njboy

iTrader: (1)

I have come down to two tires for winter driving. The LM-25 or RE960AS. The Tirerack testing puts the all season RE960 not too far behind the LM-25. I'm leaning toward the all season RE960 because I don't want to sacrifice too much of the dry weather handling and with the locking front dif on the IX I should be able to get up a hill if I need to. A couple of years back I was caught off guard with a Spring snow storm while driving my WRX on SO-3 pole positions. I only got stuck with them on an icy hill and I bet I could have made it up the hill if I was able to lock the front diff.

Thoughts comments ....

Mark

VR4orceCJ

Locking Front Diff? I think you mean LSD as in Limited Slip Diff... and s-03s suck in the snow, so any all season tire will be better than them. Never used either of the other tires you mentioned.

Neal@tirerack

iTrader: (25)

You really can't compare the 960 the the LM because they are two completely different tires. The 960 is a great all season tire but it cant touch the snow/ice traction that the LM will have. You either have to sacrifice some snow/ice traction for better longevity and dry handling with the 960, or sacrifice handling and wear for super winter traction.

The 960 will work well in moderate snow climates where you don't see a lot of accumulation. Similar to the suburbs or downtown Chicago/New York. If you see or have the potential of a heavy snow I'd rather be in a full blood snow tire like the LM. Personally I'd rather give up some dry traction in order to make sure I can get home fine if it really starts to come down.