hey guys,

i have a 2000 mz3 coupe. i just put new blizzacks on the rear (ws-50s). when i bought the car (august 2006), it came with front and rear blizzacks (lm-22s). i went through the winter of 2007 without any problem. by april, the rears were shot but the fronts had more meat to them.

fast forward to november 2007. i bought a new set of blizzacks for the rear (ws50's - i had a GREAT experience with them in my '95 m3). so i have lm22's on the front and ws50's on the rear (i know you should never mix and match tires, but money is tight and i wasn't throwing out a good set of fronts).

here's the problem when driving:
-SHARP turn in with the steering
-rear feels loose - easy oversteer.
-highway speeds (65-80mph), the steering is so sensitive i have a hard time keeping her straight

information:
-the blizzacks are the same size as my pilot sports (225/45/17 and 245/40/17)
-i did NOT get an alignment done after the swap (since they were the same size as my pilots, i didn't think i would need it)

would anyone know why i'm experiencing those problems mentioned above?

thanks!

-mike

Part of it is the WS50s in my opinion. They are TERRIBLE tires on the dry pavement. Before they were discontinued, the big winter tire tests in Scandanavia either put them dead last, or disqualified them for being such a bad pavement tire.

Being at full tread doesn't help either. How many miles have you put on them so far? If it's under 500, I'd give them a little time to break-in and for the mold-release to wear off. They'll probably feel a little better after that. I know you had these tires brand new a year ago, but you're probably not used to how they felt a year ago when the tread was full.

The LM-22 drives more like an all-season where the WS-50 drives more like a pure ice/snow tire. Also the WS-50 has a 5-block wide tread design and can grab grooves in the pavement fairly often. The WS-60 is a much better tire on the dry than the WS-50, but as all pure snow/ice tires the sidewall can feel a little squishy on turns.

I have 205-60-15 LM 50's on all 4 corners and I have no complaints. They have about 3,000 miles on them. I put them on early this year, we were expecting some accumulation that never appeared. 3 weeks on mostly dry pavement so far, and they are performing quite nicely. I almost forget I have snows on at all. They are medium-low noise and they don't grab the lines in the road like my Ecsta ASX's and they did great in last years 'Buffalo' winter.
I have nothing to compare them to in my own experience as I have always run an all season tire year 'round. Being from Buffalo, I have plenty of experience driving in shit weather conditions and I haven't used a dedicated snow tire in years, but then most of my recent vehicles have been front wheel drive which are inherently better in snow.

/bump for more opinions. It's the season and I've been wondering the same thing.

A true all season tire that is great in dry, wet and snowy conditions for most of N. America is the Nokian WR. I have had great experiences with this car on my VW's and Volvos. A variation to the WR is now available - the WR G2.

Dedicated snow tires really wear fast when they are subjected to extended periods of dry road use.

True statement about dedicated snow tires wearing fast...however...I wouldn't interchange dedicated snow tires for all season tires and assume that you'll get just as good snow traction.

As was stated above...I think the problem is the fact that you're running a WS-50. In my experience the WS-50 is a Q-rated tire. You're most likely used to driving on a Z rated tire. Changing to a Q should make you feel like you're driving on jello.

I would highly suggest choosing a snow tire that has at least an H performance rating...if not a V. That way you stay as close as possible to the ultra high performance aspects that you're used to driving on.