Winter tire discussion for grown ups thread.

[underscore]

For anyone with an SUV/4x4, Canadian Tire currently has Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac's on sale, for cheaper than anywhere I could find online. For my size they were $222/tire online and $174/tire at CT.

[sdubfid]

The best car snow tires I had were 155/7x/13 kumhos (can't remember model number). They were $50 per corner brand new. They were great in the dry and lasted a very long time as well. I would buy pizza cutters again in a heartbeat. Look at what winter rally cars are running.

Currently on nokian wrg2 and they do everything ok but nothing good. I have only used them in up here in fort mac snow which has barely any moisture content. I would only recommend them for my grandma who wants to set it and forget it.

I've had 4 different sets of bfg a/t ko on trucks/suvs from 2000lbs to 7000lbs and would buy them again too.

fwd in reverse works great uphill, nylon rope through the spokes (if caliper clearance allows) will act as a chain if you are ghetto, dragging the brake will be like a poor man lsd

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by westopher

Cheap out and M3 don't go in the same sentence for me. I'm not concerned about cost (to an obvious extent) as these will probably last me 4 years. I plan on not stuffing my car into a ditch. I ride at least 25 days a year other than the garbage season that was last year so I intend to keep my car, and me safe. Its easy enough for tires to get the snowflake that IMO have no business being on the sea to sky in a snowstorm. I'm looking for the best tire I can get for what I'm going to use it for.

Is getting a winter beater an option?

[acurael]

I have ran bridgestone blizzaks in the past and they worked really good initially on my G35. I found they wore down somewhat quickly and basically my car got stuck in the snow third season in. The car did go through tires quickly but it was disappointing since there was a decent amount of tread left on the tires. It was a RWD coupe.

I have blizzaks on an AWD 335xi and been driving them for past two years thru all seasons (summer set got ruined). For some reason they still have plenty of tread left and still work well in the snow? It has been about five years since i bought them. So completely different experience compared to the G35 so must be the car.

If you are RWD i would look closely at the different options of snow tires. I would get dedicated snow tire. Not performance winter tires or all seasons (the blizzaks were the low pro version on the G)

I'm likely going to get conti DWS for the 335 soon and use those year round, but only because its an XI.

[LYC]

I've had 3 different sets of winter tires for my civic but the Michelin Xi2 were by far the best. Its taken me on countless road trips all over BC in the winter. I've plowed through snow that was deeper than the front of my car and never had a problem.

[westopher]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

Is getting a winter beater an option?

Honestly, I love driving this car, and I bought it to enjoy it. Every car I have ever owned, from my slammed 325 for my first car, to my corrado and my GTi, all were amazing fun summer and winter (and I'm talking road trips through the rockies weekly from edmonton kinda winter driving, not this -3 and light snow 5 times a year shit.) I can definitely afford a winter beater, but I can't afford to get a winter beater that I will enjoy driving, and be safe in like my M3 nor can I handle 5 months away from it. I just don't see the point in parking something like it. It would be different if it was a classic 911, but the point of getting an m3 is its a car that can be fun while being practical enough for anything. That is what it was designed for.

[twitchyzero]

how about all-weather tires as year-rounder in Vancouver? They have the snowflake designation.

All-weather tires are not the same as all-season, and here's why - Wheels.ca

[meme405]

I had Blizzaks on my FX previously. Toyo Open Country C/T was what I am on now. 100% happy with them.

This year I have a set of GoodYear Ultra Grips, STUDDED (75%). This is of course way overkill for lower mainland, but the truck gets dragged to some pretty ridiculous places:



And unfortunately the truck suffers cause of that:



I added some other upgrades this year to her, she has an aluminum back rack, with a proper LED yellow beacon bar mounted top center (to replace the miami vice style beacon light). I also added an LED light bar in the front bumper which is ridiculously bright. I also was forced to add a backup alarm, which I am utterly annoyed by after less than a week. I gotta find a way to mount this fucking thing on a toggle switch, so that it ain't on in the city.

If I find myself driving in and out of site a lot I may end up putting a steel "deer grating" bumper up front, cause that's how the last truck got killed.

[westopher]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

how about all-weather tires as year-rounder in Vancouver? They have the snowflake designation.

All-weather tires are not the same as all-season, and here's why - Wheels.ca

I had the Nokian WRG2 all weather tires on my car last winter. They were a little low on tread, so perhaps I didn't get a good feel for them, but they were abysmal in the snow heading up seymour.

[Noran]

I used Hoosier a7's for my snow driving last year. Great tire for cold, icy, and snowy conditions. These tires are an ABSOLUTE MUST for winter conditions! I'll buy them off of you if you don't like them!

[Euro7r]

General Artic Altimax on steelies last season. Aside from extra tire noise, can't really complain for the price.

[Nomomo]

Ap4's held 550awhp in -3 on the sea 2sky np

[prolepsis]

I used to run Blizzaks WS60 in my previous FWD car.
This season I'm running Blizzaks WS80 in my RWD, so I'll see how much of an improvement these newer ones are.

