Why I Am Catholic
Back in November I shared my opinion on the Yokohama YK580 tires. I was pretty rough on them in that review because I expect a lot out of my tires, and I was underwhelmed by their performance in wet weather.
So let me tell you how they do in light snow and ice.
In a word, fantastic.
Yeah, this surprised me too. But having just come off a week of near zero temperatures, where the snow got an extra helping of a couple of inches of freezing rain, which promptly froze into a solid sheet of ice, I could drive my little Honda everywhere with the YK580s. The lack of grip I was experiencing in the rain failed to show under the onslaught of snow and ice.
I could back up my driveway, which has a gentle up angle that usually isn’t a problem. You know, unless there is a 2 inch thick sheet of ice on it. The YK 580s dug in and grunted up it with no problem. In reverse, or going forward. Speaking of going forwards, that was no problem, ever. A little slipping of the clutch pedal, and we were on our way.
The sipe pattern molded into this tread design bites into ice and snow like a Great White shark bites into seals. These tires bite so well that the unplowed secondary roads that I thought would be a nightmare, turned out to be a cake walk. Plowing through curves while praying that the car will respond to your steering inputs? Not with this tire, you won’t. It’s a point and shoot situation, instead.
So there you have it. These tires flat get the job done in the snow. It probably doesn’t make up for the white knuckle moments they have given me during wet weather commutes, but on snow and ice, these tires inspire confidence.
How ’bout a tune?
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