What do we think of cheap snow tires? Sumitomo Ice edge and Federal Himalaya

So I'm interested in not wrecking the V driving it thru the winter this year.  A few adventurous trips on the BFG Sport Comp 2's were interesting last year.

I've been playing around with sizes varying from 225/50/18 up to 245/50/18.  Google fu seems to be working for me as i found the ideal size I can run square 245/45/18 in two brands.  I have not heard of these specific tires so thought I'd check in with the hive.  Online reviews seem good but always seem to be comparing winter tires to all seasons.

The Federal Himalaya WS2 showed up crazy cheap at 69 each plus shipping.

Himalaya WS2

The Sumitomo ice Edge also hit the radar at 113 each.

Sumitomo Ice Edge

To get into better known brands it takes 150 to 200 each.

I don't live in the arctic or need to climb mountains.  I simply need to not die this winter because I daily a silly rwd v8.

I wish I could speak of those specifically but I can't.

I can speak however to buying the cheapest snow tires I could find. They were AMAZING. Transformed my Mazda P5 into a snow slayer.

I think you'll be fine. I've ran everything from firestone winterfire to general ultima artics  to dunlop m3's  to the pirelli snows to blizzaks on my fleet and any winter tire is a major step up.

The tread difference for snows is obvious but another major factor is the tire compound is designed to work in sub freezing temps to provide better grip all the time in the winter.

Appreciate it sir - past experience running snows has been more about good behavior in dry below freezing temps.  I am so looking forward to hooning in the first snoy parking lot I find.

I'm curious, but in my experience and from what I've heard... the cheapest snow tires you can get >>>> the best all season you can get

Please provide feedback, because that is a damn good price for 18" snows.

I run Nexxen Winguard on the Turbo Elantra here in Wisconsin.  They are surprisingly good (every bit the equal of Altimax Arctics) and were surprisingly inexpensive.

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interesting - I was afraid of the Nexxen's based on what I know of their summer/all season.  Will watch for those as well.

Sumitomo is a top brand. They are the parent company of Falken. I have had great success with their other products for many years, but have yet to try their snows. Given the choice proposed in the original post I would spend the extra for the Sumitomos.

I've only had one set of Federals, not the snows, but they've been great tires. I'd give them a shot for the price. They also appear to be studdable, of which I am a huge fan.

I put cheap winters on my Jeep and they are streets ahead of even brand new all seasons in snow.

ProDarwin said:

the cheapest snow tires you can get >>>> the best all season you can get

I'm not quite sure that's true. But we're comparing to summer tires here. And the cheapest winter tires running on the wear bars are probably better than the best case summer tire in super cold temps and certainly on any amount of snow or ice. That said, my old RS3s had about the same grip level as altimax arctics down to about freezing in dry conditions and mid-40s in wet conditions. But driving them in those conditions absolutely ruined them, so there's that.

My experience is that for cold and dry any old snow tire (or cold weather compound, I think is probably more accurate) will do. In areas where you have erratic winter weather alternating between snow, sleet, ice, rain and days of 40 degree weather punctuated by 10 degree weather (like here in maryland) I’d be a little more discerning. This will be my third season on a set of Blizzak’s and I don’t think I’d have it any other way. 

I think about what are the pitfalls of cheap tires or what could push them past their limits and i think: balance issues, inability to take heat, impact resistance.   And then i think that I'm not driving 70 on snow, they won't overheat in snow, and snow is softer than normal pavement, so.... I can't really think of a scenario where a cheap snow tire isn't still better on snow than a more expensive NON-snow tire. 

dps214 said:

ProDarwin said:

the cheapest snow tires you can get >>>> the best all season you can get

I'm not quite sure that's true. 

I'm not 100% sure either, but I would love to see any evidence of an all season tire that outperforms *any* snow tire in the snow.

ProDarwin said:

dps214 said:

ProDarwin said:

the cheapest snow tires you can get >>>> the best all season you can get

I'm not quite sure that's true. 

I'm not 100% sure either, but I would love to see any evidence of an all season tire that outperforms *any* snow tire in the snow.

If there is an All-Season that might outperform a cheap crappy snow tire, the Continental DWS is a pretty likely candidate.  Although it has 'S' in the name and is specifically designed for some snow, which might be cheating.

That Federal looks a lot like the discontinued Blizzak WS70 which was a great tire.

I think the Federal is in fact the old Blizzak.

Nokian makes some all season tires that I'd pit against cheap winter tires. Hell, I'd compare them with expensive snow tires too.

They are very much the exception though.

I just put Vredestein Quatrac 5 on the CR-Z. Supposedly, the "three peak mountain" symbol means they meet minimum standards for dedicated winter tires.

I've been running summer tires year round in Louisiana. Really curious about how these will handle the winter.

Vredestein has a video of their own, but it's the worst thing I've seen on YouTube in years, so Tire Rack:

84FSP said:

I think the Federal is in fact the old Blizzak.

MIght be similar in tread design, although the Blizzak's used a magical ooey-gooey outer compound to achieve ice traction without studs.  Those Federals are studdable, so you might give up *some* ice traction without studs, versus the Blizzaks which use the special compound to do the same.

That all said...those prices on Giga Tire are awesome.  I was looking at getting a set of studded Hakkapeliitta 8's for my Outback for this year's winter rally series at Simple Tire for $323, which I thought was a helluva deal (225/55-17).  Same tires at Giga are $20 less...

I had a set of Federal summer tires about a decade ago (came in the car) and they were better than expected. Sumitomo makes half decent stuff - That one might be an okay winter tire.

I've had one budget winter tire in the past that was okayish, another which was poor.

Top tier winter tires have really improved the last while in the dry and wet. Winter tires have historically sucked in the wet. Tire rack shows old stock WS80s in your size for $159 and Continental Vikingcontact 7 for $163. I recently bought a set of the contis and I'm excited to test them out. There are a bunch of very positive tests from Europe where they've been available for a couple of years. No point potentially hating your tires to save $200 on your monster car. Depending on your budget, the federals could make sense to try, you wouldn't be out much if you pulled them off early and sold them.

I can't speak to the snow tires specifically, but everything I've bought from Sumitomo/Falken has been outstanding. I'm running one or the other on my RV(S), work truck(F), wife's Suburban(F), the XJ(F), two of my company trucks(S), and the P71(S). They are my go to brand for just about everything. 

I'll be ordering tires for the G35 soon and it will probably get the Falken 615K+ tires. 

After more hunting and reading of reviews, it seems the Federal Himalaya WS2 is a worthy experiment.  A set of 245/45/18’s are a few days out for $308 to my door step.

akylekoz said:

That Federal looks a lot like the discontinued Blizzak WS70 which was a great tire.

Compound is everything, though.  Hockey pucks with sipes will still grip like hockey pucks.

That's why I am a fan of throwing them away after one or two seasons.  After that they are no better than all-season tires because the rubber has dried out.  Winter tires, at least ones that work well, are NOT made with long-life rubber.  That is why they don't even bother with treadwear ratings - they aren't intended to work well for a long time.

Here's a quote from 10 year old C&D article: "Michelin says tread design is responsible for roughly two-thirds of a tire’s traction capability in snow, while one-third is dictated by the makeup of the rubber compound. On ice, it’s the opposite, with the compound accounting for the majority of traction."

I had a set of budget winters with big voids and they were surprisingly good at accelerating and stopping in deeper snow. They weren't terrible, but they weren't great in any other way.

I usually find the age out before they wear out.  The last set was great for four seasons and toast by the fifth.