17/18 Season Snow Tire thread

[Dadskier]

I have a new car and first SUV this year. That means new set of snows.

Currently Tirerack lists 4 snows for my tire size:
BLIZZAK DM-V2
YOKOHAMA ICEGUARD IG51V
GENERAL GRABBER ARCTIC
CONTINENTAL WINTERCONTACT SI

With my last couple of cars I've always gone with the General Altimax Arctic because they are well priced and have performed great. Is the grabber just the SUV version of the Arctic? As it's still the best priced at $125 compared to almost $170 for the Blizzak and $140ish for the other two.

 

[jmeb]

I've been super impressed with my Falken AT3W as both a snow tire and an AT tire. It is not at all the same as the old WildPeak. Good guarantee, DiscountTire usually has most sizes and is easy to work with/warranty, very reasonably priced. @nay can tell you more about it.

 

[Muleski]

How big an SUV? What exactly is it?

My brother has that Yokohama on a Yukon, and he's very pleased with it. Serious car guy. Drives it in everything that we see in the winter. Feels that the tire wear is excellent, and that the performance has no degraded much in two winters and about 30K of driving.

I have Nokian Hakka's on our Land Cruiser. I have great faith in the tires, and feel that they are much better on dry pavement that many others. The problems are that they do wear through the top layer of compound pretty quickly. particularly when it gets warm in the spring. And they are expensive. I have probably owned a half dozen, or more sets of them. Not sure if I'll buy again. Have not run a Blizzak in about 15 years.

The "problem" in New England, where I see you are is that when you still need a winter tire up North....well into April for example, it can be 70, or even 80 degrees on a warm stretch further South. At least that has been my problem.....and that weather can eat a lot of tires.

My son has had great luck with Hankook IPike's on his truck. CO, not MA. Very good bang for the buck.

I can't help you on the Generals. Agree that they are a very good car tire, at a great price.

Fact is that there are so many good snow tires out there these days.

On your list, I might think about the Yokohama's. I think my brother bought them on a buy three, get four deal, locally. Not sure where.

 

[jmeb]

The "problem" in New England, where I see you are is that when you still need a winter tire up North....well into April for example, it can be 70, or even 80 degrees on a warm stretch further South. At least that has been my problem.....and that weather can eat a lot of tires.

This is one reason I prefer snow-rated (3PMSF) AT tires. Their compounds are formulated for year round use and still work excellently in the snow. Plus most of them have a good mileage guarantee. They are not as good as studded tires on ice, but short of that they are very good. Other similar options to the Falken are the Copper Discoverer ATW and the Goodyear Duratrac.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

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.

 

[graham418]

I have the Conti's on my car, an older Caddy CTS. They have been excellent, no complaints. I don't drive it that much, I think this will be the 5th winter for them .

 

[Muleski]

Hold on....we're going to hear of every brand made, with good experiences!

There are so many good tires out there.

I have one adult kid who lives in the Tahoe Basin. One who know lives in the High Rockies after four years in Denver. My brother spends a lot of the winter in Steamboat. We live north of Boston, right on the coast, and drive 225 miles to Maine every weekend.

What I am confident saying is that the winter road conditions are pretty different in most of those places, and that is where it can get tricky.

I few years ago, our son had a race group back East for a race series. U16's. The forecast was for a day of "heavy wintry mix". A couple of the girls wondered what that meant. Well....on that one day they saw rain, rain freezing on cold surfaces, freezing rain, sleet, wet snow, and sunshine.

We very often will have a drive home in ALL of that, which can be tricky. So, in my experience {a 60+ year lifetime of doing this every weekend}, matching the tires to the vehicle and the specific locations is key, and not easy.

What our daughter has on her Outback will not work as well as what my son's GF has on hers on Tahoe.

I actually run three sets of tires on my car. Winter studded Hakka snows. Summer high performance, and a winter biased all season for the shoulder seasons {Nokian WR's}. Sounds crazy, but so is NE weather....particularly near the ocean and north.

That's just my explanation of my funding sightly psycho on these tire threads.

The vehicle also matters in terms of selection. SUV covers a wide horizon. Our Land Cruiser and my wife's X3 are completely different, for example.

So many good choices......almost like skis! And like the right tune on your skis, having the tires balanced, and running the right tire pressure {not always what you door jam sticker might say} makes a big difference.

Good luck making a choice!

 

[Dadskier]

How big an SUV? What exactly is it?

VW Atlas so midsize. I'll probably just go with the Generals. It's also the car I commute in and they've held up well in the past with that kind of driving.

 

[Muleski]

VW Atlas so midsize. I'll probably just go with the Generals. It's also the car I commute in and they've held up well in the past with that kind of driving.

Nice! Let us know how you like it after some winter experience. The Generals will probably be great.

I "get" the challenge of getting the right sneakers to do it all, as you do see it all for weather.

Good luck.

 

[Uncle-A]

I have a new car and first SUV this year. That means new set of snows.

Currently Tirerack lists 4 snows for my tire size:
BLIZZAK DM-V2
YOKOHAMA ICEGUARD IG51V
GENERAL GRABBER ARCTIC
CONTINENTAL WINTERCONTACT SI

With my last couple of cars I've always gone with the General Altimax Arctic because they are well priced and have performed great. Is the grabber just the SUV version of the Arctic? As it's still the best priced at $125 compared to almost $170 for the Blizzak and $140ish for the other two.

