Green Diamond Tires

[Ilander]

Like you said, they have a 40,000 mile warranty. No need to worry too much...we're just making sure you're aware of what could happen.

Leave it to the fine folks at IW to instill terror into an other ordinary event

[Cloudbringer]

[img]smile.gif[/img] I was curious about them since they're a radical concept (at least for me!) in tires and wasn't thinking about all the problems mentioned here until I read this... eef!

But the tire place we went to is pretty reputable and they did tell my husband that they've had a lot of good feedback with these tires so we'll see! I'll let you all know how they wear and handle. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Raistlin Majere]

Originally posted by Seraph: Re-tread tires are very common on large trucks. However AFAIK trucks never use them on the front wheels, because they can fail, rather spectaculary. If you look off to the sides of major interstates you can often see the remains of re-treaded truck tires that have failed. quote: I figured they must be good in our snow/ice conditions if they work in Iceland, too!

The parts of Iceland where most of the people live don't get as much snow as people think. In fact Albany NY tends to have more snow then Reykjavik Iceland.

If you were worried about snow/ice you should have gone with a set of Nokian tires. They make an excelent all-weather tire that has great snow performance, IIRC it is the only all-season tire that carries the Severe Service Emblem. The emblem is given to "Tires Suitable for Use in Severe Snow Conditions".


I also thought I'd point out that the website contains atleast one piece of information that is total BS. "Silicon carbide granules" are not "actual industrial diamonds". [/QUOTE]Yeah, Nokia for the win! We finns know a thing or two about winter driving as well

On a more serious note, if you're looking for safe winter driving, you should go with something like the famous Nokian Hakkapeliitta I or II series. Both offer excellent driving safety in harsh winter conditions, though they aren't really the all-around-the-year kind of tires. If you need an all around good tire, you could go with Nokia WR...it's designed for all seasons. Can't beat a specific purpose tire, but prolly one of the better all arounders. All might be a bit noisy, but thats what snow tires will do for ya.

http://www.epinions.com/auto-Tires-A...nce_type-Nokia
A few user reviews just for the fun of it. Found the first one amusing

[Cloudbringer]

Thanks, Raistlin! We usually use the all-season tires but I've been thinking that we might do snow tires for my car next year. This is my first winter driving the new car so I don't know how it will perform in snow or ice yet. It's a bigger car than I'm used to (an Accord and my old one was a Sentra) and an automatic too, which I'm also not used to. So I don't know how it will be on the Michelins I have on it (came on the car- we just bought it this past spring)but we'll see.

[Black Knight]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: It's a bigger car than I'm used to (an Accord and my old one was a Sentra) and an automatic too, which I'm also not used to.

Be careful when you shift (pictures Cloudy spinning a 360 in traffic)...let it out easy and break on the straightaways...

[img]smile.gif[/img]

BK

[Cloudbringer]

I automatically want to clutch when I shift! LOL Miss my stick shift in this weather, so any tips on driving an automatic in the snow are welcome! No 360 maneuvers needed, though! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[wellard]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: Actually, we were more worried about putting ANY tires on the car at this point since one of the old ones cracked and went flat and two more had cracks on them as well. The added traction in bad weather is a plus though.

G'day Clouds (long time no chat [img]smile.gif[/img] )

First of I am guessing the old tyres cracked after 12 years due to UV rays, rubber is very susceptible to this sort of deteriation, and I must admit I have never known any tyre to last that long before [img]tongue.gif[/img]

I am sure retread technology has come a long way since the old deathtraps of yore but you pay for what you get and I will play devils advocate here by saying I would never trust retreads in extreme situations. As mentioned before just observe all the shredded rubber along side you freeways, all of which would be retreads! In an emergency you have about 4 square inches of rubber trying to grip the road, I would only ever use mid to top range tires myself.

The above may not be what you want to hear, Clouds and Nacht; but given the low use and constant care (correct tyre pressure and balancing) and low temperatures you should be all right. BTW are the shocks 12 years old as well? They play a huge role in the cars ability to keep the rubber on the road.

[Zebodog]

Originally posted by Cloudbringer: I automatically want to clutch when I shift! LOL Miss my stick shift in this weather, so any tips on driving an automatic in the snow are welcome! No 360 maneuvers needed, though! [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Probably one of the most important things to remember, is to shift into neutral when you are approaching a stop.

In a front wheel driver car, accelerating will transfer weight to the front, braking will transfer weight to the back. Handy to know, if you start to slide so you can transfer weight to the right area.

The most important thing to remember when driving in snow/ice is to never assume that the other drivers on the road know what they're doing.

[Cloudbringer]

Wellard! Yes, long time no chat! Good to see you! [img]smile.gif[/img] The shocks are indeed original, at least as far as I know! We've had the car inspected twice since we got it this summer and our friend's brother is a mechanic so we had it tuned up by him a few months ago as well.

As you say, the low mileage will help and keeping them properly inflated can't hurt. With hubby only driving about 40 miles a week max, give or take the occassional longer trip once ever few months or so, we figured it wouldn't be too bad. Haven't seen any data on the wear/length of use for these tires anyplace, so I can't say what we expect from them, really. I'm hoping they won't be too bad, but I hasten to add that after reading things here it makes me a wee bit anxious about them. [img]graemlins/uhoh1.gif[/img] But again, the tire place we went to is a reputable one and they recommended them, so hopefully they'll get my hubby through a few years til we can afford the new suv/truck sort of thing he'd rather have!

I will add this, though, about bits o'tire coming off..it's not always retreads! I had a tire blow on me last year and it did almost the same thing, albeit it didn't leave quite as much of itself on the road! I think I'd let it get underinflated and it blew as I got off the highway after doing about 70mph for 15 minutes.


Zebodog, thanks for the 'how to drive an automatic in snow/bad weather' info! I appreciate any tips anyone can give on that score since I know have 20+ yrs experience with the manual and now have to relearn reflexes in a hurry!

So you just shift to neutral while driving? It always makes me feel funny to shift my new car while moving and not having the clutch.. I know in my head it won't strip gears, but tell my foot that as I hit my floor looking for a clutch! LOL