and be taking delivery next month. I'm waiting it out now after almost ordering. Levorg or a FA STi, and I won't accept anything less.

NuncoStr8

All 3 cars being discussed here come with OEM tires that are not suitable for winter driving. Ego, your argument is void since the OP will mounting winter tires regardless of his choice.

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I drove up to Snow Bowl in Flagstaff last week, and there was a lot of fresh snow, some of it on a very twisty road w/ huge elevation changes. My Civic Si performed like a champ w/ the OEM 4 season tires. Would awd have been better? Sure, but IMO the limiting factor is braking, and all else being equal the lighter car (Civic Si, under 3K lbs.) is going to stop better. I'm very satisfied w/ my Civic Si in all weather conditions, though the WRX will be a candidate for its eventual replacement.
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Very nice. I was under the impression that the Civic Si came with summer tires. Guess that's just for the HPD package?

My Integra does just fine in the snow on semi-new all season tires. However if I lived in a cold winter climate (anywhere north of MD, as far as the east coast goes) then I would want an AWD vehicle, or at the very least would own a dedicated set of snow tires for the winter. Here in central NC winter tires are pointless, because even though it does snow sometimes in the winter all that will happen (if you're on the roads) is you'll get stuck behind some moron that crashed on his balding summer tires.

All season tires are satisfactory at everything, but great at nothing.
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I've driven every winter on all-season tires in Minnesota and I'm hardly the only one here that does. After asking around, I don't even know anyone personally who has ever bought snow tires, but there is one guy (regular at the coffee shop down the block) that swaps them on every year.

Now I'm all for having opinions and I'd agree summer tires are better on dry pavement in warm temps and snow tires are better on snow-covered or icy roads. But in reality 75% of the year the roads are clear and dry. All year you have wet roads intermittently, and generally only a handful of days when they are actually snow-covered and only very rarely are they covered in fresh deep snow. This year was extraordinary, side streets in my neighborhood were 3-4 inches thick in dense white snowcrete for over a month. Every main road and highway/freeway was dry pavement after a day or so of plowing and driving. It snowed a lot in discrete events that were predictable and manageable.

I guess I'm saying a lot of folks buy all-seasons because the tread compound tolerates the temperature swings we see every year. All-wheel drive IS nice, but if I faced many days of deep snow without plows I'd want the ground clearance of a truck.

Snow tires would be subpar most of the winter as the roads where I would care most about traction and handling at speed - highways - are dry pavement unless it's currently snowing. We've got these things called "Snowplows" and traffic takes care of the rest. Blowing snow is a greater road hazard than slick roads here where we actually get winter. The problem is you can't see where the road is, not that you don't have adequate traction. No tire will let you see through snow gusts at 90* to the roadway. And under those conditions snowbanks form across the road, deep enough to make ground clearance the primary concern. If you think it's OK to take the family for a long drive because you have snow tires and an AWD car in those conditions you are putting your family in danger - we call it false confidence.

It's all well and good to declare from North Carolina that snow tires and summer tires are better than all-seasons but for those of us who actually deal with the weather, all-seasons are better in all seasons - hence the name, oddly enough.

All-seasons provide good traction on dry pavement all year. Some, like BFG KDWS, are heavily weighted towards warm weather traction, others sacrifice warm dry traction in favor of snow/ice traction. At least the first year. It's always a trade-off. But all-seasons offer better traction in more varied conditions than any dedicated summer/winter combo. Because you can't instantly change your tires for a late snow. Last year it snowed in May. Are you supposed to keep your snow tires on until June? Summer tires are treacherous as hell in a late spring snowstorm or an early snowfall.

A tire that is satisfactory under all conditions one might encounter is far, far better than a tire that is good only under rare conditions and subpar every other day of the year. Yeah I like snow tires, but someone telling me that I need AWD and snow tires to survive a winter is just clueless. Someone from the Carolinas should just not comment because they have zero experience dealing with the varied road conditions an all-season tire is designed for.

FearlessFife

This x1000. I wish more non-car people would realize this.

WolfpackS2k

All 3 cars being discussed here come with OEM tires that are not suitable for winter driving. Ego, your argument is void since the OP will mounting winter tires regardless of his choice.

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I drove up to Snow Bowl in Flagstaff last week, and there was a lot of fresh snow, some of it on a very twisty road w/ huge elevation changes. My Civic Si performed like a champ w/ the OEM 4 season tires. Would awd have been better? Sure, but IMO the limiting factor is braking, and all else being equal the lighter car (Civic Si, under 3K lbs.) is going to stop better. I'm very satisfied w/ my Civic Si in all weather conditions, though the WRX will be a candidate for its eventual replacement.
[/quote]

Very nice. I was under the impression that the Civic Si came with summer tires. Guess that's just for the HPD package?

