Review of Bridgestone LM22's (very looooooong)
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Review of Bridgestone LM22's (very looooooong)
Sorry guys and gals. This review probably belongs in the "review" section, however by the time it gets there, it will probably do people little good.
Bridgestone LM-22 review on my '00 A4 1.8TQM (tires have about 2K miles and are inflated to about 34 psi)
Dry:
Exceptionally quiet. Nice comfortable ride. They are definitely more numb than my stock SP8000's. Dry grip is good considering what these tires were made for. Compared to my old Guardex tires (on my Integra), these tires are outstanding in dry (very much like an all-season tire as I will repeatedly point out).
Wet:
They are nothing to write home about. Not bad, not great, they just work. They will hydroplane if pushed. I suspect this will get worse as I wear off the tread, but for now, it's acceptable. They are better than my old Guardex tires, but the comparison is moot, since my Integra was too light to stay planted with most tires anyway.
Ice:
They just don't stick. The ABS cycles immediately and persistently trying to bring the car under control. I really don't have any confidence on these tires in ice. My old Guardex tires in comparison were a multicell snow/ice tire that actually stuck to ice better than any other tire I have tried! I would rate performance in this category as comparable to a good all season tire like a Dunlop D60.
Snow:
Well, there are different kinds of snow, and today I tried a few different scenarios. The snow we received today was a dry light powdery snow. It was definitely on the slippery side (even for snow). First lets talk about hard packed snow...nothing outstanding here. They once again remind me of a good all-season tire. The ABS kicks in much earlier than with a set of Guardex's. On the highway with packed snow I took it up to 50 mph. Normal driving is fine, but that's not what I bought these tires for. I yanked the wheel one way and then the other leaving my foot evenly planted on the gas to maintain speed. Whoah...fishtail! The back end started coming around once...then back to the other side as I corrected, and back over once again until I brought it back in a straight line. My Guardex tires would have slid a little under these circumstances, but I would not expect THIS from a dedicated snow...from and all season, yes. How about deep unplowed snow...well, with my 2 month old sagging Eibach ProKit springs (1.5 finger gap in front at this time...and probably still dropping when I'm not looking!), I tried not to tempt fate and stuck with plowed roads. A couple of times I heard things getting whacked underneath by 4 inch mounds of snow in the road. Then there were roads that were salted, and had a slush/snow accumulation on them. No more than an inch of stuff...here they performed wonderfully, just as any all season tire would. They cut through the slush and locked the car down to the pavement.
As you can tell, I am consistently reminded of an all-season tire when I drive with these tires. I am not impressed at all with their performance...it's as though Bridgestone took and all season tire with a good belt package and changed the tread pattern to look like a winter tire, in an effort to have something to market against the Dunlop Wintersports, and Michelin Pilot Alpins of this world. Let's look at price for a 205-55-16...at the Tirerack, the LM22's are $111. Take a standard all season like the Dunlop D60's (on sale) and you'll spend about $65. In my opinion, all you are getting is a picture of little mountain and snowflake on the side of the tire...for $46 per tire! Ouch! With all the rave reviews people give the Wintersport M2's, I would be more inclined to try them. Now, tire pressure does play a role here, but not enough to account for the differences I see between these tires and my old Guardex's (which I admit I neglected to check regularly). I'll have to check the tire pressure in the LM22's tomorrow, but they should be around 34 psi.
One last thing: some people reading this may infer that they shouldn't waste their money on snow tires, and they should keep their stock Bridgestones/Dunlops/Pirellis. High performance tires are NOT designed for winter use. These tires, despite my lukewarm response, are much much much superior to a high performance tire in the winter!!! If you choose not to believe me, at least upgrade your insurance policy to a 0 deductible for the winter months...you'll need it!
Cheers!
Raj
Bridgestone LM-22 review on my '00 A4 1.8TQM (tires have about 2K miles and are inflated to about 34 psi)
Dry:
Exceptionally quiet. Nice comfortable ride. They are definitely more numb than my stock SP8000's. Dry grip is good considering what these tires were made for. Compared to my old Guardex tires (on my Integra), these tires are outstanding in dry (very much like an all-season tire as I will repeatedly point out).
Wet:
They are nothing to write home about. Not bad, not great, they just work. They will hydroplane if pushed. I suspect this will get worse as I wear off the tread, but for now, it's acceptable. They are better than my old Guardex tires, but the comparison is moot, since my Integra was too light to stay planted with most tires anyway.
Ice:
They just don't stick. The ABS cycles immediately and persistently trying to bring the car under control. I really don't have any confidence on these tires in ice. My old Guardex tires in comparison were a multicell snow/ice tire that actually stuck to ice better than any other tire I have tried! I would rate performance in this category as comparable to a good all season tire like a Dunlop D60.
Snow:
Well, there are different kinds of snow, and today I tried a few different scenarios. The snow we received today was a dry light powdery snow. It was definitely on the slippery side (even for snow). First lets talk about hard packed snow...nothing outstanding here. They once again remind me of a good all-season tire. The ABS kicks in much earlier than with a set of Guardex's. On the highway with packed snow I took it up to 50 mph. Normal driving is fine, but that's not what I bought these tires for. I yanked the wheel one way and then the other leaving my foot evenly planted on the gas to maintain speed. Whoah...fishtail! The back end started coming around once...then back to the other side as I corrected, and back over once again until I brought it back in a straight line. My Guardex tires would have slid a little under these circumstances, but I would not expect THIS from a dedicated snow...from and all season, yes. How about deep unplowed snow...well, with my 2 month old sagging Eibach ProKit springs (1.5 finger gap in front at this time...and probably still dropping when I'm not looking!), I tried not to tempt fate and stuck with plowed roads. A couple of times I heard things getting whacked underneath by 4 inch mounds of snow in the road. Then there were roads that were salted, and had a slush/snow accumulation on them. No more than an inch of stuff...here they performed wonderfully, just as any all season tire would. They cut through the slush and locked the car down to the pavement.
As you can tell, I am consistently reminded of an all-season tire when I drive with these tires. I am not impressed at all with their performance...it's as though Bridgestone took and all season tire with a good belt package and changed the tread pattern to look like a winter tire, in an effort to have something to market against the Dunlop Wintersports, and Michelin Pilot Alpins of this world. Let's look at price for a 205-55-16...at the Tirerack, the LM22's are $111. Take a standard all season like the Dunlop D60's (on sale) and you'll spend about $65. In my opinion, all you are getting is a picture of little mountain and snowflake on the side of the tire...for $46 per tire! Ouch! With all the rave reviews people give the Wintersport M2's, I would be more inclined to try them. Now, tire pressure does play a role here, but not enough to account for the differences I see between these tires and my old Guardex's (which I admit I neglected to check regularly). I'll have to check the tire pressure in the LM22's tomorrow, but they should be around 34 psi.
One last thing: some people reading this may infer that they shouldn't waste their money on snow tires, and they should keep their stock Bridgestones/Dunlops/Pirellis. High performance tires are NOT designed for winter use. These tires, despite my lukewarm response, are much much much superior to a high performance tire in the winter!!! If you choose not to believe me, at least upgrade your insurance policy to a 0 deductible for the winter months...you'll need it!
Cheers!
Raj
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