Winter tires reviews.

[VroomPshhTsi]

I'm going to be getting winter tires for the first time ever. I'm normally use to crappy stock all seasons in the winter so really anything is an improvement. I want something that will grip better in the snow and provides more safety in winter. Mind you this is going on a tiny 4 cyl 2500 pound car so I'm not expecting insane grip.

Keys:
Cost
Grip in snow
Wet traction
Low road noise if possible

Some of the ones I'm looking at:
Bridgestone Blizzaks: seems to be the favorite, but a little pricey.
General Altimax: affordable, good reviews.
Firestorm Winterforce: affordable, relatively good reviews.
Michelin X-Ice: priced between the General/Firestorm and Blizzaks, from the reviews these look like they are hit or miss.

Who here has winter tires for a tiny 4 cyl car that can lend some insight?

[DynoTom]

I have Blizzaks on my Crown Vic and in snow they are INCREDIBLE !:headbang:headbang


I have to say on my heavy car they act "squishy" sometimes around corners and sometimes pulling away from a stoplight in wet weather causes them to spin slighly after gripping normal and then they shudder the whole car when they grab....For you having such a light car they would prolly not do anything abnormal....


I'm switching to Firestone Winterforce , a lot of the guys on crownvic.net said that the Winterforce work better on Vics than Blizzaks do....


In closing I have to say that true WINTER TIRES make a HELL of a difference , when my car had like new Goodyear RSA's on it ANY amount of snow was tricky to drive the car in , all it was doing was pushing through corners and having trouble starting from a stop....The Blizzaks went through the biggest winter storms we had last year !

[HITMAN]

My last 3 sets of snows were Winterforce, so I guess I'm a confirmed Winterforce user. I've had them on two Honda CRXs and now on my Tercel. This last set I bought for my Tercel cost me a whopping $36 (+ shipping) apiece from Tire Rack, and that's only because I fucked around too long to get them for $31. :rolf

[OxmanWI]

Just got 4 on TireRack.com

Firestone Winterforce, my second set, love em, great for the price

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Sizes....rtnum=96SR5FWF

[wrath]

Don't forget about the Cooper Weathermaster. By far my favorite winter tire.

My second favorite are Treadwright retreads with the garnet in them.

My third favorite are Blizzaks, if you can catch them on sale.

Everything else I tried weren't worth it.

And I lived in a place that got 300" of snow and rarely was there a day in January that you saw asphalt.

[BAD LS1]

Cooper weather masters i had on my S10 that was 2wd, with 300 lbs of salt over the axle that thing was unstopable. With them on all 4 corners it would actually turn too.

I just put them on the front of my new dd too and they were about 75 a tire from fleet farm.

[That_Guy]

if your looking for an AMAZING all season tire that hangs in there with most winter tires.. look into bridgestone potenza g 019's. i had Firestone winterforces for my first winter with my car cobalt and i can honesty say there just as good or possibly better. but that's just my own opinion. i will say this the firestones where REALLY LOUD.
bridgestones
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+G+019+Grid

firestones
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&s_kwcid=TC|5428|winter%20firestone%20tire||S||4450 057753&tireModel=Winterforce&

[LEWETHETIGER73]

I have used the Dunlops Winter Performance M3's and as far as I was concerned they were the best tire choice I could have made! I had no control issues at all in any weather. I had them on my 2000 Grand Prix GT and I could drive like there was no snow on the road. Tire spin was almost non existant. And I never got stuck no matter the snow or ice. They were a little pricey but the safe feeling you get from them was worth it to me.

[03CVLX]

I am running Nokian Hakkapellitta RSI's on my Crown Vic. Probably instantly disqualified by cost. I think I paid 129 a tire in 2008 but they are the best tires I have ever had.

[Car Guy]

if your looking for an AMAZING all season tire that hangs in there with most winter tires.. look into bridgestone potenza g 019's.

Please tell me you do some hardcore drugs on a daily basis.....:shades

[tommyt5078]

I have the blizzaks on my "4" cylinder but its also a AWD Subaru STi, I love them for the winter, great tire, but as you stated, a little $$$$, I think I have $1000 in them, but have used them every winter since 05', and I don't see why they won't last another 4-5 years. I also don't put a lot of miles on my car, I drive around 10,000 a year.

