Just my two cents... Had Conti Contacts 185/70 14's on a 240 Wagon in Maine and New Hapshire winters, and it plowed through amazingly bad conditions. At 0 degrees thetires were so sticky they would squeak on frozen surfaces. Some type of compound that gets stickier when colder. The dry road driving was a blast since the tires had limits in warm weather that were fun to exploit at mere mortal speeds. They would break away with such control on dry roads, that you could do the best interstate entrance ramps in a controlled 4 wheel slide. Ah that was fun!