Dunlop Winter Sport 3D any good?

^ Maybe I should just stud my shoes, and call it a day?

Hum....that looks like a nice product, I'll invest in a pair.

Seriously, as you come out of my work garage and walk in, there's a decently steep slope - which puts you out right onto the street (one of my irrational fears is getting clobbered by a bus, which, in Cleveland, isn't really that irrational of a fear, if you've kept up with the news).

Have you tried the Gripons or the Stabilicers?

Originally Posted by TSi+WRX

.........Have you tried the Gripons or the Stabilicers?

Haven't tried any of those. Why don't you buy a Blizzak WS60, cut out a hunk of the multicell tread, and glue it to the bottoms of your Sorels?

I am a bit surprised that no shoemaker has pursued the idea of putting rubber ice traction soles on a regular shoe. They could use the ice traction ideas that Bridgestone and Michelin have put into their tires. WTH does the Michelin Man wear on his feet when it gets icy?

Originally Posted by outahere

Haven't tried any of those. Why don't you buy a Blizzak WS60, cut out a hunk of the multicell tread, and glue it to the bottoms of your Sorels?

You know........there are single winters, listed on local Craigslist.......

I wonder how long it'll take me to wear through the Tube MultiCell layer, just walking around.

I am a bit surprised that no shoemaker has pursued the idea of putting rubber ice traction soles on a regular shoe. They could use the ice traction ideas that Bridgestone and Michelin have put into their tires. WTH does the Michelin Man wear on his feet when it gets icy?

^ Hey, if you looked at the more recent Michelin Man winter ads, you'll see:





You know, I'd almost expect a brand like DC Shoes or Piloti to come up with something entertaining and novel, like that.

BTW, the M-Man sure looks good, now that he's lost all that weight.

Awesome

^ Actually, I'll confess to this little thing having bugged me for a number of weeks, before you wrote about it above.

In the latest C&D TireRack ads, he's wearing something I can't quite figure out....

One more winter tire test from Tirerack, this time WS60 vs LM60 vs DS3 vs Conti

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=125

I have a 2009 3.0R Limited and we had our first snow here in Cincinnati. My last car was a 2005 STI with Dunlop M3's. I just loved them. I would look for excuses to find some non plowed parking lots! I figured I would try the all season Potenza's that came with my Legacy, but geesh. They are just not going to work for me at all. It's not that horrible in Cincinnati, but we get our share of larger storms and I have to drive quite a bit in early in the mornings before they clear the roads. One thing about Cincinnati is that since they aren't used to snow, they are often slow at clearing. So I'm in the same dilemma as the others here trying to figure out what's best.

I've learned from everyone I shouldn't go with the 18's...narrow is better people are saying. What is the best size? I will want to get wheels too, if anyone has suggestions. It would be cool to get a little of my STI flavor back during the winter with some cool wheels. Is 17 the way to go, or should I actually go narrower? The factory is 215/45R18 XL, which thankfully is too wide, because I couldn't find the M3's in that size!

But I thought the M3's were really great. I did find them at several places:
http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?tirebrand=Dunlop&tiremodel=SP+Winter+Spor t+M3
I'm not as sure about the 3D's, but that's probably just because they are new and I have experience with the M3.. and I see that many really like the LM-60's, but we do have alot of dry driving in between the big snows, and many still say the dunlops are better for that... I saw lots voted for the Blizz' in the poll on here.

tron, the wheel diameter should not matter (the saying "narrower is better for winter" applies to tire WIDTH, i.e. that first set of unmbers , which is the width [there's more detail to this, but for the level of this particular conversation, we can just call this how "wide" the tire is] of the tire), however, downsizing the diameter to 17-inches will give you a much wider selection.

"Minus-1" sizing from your 215/45/18, according to TireRack, is to go to 215/50/17. Using the Tire Size Calculator at Miata.net, the biggest apparent difference is about a half-inch increase in sidewall, favoring the 17s, with virtually the same radius and diameter. Circumference also increases by a half-inch, via the calculator, resulting in a +0.6% difference in speedometer reading.

