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Dunlop Winter Sport 3D any good?


jproy12

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Hehe, wanna see them in action?

 

If you couldn't tell, I like mine!

 

How do you like them in deep snow?? That's my only concern, i see you got that F-150 out of there!

 

You like them in snow? Good or not? Have you tried other winter tires, if so how do you compare them to your previous ones!!

 

I liked what i saw!! :)

 

JP

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Its a decent performance winter tire. That being said if you need the best traction on ice or snow and okay dry/wet performance look at Michelin X-Ice2.

Yea, what i really want would be best of both worlds, but it wont happen, i usually do mostly city-highway driving, so i would need more of a high-performance tire vs dedicated snow-ice.

 

I had Toyo Garit KX and loved them, they are more high-performance than deep snow or whatnot!

 

Keep the comments coming!

JP

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How do you like them in deep snow?? That's my only concern, i see you got that F-150 out of there!

 

You like them in snow? Good or not? Have you tried other winter tires, if so how do you compare them to your previous ones!!

 

I liked what i saw!! :)

 

JP

I love the M3's in snow (remember they are the old design of the new 3D). Deep snow, slush, powder, up hill, down hill, snow storm. Very good at everything. When it is dry out the tires grip VERY well. They are a performance tire. When it gets wet out, they grip VERY well. It's win/win.

 

If these cars were FWD or RWD you might need Blizzaks or something that is softer. But since we have true AWD, you can get away w/ a Performance Snow Tire. They are amazing.

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I've used the M3s for the past 4 winters, about 7500 miles per, total mileage on the tires 30k. They are worn about halfway. This past winter, I did notice some diminished snow/slush traction, which I attribute to the reduction in tread depth.

 

Otherwise, the foul weather traction splits the difference between a true studless snow, and all seasons. And the dry/wet traction still makes winter driving fun.

 

For this season, I'm going to replace them with the LM-60s, which are supposed to be more snow traction biased for a performance winter. One reason I didn't go with the 3Ds is I do not believe they have them in the stock 215/45/17 size.

 

If you live in an area where the roads get cleared fairly well, but want some additional insurance in case you get caught out in bad weather, any of the performance snows will do.

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Hehe, wanna see them in action?

 

If you couldn't tell, I like mine!

 

^ That rocks!!! :lol::wub:

 

 

---

 

 

I've used the M3s for the past 4 winters, about 7500 miles per, total mileage on the tires 30k. They are worn about halfway. This past winter, I did notice some diminished snow/slush traction, which I attribute to the reduction in tread depth.

 

Otherwise, the foul weather traction splits the difference between a true studless snow, and all seasons. And the dry/wet traction still makes winter driving fun.

 

For this season, I'm going to replace them with the LM-60s, which are supposed to be more snow traction biased for a performance winter. One reason I didn't go with the 3Ds is I do not believe they have them in the stock 215/45/17 size.

 

If you live in an area where the roads get cleared fairly well, but want some additional insurance in case you get caught out in bad weather, any of the performance snows will do.

 

^ That sums it up very nicely, and it's my take, too.

 

Undoubtedly, Bridgestone targeted the segment-leading 3Ds, with their LM60, and I have little doubt that, this being the newer iteration, it will take the crown, or at least put up a hell of a fight.... I think we'll see comparison test data soon enough.

 

 

---

 

 

Ice is the weakest spot for performance winter tires.

 

+1.

 

My 3Ds, even discounting the fact that they're 225 versus the 215 width Michelin X-Ice Xi2 on my wife's then-WRX, and even discounting the fact that they pre-date the Xi2s by one season, offers noticeably less ice traction than the latter.

 

 

 

----

 

 

 

Yea, what i really want would be best of both worlds, but it wont happen, i usually do mostly city-highway driving, so i would need more of a high-performance tire vs dedicated snow-ice.

 

I had Toyo Garit KX and loved them, they are more high-performance than deep snow or whatnot!

 

IIRC, the Garit KXs were also very highly rated by the overseas and Canadian press, and I think you'll find that the cross-comparison to the 3Ds may not be far off at all - if you had good utility out of the Toyos, you should be just fine with the 3Ds, too.

 

As you well know, and as the others have said, it's a "Performance Winter," and that comes with the good: performance in the clear, as well as the bad: little aid to ice traction, less deep-snow capability - as its compromises.

 

I've never gotten anywhere near "stuck" with my 225/45/17 3Ds - even in

"blizzard" conditions that happen about once a year here in NE-Ohio (in the snow-belt portion, complete with Lake-Effect).

