Some advice on snow tires, please

I race on Altimax Arctics. Studded or non-studded, bang for the buck can not be beat. Yes, the hakka's could be "argued" as being a bit better, but not enough to justify the price.

HOWEVER, the Arctics are an intermediate/more snow type of tire.

Blizzacks are more for ice. Personally, unless you can run studs, I'd suggest getting a more "ice" related tire than snow, because plows usually do their thing and the ice tires will get you to where you need to go in snow. Stopping on ice is the biggest concern IMO, and this is what you will encounter 90% of the time when you call upon the additional traction of a winter tire.

The winterforces are perfectly fine as well, you most certainly won't be disappointed in them and they should be the cheapest out of anything.

Good input- I've not been pleased with snow tires for quite some time. Nice to hear some reviews about good alternatives.

Ordered the Generals for the wife's 500... will report back. That'll be super useful for you.

Her previous car had the Falken Espia EPZs for about 3/4ths of a winter, all I know about them is it stopped her from calling me to come get her when it snowed...

just because threads are no fun without pics, I'll pull out the usual snow tire thread culprits of mine....

Nissan Maxima, 200 miles into a trip through W.Va. during one of the biggest dumps of the 2000s around there. We did about the last 100 miles on roads that had not been touched by a plow (IIRC), with the freshest-fallen stuff coming over the hood of the car when we hit drifts. Car was loaded with gear, skis, and was running Blizzak LM-22s. No problems anywhere, and we even used the car (again, a FWD Maxima) to pull a stranded BMW out of a ditch.

This car headed to the W.Va. mountains during virtually every snow storm for about 5 years (I worked at a ski shop), and never had any issues with getting stuck, etc....

And the current subie, which is only stopped when it gets so deep the car bottoms out and where no type of tire would help. On Dunlop WIntersport 3Ds (225 width). I use this car to go "rescue" people in the wooded/hilly neighborhoods nearby during snowstorms. Most of the people I rescue are SUV drivers on their stock tires LP

I have Nitto SN2 studlees tires. They cost less than Winterforces (which is to say cheap), and they are a newer design--they have tiny ground-up walnut husks in the tread compound for improved ice traction.

My favorites have been The Blizzaks and Dunlop Graspics. I bought a set of Blizzaks from Iceracer for my Cavalier. I ran them year round and the fronts lasted four years and the rears are going on 5 but this wil be their last winter. They have been great in snow and ice, and the rest of the year. I replaced the fronts with the Kellys pictured on the first page and they are good in snow, but a bit squirmy everywhere else and wear pretty quick. I ran the Dunlops on my wifes Malibu in the winters only and loved them. That car stays stuck on snow and ice that I thought for sure we would slide off of. My favorites were the Good Year Ultra Grips that I had on my Escort but they would bearly last a winter before they were bald.

Ice - Blizzaks or Michelin X-Ice

Snow - Firestone Winterforce (value) or Hakkas (premium)

All-Round - General Altimax (very similar - Nordfrost or Nexan (Walmart)) or Hakkas (premium)

The highest rated Winter Tire on Tire Rack is the General Altimax Arctic

Damn, I must be the only one here who likes performance winters

Has anyone here tried the Dunlop graspic DS3, or the Yokohama ice gaurd IG20? I'm interested in those because the are symmetrical tread designs, which I would prefer so that they can be rotated easily . I use winter tires from turkey day weekend to April fools day, and I don't need super winter tires like Hakkas or Blizaks.

Lets see, wbjones mentioned the Kelly tires. I have ran those for over a decade on 7 different cars, love them.

Wife currently has the generals and those have made me reconsider the the kellys for my next set, it comes down to price.

I picked out the winterforce for my fathers truck, last year(?) They worked, but it was really mild so we really didn't test them out too much.

The only exposure I have to performance snows were the Goodyear ones that I got the dealer to throw in when I bought my SAAB. They sucked, I had a hard time getting up my driveway when there was snow on the ground with them.

Currently both of our cars have one season sets of the Winterforce tires but like everyone has said we had a mild winter last year so we did not get to test them out. When these need replacing I am leaning toward the General ones based on the reviews I have read.

I had Cooper wintermaster (sp?) snow tires and they were amazing. Not only did it make a 2wd truck unstoppable, but I drove them all year round for years. I think I put 60k on them total. Would buy again in a heartbeat if I hadn't moved!

You didn't mention the Pirelli's that are also available in that size. I've only bought Pirelli's Sottozero snow tires for two different vehicles, a '04 Mini Cooper S and a '04 Audi S4. Look like a little different tread pattern then the Winter Carving available in your size, but I can say both my wife and I have been more than impressed with both the snow capability and general cold wet/snow handling of these tires. Really don't drive like a snow tire, but are very impressive in the white stuff.

I have had several of the ones listed. I had Dunlop Graspic DS2 they lasted eight winters and was still able to sell them. They were great in snow only ok in everything else. I have always liked the blizzaks but they only have the first 40% snow tire the rest is all season. My wife has continental winter extreme, very good in snow don't think they will last long though. I just bought perelli scorpian snow for my X5 so i don't know yet. I normally run mine form thanksgiving till st patrick's day.

