KKaWing
Well-Known Member
- 126
- 122
Can it be? I'm actually making a new post that's not a youtube link? 
I'll start with my impressions so far by stating the pros and cons:
Pros:
Quiet, really quiet, quiet enough to hunt for bugs bunny
Wonderful in the fluff, slush and wintery stuff
Cons:
Squishy... realllyyyyy squishy, to the point of affecting directional stability in the wind
My tire history - Toyo Observe G-02 (plus) & Michelin X-Ice Xi2:
So a bit of history so you know on what basis I judge these tires. The "first" set of winter tires that I was actually conscious of were a set of Toyo Observe G-02 on my dad's mini-van. It also happens to be the first set of winter tires that I drove on a regular basis. This pretty much set the standard to which I judge winter traction for tires. These things sounded like driving on concrete all the time, even on the quietest, newly paved asphalt. That said, I never got stuck in them, ever, even when I was pulling bone head moves in dad's mini-van like any teenager would. They would claw their way out of deep snowbanks, be able to stop on black ice (no studs in S.Ontario), and only loses it's composure by wallowing a little in "emergency" lane change maneuvers. The impression I had on them was so deep, I got a set of G-02 plus for my first car, a Mazda 6 (205/60R16).
On to my next car, and next set of winter tires. The 6 was plagued by a gremlin, and on a whim, I got rid of it for a Nissan Versa (185/65R15). During my childhood I fondly remembered my mom's car having Michelins that were dead quiet. I believe they were the Arctic Alpin(e?). Since I got the car on such short notice and at the end of Janurary... tires were short in supply and well, I actually got a set of the exact same tires, used. They were quiet alright, but felt like an all-season tire. I thought nothing of it, it was used after all, and shopped around until I stumbled across a Costco that is willing to grab some tires from Montreal (first year the Quebec'ers had mandatory winter tires... mandated). I swapped them for a set of Xi2's from Michelin. Again, they were very quiet. Maybe just a rumble under hard braking.
For the next few years I've lived with them, I've made a few observations. First time winter tire buyers raves about them, while "experienced" winter tire owners hate them. If I had to guess, it is from the fact that the -seem- like they have no grip. Reality is they are actually fantastic in the snow but work very differently. Most people attribute winter grip to no wheel spin and ABS activation. The Michelins fail miserably when judge by that criteria. On the other hand, if you judge winter ability as never getting stuck and stoping without regards to how the car does it (short of crashing), these tires shine. Based on my own experiences, these tires grip the best when they are spinning... I was able to get through 2 ft. blizzards to Blue Mountain (Collingwood) from Toronto and never got stuck. I got through the unplowed sections in 4th gear and tires spinning with the wheel cranked 45 degrees to the left. Weird but hey, never stuck... Again, the same thing with braking, ABS would go nuts but I never blew into an intersection, even after a slushy and icy downhill section with a red light right at the bottom of the hill. I guess these tires are designed to make use of a cars traction control system to the max.
Fanboi Blurb:
On to these Gislavid babies. They are a Continental subsidiary from Sweden. Pretty much 'nuff said right? Well, if you've bought a Volvo back in the boxy 850's and the puny S40 sedan days, you might remember their website advertising Gislavid tires as the only tires "approved" by Volvo. Onto something more modern, the General Altimax. The tread pattern looks really similar (identical) to the Nord*Frost 3's. Internet hearsay claims Gislavid sold the design (and perhaps the compound) when they released a newer version. Well, enough of epeening and fanboiing the company...
Actual Impressions:
This season so far Toronto had 2 snow "storms". Both of which seemed to catch Torontonians by surprise. I mean, winter only comes once every year! How do you expect the average driver to remember how to drive on snow? What is this... Canada? Oh wait... (srry had to rant a bit). The first dump was about 3 inches following the 6 ft. dump in Buffalo. Driving normally, these tires never broke traction. They'll only -slightly- slip if you dump the clutch or get a little rev. happy. Braking was similarly uneventful. Pretty much only a firm boot on the pedal will ABS catch on.
The second dusting was around 1 cm if that. What made this different was the winds. This made the tire's really soft sidewalls apparent. I was pretty much driving like
to adjust for the winds and passing trucks which blocked the wind then go back into the crosswinds when I passed said truck. This is pretty much the only con for these tires. A more than acceptable compromise to me for the excellent winter performance. What I can't comment on is tire wear. I've never seemed to be able to finish a set of tires for one reason or another and I just got this set... Did I mention these things are quiet?
P.S.: Please for the love of all things good... don't store your tires near a central vacuum or anything that generates ozone like electric motors. It ruined my set of Xi2's in one season because a family member moved them out of the basement and into the garage because it smelled and didn't tell me until it is time to swap tires... the rubber turned hard. In Cantonese if you put the word "hard" and "plastic/rubber" together, you get slang for stupidity... Hope you enjoyed this wall of text.
