Hi everyone, so to copy cat from the General Altimax tire thread review, i thought since in my search for finding a winter tire for my FZJ80 i couldn't find much of any information on MUD as most use AT tires year round.
Any how about 3 weeks ago i bought my self a set of 4 Continental ExtremeWinterContact EWC snow tires in the size of 265 75 R16 to put on my stock 16x8 wheels. i bought the 116Q load rated versions as they didnt have a D rated tire in this size.
Continental ExtremeWinterContact
I picked them from tire rack for 125 a piece with 70 bucks shipping. i was going to go through a local supplier but i waited too long this year to buy tires and lots of places were sold out
. had them installed at a local garage for 60 bucks so all in i was at about 630 bucks installed, not awful for this size of tire, but i could have saved around 100 dollars or so going with a different tire, but i really liked these and wanted to try them out.
the day i had them installed i drove home from the shop tried them on the highway and local streets around where i live. they were a little bit squirmy under hard cornering, but very quite on the highway at 75, they also took little to no weight to balance, only one tire requited any weight at all (the front passenger tire) what surprised me! around town the tires feel great absorb road imperfections easily and stop on a dime on the cold tarmac.
a couple days later i got to try them out for the first time in the real snow, we had about 4 inches of snow fall, so after work i took the truck out and tried it out on a variety of conditions:
Highway covered in slush: these tires are fantastic cut through the slush with ease, and never slipped even under hard braking. Switching lanes and having to deal with the built up snow between the lanes was a non-issue the tires were able to grip the hard pack and then transition over to the slush covered tarmac in the next lane.
In town fully snow covered roads: the weight of the LC and the tires worked great in these conditions, probably not as much actual grip as something with much larger tread blocks that could cut through the 5 inches faster, however i always felt in total control. While doing doughnuts and power slides around corners i had as much control as while driving my friends AWD Subaru Legacy with 4 haka's and a 5 speed stick shift (one of the best cars in snow i have ever driven). It felt very planted and had just the right amount of wheel spin to be fun when i was really hammering on it. however when driven carefully they provided incredible traction when taking off and while braking, VERY impressed!
On icy roads with some slush in town: on ice these tires really shine, there is so much sipping on the tread blocks that the tires are able to grip fairly well on icy roads. the tire rack test said it worked best out of their test on an ice rink, but obviously that's less than a real world comparison, however i was very impressed with how little they slid, and how easily i was able to stop on the icy parts of the road. in comparison they worked much better than the Dunlop WinterSport M3's i had on my old 1997 Volvo 854R (another great car in the snow).
Overall i am very impressed with these tires, and while i spent a little bit more than i wanted to, i am happy with my choice. i can not comment on tread wear as i have only driven about 500 miles so far, but will update my thread after the winter and note how much tread loss i have had. if you are looking for a dedicated winter tire, and are having a hard time making a decision, i would definitely give these a look. they also come in an E load rating, if you happen to tow something in the winter or have a ton of extra weight. i was nervous about buying a non LT rated tire for the Land Cruiser but i was presently surprised with ho rugged these are. i would rate these tires overall as a 9 out of 10 for a winter tire!
on to the pictures
1.5" are on order!
Thanks for looking, hope this helps someone
Any how about 3 weeks ago i bought my self a set of 4 Continental ExtremeWinterContact EWC snow tires in the size of 265 75 R16 to put on my stock 16x8 wheels. i bought the 116Q load rated versions as they didnt have a D rated tire in this size.
Continental ExtremeWinterContact
I picked them from tire rack for 125 a piece with 70 bucks shipping. i was going to go through a local supplier but i waited too long this year to buy tires and lots of places were sold out
. had them installed at a local garage for 60 bucks so all in i was at about 630 bucks installed, not awful for this size of tire, but i could have saved around 100 dollars or so going with a different tire, but i really liked these and wanted to try them out. the day i had them installed i drove home from the shop tried them on the highway and local streets around where i live. they were a little bit squirmy under hard cornering, but very quite on the highway at 75, they also took little to no weight to balance, only one tire requited any weight at all (the front passenger tire) what surprised me! around town the tires feel great absorb road imperfections easily and stop on a dime on the cold tarmac.
a couple days later i got to try them out for the first time in the real snow, we had about 4 inches of snow fall, so after work i took the truck out and tried it out on a variety of conditions:
Highway covered in slush: these tires are fantastic cut through the slush with ease, and never slipped even under hard braking. Switching lanes and having to deal with the built up snow between the lanes was a non-issue the tires were able to grip the hard pack and then transition over to the slush covered tarmac in the next lane.
In town fully snow covered roads: the weight of the LC and the tires worked great in these conditions, probably not as much actual grip as something with much larger tread blocks that could cut through the 5 inches faster, however i always felt in total control. While doing doughnuts and power slides around corners i had as much control as while driving my friends AWD Subaru Legacy with 4 haka's and a 5 speed stick shift (one of the best cars in snow i have ever driven). It felt very planted and had just the right amount of wheel spin to be fun when i was really hammering on it. however when driven carefully they provided incredible traction when taking off and while braking, VERY impressed!
On icy roads with some slush in town: on ice these tires really shine, there is so much sipping on the tread blocks that the tires are able to grip fairly well on icy roads. the tire rack test said it worked best out of their test on an ice rink, but obviously that's less than a real world comparison, however i was very impressed with how little they slid, and how easily i was able to stop on the icy parts of the road. in comparison they worked much better than the Dunlop WinterSport M3's i had on my old 1997 Volvo 854R (another great car in the snow).
Overall i am very impressed with these tires, and while i spent a little bit more than i wanted to, i am happy with my choice. i can not comment on tread wear as i have only driven about 500 miles so far, but will update my thread after the winter and note how much tread loss i have had. if you are looking for a dedicated winter tire, and are having a hard time making a decision, i would definitely give these a look. they also come in an E load rating, if you happen to tow something in the winter or have a ton of extra weight. i was nervous about buying a non LT rated tire for the Land Cruiser but i was presently surprised with ho rugged these are. i would rate these tires overall as a 9 out of 10 for a winter tire!
on to the pictures
1.5" are on order!
Thanks for looking, hope this helps someone
