Running Winter/Snow tires in relatively warmer temperature areas

[Houm_WA]

Holy **** your Rover is clean!!!

 

[toddjb122]

...I have the General Grabber AT2 and have driven across Colorado, Kansas and Missouri many times with that tire. Winter storms, ice and wind. I was very pleased with their performance both winter and summer, on-road and off-road.

I know this post is a year old, but is anyone recommending the General Grabbers still? (whatever version is currently out there)

My mechanic likes them and also commented they are a good bit cheaper than Michelins or Nokians.

Finally got them installed. Ordered thru Discount Tire at $199 piece and had em mounted at my local trustworthy tire shop that i've known for a bit.

Have to admit, since there aren't that many pix of WRG3 SUV on LR3/4 out there, I was a bit skeptical as far as the looks of the tire, but the first thing I noticed right after the truck was lowered back on the floor was how great the tires look on my rims. The aggressive tread pattern looks really nice:
...

Let us know how you like them. I had them put on my LR3, but didn't get to take them through a winter before I sold the truck.
I have kind of crappy summer tires on the LR4 with a lot of life left in them. I'm considering getting the WRG3s again.

How is the road noise for you? Well, not noise... but feeling lumps and bumps in the road. I thought I felt things a bit more with those than I did with my Michelins.

 

[cperez]

I'm considering getting the WRG3s again.

I had them on my 2011 during some good snows here in DC and loved them. Also aired them down and drove them on OBX sand and had them out on some mountain trails but fairly mild stuff...not anything that would qualify as rock-crawling or wheeling as the terms are used here. That said I'm sure they could have tackled far more than I threw at them as far as offroad driving.

Never noticed any untoward road noise or uncomfortable road feel. I took a lot of extended road trips in them and only had one mishap which was my fault. I got distracted for a second and hit some road debris on I-70 and destroyed one of them with a deep sidewall cut. At highway speed I think any tire would have suffered the same fate. I loved the fact that they were all-weather and snowflake and mountain rated with good speed and load ratings too. Keep in mind they are directional tires so rotating them means front to back on each side, no corner swapping. Great tires.

It was also cool that they are a Finnish brand ("the northernmost tire brand in the world") and those people know something about adverse driving conditions. Their testing center is nicknamed "White Hell."

I posted a photo of them to my Instagram account and Nokian asked if they could share it to their IG feed. I tried attaching it here but it kept crashing my browser for some reason so here's a link to it:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBkiHshKD3t/

 

[manoftaste]

Let us know how you like them. I had them put on my LR3, but didn't get to take them through a winter before I sold the truck.
I have kind of crappy summer tires on the LR4 with a lot of life left in them. I'm considering getting the WRG3s again.

How is the road noise for you? Well, not noise... but feeling lumps and bumps in the road. I thought I felt things a bit more with those than I did with my Michelins.

Will do. About 40 miles in, haven't driven past 40 - 50 mph yet so cannot really comment on noise yet, but have not really noticed any noise so far within that mph range compared to the stock contis with apx 7.7k miles that these WRG3s have replaced.

As for bumps/lumps, etc, despite the skittishness possibly caused by the fresh rubber with mold separation coating still on, the tire still feels slightly less jarring than my stock contis, albeit a bit firm.

Cornering is one area where I felt improvement right off the bat on day one as I took a turn, compared to contis. But it could be due the tire/sidewalls being firm for them being new. Plus I have not really pushed the tires yet and taking it very nice and slow for breaking them in right.

Also, the firmness could be due to their Aramid Sidewall tech:

Will see how it goes. I really would like them to work as they would be a perfect winter set for me here in southern cali with temps ranging around 60s F around town and in teens up in the mountains hundred plus flat/dry miles out.

 

[manoftaste]

Holy **** your Rover is clean!!!

Ha... not messin around here, I take care of my baby, specially post Ugly-5 reveal... Oops, its been full ten minutes since I hugged her last

 

[toddjb122]

I was going to get the same tires as this Volvo I saw this weekend, but I think the road noise would be too much...

(yup, still covered in road salt)

 

[Houm_WA]

Ha... not messin around here, I take care of my baby, specially post Ugly-5 reveal... Oops, its been full ten minutes since I hugged her last

I mean....I take care of mine, too....but damn! I detail her myself...and while I spend hours on the body I don't really address the underside much beyond an annual "sand and paint" day to cover any surface rust from off-roading.

 

[danrhiggins]

This thread got me thinking. I put the 285/60R18 Nokian Hakka 2 snow tires on my LC a month ago replacing the E-rated, 285/65R18 KO2s that I normally run. But the temps here in Denver have been unusually warm - in the 50-60’s most of the time I am driving. (We must have sent all our cold weather east!). I am now wondering if I ought to just switch back to the KO2s. I did have a 2” lift done since last winter but it was also colder then. I’m just wondering if it is too warm for those snow tires. Or maybe I should put more air in them? I know the LC is a bit different than the LR4. But the weight is about the same and similar use cases. The LC tires are wider. Anyway, thanks for the thread. Trying to sort out whether snows are necessary in a climate like Denver that has dramatic changes and can go from snow to dry in a couple of days.

 

[jptruck]

I have Nokians on in Virginia, which can be 10 degrees or 70 degrees in the matter of 10 days. They work find. The warmer it gets, the more you notice them, but I've never had an issue with them. I generally keep them on until late March. They ride like a normal tire at cold temps (sub 35). If it does snow, or I do head to the mountains, they are freaky good.

 

[manoftaste]

I mean....I take care of mine, too....but damn!

Ha. I have never really detailed the undercarriage at all, and have almost put on 10k miles. I think its clean because I have not had the opportunity to take it offroading yet, or at least my version of offroading. I am gettin ready to though, bit by bit, accessory by accessory

Or it could be due to that new laser/brushless carwash I have been going to once a month or so which does have a high pressured streams undercarriage washing.

Some mountain trips this past winter got that out of the factory clean undercarriage look to go away a little.