17/18 Season Snow Tire thread

[Muleski]

I'm curious about this mammal snow?

HaHa. This autocorrect on the platform kills me, as I am pretty busy and not so good about proofing!

Mammal snow? Really Old? Hairy? Near Amherst College {new mascot there}?

MINIMAL was my intended word!!

Cheers!

 

[ScotsSkier]

@wutangclan.. Welcome to Pugski

back to back comparisons? no, not exactly like tire-rack ....but rather more than just comparing 2 sizes of the same tire. You realize all your experience shows was that the lower profile sidewall/wider tire handled better on wet/dry roads....well who would have thunk it ! .....let me put my shocked face on.....

Funnily enough I get the same result when my wife's Macan Turbo puts on its winter boots in 265/55-18 all round compared to the 265/40-20 and 285/35-20 staggered set up it runs in the summer.....more rubber/lower sidewall (up to a certain limit! ) usually works better....

Since my tire test results are, like my ski tests, normally self-funded, I rarely can run 2 sets back to back. But I am, by my own admission, pretty heavy on tires and under Tahoe conditions in any winter you typically get a lot of extremes from dry pavement to deep snow so a dedicated snow tire can also see a lot of sub-optimal conditions (i.e. dry tarmac) So a lot of the time i will change snow tires after 1 season, at most 2. My wife ususlly gets 3-4 years out of them. In the last 8 years i have used Blizzak DMZ2, DMV!(several sets), LM 25, Firestone Winterforce, Yokohama IG51, Hankook I-Pike - across a range of vehicles including Ford explorer, Audi Q7 (2), Range Rover Sport, Porsche Macan Turbo, BMW X5, BMW 335, Ford F!50 3.5Eb (2), Nissan Xterra.........so over that period quite a bit of direct experience gained.... and this is of course in addition to normal summer or AT tires
And on the Q7s I used 3 different variants of Blizzak in 255/55-18, 265/60-18, 255/50-19 and 275/45-20..(and 21 inch summer tires) ...on my F150s i have run 265/70-18 and 275/55-20......so, probably closer than most (sane!) individuals are going to get to direct back to back testing.

I have gained quite a bit of insight into the different strengths/weaknesses and individual characteristics of different tires from all this (as well as spent more money than I probably should on tires although by selling while they still have life left I reduce the overall impact). And as Muleski pointed out while he and I may be some of the more extreme examples here, there are a lot of members who have extensive experience with one or more snow tires. And while almost all the data points provided are to a greater or lesser extent subjective, they all have value in enabling a more nuanced view of the differences that people experience. And unlike controlled tests they can provide more valuable insight into real life conditions (when did a tire-rack winter tire test ever give any insight into whether a tire would last 10, 20 30 or more thousand miles?).

Just like ski tests you can read between the lines and make your own adjustments to the data points based on your knowledge of the tester, the vehicle and their local conditions.. Very few, if any, posters here would claim that their choice is the best for everyone, or even for them. The perfect snow tire, like the perfect one ski quiver, does not exist......you are always going to have some trade-offs between tread wear, snow performance and cost. Typically pick any 2 out of 3!

So, while none of us would pretend to provide an objective, controlled conditions tire test, there is a LOT of value and info that can be gained from the collective knowledge across a wide range of sizes/brands that is provided here. By normalizing it through the lens of your own conditions/requirements/vehicle I personally find it does help me in deciding what I will try next! So, for me, a large part of the value actually comes because it is not a closed, controlled test but real feed back

(and, full disclosure, in an earlier life I did quite a lot of special stage forest rallying where a set of tires lasted 20-40 miles so over the course of a few seasons I was able to test different sizes/brands/compounds in different conditions, on the same car, with the clock as a relatively objective judge on the differences helping to validate (or otherwise!) what i felt through the butt-dyno!

Hope this helps give you a more realistic view of the experiences posted here!

 

[luliski]

This is a very informative thread. I have never had snow tires, just all-seasons on AWD cars. I live in the Sacramento Valley and ski in Tahoe. I spent about half of every week in Tahoe area last winter and will be doing the same this coming winter. After last winter, I'm thinking snow tires or the 3PMSF tires might be good.

 

[Tom K.]

A bit early to have snow tires but later availability of the Nokians might be an issue.

At least where I live, in the PNW, this is a very real thing, and when they're gone, they're gone until the next fall.

Honestly, our Sienna AWD is so darn good in snow that about the only thing I noticed with the Hakkas was more communication at the breakaway limit than I've ever felt from the Michelins or (long ago) Blizzaks.

But it's really a fun tire name to say, esp while clearing your throat. My wife calls them "Hokey Pokeys".

 

[Sibhusky]

I get them online. No one sells them here. Tires by Web. We've gotten about four sets from them now.

 

[Tom K.]

I get them online. No one sells them here. Tires by Web. We've gotten about four sets from them now.

Same here, when my local guy was already out last December 1.

Great pricing.

