Just has Blizzak WS60 installed on 07 OBXT

Hello All,

After a bunch of research I finally decided to try out the new Blizzak WS60s. With the weakness of the Dollar right now, the Nokians and Michelins are ridiculously expensive (ca $900/4) and the early reports about the Blizzaks are solid.

Just got back from the tire shop and had a set of 225/55/17 installed on my stock rims. Paid $565 installed, would have tried to negotiate it down, but couldn't find another set in the city and I need to go to Mt. Hood this weekend.

My stock 92s were in pretty bad shape after 16.5k of abuse, so the car was sliding all over the place and the front tires were desperately trying to hold on to the pavement during "brisk" acceleration.

Its raining out currently, and from what I can tell from the short drive home is that these tires do really well on wet pavement. I gunned it around a couple of 90 degree turns from a stop and they grabbed like crazy with almost no wheelspin.

I will report back on their snow, ice, and slush performance after a couple of trips up the mountain this weekend.

I've looked at the WS-60 and they look like a great snow tire. They look a little more aggressive than the former WS-50, almost a cross between the WS-50 and the LM-25.

I still think I'd prefer the slightly more "sport" biased LM-25 over the WS-60, but that WS-60 should have some insane snow qualities! Like a cat on carpet in the snow! You'll like 'em.

Just got back from Mt Hood, and I am totally satisfied with the Blizzaks. The road went directly from dry to hard pack on the way up, and they worked as advertised. Directional stability was excellent, as were braking and acceleration. It was very confidence inspiring.

I de-activated the traction control in the parking lot at the end of the day to really put them through the paces. The parking lot is hard pack over sporadic patches of ice. The only way I could break them loose was to go WOT or slam on the brakes. I tried to induce some throttle oversteer, but it was really hard to get the back end to come around because it just wanted to keep tracking. As soon as I reduced throttle, the car instantly righted itself every time. Very Impressive.

On the drive back to Portland, the road was mostly hardpack with a light dusting of gravel for the first 15 miles, then it transitioned to slush created by the Urea de-icer that ODOT uses to clear the roads. No surprises whatsoever going downhill, just predictable acceleration, braking and turns.

Overall, it was the most stress free ice-snow driving experience I have had in 19 years of driving. It was amazing how much more chilled out I was when I go to the mountain this morning.

If you do mostly city driving, but need to go through ice and snow frequently, these are a very safe recommendation and a good value.

An aside - I really don't like WRX drivers. They drive like a$$holes. We had a string of bumper to bumper cars going in a line down the mountain, and 2 separate modded WRXs passed us in no passing zones near blind corners! The only other jerk that did that was driving a late model Ram Cummins 3500. I did block a 3rd driver from pulling this nonsense that could easily cost several people their lives.

.......and 2 separate modded WRXs passed us in no passing zones near blind corners! The only other jerk that did that was driving a late model Ram Cummins 3500. I did block a 3rd driver from pulling this nonsense that could easily cost several people their lives.

We can only hope that they wise up, or kill themselves in single vehicle accidents, before they kill someone else.

So I went back up to the mountain yesterday. Again, no drama, just steady controlled traction. At the end of the day, I found an empty spot of parking lot and tried some e-brake induced slides on the hard pack and watery ice. The car didn't really want to slide, and the back end was very difficult to break free. As soon as I let off the e-brake, the car righted itself.

Back in Portland, I drove through a 6" deep puddle, and the car just kept tracking straight ahead. This is a great tire for our NW winter climate.

........The car didn't really want to slide, and the back end was very difficult to break free. As soon as I let off the e-brake, the car righted itself......

That's impressive. Even when my Blizzak LM25s were new, I could easily make the rear end kick out at slow speeds on packed snow.

.......I still think I'd prefer the slightly more "sport" biased LM-25 over the WS-60, but that WS-60 should have some insane snow qualities! Like a cat on carpet in the snow! You'll like 'em.

I have the LM25s now, and when they are worn out I plan to switch to the WS60. The LM25s don't get it done on ice.