Given
55%
while driving a
Pontiac trans am ws6
(275/40 R17) on
a combination of roads
for 15
spirited miles
these federal ss's came on the 96 trans am ws6 I bought. I read some reviews before winter hit ( I live in northwest Montana) and was expecting to have a very exciting winter! What I have found is they were not as bad as every one is claiming ! First dry, they do well gripping better than other tires I have owned on my 82 trans am with less horse power than this 96. the only complaint is they WILL spill your coffee trying to change lanes on rutted roads! That was easily fixed made a wooden box I can seat belt into passenger side with correct sized hole for my cup on top! Seriously, they jerk enough one wonders what the people behind you think when changing lanes from one paved rutted lane to the next, and its the front end first that jerks over then the back its CRAZY!
Wet, they are not good at all on wet cement, we only have one intersection that has cement the rest of the roads are paved. it does not matter how long its been raining, on the cement I cant take off from the light with out spinning, however, they never squeal, just spin, I have never gotten a squawk out of these tires, smoke sure, but not squealing. on pavement if it has rained enough to actually wash some of the calcium chloride and sand off they grip , not like race tires, but they will hold the back end accelerating around corners fairly well.
Snow. Ahahaha! gotta love not being able to drive with the back end behind you!! I actually got stuck trying to back into my drive in the middle of the road because of the crown of the road!! that was on snow pack. wet snow is even worse! I would say snowed more than one inch.. don't drive it! of course if it snowed more than three inches I am shoveling snow with the nose any way! I found though much to my surprise, if you can have snow pack that is sanded these tires once again shine! I guess the width and the sand on the snow makes it comparable to studded snow tires (on my 97 dakota) Seriously! I could stop faster than I could on wet cement! ( Did I mention the amount of deer, elk, moose and bear we have on the road ways here in North west Montana? Trust me a moose is VERY!! intimidating when sitting in a trans am!!)
Like I mentioned earlier, I have only had these tires since I bought the car last fall, I drive it every day I can to work 17? miles one way in the next town, so I get it up to seventy on the four lane, and have to drive through two small towns, the three weeks of dry roads I had were actually pretty awesome with these tires, with the exception being they really do have flat spots for about two miles at 60mph when the temp starts to dip. enough so, I was wondering about u joints or bearings! then they did great! the other five months I have yet to have dry roads with out sand or calcium chloride. black ice or frosty roads are ridiculously fun and exciting! touch the gas the back end starts around, touch the brake, the back end starts around! I am getting good at shoving the shiftier into N. because this trans am has a posi trac. when I come creeping up to a stop sign, and push the brake to bring it to a complete stop, it just pushes the front tires locked and of course the front end starts sliding which ever way the road is sloped. The couple hundred pounds I put in trunk to not get stuck in middle of the road helps, but increases the front end just sliding not stopping problem