Learn me: Bridgestone vs. Firestone Snow Tires

My wife's '07 Corolla needs some good winter tires. My experience is that Bridgestone Blizzaks are the best, but knowing that Firestone and Bridgestone are one company, I'm hoping that Firestone sells the same tire under a different name. Does anyone know if this is the case and if it is not, can you recommend a good (reasonably priced) winter tire? (15" Blizzaks are expensive!)

Hakka's.

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11949

Blizzak's are for southerners.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Hakka's. http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11949 Blizzak's are for southerners.

+10000

I did not know what a blizzak was until i left Maine, Hakka's are no doubt the BEST!

General Altimax Arctic. Not a "winter performance" tire by any means but a great choice for ultimate winter grip. It's a rebadged Swedish snow tire, called the Gislaved Nordfrost 3, and is made in Germany (Continental Tires owns both Gislaved and General). They are cheap, studdable and have TONS of grip in snow and ice.

I had them on my Mazdaspeed3 and lots of people thought I had AWD!

JtspellS wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Hakka's. http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11949 Blizzak's are for southerners.

+10000 I did not know what a blizzak was until i left Maine, Hakka's are no doubt the BEST!

Hakkas are for snow. Blizzaks are for ice.

I actually had pretty good luck with Dunlop Graspics on the Miata the two years we actually had snow.

But then a Miata is obviously a better choice for winter driving than a Corolla.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Hakka's. http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11949 Blizzak's are for southerners.

Hakkas are great if you can get studs. Blizzaks were made to be great without studs.

This is important if you live where studs aren't legal. Aggressive driving just rips them out, anyway.

(And how much can I downvote Firestone snow tires? You'd be better off getting 20 year old Sears tires off of Craigslist that "still have good tread" because the rubber has turned to granite.)

Woody wrote:

JtspellS wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Hakka's. http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11949 Blizzak's are for southerners.

+10000 I did not know what a blizzak was until i left Maine, Hakka's are no doubt the BEST!

Hakkas are for snow. Blizzaks are for ice.

but by the 2nd or 3rd winter that's all they are ... snow tires .. the super sticky compound is gone ... if you need ice tires, they're hard to beat ... if you usually need snow tires there are a lot of better for lots less money

Knurled wrote:

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Hakka's. http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11949 Blizzak's are for southerners.

Hakkas are great if you can get studs. Blizzaks were made to be great without studs. This is important if you live where studs aren't legal. Aggressive driving just rips them out, anyway. (And how much can I downvote Firestone snow tires? You'd be better off getting 20 year old Sears tires off of Craigslist that "still have good tread" because the rubber has turned to granite.)

mildly disagree... the Firestone WinterForce is a pretty good snow tire .. not great but pretty good ... ( I like Kelly SnowTrackers better )

I suspect that if you're in Longmeadow, you need ice tires more than snow tires.

I used WinterForces on my Jeep (and the wife's Jeep) last winter and they seem to be pretty decent. In fact, the wife's Jeep again is running WinterForces this year, after all they aren't that worn yet.

I have Blizzak WS70s on the ix and they're very good in snow and one the few icy patches I tend to encounter on my commute.

I run Winterforces on the MX6. Will be testing them in 6-10" tomorrow.

There are a lot of good snow tires. Hankook Ipike's were a really good deal when I bought them for my wife's car. She's very happy with them, and after 4 years of winter use (I can't believe it's that long), they're like new.

If I have to choose between a snow or ice tire, I always choose a snow tire, because snow tires are, of course great in snow, and pretty good on ice, while ice tires are better on ice, but suck big time in snow (not enough thread void, they get packed and become useless). Ice tires are great if you only drive on the main roads where you only risk to encounter some ice or if you ice race. They are better handling and quieter. But if your gonna face some real varied winter conditions, I always take snow tires, and it seems that they all grip about the same, no matter what type I choose (except maybe the Hakka's which really are good).

Right now, I have some Vredestein, Pirelli's and Dunlop on my vehicules and they all feel similar (except the Pirelli's which are incredibly noisy)

I have Firestone Winterforce on my truck twice (current set is studded), as well as on the wife's car.

They are good, but not great. They are wearing VERY well, and are reasonably confidence inspiring. They are not a Blizzak or a Toyo G02, But I would likely buy them again.

wbjones wrote: but by the 2nd or 3rd winter that's all they are ... snow tires .. the super sticky compound is gone ... if you need ice tires, they're hard to beat ... if you usually need snow tires there are a lot of better for lots less money

All snow tires are dependent on their compound for grip in cold weather. Performance is always noticably degraded after the first season, and after two they are little better than all-seasons.

You wouldn't try to post good times on three year old autocross tires, would you? Same principle, except for snow tires the goal isn't the last 2-3 tenths of a second, but not falling off the road and risking injuring or killing yourself or others.

