Date:         Wed, 7 Nov 2001 09:15:42 EST
Reply-To:     JKrevnov@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Rico Sapolich <JKrevnov@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: winter tire thoughts
Comments: To: gwilke@livemusic.org
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 11/6/01 10:42:28 PM, gwilke@LIVEMUSIC.ORG writes:

<< Yokohama said that they are making the 356 but they don't

recommend them for snow. >>

Geoff,

It has been my experience that they should tell you that they are absolutely
useless in snow.

It has recently been pointed out to me that I am a one of vanishing breed
because I still switch to dedicated snow tires.  But, then again, my feet
stay dry through most of what Mother Nature brews up each winter.  I greeted
my first winter in the driver's seat of a 2WD Vanagon shod with Yoko 356's.
All it took was one snowfall before I was franticly searching out a pair of
Hakkapeliita 10's.  Mounting the Hakka's with a100# bag of sand hovering over
each rear wheel solved that problem.

From my experience, I can make two endorsements:
1/  Nokia Hakkapelitta C2's.  These replace the Hakka 10's which are no
longer made.  I ran a set on a Syncro last winter and I noticed no
difference.  Previously, I ran the Hakka 10's year round for more than 2 ye
ars and they performed well the whole time.

2/  For years I used Vredestein Snow++'s on Volvo's only switching to Hakka's
when the Vredesteins were no longer readily available.  The two seemed to
perform the same in snow, but I preferred the Vredesteins because they were a
little quieter on dry pavement.  If a ready source for the Vredesteins comes
up, I have enough confidence in the product that I will use them again.

Rich