I'm curious to read tests on the WS-80s. The WS-50s were, at the time, a break-through tire in that they advanced the technology dramatically. I could barely believe how good they were. They had an incredible balance of snow and ice traction and suddenly you didn't need to buy tires with weird unpronounceable names to get terrific winter performance.
I used the 50's on the Forester for a long time, and loved them. When the 60's came out, the 50's were discounted heavily and so I bought an extra set for the Scoob, but bought the new 60's for the Corolla. The 60's weren't the improvement I was hoping for. Ice traction was better, slightly, but snow traction was no better (maybe even not as good) and they wore crazy fast. Luckily, just as the 60's on the Corolla were done for, the 70s hit the market and so I equipped both the Scoob and the 'Rolla with them, on the promise that they were the leap forward I'd been hoping for.
And so it was. Ice and snow traction were both improved over both the 50s and the 60s, and wear seemed greatly improved too. That's a bonus, as I'm looking for traction and wear is a distant second place. The 70s gave me what I wanted: both cars pulled away from icy intersections at <-20C like champs and smashed through deep days too. The Forester made it over snow covered passes and out of plowed-in trailhead parking lots like nothing.
One day going over Paulson Summit near Rossland BC on a deep snow day with little or no plowing, we left everyone behind as we ascended from the west, arriving at the top with a WRX on studded Hakkas and our Forester on WS70s and no else to be seen. Those tires have proven themselves time after time to be spectacular and kept us moving when so many others could not.
