[todd98007]

We had a nice snow here in Utah this week - about 2 feet over two days in my neighborhood - which gave me a chance to put my new Blizzack DM-V2's to the test. I should mention that down here in the valley's the snow was relatively wet, slippery snow - not typical Utah blower powder that is great for skiing and not particularly slippery.

The tires rocked. Cornering traction is really quite remarkable. Obviously accelerating is no issue at all, and stopping was remarkably good considering the Treg's weight.

The highlight of my day was pull-assisting several neighbors in 4WD trucks with all season tires UP a pretty steep grade that hadn't been plowed with absolutely no problem (worked best with ESP off). These tires just clawed their way up. As usual, the Touareg's capabilities left people scratching their head.

 

[deepmud]

I live in Alaska - Blizzaks on all my vehicles. If Blizzaks aren't sticking you should put on chains.

 

[k21975]

Great to hear! I just bought some DM-V2's and they are on my winter rims, but not on the Touareg yet. It's been 50's during the days here in Boston and I'm trying to eek a few more miles out of the all seasons that are on the stock 19's. I probably shouldn't mess around, though, considering the dealership told me "my 'Tire Mobility Kit' is expired". Meaning the can of sticky spray goo they put in the back instead of a spare tire is kinda old.

 

[m-fine]

Great to hear! I purchased a set of DM-V2's and 17" rims for my new Touareg as well. I was slightly concerned about them wandering a bit when I first put them on, but they just needed a bit of dry pavement driving to wear down the mold nibs (nubs?) and scuff up the surface a bit. Like the Boston contingent, we have not had much winter weather to try them out in yet in WNY. My one commute with snow and ice so far was when I still had the factory 20" goodyears on, and they performed poorly enough to make me very glad to have the Blizzacks.

 

[djhiltz]

Got a set of the dmv-2's on mine and love them so far. Haven't driven in any deep snow with them but on Ivey and slushy roads they are remarkable.

 

[m-fine]

We got a nasty storm last night and today. Deep heavy wet snow. Some streets were somewhat plowed before I left for work, but the intersections and side streets were a disaster, some of them pretty plowed in with piles of packed snow easily up to my bumper setting off the parking sensors! My Subaru sedan had great traction in lower depths of snow, but was too low to get through something like that. The Touareg with Blizzack DM-V2's just plowed right through it.

So far the DM-V2's have been on ice, cold wet pavement, very cold dry pavement, light snow and deep slushy snow. They have been excellent in all conditions. Better than my experience with prior generations and all around highly recommended.

 

[PL69]

I have the DM-V1 in 275-45/20 and I am impressed but I got them with the truck, will probably sell them next season and buy dedicated 18inch wheels with 255-60/18 to sit a little bit higher.

 

[rfraa]

I have a brand new set of DM-V2s on a very nice set of winter wheels i purchased a couple months ago from a fellow CT member. However, as tempted as i am to go try them on snow, i have my son's Subaru Outback (he's away at college) and have defaulted to that when it has snowed...so i appreciate all the great feed back on the DM-V2s.

 

[nickyt]

I appreciate all the great feedback on the snow tires.

To quote another recent tire thread "The right tire makes all the difference."

 

[m-fine]

I have the DM-V1 in 275-45/20 and I am impressed but I got them with the truck, will probably sell them next season and buy dedicated 18inch wheels with 255-60/18 to sit a little bit higher.

I am running 265/65/17 and they have been great. Not too wide for the snow, not too narrow on the dry pavement, and an extra inch in diameter to give more height. Still plenty of room in the wheel wells.

 

[m-fine]

I appreciate all the great feedback on the snow tires.

To quote another recent tire thread "The right tire makes all the difference."

If I was still running the stock Goodyear "all seasons" (in Florida maybe) I might not have made it to work today. The difference is extremely noticeable.

 

[k21975]

My 255/55/18's have been doing great this year. It is hard to compare the DM-V1's I had last year because they were nearly worn by the end of the year. It's like comparing that 25 year old at the gym to your 40 year old wife. And comparing the DM-V2's to my dedicated summer tires is like comparing a jet ski performance on the lake compared to golf cart on the same lake... maybe I'm just tired.

 

[Yoopmqt]

i have my son's Subaru Outback (he's away at college) and have defaulted to that when it has snowed...so i appreciate all the great feed back on the DM-V2s.

What????!! WHY?

 

[E55AMG]

how are these on dry pavement, as that is mostly what we have in the winter. noise? rough riding?

 

[m-fine]

how are these on dry pavement, as that is mostly what we have in the winter. noise? rough riding?

Quite good. Obviously not as good as a summer sport tire on warm dry pavement, but better than a summer tire compound on -10F dry pavement in both sticking to the road and being soft on the bumps. So far noise is not an issue at all, comparable to the factory Goodyear 1.5 season tires, but that is something that can get much worse with wear so it is hard to say what the noise will be like in 3 years.