Their WS series are their studless ice and snow, while their LM series are more performance winter / snow tires.

The WS series are soft and mushy in the dry, but handle great in snow and ice. They also wear pretty quickly, as acurael states above.

They are likely overkill for Vancouver, but I go up to Cypress (which is pretty well cleared, even on snow days) and figure that I'll take the tradeoff in dry handling to have something that should be able to handle whatever the conditions may be.

[Lomac]

Running a set of X-Ice2's right now and they are greasy as balls in the rain. Fantastic in the snow but I'm noticing a ton of traction loss when it's pure liquid water falling.

Last year I drove around in the Pathfinder with Yokohama Geolander i/t's. They were ever better than the x-ice series when it came to dealing with snow. Suffered slightly in the rain, but their snow worthiness made the purchase worth it.

[FB6]

Originally Posted by SpuGen

Don't get Hankook Ipikes unless you're driving in actual snow.

I have them on my fall/winter Ho-Rolla beater, and they suck BBC in the rain/slush.

In the snow, they dig enough to get you going, and make sure you stop. But they're still extremely easy to get sliding during a snow-hoon. That being said, they're very composed in the snow, and I tried reaaaallly hard to spin out. I didn't.

For a bottom dollar snow tire... pretty good for a beater-spec car.

Are they that bad in the rain/wet? I ordered the I Pike W419 last week.

[Limitless]

Any opinions on these tires? Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2

Tire Details - Discount Tire Direct

Reason being I need to find a 255/30/19 sized tire or 245/30/19, and there's barely a selection tire for that size :S Looks like I won't be getting anywhere far if snow does hit hard, but it seems to be the most promising out of the selection I have..? Opinions highly appreciated!

[fliptuner]

If you go narrower, to a 235/40-45/19, there are a lot more options.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSe...40&diameter=19

Better yet, find out if 17 or 18" wheels clear your brakes and check the tire options for them.

[dared3vil0]

Originally Posted by Limitless

Any opinions on these tires? Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2

Tire Details - Discount Tire Direct

Reason being I need to find a 255/30/19 sized tire or 245/30/19, and there's barely a selection tire for that size :S Looks like I won't be getting anywhere far if snow does hit hard, but it seems to be the most promising out of the selection I have..? Opinions highly appreciated!

Those are summer ONLY tires, as in don't drive on them below 7c.

Atleast get all seasons...

[BABU]

I run bridgestone blizzaks on all my cars, really good in snow/slush with RWD cars. Back in 2008 drove clk in the snow storm no problem with blizzaks.

[jtrinh]

I've had Xice xi2 the past couple winters on my IS. They've taken me everywhere without a problem. Breaks traction easily in rain like Lomac but that's probably cause I run 205's. Makes rain driving even more fun.

[meme405]

Originally Posted by Limitless

Any opinions on these tires? Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2

Tire Details - Discount Tire Direct

Reason being I need to find a 255/30/19 sized tire or 245/30/19, and there's barely a selection tire for that size :S Looks like I won't be getting anywhere far if snow does hit hard, but it seems to be the most promising out of the selection I have..? Opinions highly appreciated!

Blizzak LM60's are the choice when it comes to low profile winter tires.

I don't know if they come in your specific sizing, but they will likely be the closest out of anything...

[Great68]

My X-Ice's are great when we actually got snow, I was unstoppable the few times I had to drive in it (The Limited slip in the Speed 3 probably had a lot to do with it too)
However, they're noisy and suck in the wet & dry.

I can get one more season out of them, and then was thinking of going with a more performance winter such as the Pilot Alpin PA4 to get better rain & dry performance.

[Lowered_Klass]

I've been running Blizzak WS60's the past 2 winters, and they've been great. Haven't really had to test them in crazy snow, but they're great in the rain and dry (within reason).

They have have been wearing great as well (as far as winters go), when they go, I'll probably replace them with similar Blizzaks.

My wife's car had the General Artic Altimax on her car for a couple winters before we sold her car. Noisey as fuck, and iffy in dry/rainy weather. Really had that 'squishy' feeling. More pronounced than others I've used. Got them from the states for cheap, so I can't complain. Snow traction was great.

Stay away from the Toyo Garit KX. Had those for a few winters on my old car, and although they were decent in the snow/ice, rain and dry weather was not fun. Far to 'squishy' for my liking, and our Vancouver winters.

My Dad swears by the Xice tires. They have Xi2's on both their cars, though I haven't driven their cars a lot in the winter, they seem to be wearing well, and my Dad is happy with their rain/dry performance.

[Acura604]

Altimax was my favorite. Currently on lm60 blizzaks and don't like them.

[BEEB]

^16" oem wheels with Pirelli snowsport

Decade ago, I had these Pirelli Snow Sport 190 on my E36 16 inchers and it performed flaslessly. It brought me to River Road with a foot of fresh snow without problem. I would definitely not cheap out on snow tires.