I thought I would let everyone know about a new feature on the Snow Tire FAQ Forums: Digests.

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Enjoy,
- John

In a prior post, I described Green Diamond tires and the unique aspect of their construction that gives then their name - silicon carbide "diamonds" - as well as the grinding treatment the test tires received to reveal the carbide bits right away. Since grinding changed the tread significantly, Green Diamond agreed to submit a second set to this review would be relevant to consumer experience. To eliminate shipping time, I drove to their factory and they were nice enough to give me a tour and remount the tires over lunch. Look for a factory tour report elsewhere.

Starting with a new set of these tires, fresh off the same rack where you'd buy, and having driven only ~100 miles, I can say 2 things for sure
- wear off the mold release compound (!!)
- then expect a really good snow tire.

No tire should be used in earnest until the mold release compound is worn off. Think in terms of driving on an oil slick. This only takes 50-100 miles, but it's mandatory for all new tires. Not surprisingly, when mileage was literally a few feet, these were like all-season tires on ice - no grip.

In addition to mold release on the surface, these tires are made with a thin layer of plain rubber at the top of the tread, to prevent wear of the molds. Therefore, until I get enough mileage to reveal the carbide bits, the best I can expect is normal snow tire performance, and that's just what I got.

Driving on roads covered by fresh wind-swept snow, and testing adhesion through braking, I found lots of it. Not enough adhesion to throw things onto the floor, but we're talking traffic-packed snow at 22F. Cruising speed was at or above posted limits with no excitement - exactly what I expect from a good snow tire.

Next was a repeat of the uphill run I reported on before. On ~1" of packed snow-on-gravel, the new set was not quite as good as the shaved set (on frozen rain-on-gravel), and with noticably less adhesion than the shaved set in downhill braking. Both tires and conditions could cause the differences, especially since gravel tends to break up frozen rain.

Now, to pile on the miles with holiday travel and get those diamonds shining!

Have fun,
Frank