[fdiprete]

Hello All,

I've been running blizzaks this winter. set of 4 16's (squared) and they are broken in. I've been experimenting with tire pressure to get better handling.

My first setting was 30 psi F and 36 psi R as per the door tag.
The result was fish tialing at 75 mph on the highway on straight roads.
The rear end wanted to kick out big time.

Second setting was 30 psi all around. Stopped the fish tail but the rear wants to kick out in turns ( on ramps ).

When it got colder the problem got worse. I checked the pressure and they were around 28-29.

I just upped them back to 30 psi F and put them at 32 psi R. Becasue slightly higher pressure in the rear is supposed to help. The rear end still wants to kick out.

Can pressure help or is this to be expected?

[Kylekuu]

i don't get the fish tailling issue, and running blizzaks also, but 18's. My TP's are 32 all around.

[chaz58]

Upping the tire pressure in the rear effectively increases the spring rate, which is going to give you oversteer. For cars that are not over loaded and/or traveling under 100mph, use the same PSI front and rear.

With DSC on default mode, you shouldn’t be getting any oversteer.

You are also probably getting on the gas too early if you are getting oversteer – the car will track out nicely if you don’t hit the gas before the apex.

If it really bothers you, put more PSI in the front, rather than the rear – this will reduce oversteer. Still, what you are describing sounds odd, and could be an alignment issue such as toe out on the rear.

[fdiprete]

Originally Posted by chaz58

If it really bothers you, put more PSI in the front, rather than the rear – this will reduce oversteer. Still, what you are describing sounds odd, and could be an alignment issue such as toe out on the rear.

that's interesting. I had it aligned last summer on the 16's conti run flats.
for the fall I was running a set of 162's (18's, staggered). I'm running the snows on the 16's now. I'm up for inspection next month so I may have the alignment checked again.

[JaysBlueE92]

I had blizzaks on my winter setup last year and experienced fishtailing a bit also..couldn't wait to ditch them

[fdiprete]

Thanks for the posts - especially from people who had similar issues running blizzaks (mine are ws60's btw). It sounds like normal handling for these tires on dry pavement. They are very good in snow though.

I was able to eliminate the straight line fish tail effect with equal pressure on all 4 and also running 30 front and 32 rear. (nice and smooth at 75 on the highway).
I'm still experimenting to try and get the cornering rear weel grip a bit better.
One thing I haven't tried is a slightly higher pressure on the fronts.

[fdiprete]

Originally Posted by Kylekuu

i don't get the fish tailling issue, and running blizzaks also, but 18's. My TP's are 32 all around.

good - trust me, you do not want to experience this. not fun.
running the same pressure front and rear like you are using made it go away for me. 30 front and 36 rear was an interesting sensation.

[chaz58]

I agree, the blizzacks (or any "studdless" tire) are squirrely if there is no snow. I can't stand it, and went back to all season tires until I found the Dunlop M3 (&3d). They are amazing for snow tires.

Nothing can touch a studdless tire on the ice though.

One good thing about AWD, you don't get as much wheelspin with the bilzzacks - those are horrible on 2WD cars.


Try running the tire pressure at 36psi all around. You need higher pressure on snow tires (especially the Q rated ones like this). Summer tires heat up as you drive, but winter tires can actually get colder as you drive - if you measure tire teperature in a garage. Higher "cold" tire pressure (5-6psi) can help.

[fdiprete]

cool - I'm at 30 cold all around and that's better than 30F 32R. I could feel the car wanting to twist. When it got very cold and they dropped to about 28 from 30 it got worse, so I'll experiment further by going up on all 4.

[fdiprete]

up to 34 psi on all four. seems to be an improvement.

[Kruz]

LM-25s here and I think my TP is 34-36...no fish tailing unless I want to.

The LM-25s are supposedly more performance oriented so they are not as an aggressive winter setup as yours.