I take snow tires VERY seriously. This is why I laugh when people talk about conserving their snows. Sure they still have 9/32 of tread after three years because of careful shepherding, but they're rick hard junk. Use 'em or lose 'em.

I'm stuck on my summer tires at the moment. V-rated Traction T/As. I'd rate them about as good as Winterforces... they "work" but i know that LOADS better is possible. Yes, I'm an idiot for not making time to install my (season old, getting replaced after this season) Nordfrosts. No, I'm not going anywhere until I put the tires on tomorrow.

I drove in the last snow on some wideass RS2s. If these Winterforces arent a HUGE improvement, then i'm calling into work every day it snows this year.

I'll say it again, winter tires are impossible to truly rate because no other tires are asked to perform in so many different conditions. Dry, rain, freezing rain, snow, ice, cold, really cold, barely freezing, etc... It not as easy as choosing an auto-x tire. That one is 0.3 sec a lap faster on a dry summer day then the other, so it's superior. Done. With a winter tire, you have to determine what kind of weather you are most likely to face and gamble on a tire. It will always be a compromise in some situations. So just get a name brand tire that's not too expensive. That's my 0.02$

I 2nd the General Altimax Artic's. I currently have them on my WRX and really nothing can stop them. We just had 6" of snow on Thursday and it wasn't any fun to mess around with. Just hooked up and went. I previously had the Generals on my e36 318is and it completely transformed the car.

I used to run Hakka 1's on my old 9000 and they were awesome, just really pricey. After running the Generals, I'm not sure if I could justify spending that much more money for the Hakkas.

My brother runs the Firestone WinterForces on his '91 900 SPG and they are great. He previously ran them on his e23 735i and had no complaints.

I would never own Blizzaks. Kinda pricey for what you get (IMO). This last snow we got I beat my neighbor in his 2010 STi with my 2008 WRX from a launch 4 out of 4 times. He was running Blizzak WS60s. The Generals have impressed me enough that I plan to go ice racing with them (stud less) this winter if we get enough ice here in WI.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I drove in the last snow on some wideass RS2s. If these Winterforces arent a HUGE improvement, then i'm calling into work every day it snows this year.

Update: The Winterforces are BOSS.

We're having Snowmagheddon here right now, and these things were AWESOME.

I had Winterforce on my Firebird and was very happy with them. Later used Blizzacks on a Grand-Am, and wasn't super impressed. Didn't get stuck, but still lots of wheelspin. Then again FWD sucks. Waiting to see how well the I-Pikes work on my Saturn.

Fueled by Caffeine wrote: Hakka's. http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11949 Blizzak's are for southerners.

Sure I'd love to but I cannot afford 160 dollar a tire 14" snowies

I have Blizzaks on my plow truck and they do pretty well for tires that suck in snow...

Knurled wrote:

wbjones wrote: but by the 2nd or 3rd winter that's all they are ... snow tires .. the super sticky compound is gone ... if you need ice tires, they're hard to beat ... if you usually need snow tires there are a lot of better for lots less money

All snow tires are dependent on their compound for grip in cold weather. Performance is always noticably degraded after the first season, and after two they are little better than all-seasons. You wouldn't try to post good times on three year old autocross tires, would you? Same principle, except for snow tires the goal isn't the last 2-3 tenths of a second, but not falling off the road and risking injuring or killing yourself or others. I take snow tires VERY seriously. This is why I laugh when people talk about conserving their snows. Sure they still have 9/32 of tread after three years because of careful shepherding, but they're rick hard junk. Use 'em or lose 'em. I'm stuck on my summer tires at the moment. V-rated Traction T/As. I'd rate them about as good as Winterforces... they "work" but i know that LOADS better is possible. Yes, I'm an idiot for not making time to install my (season old, getting replaced after this season) Nordfrosts. No, I'm not going anywhere until I put the tires on tomorrow.

once again, I in mild disagreement ... my 4 yr old SnowTrackers "SEEM" to be just as good ( in the snow ) as they were new ... I don't do any performance with my snow tires ... just drive them in the winter/swap them out for regular tires in the summer ... my driveway is an 18% up grade ( that's a 36° up slope) with a 90° turn in at the bottom ( no chance for a running start) and having stopped at the bottom to get the paper ( so started from a dead stop) the 4 yr old SnowTrackers didn't spin a wheel in 12"+ of fresh snow year before last ( this in a '95 Impreza awd open diff) they didn't seem to be degrading in the the least

I am running Pirelli Scorpion ice and snows on my bmw X5. Last night outside Port Huron, Mi. It was raining and 28. They never missed a beat. My wifes car has Conti Winter extreme. They work very well but seem to wear fast. On my old Saab i had the dunlop graspics and used them for about 7 winters before i sold them with tread left. I just got new Graspics for my Dad's Acura TL six speed as he is going to be back in Mi. for the first winter in about 15 years.

Good luck

Chris