new tires, not enough snow

[Roger]

I knew the snow wasn't good, but I had to try my new tires. So I went driving in the Snoqualmie Pass area.

Well, the new tires wouldn't get me up this hill: :)



Seriously thought, I was a bit disappointed when I couldn't get up this road either:



It wasn't very steep, and with normal care I could walk on it. That is, it wasn't fall-on-your-butt slippery. Maybe I expected too much from my new winter tires (Yokohama Geolandar I/T GO72), but I feel my old Treadwright retreads (with their Kedge grip) would have done better. It would really be nice if I could compare them side-by-side.

[Nobody]

That ice is pretty cool! I think you can expect some improved performance once the tires break in a bit. What PSI were you running?

[Roger]

Good point. I might need to wear off the outer skin of rubber. I hope you are right.

Because the snow wasn't deep (and I forgot my valve stem removal tool), I didn't air down the tires so they were at 20 psi. On pure ice I haven't noticed lower pressures helping, but I haven't run on pure ice that much.

[Nobody]

Airing down would have made a significant difference.

On this trip, Steve got caught on the ice before airing down or locking in the hubs. He couldn't even get out without his bronco sliding away. We locked in the hubs, got him aired down and he drove away.