I have used General Tires on a rear wheel drive car and was not a fan they did not hold up.
Used Yokohama Tires on a front wheel drive Mini Van they would give me a vibration over 55 mph.
Continental Tires on a front wheel drive compact car and they lasted a long time, over the 60K warrantee.
No history with the Bridgestone Blizzak Sorry.

 

[François Pugh]

Hakkas are the best for traction and control. Company jeep has studded Hakka 7s on it, very good. I bought some Hakka R2s last fall for my small front wheel drive car, and they are awesome. They still have plenty of tread on them. However, I don't think I'll get five winters (about 80,000 km) out of them like I've managed with the Micheline X-ice tires I've used in the past (Latitude X-ice on a large rear wheel drive car, X-ice, X-ice II and X-ice III on compact cars), which while not as good as the Hakkas, were still pretty darn good.

 

[ScotsSkier]

I have been running the Yokahamas for the last 2 winters in Tahoe on my F150 and my wife has them on her Macan Turbo. Great tires, much better -and better life - in my experience than the Blizzaks i have run in the past (and I have 3 different Blizzak variants) . I normally change them out on my truck after a couple of years (yes, I know, I am heavy on tires, not just snow tires) and sell them on while there is still a lot of life in them so i was looking at the Generals as a possible change

 

[BS Slarver]

Hakka R2s hands down the best unstudded tires I've ever had.
Last year thru untracked 24 inches in my low riding A6 avant, snow coming over the hood for first tracks... unreal traction.

 

[Sibhusky]

I've got Hakka 8's on my Alltrack. (Studded, for those unfamiliar)

They are my fourth set of Hakka's. The first three sets were on my Audi A4 Avant. My husband also has them on his Outback. They get run Nov thru May or thereabouts. But there's no interstates near by and it's been a long time since I was a race mom.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I had some yokahamas on my Sebring before I traded her in. Not sure what model but they did my Sebring very proud in the winter. Obv not the same as a 4x4 but i was very impressed with those tires.

 

[nay]

This is one reason I prefer snow-rated (3PMSF) AT tires. Their compounds are formulated for year round use and still work excellently in the snow. Plus most of them have a good mileage guarantee. They are not as good as studded tires on ice, but short of that they are very good. Other similar options to the Falken are the Copper Discoverer ATW and the Goodyear Duratrac.

I agree completely. All terrain tires have seen such massive performance improvements over the last 4-5 years that they are as a class effectively winter tires, especially as the design focus has shifted to all weather.

The Falken AT3W is outstanding, the BFG ko2 is so versatile that it gets high scores on ice and can handle heavy wind packed snow almost at mud terrain class.

I have 32K on a set and they are maybe 20% worn with year round use over 3.5 years now.

The Falken AT3W on my Sequoia have about 25K and are still at least 15/32 tread depth. Those tires make heavy slush disappear and will get you home on really bad ice (this first pic below was my wife driving as we were heading out to grab a beer).

First pic on Falkens, second pic same night on the BFGs (testing as ice like this is hard to find in CO, although increasingly common) - came home from skiing through this same spot and had to make an emergency maneuver to avoid a head on sideways sliding dually pickup truck.

The Atlas isn't really a SUV is the sense of being a heavier duty light truck, so the extent to which you would want a heavy duty all weather tire is probably a good question. But the more you might get a bit off pavement with the new ride, the more compelling the all terrain versatility becomes.

We had a thread about this last year that it's time to revive. The info here remains completely relevant.

https://forum.pugski.com/threads/hybrids-the-new-winter-tire.2889/

 

[scott43]

Put Kumho HA31 tires on my all-purpose beater. All-weather tire, as opposed to all-season, they're much like the Nokian WRG3. My so far summer and wet weather only impressions, stiff sidewalls I suspect to make it not overheat in warmer weather, squirmy tread blocks that make at the limit cornering noisy and with a wide envelope between stick and slide, not much more noise than normal. Wet traction is decent although not as good as the all-seasons that were on there, at least in this warmer weather. More to follow on the winter performance but I expect them to be on par with proper winters.

 

[Dadskier]

AT tires seem a bit much for my needs. I live in the flatlands and travel to the mtns. Do they have much impact (more so than snows) on mpgs?

 

[nay]

AT tires seem a bit much for my needs. I live in the flatlands and travel to the mtns. Do they have much impact (more so than snows) on mpgs?

ATs are likely better than snows for fuel economy, depending on the tire of course. I picked up about 1 mpg going from a really soft tire to the BFG ko2, noting of course that we're talking 37" tires in my case.

The idea of limited use in more severe conditions with lots of miles in flat terrain with benign weather generally favors the evolution of the AT to more of an all weather focus while retaining a long wearing tread.

There are less aggressive options like the Michelin LTX that are very good in winter. The back half of the hybrid tire thread I linked to above touches on some of those tires. It's all personal preference - snow tires are great, but they aren't particularly versatile. I don't think I'd run them even with unlimited budget - I'd just stud something like the Goodyear Duratrac.

 

[Tom K.]

Hakkas are the best, and Michelins last the longest.

I found stupid good pricing last season Googling around the interweb, when my local guy was already out of stock.