Chris

I got some General arctics last year for my Civic,but didn't get to use them too much. One time we did have a 1' drift that I drove though like a hot knife through butter. I went to get the mail one morning and they had plowed in the parking spots on the side of the road. At first I said "no way I can park and not get stuck". I did park and got right out no problem. They are not a performance snow tire and are a little soft and squirmy on dry roads I think, but not bad.

mtn wrote:

mtn wrote: IMHO, they're all "good enough", but I don't live in the mountains. I think that I read here that the best are the hakakickaikahiski's.

Hakkapellittas

They are great but for 150 dollars per tire for a 14" is a bit ridiculous.

If you buy Blizzaks, buy them new because they have a porous outer layer of rubber that acts as suction cups and adheres itself to the ice, once that compound wears away its noisier and far less effective. Blizzaks are great for icy conditions and great in the snow.

I'm hearing a lot of rave about the general tire from both ice racers, rallycrossers and people who just use them to drive around winter. I had a set of Ipikes on my my A4, worked great!

I have heard that the dry handling and noise isn't as good on the general altimax but then again thats the nature of the beast.

Depending on your winter you got 2 different rules of thought: more icy less deep snow conditions, a wider snowtire is best (lets say say 205/55/15) whereas if you run less ice but heavy snow you want to run a taller sidewall and a narrower tire to essentially plow through the snow.. (195/65/15 or (185/65/15)

Granted depending on what car you got depicts what tire sizes you can get away with.

I have had excellent results with Blizzaks. Winterforce is a good snow tire but is worthless on ice. Had a set on my Liberty.

For those who must have sruds, Nokian has a new Haka 7. We just instituted a new Street Studded.Street Legal ice racing class with the 7 as a spec tire for the 2013 season. We still have the unstudded class sponsored by Bridgestone.

fidelity101 wrote: If you buy Blizzaks, buy them new because they have a porous outer layer of rubber that acts as suction cups and adheres itself to the ice, once that compound wears away its noisier and far less effective. Blizzaks are great for icy conditions and great in the snow.

This has been my experience as well. For the first 5K miles or so, Blizzaks seem to defy the laws of physics.

We don't get a ton of snow most years, so my plan is to run all-season tires and then swap on a set of Blizzaks when I know it's going to snow and then take them off when things dry out. Last year was a complete waste of runnng snow tires.

I currently run W965 Blizzaks on my truck year-round, but some day I plan to have seasonal tires/wheels for that as well.

The worst snow tire out there is better than the best all-season tire, so let your wallet decide between the name brands or what has been suggested, and you will be fine.

I run blizzacks for the same reason I like the sticky summer tires; overkill is good and I can afford the small indulgence..

The Blizzack magic vis-a-vis ice traction is fleeting; three seasons is about it before it wears off. It hurts to toss them because they look like they are still good for another five years. Most people who are in the know pawn them off to the unsuspecting relying on the name and kajiji to recoup some of the cost.

NOHOME wrote: The worst snow tire out there is better than the best all-season tire,

yeah, they really ought to be named no-season instead of all-season

My comment about "ice tire gumballs" was in reference to the Blizzaks and their sticky outer layer. I once had a car with two old Blizzaks and two new ones, and the difference in traction from end to end was significant. Nokians stay much more consistent over their life. It's too bad Tire Rack doesn't carry them, that's the only way they'll get attention in most of the US.

I've been quite happy with the 215/65R15 Continental ExtremeWinterContacts on my Sienna. They seem to win all of the Tire Rack tests. They also seem a bit firmer than Dunlop DS2s. They handle noticeably better than the junk all-seasons that came with the minivan. Assymetrical tread pattern, which is helpful because I wanted an extra for the spare, and it allows a full 5 tire rotation.

Their grip on snowy/icy roads is a magnitude better than the 225/50R17 DWSes on the minivan. FWIW: The DWSes did work great last winter when the roads were clear--those all-seasons could be better than some winter tires.

I am thinking about winter tires for my 325i. I have the pair of used 245/45R17 Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3Ds shown above which seem excellent, but boy are those expensive new. I've really only used them as a cold weather autocross tire, and I don't have appropriate BMW rims for them (they are really wide, but might fit okay on a stock E36 M3 17x8.5 rear wheel.)

I also have these used 235/45R17 Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2s which seem like junk (old). And a mixed set of the Michelins and Dunlops seems like a bad idea.

I should probably just get a second set of 15" wheels and another set of new Continental EWCs (taller to raise the car a little). Those will just suck a little when there is no snow/ice on the road.

I have the generals on my crx. At the time they were the cheapest snow tire I could find. I've had them for 3 years now and have been very impressed. They show almost no wear and perform wonderfully. I would not hesitate to purchase them again.

Hakapelittas all others are less worthy

RexSeven wrote: Another satisfied General Alitmax Arctic user here. They are actually a rebadged Gislaved Nordfrost 3 (Swedish brand, both Gislaved and General are owned by Continental). My MS3 was so good in the snow, people thought it had AWD! It has no sporting pretensions- this is a pure winter tire. They can also be studded. Oh, and they are cheap.

I also love my General Alitmax Arctic! With two friends in my '97 Civic we took turns trying to get the car stuck in a parking lot with ~1 foot of snow. There were some big 3-4 foot piles and we attacked those too. Oh! and the car is lowered on some unknown setup. Maybe an inch gap between fender and tire up front. The tires just dug in and and the car drove through. It's good in the wet, shrugs off the slush, and a bit soft in the dry, but I didn't really mind that since it just made the snow it's bitch. I also paid about $70 per tire (I run 14s).