Video is uploading so may take a while. It's just me driving around with a little boot on the gas at the end followed by 2 peddles in braking.
I'll start with my impressions so far by stating the pros and cons:
Pros:
Quiet, really quiet, quiet enough to hunt for bugs bunny
Wonderful in the fluff, slush and wintery stuff
Cons:
Squishy... realllyyyyy squishy, to the point of affecting directional stability in the wind
My tire history - Toyo Observe G-02 (plus) & Michelin X-Ice Xi2:
So a bit of history so you know on what basis I judge these tires. The "first" set of winter tires that I was actually conscious of were a set of Toyo Observe G-02 on my dad's mini-van. It also happens to be the first set of winter tires that I drove on a regular basis. This pretty much set the standard to which I judge winter traction for tires. These things sounded like driving on concrete all the time, even on the quietest, newly paved asphalt. That said, I never got stuck in them, ever, even when I was pulling bone head moves in dad's mini-van like any teenager would. They would claw their way out of deep snowbanks, be able to stop on black ice (no studs in S.Ontario), and only loses it's composure by wallowing a little in "emergency" lane change maneuvers. The impression I had on them was so deep, I got a set of G-02 plus for my first car, a Mazda 6 (205/60R16).
On to my next car, and next set of winter tires. The 6 was plagued by a gremlin, and on a whim, I got rid of it for a Nissan Versa (185/65R15). During my childhood I fondly remembered my mom's car having Michelins that were dead quiet. I believe they were the Arctic Alpin(e?). Since I got the car on such short notice and at the end of Janurary... tires were short in supply and well, I actually got a set of the exact same tires, used. They were quiet alright, but felt like an all-season tire. I thought nothing of it, it was used after all, and shopped around until I stumbled across a Costco that is willing to grab some tires from Montreal (first year the Quebec'ers had mandatory winter tires... mandated). I swapped them for a set of Xi2's from Michelin. Again, they were very quiet. Maybe just a rumble under hard braking.
For the next few years I've lived with them, I've made a few observations. First time winter tire buyers raves about them, while "experienced" winter tire owners hate them. If I had to guess, it is from the fact that the -seem- like they have no grip. Reality is they are actually fantastic in the snow but work very differently. Most people attribute winter grip to no wheel spin and ABS activation. The Michelins fail miserably when judge by that criteria. On the other hand, if you judge winter ability as never getting stuck and stoping without regards to how the car does it (short of crashing), these tires shine. Based on my own experiences, these tires grip the best when they are spinning... I was able to get through 2 ft. blizzards to Blue Mountain (Collingwood) from Toronto and never got stuck. I got through the unplowed sections in 4th gear and tires spinning with the wheel cranked 45 degrees to the left. Weird but hey, never stuck... Again, the same thing with braking, ABS would go nuts but I never blew into an intersection, even after a slushy and icy downhill section with a red light right at the bottom of the hill. I guess these tires are designed to make use of a cars traction control system to the max.
Fanboi Blurb:
On to these Gislavid babies. They are a Continental subsidiary from Sweden. Pretty much 'nuff said right? Well, if you've bought a Volvo back in the boxy 850's and the puny S40 sedan days, you might remember their website advertising Gislavid tires as the only tires "approved" by Volvo. Onto something more modern, the General Altimax. The tread pattern looks really similar (identical) to the Nord*Frost 3's. Internet hearsay claims Gislavid sold the design (and perhaps the compound) when they released a newer version. Well, enough of epeening and fanboiing the company...
Actual Impressions:
This season so far Toronto had 2 snow "storms". Both of which seemed to catch Torontonians by surprise. I mean, winter only comes once every year! How do you expect the average driver to remember how to drive on snow? What is this... Canada? Oh wait... (srry had to rant a bit). The first dump was about 3 inches following the 6 ft. dump in Buffalo. Driving normally, these tires never broke traction. They'll only -slightly- slip if you dump the clutch or get a little rev. happy. Braking was similarly uneventful. Pretty much only a firm boot on the pedal will ABS catch on.
The second dusting was around 1 cm if that. What made this different was the winds. This made the tire's really soft sidewalls apparent. I was pretty much driving like
to adjust for the winds and passing trucks which blocked the wind then go back into the crosswinds when I passed said truck. This is pretty much the only con for these tires. A more than acceptable compromise to me for the excellent winter performance. What I can't comment on is tire wear. I've never seemed to be able to finish a set of tires for one reason or another and I just got this set... Did I mention these things are quiet?P.S.: Please for the love of all things good... don't store your tires near a central vacuum or anything that generates ozone like electric motors. It ruined my set of Xi2's in one season because a family member moved them out of the basement and into the garage because it smelled and didn't tell me until it is time to swap tires... the rubber turned hard. In Cantonese if you put the word "hard" and "plastic/rubber" together, you get slang for stupidity... Hope you enjoyed this wall of text.
Video is uploading so may take a while. It's just me driving around with a little boot on the gas at the end followed by 2 peddles in braking.
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