After drinving on these for a couple of months, some observations:

- these tires are fantastic in standing water! Driving in 1" deep ruts at highway speeds, filled with standing water, no problem. I live in Newfoundland, it rains here, I am in love.

- these tires excel in snow, I can easily power through 1m drifts starting from a stop on a level grade in reverse. Nice for a car with relatively low ground clearance.

- these tires suck on dry/wet pavement. With DCS off I can easily smoke these tires from a stop on wet pavement. With the OEM tires this was very tough to accomplish. On dry pavement it is harder, but doable. Especially noticeable on tight turns (as Gord mentioned back in Nov/Dec) - DSC is a must have when driving aggressively in the city with these tires.

All in all I am thrilled with these tires for winter performance. However, word to the wise for those city-bound speed demons.

Anyone else have any observations to share?

I agree that the Toyo Garits suck on wet pavement. I was expecting sloppy dry-road handling (based on my previous experience with winter tires), but I was dismayed at how easy it is to spin the tires on wet roads.

They work well on snow and ice. Definitely better than all-seasons. Traction control is a big help too.

Excellent winter gear!

Grippy in snow, tenacious on ice, very soft compound, rides quietly.

I like 'em, I like 'em a lot.....
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doc

I had Pirelli P210s on my BMW, and now have Garrit HT's on my 8 & my wifes G35 sedan.

I prefer the Toyo's, and wish I had them on the BMW. Great snow traction, quiet, and reasonable handling (although a little floaty).

I would definitely buy them again over the P210's.

I was at the boat show and T.O. was getting worse all day. My wife picked me up, we got to Eglington & Mt. Pleasant with better control than I would have expected climbing hills with constant rush hour stop & go. I'm very impressed (and Toronto was a zoo last night!). Worse day of the winter and it is reliable.
Regards,
gord

I love them. They stick to snow and ice really well and are very quite. On the days when the roads are really snow covered I have to remind myself to be careful or else I may end up going to fast and spinning out. But that’s because of the speed in the car not the tires.

I've had mine for about 3 months now. I agree they are great on snow and even ice. They are a quite squirrely on wet and dry tarmack, but you can't have everything ;)

Can't wait to put on my OEMs again though. My traction control is going off all the time when I drive even moderately-hard with these tires.

Do these come in 18's and where can I buy them online?

Peter

From the Toyo Canada web site (http://www.toyocanada.com/products/sizesWint.asp?Sizes=Garit&Submit800=Get+Data) , they only go up to 17" sizes.

Online places:
www.tiretrends.com
www.1010tires.com
www.talontire.com

Each of those are Canadian based, but list pricing in both Cdn and US dollars (be sure you have the US dollars selected, or you'll be shocked! ;) ) and are more than happy to ship to the US; they offer good prices on very nice 17" wheels as well. Check out the 2 sticky threads at the top of this forum section for some experiences from all of us buying from these guys.

Regards,
Gordon

Even without TCS, I am very pleased with these tires in snow and ice. I just have to take it easy in turns and corners but overall I agree that they are great winter tires.:)