VREDESTEIN QUATRAC PRO Opinions?

My son is heading to University of Nevada Reno  in the Fall. He's driving a 2010 Mazda 3 hatch. It's got a set of Coopers on it and I'm not impressed. We're from sunny California and he's barely even driven in the rain. Now he might be driving over Donner Summit in the snow during the holidays. 
 

We're planning to get him a good set of all season tires that are severe snow service rated. I've been looking at the VREDESTEIN QUATRAC PRO. Anyone have experience with these?

Thanks in advance!

I put them on my in laws Mazda5 based on the tire rack review and the reports of good traction and quiet tread noise.   I've heard no complaints from them at all about them, unlike the last two sets which were "loud".  They never rotated them so the fronts are getting worn now but the backs look great, probably close to 30k miles, I'm about to get another pair for the fronts for them and rotate them occasionally.  

I've lived in that area for eight years and during that time either up to Lake Tahoe or to Silicon Valley in pretty much all weathers. I've got some opinions .

First, the Mazda 3 is FWD, right? In that case, no matter what tires you have on it, your son will need snow chains (and know how to use them). Without chains, CalTrans will not let him across Donner Pass or Echo Summit during a proper snow storm with chain controls. I've not seen them check that much on CA 88, but if both Echo Summit and Donner Pass have chain controls, you'd have to a have a bit of a death wish to use 88 without appropriate equipment as that's the highest pass of the three.

NHP at least IME doesn't care that much, they just write you a ticket after they found you and your car in a ditch. The only exception to these rules is if you have AWD and full on snow tires.

In Reno and the Carson Valley, you can usually get away with All Season with good snow capabilities and chains. If your son ventures into the mountains, he will want proper, full on snow tires, not 3.5 season ones. Blizzaks are his friends in that case.

All that said, the area generally gets snowstorms a few times each winter. It's not like it's dumping down snow there for weeks on end - you get potentially really nasty snowstorms that last a couple of days. I'd generally recommend just staying away from the mountains during those storms unless you absolutely, positively have to travel. Reno has a perfectly functioning airport for when you have to .

The issue isn't necessarily so much the snow, but you might get stuck in traffic on the passes for hours, either because of accidents or because they're holding traffic. Also, there are a couple of lesser known, lesser traveled passes North of Reno that are much lower elevation and thus often open and less dangerous than the main passes. Those are no joke either, but I've used them as detours when I had to because the other passes were closed.

Now, back to tires. If you want some local advice and tire recommendations, I can recommend these people: http://www.inclinetire.com

They're definitely not the cheapest, but they are one of the best if not the best tire shop in that area. They'll even store the seasonal tires for you if you decide that you want to go with two sets. If you talk to the owners (Cate, unfortunately I can't remember her other half's name) tell them Timo sent you, they may remember me.

I run the Quatrac 5 on my wife's Civic and her Grandmothers Fit (The Pro doesn't go small enough).  The Civic runs dedicated snows too but the Vredesteins better than other All-seasons we have tried in snow.  They mostly see the late fall/Early Spring type snow then the snows are not on.   She is also very happy with their rain performance.  For us its less about the "go" and more about the "whoa" because there are some pretty steep roads with stop signs at the bottom around here.  Her Grandmother lives in Maine and asked me to find her a good all season a few years ago because after a lifetime of swapping tires twice a year she was ready to not do that.  Plus she doesn't drive in active storms anymore.  I found the Vredestiens in my research then and now am a convert.  Tire Rack made it easy to order the tires and have them shipped to a shop by her house for install, so that was nice.

I lived Colorado Springs for three years. While I was there I had a 84 Nissan Pulsar. It was FWD and I kept mud and snow tires on it year round. It was like a mule. It would go anywhere including Hwy 25 when it was closed because of snow drifts.  After that I lived in the Sacramento area for 8 years and did plenty of ski/snow trips in my 84 Mustang 2.3l. I understand the weather and the area pretty well. He doesn't, yet. 

The tires on the car currently are Cooper Zeon RS3. They are noisy, ride rough, and have terrible wet traction. If he was staying in CA I'd wait until they needed to be replaced, but I'm not comfortable sending him to an area that gets snow (even as little as Reno does) with them. 

The plan is that he will fly home on major holidays unless the 10 day forecast looks really good. We'll be getting him a set of cable type chains too. I don't want him getting stuck anywhere near Tahoe. 

Thanks everyone.