[Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Snow tires around here are marketed as either "studless" or "studdable." It is highly recommended _not_ to run studdable tires on ice without studs. Studdable tires running without studs are worse than most winter-capable all-season tires because they are engineered to have large tread blocks to hold the studs and maintain structural integrity, and counting on the studs to bite into the ice. Just like the turbo engines in our beloved Saabs count on the turbo to deliver performance; if we disable/bypass the turbo, we'd be settled with a low-compression engine with even lower performance than if the engine had been designed without taking advantage of and being able to accommodate turbo.
Silica/silicate surface compound is the biggest snow tire technology development in the past decade+, but they are structurally "crumbly," therefore can not be made to hold studs, or even make the entire depth of the tread block without breaking off too easily. That's why they are surface mounted/"impregnated" on tread blocks made of regular winter rubber substrate. That's also one of the reasons why the "performance" (as in higher speed) winter tires have less silica/silicate surface impregnation. Only the top 1/3 of the tread depth on Blizzaks have substantial amount of the silica/silicate surface material, that's why their winter performance fall back to normal soft rubber winter tires after the first 1/3 is worn. The difference is huge. I would place the rubber found on studdable winter tires at one level even below the soft substrate rubber on studless winter tires below the silica/silicate surface mount, because the harder rubber would hold the stud in place better. On top of that the studs require a solid and smooth "shoulder" to mount . . . even the old tech studless tires and many all season tires would have better engineered surface geometry without that constraint reserved for studs.
That's why studdable tires running without studs really shouldn't be considered "winter tires" in terms of real performance on ice and snow, except for perhaps by 1960's standards. LOL. Many winter-capable all-season tires are better than that. I'm not at all surprised that you found the tires performing poor in snow and ice when not studded.
posted by 96.233.42...
, Sun, 12 Dec 2010 11:12:16
, Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:19:28, Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:48:02
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
