[wdb]

Get performance winter tires or performance all-season tires. From the sounds of conditions in Tahoe I'd opt for the former.

[AFSTIGUY]

Agree 100% about getting performance winter. If you were going to make 1 trip a year, you could get by on the M+S. Dude I was up there with had a Legacy GT and the stock M+S. He did fine in the shallow stuff, but commented that if he was going to be up there a lot, he would get winters, because the deep snow traction on his M+S was not that great.

From what I have read, the Blizzak's will give you pretty good treadlife (as good if not better than the RE070's). So, if you put the winter tires on in like December (start of Tahoe Snow), and take them off in April, they should last you like 4-5 years that way, at least.

[BEEZ]

Originally Posted by AFSTIGUY

Agree 100% about getting performance winter. If you were going to make 1 trip a year, you could get by on the M+S. Dude I was up there with had a Legacy GT and the stock M+S. He did fine in the shallow stuff, but commented that if he was going to be up there a lot, he would get winters, because the deep snow traction on his M+S was not that great.

From what I have read, the Blizzak's will give you pretty good treadlife (as good if not better than the RE070's). So, if you put the winter tires on in like December (start of Tahoe Snow), and take them off in April, they should last you like 4-5 years that way, at least.

thanks for the advice, i am definately going to buy dedicated snow tires for the winter months, man i cant wait until next winter.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by AFSTIGUY

From what I have read, the Blizzak's will give you pretty good treadlife (as good if not better than the RE070's).

Oh yeah. At least as good, almost certainly better. The caveat for Cali/Nevada folk is that you will be driving them around in summertime temperatures when you are not in Tahoe, and they are not really made for that. You might see higher wear than folks who use them in colder climates all the time.

A nifty "feature" of Blizzaks (and maybe other winter tires too) is that they have a wear bar that indicates when the tread depth is no longer sufficient for full-on winter use. The idea is that you will then use them in summertime to get your $ out of them. I did this with a set of LM-22's on our Legacy, and the darn thing is that those no longer good winter tires were downright wonderful summer tires. I don't know how well this will all translate to the STi but when my STi winter tires wear down I fully intend to find out.

[STiRiDaZ]

Yeah I learned pretty quickly that the stock sti tires were not for snow/ice when I had to drive home in an ice storm. I lost control of my car doing like 30 mph and almost hit a tree.

[Iguana]

Any have experiences driving on stock tires in New Jerzey? That is where I'll be spending my winters unfortuantely. The dealership there recommended Blizzaks, but they are pricy.

[LightWerkz]

go with any snow tire for jersey, you never know when and how much its going to snow.

[cwoo]

I've got Micheline pilot alpine A2 on mine. Here where I live, it gets so cold that you will die in 10 mintues if you go out without your winter gear on, and winter snow/ice can last from November to April. There is no way you can drive with the stock potenzas. Blizzacks have a special compound that is only in the top layer that grips well on ice, but quickly wears out leaving the less grippy lower layer, which is why I didn't get those.

[AWDfreak]

Hmmm, this thought has popped up in my head: Why doesn't Subaru just equip the STI w/ some UHP Pirelli's w/ the M/S designation?! it's a rally car, but it doesn't have the rally tires!.....

[Andy STI]

All season tires would be a major compromise for this car thats why. It may be a "rally car" but it is also a road performance car, thus the need for performance tires. Actually there are plenty of tarmac rallies where slick type tires are used.

[jagermeisteryeti]

<---total newb here-I just picked up an 06 this past week and it came shod with Yokohama YK520s. I'm trying to find out what their intended use is and whether or not I need to be looking for better winter tires. Good winter tires would certainly be a must here in Utah so I'm trying to get this taken care of asap. I've checked on some reviews on other sites and they don't really specify (maybe I'm just a tard and don't know where to look?) and they are usually mounted on completely different cars.

[Draco-REX]

Originally Posted by jagermeisteryeti

<---total newb here-I just picked up an 06 this past week and it came shod with Yokohama YK520s. I'm trying to find out what their intended use is and whether or not I need to be looking for better winter tires. Good winter tires would certainly be a must here in Utah so I'm trying to get this taken care of asap. I've checked on some reviews on other sites and they don't really specify (maybe I'm just a tard and don't know where to look?) and they are usually mounted on completely different cars.

The YK520s are all-seasons. You'd probably be much happier with your STI if you had high performance tires for summer and dedicated winter tires.

[grippymonkey]

Move to Cali, problem solved...

[Sideoiler]

You won't go wrong with Blizzaks. Remember, you get what you pay for. Dedicated winter tires have a snowflake on the sidewall, I believe. M+S radials aren't good at anything, too many comprimises.

You'll be amazed with winter tires in the snow.

[lackskill]

there are a metric ton of snow tire reviews on here. My personal flavor is the Nokian RSi. IMO the Nord's hit the nail on the head with these tires.