My Integra does just fine in the snow on semi-new all season tires. However if I lived in a cold winter climate (anywhere north of MD, as far as the east coast goes) then I would want an AWD vehicle, or at the very least would own a dedicated set of snow tires for the winter. Here in central NC winter tires are pointless, because even though it does snow sometimes in the winter all that will happen (if you're on the roads) is you'll get stuck behind some moron that crashed on his balding summer tires.

All season tires are satisfactory at everything, but great at nothing.
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I've driven every winter on all-season tires in Minnesota and I'm hardly the only one here that does. After asking around, I don't even know anyone personally who has ever bought snow tires, but there is one guy (regular at the coffee shop down the block) that swaps them on every year.

Now I'm all for having opinions and I'd agree summer tires are better on dry pavement in warm temps and snow tires are better on snow-covered or icy roads. But in reality 75% of the year the roads are clear and dry. All year you have wet roads intermittently, and generally only a handful of days when they are actually snow-covered and only very rarely are they covered in fresh deep snow. This year was extraordinary, side streets in my neighborhood were 3-4 inches thick in dense white snowcrete for over a month. Every main road and highway/freeway was dry pavement after a day or so of plowing and driving. It snowed a lot in discrete events that were predictable and manageable.

I guess I'm saying a lot of folks buy all-seasons because the tread compound tolerates the temperature swings we see every year. All-wheel drive IS nice, but if I faced many days of deep snow without plows I'd want the ground clearance of a truck.

Snow tires would be subpar most of the winter as the roads where I would care most about traction and handling at speed - highways - are dry pavement unless it's currently snowing. We've got these things called "Snowplows" and traffic takes care of the rest. Blowing snow is a greater road hazard than slick roads here where we actually get winter. The problem is you can't see where the road is, not that you don't have adequate traction. No tire will let you see through snow gusts at 90* to the roadway. And under those conditions snowbanks form across the road, deep enough to make ground clearance the primary concern. If you think it's OK to take the family for a long drive because you have snow tires and an AWD car in those conditions you are putting your family in danger - we call it false confidence.

It's all well and good to declare from North Carolina that snow tires and summer tires are better than all-seasons but for those of us who actually deal with the weather, all-seasons are better in all seasons - hence the name, oddly enough.

All-seasons provide good traction on dry pavement all year. Some, like BFG KDWS, are heavily weighted towards warm weather traction, others sacrifice warm dry traction in favor of snow/ice traction. At least the first year. It's always a trade-off. But all-seasons offer better traction in more varied conditions than any dedicated summer/winter combo. Because you can't instantly change your tires for a late snow. Last year it snowed in May. Are you supposed to keep your snow tires on until June? Summer tires are treacherous as hell in a late spring snowstorm or an early snowfall.

A tire that is satisfactory under all conditions one might encounter is far, far better than a tire that is good only under rare conditions and subpar every other day of the year. Yeah I like snow tires, but someone telling me that I need AWD and snow tires to survive a winter is just clueless. Someone from the Carolinas should just not comment because they have zero experience dealing with the varied road conditions an all-season tire is designed for.
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Don't misinterpret my previous post as me telling you what to do. However I'm not a NC native and have spent more than half my life living in the NE. You raise good points but I would still rather have 2 sets of tires. After the initial purchase it's not like having a 2 wheel/tire set up costs more as you're not changing the rate at which the tires wear out.

I know what you're talking about with that blown snow too! Experienced that 3 weeks ago out in Wyoming and I thought it was scary as hell to not be able to see the vehicle just 20 feet in front of you. Oh, and while out in Wyoming part of my group had a FWD Nissan Sentra rental car (which I thought was dumb) equipped with all season tires. And they got stuck and couldn't make it through the Jackson Pass (on a clear sky day) with 1-3" of loose snow on the road.

I didn't state this before but I'm a skier, so I drive on a lot of hills and mtns to get to my ski destinations. I could be wrong but I believe MN is pretty flat? Which makes driving in snow a lot easier. Apologies if I'm wrong with that assumption.

TommyDeVito

I found Conti's Extreme Contact DWS to be an awesome solution for year round driving where I live. Ideally I like having a set of those for fall/winter and summers for spring/summer.

WolfpackS2k

I have Continental's previous version of that tire on my Integra, and at the moment they are near bald. Been on the wear bars for 4+ months. I've got 1, maybe 2/32nds of tread depth right now and I was able to drive fine in 3-4" of snow last month here in NC. However, accelerating from a standstill, even on flat ground, was a very slow process. And anything but a minor hill and just forget it. A running start only goes so far...

(EDIT: rear tires are near new, some Toyos)

s.hasan546

I found Conti's Extreme Contact DWS to be an awesome solution for year round driving where I live. Ideally I like having a set of those for fall/winter and summers for spring/summer.



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have you tried the Hankook Ventus S1 noble2? I'm going to get either the DWS or the hankooks for my incoming wrx