The original Equip Dunlops are not All Season and failed miserable in light snow. I am looking for an aggressive all season to use in in the Northeast. Not too many options yet....any body got any advice/experience in upgrading tires...Thanks

 

They did pretty well in Chicago this past winter. While I was spinning my wheels alot in 'get up and go', I can still do that with the newer (grippier & wider Conti DWS) tires, on dry pavement... so, I'd say par for the course.

As for what new tires to go with, I'm using Continental ExtremeContact DWS tires in 205/50/16 size (with after market wheels, but they should fit stock wheels too). There are a number of folks also using this tire brand/model.

Some folks use Hankooks, Generals, etc... just look around (especially in the tire&wheels subsection of the main forum).

 

I've been running Nokian WR-G2's for the last two winters (and the nice weather between), here in MetroWest Mass. On the lousier days, I was often passing slipping and sliding fools on the Pike, far from a loss of traction myself. When I had to go out before my parking lot got plowed, 10+" of wet or dry snow wasn't a problem, I just used the car in snowplow mode- get in and go.

There is one _steep_ hill I have to contend with (from a standstill) which gets poorly cleared, and often has ice under the snow. On the worst days, I just let the car go normally until traction breaks - then I give it enough throttle to get the tires up to about 25, they dig through the loose top pack and grab at the ice, and up and away I go.

Now, as to nicer weather.... Rain? You mean the stuff that makes it harder to see? Wet roads aren't any different than dry, I often take cloverleafs from the pike at 40 (when I have the road to myself that is).(Thank you, Progress RSB!!) I have the confidence to do this partly thanks to the "Can I make it break free?" testing I did one fine rainy day when I had a parking lot full of large puddles to myself. 50mph -> 0 by tromping on the brakes as hard as I could while in the middle of a big puddle, and I couldn't break the tires free. I also tried making the same stop while turning in such a fashion I should have kicked the rear end around, but it just wouldn't come loose.

As to durability- after one winter, the summer, and then the second winter, I finally wore down to the "minimum recommended for snow" on the front tires - (Candid confession time, I got lazy about rotations and didn't do any at all) and I drive at least 300 miles a week, more usually around 400 (don't have my records handy, but I'm confident that it was at least 25k miles). Not bad for a "winter" tire. Notice I didn't say the tires were worn out - just that they were no longer recommended for snow use.

Short story - these tires are bad news for the "But I like to make donuts" crowd, good news for the "Gotta get to work no matter the weather" group - and fun, too!