He felt bad, and mounted and balanced them free, but I gave him some $$$ anyway.

 

[johnnyvw]

We had one of my wife's Pirelli snow tires catch a nail right at the edge of the tread towards the end of the season (late March, IIRC). They were less than 3 months old at that point. Since we purchased them through the VW dealer, we had the road hazard warranty. But it took them over 2 months to track down a replacement. Our own searching found only one available...in Europe! With a more widely sold brand (like Bridgestone) it might have been easier to find one, but the Alltrack uses an odd-ball size on the 17" rims, and there were very limited choices.

 

[oldschoolskier]

Currently on our VW wagon we have Sailun Winters, these surprisingly perform very similar to Michelin Ice X3’s which I liked very much for a much lower cost.

On my F150 RWD I have Michelin All Season I find that the there is little need in most conditions I have encountered for winter tires as the tread looks very similar to a winter tire. When I first bought the truck (used) the same original tires on the truck worn and my first serious drive was through a snow storm to go skiing, I was surprised at the confidence inspiring traction, I have since replaced them with new.

Additionally for those real must have traction conditions (though slight in Southern Ontario) both car and truck have tire chains as the final equalizer.

As has been said before on other sites and threads, great tires are only as good as the driver. Great drivers know their limits and how to drive through most things regardless of the conditions and tires on the vehicle. Poor drivers, just let great tires get them in trouble faster and deeper because they believe the tires will save them from their stupidity.

 

[Eddie S]

I can speak for the Duratracs. They are nothing short of amazing in snow, ice, mud and so on. I keep them on all year long and am going on my 4th winter with them. I think I've got about 40,000 miles on them so far.

Though the Duratracs don't seem to be on the OP's list, I want to second surfsnowgirl's experience with them. I bought them last December as my first snow tires, before road trips to Wolf Creek and Taos ski valley. I drove Wolf Creek pass (from the Pagosa side) for three days in heavy snow (40" total), then over the mountains between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras across a treacherous stretch of 64 which didn't seem to have been plowed in days (and where I didn't see another vehicle the whole way), and then multiple trips from Taos to the mountain. The tires performed magnificently. I've wondered what the CO locals thought on the Wolf Creek pass drive when they were passed (carefully and considerately, of course) by a dirty ranch truck bearing Texas plates! I meant to take them off before the Texas summer heat, but I kept them on since there has been no tread wear and they are equally good in muddy and sandy pastures in the country where my parents still raise cattle - and more ski trips are coming up. Only two minor knocks against them: they aren't quite as stable on wet pavement, and have reduced my gas mileage by about 0.5 mpg. But they sure help me drive in winter mountains like a native...

 

[Brian Finch]

Pick me a tire- need to set up the Acura MDX for the season. Thinking Hakka 9's.

 

[johnnyvw]

For what it's worth, I have run just about all of the mainstream brands (i.e. available through Tire Rack) over the last 30 years. The only tires I was not very impressed with was the Goodyear Ice Grip WRT. I had them on my Mitsubishi Montero Sport, and even with 4WD, the snow traction was underwhelming. On the flip side to that, a pair of old, worn out Blizzaks (maybe 4/32 tread depth) had better snow traction than brand new Pirelli P6 all seasons on the Nissan Maxima I owned at one point in time.

YMMV...

 

[Blue Streak]

I almost put mine on this afternoon, but I didn’t want to jinx the current weather pattern.

 

[Ken_R]

Update: Discount tire could not get the Hakkas so I got the Blizzak DM-V2. Tested them out today when going over Vail pass tonight. It was nuking like I have never seen. Above 10k it was accumulating and icy. Tires made it feel super safe. Never a single slip. It was amazing. Had to stop in Dillon because visibility was just too low.

 

[Don in Morrison]

Who has experience with Nokian WR G3? How do they stack up to the others that have been mentioned here?

 

[Core2]

If anyone is looking for a place to buy online I highly suggest https://www.tirerack.com/ I picked up a set of snow tires and rims mounted, balanced and shipped to my door for $650 last year.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I love tire rack. I get my a price on my Durtracs from there and then have a local shop match the pricing. Tirerack is a great site.

 

[scott43]

Who has experience with Nokian WR G3? How do they stack up to the others that have been mentioned here?

I've had them in the past. They're decent snow tires, although maybe not as good as true snow tires. They're a bit strange in that they have big tread blocks so they're squirmy when pressed on dry pavement. And stiff sidewalls. I found them to be quite lacking in wet traction unfortunately. I don't know why, wet traction is generally a compound issue..I found true snow tires have better wet traction. Having said all that, I bought the same sort of tire in Kumho for the backup car just because I don't want to spring for another set of snows. These seem to have better wet traction, although still not as good as the all-seasons that came off.

 

[Brian Finch]

New Hakka9 on the MDX

 

[surfsnowgirl]

New Hakka9 on the MDX

Great aggressive tread pattern!!

 

[Brian Finch]

Great aggressive tread pattern!!

We are getting the goods when it snows.