We have had a mild winter so far so I have put a lot of miles on them on dry pavement, some cold, some disturbingly warm, and also plenty of wet pavement. Not counting the first 100 or so miles of breakin, I never felt like I was giving up anything by running the Blizzacks over a good all season tire. This is for regular driving, I am not tracking a diesel SUV and not pushing it to its limits on public roads in the winter. When on snow and ice is the only time I really notice that I have snow tires on, and then the difference is all positive.

 

[rfraa]

What????!! WHY?

Ha...silly, i know...just that the Outback is 10 yrs old and the VW looks nice and clean in the garage...

 

[skyfree]

So far noise is not an issue at all, comparable to the factory Goodyear 1.5 season tires, but that is something that can get much worse with wear so it is hard to say what the noise will be like in 3 years.

We have had a mild winter so far so I have put a lot of miles on them on dry pavement, some cold, some disturbingly warm, and also plenty of wet pavement. Not counting the first 100 or so miles of breakin, I never felt like I was giving up anything by running the Blizzacks over a good all season tire.

I love my Blizzaks, but I have had a different experience. My tires are new this season, and they are quite noisy compared to the OEM tires, making somewhat of a hollow "howling" noise at speed. It's not offensive with the windows up, but these tires are a lot noisier than non-snow tires which is expected.

Performance on dry pavement is also expected, with less traction under hard braking, and the higher sidewalls on 17" rims and soft rubber lead to more of a "wobbly" effect during steering corrections. The other day someone pulled out RIGHT in front of me and I had about 150' until impact at 50 mph. Stomping the brakes yielded a full ABS slide that would not have happened with an all-season or summer performance.

Just to be clear, I love the tires but they are not magic and the usual snow tire disadvantages are there. On snow and especially ice it is night and day between all-season radials and the Blizzaks.

 

[m-fine]

I love my Blizzaks, but I have had a different experience. My tires are new this season, and they are quite noisy compared to the OEM tires, making somewhat of a hollow "howling" noise at speed. It's not offensive with the windows up, but these tires are a lot noisier than non-snow tires which is expected.

Performance on dry pavement is also expected, with less traction under hard braking, and the higher sidewalls on 17" rims and soft rubber lead to more of a "wobbly" effect during steering corrections. The other day someone pulled out RIGHT in front of me and I had about 150' until impact at 50 mph. Stomping the brakes yielded a full ABS slide that would not have happened with an all-season or summer performance.

Just to be clear, I love the tires but they are not magic and the usual snow tire disadvantages are there. On snow and especially ice it is night and day between all-season radials and the Blizzaks.

Are you sure the abs slide would not have happened with summer tires? Tires have far less grip on cold pavement, and the difference is usually much more pronounced with a summer compound. If was cold, chances are that all season or summer tires would not have stopped you before impact. You have to drive differently in winter no matter what tire you have.

Yes, a 17" tire is not going to behave the same as a 20" with steering corrections, but I don't blame the Blizzack for the size I chose, and again, I don't drive hard in Winter.

The howling is weird. I definitely have not experienced anything like that. The noise from the TDI is usually louder than the tire noise except on concrete or other noisy surfaces.

Here is a quick reference. Many tire tests are done in Arizona and California, but the results are meaningless for below freezing conditions. When the temps drop summer tires become hard and frictionless, and all seasons perform far worse than winter tires even on dry pavement.

http://www.rubberassociation.ca/files/Winter Tire Benefits Not Understood.pdf

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...or-the-winter/article15295871/?service=mobile

 

[skyfree]

Yeah, totally understand the tire compound thing. It was about 70F when the incident happened, which is outside the normal temp for running a snow tire. We have a unique situation where we drive this vehicle all over the west from northern Idaho down to San Diego and spend a lot of time in Tahoe. Temps range between -20F and +80F in the winter. I need the snow tires because our house in Tahoe is way back on a road that doesn't get plowed quickly.

 

[m-fine]

Yeah, totally understand the tire compound thing. It was about 70F when the incident happened, which is outside the normal temp for running a snow tire. We have a unique situation where we drive this vehicle all over the west from northern Idaho down to San Diego and spend a lot of time in Tahoe. Temps range between -20F and +80F in the winter. I need the snow tires because our house in Tahoe is way back on a road that doesn't get plowed quickly.

That is a tough task for any tire. Pick your poison, a winter tire that has 30-40% less braking at 70 degrees, a summer tire that has 30-40% less at 30 degrees, or an "all season" tire that is bad at both. It looks like you have a good reason for the choice you made. You just have to accept that performance is going to be limited in the winter months no matter what tire is on the vehicle.