This is what happens when you take snow tires on a racetrack

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-reviews/winter-tires-track-tested Provided they were performance winter tires but they did better than I expected.

I have always wondered what winter tires would do on a wet track.

very very cool to know

A better test would have been winter vs. all seasons in both hot and cold temps wet and dry.

I always thought it would be fun to fit up four space-saver spares...

Here's one of our fellow rallycrossers taking his e28 rallycross car to an autocross on snow tires (and mind you, not "performance winters, but just cheap snow tires - Winterforce, IIRC) :) Results....not quite the same. Manages to spin the car a couple times and then does a massive tire-fire drift at one point. And Nick is a very experienced autocrosser, lol...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl9QvVekr58

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HPh90yNX-mY&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHPh90yNX-mY

I've seen Kumho AST all-seasons do very well on dry autocrosses, and I'm pretty sure one of the local Miata guys runs snow tires on track because, well, he has snow tires.

We've got snow on the local track. I'm trying to put together a snow lapping day on Saturday. $40. Who's in?

kb58 wrote: I always thought it would be fun to fit up four space-saver spares...

I thought that would be a neat autocross class. Spare FWD, Spare RWD, Spare AWD. The only class rule is that a car must run on four space saver spares made for that car. No run-flat tires allowed (sorry, Corvette guys).

Power, suspension, everything would be meaningless.

Then I discovered rallycross, which is kind of the same thing except more fun.

In reply to kb58:

A friend had that same question a few years ago. There is video proof somewhere that a 66 chevelle with mini spares can pull a sweet and super smokey 4 minute standing burn out. He only stopped because he couldnt breathe/see. Tires were still good too lol.

I'll also mention that they tested the Wintersport 3D, it appears. I've had these same tires on my WRX for the past four winters. It rarely snows here, and really about 95% of the time they're on the car it's well above freezing. Hell, I've had them on the car in the 80s many times due to our oddball weather here.

And I have to say.....aside from noise, there is not a whole hell of a lot of traction difference from the Star Specs and the SP Sport01's that I've had on my summer wheels over the eyars. I can still easily push the car at "street 10/10ths" (not the same as track 10/10ths...) and they are totally confident in any conditions, and superior in any kind of wet or rain than any summer tire I've owned (duh).

But the main surprise is that I put the Wintersports on the car for 4 months out of the year and they're at 70% tread going into their 4th season. So I've worn 30% of their tread in a total of 12 months driving with them. I go through summer tires new to the wear bars in about 18 months of driving, pretty consistently.

Also, the sidewalls are probably stiffer than many all-season performance tires I've used, and at stock tire pressures I've never felt them roll over, and I do not corner gingerly on the street. I love corners fast, FWIW.

Not that I'm saying anything new to anyone here. Just for posterity :)

all that said, I don't call the WS 3D a "snow tire" as much as a "winter tire."

I consider "snow tires" to be things with block tread and VERY soft compound like the Blizzak WS-series, which would not have the same results on the track as a "performance winter" like the Blizzak LM-25 or the Wintersport M3/3D do....

So R/T really should distinguish between a "snow tire" and a "winter performance tire." They are most certainly not the same thing....

Knurled wrote:

kb58 wrote: I always thought it would be fun to fit up four space-saver spares...

I thought that would be a neat autocross class. Spare FWD, Spare RWD, Spare AWD. The only class rule is that a car must run on four space saver spares made for that car. No run-flat tires allowed (sorry, Corvette guys). Power, suspension, everything would be meaningless. Then I discovered rallycross, which is kind of the same thing except more fun.

We have many, many space savers stacked up at fm. I was thinking it would be fun to do an FM time trial with them at the Summer Camp. Maybe we could put them on the automatic 1.6 we just bought...

Knurled wrote:

kb58 wrote: I always thought it would be fun to fit up four space-saver spares...

I thought that would be a neat autocross class. Spare FWD, Spare RWD, Spare AWD. The only class rule is that a car must run on four space saver spares made for that car. No run-flat tires allowed (sorry, Corvette guys).

I've wanted to do that too, and I have a name for it: "DONUT DERBY"

My neighbor just bought a 2001 996 Carrera with 50k on it (and a repaired IMS) and is going to put snow tires on it and drive it through the winter.

He's a former SCCA GT5 guy, so he's plenty capable. I'm still interested in the details, though.

I'll be in my Hakka-shod 2000 Civic.

I should have done that with my old 318ti.. bet it would have been a lot more fun with snows than it was starspecs in the white stuff

the Wintersports didn’t exhibit any visible wear at all.