Are RFTs better for Winter tires?

[rharma]

After doing some research I settled on the Dunlop 3D or M3 tires for the winter. However, I just read a german test that suggests that RFT are better in the winter then non RFT tires. Are the disadvantages that everyone talks about with RFTs not valid when using winter tires?

[rharma]

no one?

[kmaas]

I have the Dunlop M3 DSST on my e90. Love 'em so far. Haven't seen the test of RFT vs. Non-RFT you're referencing. Would you post the link for us?

[cwsqbm]

After doing some research I settled on the Dunlop 3D or M3 tires for the winter. However, I just read a german test that suggests that RFT are better in the winter then non RFT tires. Are the disadvantages that everyone talks about with RFTs not valid when using winter tires?

The two main complaints with RFTs seems to be ride quality and inability to repair a simple nail puncture due to liability concerns. Both those issues would still be preset in winter RFT's, but the advantage of a winter RFT is not having to change a tire on a road covered with snow and ice while out in the freezing temperatures. If I had a car without a spare and was getting winter tires, I'd want RTFs just so I don't get stranded.

[chrisinvermont]

After doing some research I settled on the Dunlop 3D or M3 tires for the winter. However, I just read a german test that suggests that RFT are better in the winter then non RFT tires. Are the disadvantages that everyone talks about with RFTs not valid when using winter tires?

I won't get into the standard "runflats suck" arguement, but I can tell you what I have noticed so far with our runflat snow tires. We are getting our first real snow right now and the wife had the car for a late meeting so I didn't get to drive, but she said it handled great, like the road was clear. I did hit a bunch of slop/ice on the highway the other morning and they seemed to handle great.

So far what I have noticed is that the runflat snowtire (Nokia Hakka RSI's) are very different than the non-runflats in dry, cold, conditions. Normally as soon as I put the snows on the car the handling drops 25% or more. I have always run summer performance tires on previous vehicles (VW's and Saab's) and then put snow tires on for winter so the difference is very noticable. With the runflats, the tires only dropped the handling maybe 10%. I think the difference is that a snow tire usually is made of a softer rubber for traction. With a non runflat tire the sidewalls will provide quite a bit of flex. With the runflats the side wall is about a 1/2" thick and doesn't flex very much at all. The stiffer sidewalls definitely improve lateral handling. This is important because you are typically going from a wide low profile tire to a skinny higher profile tire.

Anyways I was quite nervous and not pleased buying a car with runflats. So far I have no complaint with the tires, both summer and winter. I am not familiar with Dunlops but I believe they are a quality tire. I would go with the runflats, but that is just me!

Chris