 

But certainly, their wintry capability are a compromise when compared against the more aggressively winter-oriented tires - but that trade-off is one that I gladly give, for the ability to have clear-road fun, too. :)

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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Ice is the weakest spot for performance winter tires.

 

Krzys

 

I concur. I "downgraded" in winter performance from pure winters to Dunlops performance winters and noticed it immediately on ice. Fortunately though the majority of winter is not spent on ice or snow, for me maybe 5-10% of driving time for me at best.

 

I am running around on all-seasons(RE960s) now and still have not gotten stuck, just cannot stop or turn that well on winter days.

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I used the winter sport 3d's on my subaru last winter and loved them. I also had used them for a couple years on a previous awd vehicle and loved them, hence why i bought them again. You won't be disappointed if you buy them.
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How early in the fall would you guys recommend putting the 3Ds on? When it drops below average temp of 50 degrees? My summer tires are getting unbearable and I want to get my winters on but I don't want to damage/wear them out too much if its too warm.

 

I am in Massachusetts by the way, central mass for folks from around new england.

 

Thanks for the advice,

Adam

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I still have my summer tires on (I live near Worcester, MA).

I will switch when my "driving" temperature drops to 45F (I have 'heated' garage [furnace exhaust pipe goes through it] so I should not have a problem when temperature overnight drops below 45F, if it stays above during the day I am all set).

 

Winter tire size for Legacy GT:

205/50R17

215/45R17

225/45R17

are all fine.

 

Krzys

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.......Undoubtedly, Bridgestone targeted the segment-leading 3Ds, with their LM60, and I have little doubt that, this being the newer iteration, it will take the crown, or at least put up a hell of a fight.... I think we'll see comparison test data soon enough........

 

In the 2009 annual ADAC winter performance tire test, the 3D came in 4th place, the Conti WinterContact TS830 came in first. For some unknown reason, there was not a Bridgestone in this test group of 205/55 -16 tires (maybe no LM60 in this size?).

 

But among the tires tested, the 3D had the best ice traction test score. The Nokian WRg2 was a midpack performer overall.

 

ADAC weights their overall scores in this order of test performance: wet>snow>dry>ice

 

http://www1.adac.de/Tests/Reifentests/Winterreifen/205_55_R16H_2009/default.asp?ComponentID=268441&SourcePageID=8979#

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^ Thank you for the update!!! You know I count on you to spot that for me! :D

 

That's very interesting to see how much things have changed!

 

Interesting, also, to see that the 3D had the best ice-traction of the group. If that's the case, I'd hate to be caught-out in icier situations on the other tires! :eek:

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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In the most recent winter tire test from CR, they ranked the X-Ice Xi2 ahead of the Blizzak WS60 in both ice braking and snow traction. This is a surprise, as I would have expected the WS60 to be better than the Xi2 on ice because of its multicell compound.

 

The Xi2 also performed better on ice in the CR test than the Nokian Hakka 5, but it is not clear to me whether or not the Hakka was studded, as I do not have a copy of the magazine. The Scandinavian tests I have seen have the studded Hakka 5 outperforming the Xi2 on ice by a huge margin.

 

The test results and a discussion are posted here:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/index.php/topic,64325.0.html

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In the most recent winter tire test from CR, they ranked the X-Ice Xi2 ahead of the Blizzak WS60 in both ice braking and snow traction. This is a surprise, as I would have expected the WS60 to be better than the Xi2 on ice because of its multicell compound.

 

That's strange to me, too. :eek:

 

The Blizzak's proprietary multicell should have given it the advantage - IIRC, the Xi2's initial promo by the Michelin guys utilized tires which were shaved-down...thus specifically giving an advantage for the through-and-through Xi2s....

 

In all honesty, last winter, I'd have gone with the WS60s for the wifey, but I did not want her to have the double-bogey of having less tread depth as well as the loss of the winter-biased compound, once treadwear has taken its toll - which was why I got her the Xi2s.

 

The Xi2 also performed better on ice in the CR test than the Nokian Hakka 5, but it is not clear to me whether or not the Hakka was studded, as I do not have a copy of the magazine. The Scandinavian tests I have seen have the studded Hakka 5 outperforming the Xi2 on ice by a huge margin.

 

The test results and a discussion are posted here:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/forum/index.php/topic,64325.0.html

 

Given the disparity, I'd imagine that the CR test did not use the studded Hakka variant.

 

I think my stepfather still subscribes to CR. Let me see if he doesn't have that one to scan-in.

 

:)

<-- I love Winky, my "periwinkle" (ABP) LGT! - Allen / Usual Suspect "DumboRAT" / One of the Three Stooges

'16 Outback, '16 WRX, 7th Subaru Family

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