Blizzak WS80's - Ride Quality?

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sgoatley2001e46
Posts: 391
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:49 pm

Blizzak WS80's - Ride Quality?

Post by sgoatley2001e46 »

I just put on a set of new Bridgestone Blizzak WS80's on my e90. These are my first set of Bridgestones, as I used to have Michelin Alpin 2's. I used the stock 17 inch wheels, and have a base suspension. I was told that the rims are trashed by the shop that put tires on, but they did say the wheels balanced. That said, I notice some minor vibration at highway speeds this morning, and what is best described as a little "floating". The ride felt a bit spongy and like there was some play. The car didn't feel as planted as it does with normal Continental All Seasons (High performance non-RF).

Does anyone else have experience with the WS80's and is this a normal ride feel?

Thanks!
Scott

afadeev
Posts: 288
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:02 pm

Re: Blizzak WS80's - Ride Quality?

Post by afadeev »

sgoatley2001e46 wrote:I just put on a set of new Bridgestone Blizzak WS80's on my e90. These are my first set of Bridgestones, as I used to have Michelin Alpin 2's. I used the stock 17 inch wheels, and have a base suspension. I was told that the rims are trashed by the shop that put tires on, but they did say the wheels balanced. That said, I notice some minor vibration at highway speeds this morning,
Then they didn't balance it all that well.
What shop did the installation?
sgoatley2001e46 wrote:and what is best described as a little "floating". The ride felt a bit spongy and like there was some play. The car didn't feel as planted as it does with normal Continental All Seasons (High performance non-RF).

Does anyone else have experience with the WS80's and is this a normal ride feel?
All winter tires feel softer than performance summer rubber.
I have WS60s and WS70s (80s must be new this year) on my cars, and they all feel weird the first time I swap in the winter set of wheels and tires.

For one thing, the winter rubber compound is softer, designed to stay pliable in freezing temps (when summer or all-season rubber turns into hockey pucks). It will feel squirmier in warmer temps, especially so with full tread. That's one reason I delay installing winter tires until day temps are consistenly in high 40s / low 50s, or when we get freezing precipitation.

Also, hard-core winter tires (like WS-line) are either H- or T-speed rated (vs. at least V or W for summer tires). This has the side effect of marginally software sidewalls, which add to a more disconnected feeling while driving.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... ?techid=35

WS** Bridgestone are, however, arguably the best non-studded winter tires you can buy for snow and ice traction.
I had driven on them up and down various mountains on the way to and from ski lifts all over the East coast, and even in 1+ feet of fresh snow, they allowed me to slalom around 4WD cars on inferior tires that were stuggling to get up a hill or stay on the road.

If you don't need optimal snow traction, Bridstone has an LM** series tires that are more expensives, but handle a little better on dry roads (at the expense of giving up some edge on snow & ice ).

a
Last edited by afadeev on Thu Nov 17, 2016 4:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

sgoatley2001e46
Posts: 391
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:49 pm

Re: Blizzak WS80's - Ride Quality?

Post by sgoatley2001e46 »

Quality Tire in Ledgewood, NJ did the install, but I ordered them from Tire Rack. I've had good success with Quality Tire in the past, so I too question the balance. I think a return trip is in order...

I'm glad to hear the softer feel is not unique. I guess it's been a couple years since I had dedicated snows on, and also the first with the WS series tires. I chose them based on prior praise I'd seen here on the club forum. A strong rebate also helped! :D I figured if I was getting a snow tire, get a strong performing one since I too will be in search of snowy ski resorts, preferably north of here. I also live at the top of a good hill. The "all season" ("no seasons") I removed are actually pretty good in the winter when the tread is on the first 50%, and I've been impressed, so I can only imagine how well these will perform.

Past performance from the Michelin's I had were great, but that was on an e46. Those were also on 16" steel wheels, and a "high performance winter tire". I don't think they were as soft. If these are in fact better, I can't wait to see what they can do. Obviously, these aren't a substitute for safe driving, but like you, I've experienced better traction and reliability on the road in a snow tire, than some AWD equipped SUV's using whatever tire they came with. My car is RWD, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. X Drive is tempting, but I've avoided so as to keep maintenance costs down a tad.

Thanks for the reply!

momoboy
Posts: 161
Joined: Mon Mar 28, 2005 5:16 pm
Location: Bridgewater, NJ

Re: Blizzak WS80's - Ride Quality?

Post by momoboy »

The "floating" feeling is totally normal with the Blizzaks. I have owned them in the past. While they are great on ice and deep snow it was that exact reason why I didn't want to go with them again. Dry traction and handling (to me) felt extremely compromised. I always felt I was correcting while on the highway and that turn in was "mushy" I went with the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 and feel that I get the best of both worlds with that snow tire.

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