A little snow fell here overnight. Enough to cover the streets an inch or so deep. So I decided to finally see how the new winter tires actually do in snow before too many streets got plowed and salted.
Let me say first of all, though, that I have little memorable frame of reference. It's been many years since the last time I drove a RWD car in snow. Also, I haven't driven my Kappa on snow before - on ANY other tire.
The long and short of it is that they performed "admirably," but I wasn't exactly stunned by their performance. They won't transform a relatively lightweight, short wheelbase RWD turbo car into a competent winter driver. I'm certain they did better than the stock GS-2's would have by a long shot, but I can't help but think there are better snow tires. Maybe they're more capable in ice, as the moniker implies.
Still though, I'm satisfied with them. I just won't buy them again next time I need winter tires... and I'll drive my wife's VUE in conditions like this whenever possible from now on. Even with only FWD, no traction control, ABS or stability control, it just feels more capable. I kind of expected that too, though.
Next time it's Blizzaks.
