Miatapower List Archive

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Mail From: "Chad J. Douglas" <(email redacted)>

Well, We got 18" of snow in our alley, and even my Subaru is stuck. The Mi=
ata's not going anywhere. We've been housebound all day, and thankfully th=
ere's a quickie mart nearby that can charge $3.49 for a small bottle of ket=
chup.
=20
So, when my dad finally gets time, he'll come by and plow my alley and driv=
eway, freeing both the Miata and the Subaru from their imprisonment.
=20
Chad

-----Original Message-----
From: racer_chuck@comcast [mailto:(email redacted)]
Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2004 1:56 PM
To: (email redacted); (email redacted); (email redacted); 'AI=
MTuning'
Subject: [eGCMC] snow tire update



I had promised several people an update once I got a few miles on my winter=
tires=85 so here you go:

=20

Winterforce M+S studdable in 185/60/14.

I bought them because they were cheap =96 about $44 each from Tire Rack. I=
figured that even if they didn=92t work very well at least I wasn=92t out =
a lot of cash.

=20

On dry pavement they are fine as long as you are just driving around town a=
nd at low speed. Once up at highway speed (65+) they tend to wander a bit.=
Noise isn=92t bad and the ride is fairly cushy. Compared to my Kumho MX=
=92s, they are like marshmallows. Non-snow performance is significantly lo=
wer than my previous winter favorites, the Michelin Arctic Alpin. Once you=
throw the Winterforce=92s into a corner things gets interesting. Like mos=
t winter tires, they don=92t have a great deal of dry grip. The funny thing=
is, after turning the wheel about 90*, all steering feel goes away =96 you=
can keep turning the wheel but not much else happens until sometime later =
when the rubber starts to howl. But really that=92s not too much of a prob=
lem as long as you remember that they are winter tires, after all, and you =
aren=92t supposed to autoX on them.

=20

The real test came this morning. We got over 7=94 of fresh powder overnigh=
t (can I actually say =93fresh powder=94 since I live in Indy??). Wanting =
to put the tires to the test, I headed out for an unplowed parking lot. Yo=
u can see in the linked pictures, the snow was up to the bottom of the door=
s and the car just kept on going. The Rat Back Racing spoiler plowed throu=
gh the parking lot, pushing snow up as high as the middle of the bumper. T=
he snow was cresting and blowing up over the hood at one point. Even stopp=
ing and starting in deep snow wasn=92t much of a problem. I had to rock th=
e car once, but with a little momentum it rolled on through.

=20

Pictures are at www.photochuck.com/snowmiata/index.html

=20

In summary, even though they aren=92t so hot in the dry, the Winterforce ar=
e fairly unstoppable in Indiana snow. Definitely high bang for the buck. T=
he only thing lacking is more ground clearance on the car.

=20

Have a Merry Christmas and keep the shiny side up!

=20

Chuck


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