I think that the smarter thing to do, given limited tire availability as well as increased pricing for the 18s, would be to downsize to the recommended 17s. Sticking with 215-width would be just fine, and if dropping to 205s, you'd again start to see limited selection, with no true favoring in terms of pricing, and regardless of the profile selection, you'll see more speedo bias, too.

Originally Posted by TSi+WRX

tron, the wheel diameter should not matter (the saying "narrower is better for winter" applies to tire WIDTH, i.e. that first set of unmbers , which is the width [there's more detail to this, but for the level of this particular conversation, we can just call this how "wide" the tire is] of the tire), however, downsizing the diameter to 17-inches will give you a much wider selection.

"Minus-1" sizing from your 215/45/18, according to TireRack, is to go to 215/50/17. Using the Tire Size Calculator at Miata.net, the biggest apparent difference is about a half-inch increase in sidewall, favoring the 17s, with virtually the same radius and diameter. Circumference also increases by a half-inch, via the calculator, resulting in a +0.6% difference in speedometer reading.

I think that the smarter thing to do, given limited tire availability as well as increased pricing for the 18s, would be to downsize to the recommended 17s. Sticking with 215-width would be just fine, and if dropping to 205s, you'd again start to see limited selection, with no true favoring in terms of pricing, and regardless of the profile selection, you'll see more speedo bias, too.

Thanks so much Tsi+Wrx. That was a huge help.

^ Best of luck! No need to thank me, fellow Buckeye!

+1
I run 205/50/17 Dunlop WinterSport 3D's on the stock rims for snowx and couldn't be happier with the predictability they give. All bets are off on straight ice, though.

Originally Posted by TSi+WRX

tron, the wheel diameter should not matter (the saying "narrower is better for winter" applies to tire WIDTH, i.e. that first set of unmbers , which is the width [there's more detail to this, but for the level of this particular conversation, we can just call this how "wide" the tire is] of the tire), however, downsizing the diameter to 17-inches will give you a much wider selection.

"Minus-1" sizing from your 215/45/18, according to TireRack, is to go to 215/50/17. Using the Tire Size Calculator at Miata.net, the biggest apparent difference is about a half-inch increase in sidewall, favoring the 17s, with virtually the same radius and diameter. Circumference also increases by a half-inch, via the calculator, resulting in a +0.6% difference in speedometer reading.

I think that the smarter thing to do, given limited tire availability as well as increased pricing for the 18s, would be to downsize to the recommended 17s. Sticking with 215-width would be just fine, and if dropping to 205s, you'd again start to see limited selection, with no true favoring in terms of pricing, and regardless of the profile selection, you'll see more speedo bias, too.

Originally Posted by RJS5689

Hehe, wanna see them in action?
YouTube - Legacy GT Spec.B pull stuck F150 out of snow

If you couldn't tell, I like mine!

as an aside - where did you attach the strap?

Originally Posted by tron79

Thanks so much Tsi+Wrx. That was a huge help.

I found a set of used OEM 17" from this board and picked them up for my 'snow' set, to replace the 18"s that came w/ the car. Check the for sale section - there are several sets there. The Stock 17s are probably the cheapest wheel you can get - especially if you're local to the seller.

^ +1. And those stocker 5-spoke 17s are pretty darned durable, too.

My wife's crashed through all sorts of potholes and what-not - one that shredded a 225/45, properly inflated, Falken ZIEX ZE-512 - and the rim's come out totally intact.

They're a good bargain, for sure.

Originally Posted by grim<sleeper>

+1
I run 205/50/17 Dunlop WinterSport 3D's on the stock rims for snowx and couldn't be happier with the predictability they give. All bets are off on straight ice, though.

^ +1 on the ice....I also think that ice is the 3Ds biggest weak-point.

Which is an interesting thing, actually.

It's understandable that ice would be the 3Ds biggest weak-point.

But what I don't get is the 3Ds rather high ranking (correct me on this if I'm wrong, outahere , on ice, with the H-speed rated formulation, at least).

If that's the case, then I'd hate to be on ice, with any other "Performance Winter!"

But then again, this also goes to show just how variable ice can be, as a winter-surface.

^ The secret to traction on the ice is, there's no secrets. Chains or spikes FTW. Anyone use snowboots before? Looks pretty neat.

http://www.snobootz.com/videos.php