Hi Mark!
What would a good Studded snow tire be for a 02 WRX?
Someone already mentioned the Hakkis; they're very good. Not sure on
availability of sizing to fit the WRX, and they will be pretty loud on
pavement.
Another choice would be the Kumho I-Zen tires; we ran a set (studded)
last winter on m'ladys Forester and they are really good on ice and
hardpack, and fairly quiet on pavement, but not as good as the Hakkis
on fresh or loosely packed snow, or mud. Again, sizing to fit the rex
might be an issue, but they are considerably less expensive than the
Nokian tire.
IMO, an excellent winter tire for the WRX is the Michelin Arctic
Alpin. While they are not studdable, when coupled to the awesome
Subaru AWD they work extremely well (significantly better then the
much more expensive Alpin Pilot), and are modestly priced. I abused a
set last year on my WRX; they went thru two off season autocross
events where I didn't want to put additional wear on my race rubber
(read: too damned lazy to change 'em), and several ice rallycross
events, actually bringing home a 1st place finish at the last event!
(Altho I remain convinced of a timing error ;-) I will mount them up
for another go-round in a month or so.
One thing I can guarantee will help the WRX performance on slick
surfaces is to disable the ABS. If you don't believe it, after your
first klunk-slide/klunk-klunk-slide braking episode on ice, pull the
ABS fuse and try again. You could probably just pull the fuse for the
duration in Alaska; seems like I remember never seeing pavement at all
the winter I spent in Fairbanks. A panel mounted switch is easily
installed, however.
ByeBye! S.
Steve Jernigan KG0MB
Laboratory Manager
Microelectronics Research
University of Colorado
(719) 262-3101