[4I Notch]

I just ordered a set of Firestone Winterforce tires yesterday for my crown vic. From what i have heard they seem to be one of the better snow tires out there.

[shoooo32]

With a light 4 cyl car, any snow tire will kick ass. However I know a few people that were disappointed with the Michelins. If you can wait until after Christmas, the blizzaks usually go on sale. $75 a tire on tirerack last January, today they are $137.

[That_Guy]

Please tell me you do some hardcore drugs on a daily basis.....:shades


maybe my bar is set low considering my stock tires are cheapy continentals anything is better. imo the winterforce is a great tire for winter! but those potenza's have to be hands down the best all season tires Ive ever used.

[Car Guy]

maybe my bar is set low considering my stock tires are cheapy continentals anything is better. imo the winterforce is a great tire for winter! but those potenza's have to be hands down the best all season tires Ive ever used.

Yes the winter force in a good snow tire, however the cheap Continentals (Touring AS model?) are better in the snow than the Potenza’s you linked to if comparing both in new condition......

[wrath]

I am running Nokian Hakkapellitta RSI's on my Crown Vic. Probably instantly disqualified by cost. I think I paid 129 a tire in 2008 but they are the best tires I have ever had.

Nokian makes some bling tires, everyone uses them in the Lake Superior Pro Rally. But they're expensive.

[SlowMotion]

I will be running the Pirelli Scorpion Ice and Snow this winter on my AWD TBSS. The Pirelli's received good reviews from all of the websites I checked out.

[That_Guy]

Yes the winter force in a good snow tire, however the cheap Continentals (Touring AS model?) are better in the snow than the Potenza’s you linked to if comparing both in new condition......

i like the potenzas alot. imo they are superior to the continentals.

[Car Guy]

i like the potenzas alot. imo they are superior to the continentals.

Not in snow, not an ice cube's chance in hell.....:)

[letsrunem]

I just picked up a set of Winterforces for the dd, $236 shipped. They got some good reviews and were half the cost of blizzaks..

[drewbird91]

I have blizzacks on my focus and got them with steelies on craigslist. They will probably last 1 more season since I got them used. They made a huge difference. I'd say any winter tire you get will help. I was able to get around a lot easier with the winter tires on there.

I'm looking at getting a winter set for the woman's elantra but also would like a rims to go with it as well so then I can just swap them.

[Prince Valiant]

I run Winterforce tires (mine were the no-name before bridgestone started owning up to them) on my 1800lb Honda Insight. The only thing the slows me up is when the snow gets deep...as in more than 7 inches. Below that, nothing slows the little insight down. Only twice was the insight unable to go...and both times there was over 14" of snow on my unplowed neighborhood...whereas, I was able to go through the main roads during these storms, and even passed more than a few cars that were stuck.

Throw in that they were the cheapest tires out there, it's hard to justify another tire.

Also, many gripe that they aren't a true "ice" tire....they are studdable, but that's illegal in WI of course. But here in WI, and in Milwaukee in particular, ice is rarely the problem; it's the slush crap that does you in...where these tires are hard, if not impossible to beat. Plus, they are great in fresh snow.

The first and still best "winter drags" champ rode on winterforce, that were a year old, and also had been left on through the summer...so they fairly worn. Still, the full-time 4WD jeep was unstoppable and unbeatable.

[British_Ben]

I have some Blizzak WS-50s for the speed6 in winter. They are great in the snow, even deep-ish stuff on my car. They are also great on ice, and by great I mean that you're still gonna crash, because it's ice, but you'll crash slower. :goof I guess I shouldn't say that, I placed first in my class in an ice race with these tires.

Like someone else said, the Blizzaks are very "squishy" in any condition other than snow. The car seems to move around on the knobby(ish) tires, it's not something that has ever made me feel like I was going to lose control, however.

That being said, I honestly think that any snow tire will work. Any tire that's got grooves to grab snow and throw it out of the tire as it spins is going to work quite well IMO.

[twicks69]

I am running Nokian Hakkapellitta RSI's on my Crown Vic. Probably instantly disqualified by cost. I think I paid 129 a tire in 2008 but they are the best tires I have ever had.

I have owned several sets of Nokian Hakkapellitta's over the years including the 2, Q, WR, and RSi. They have all been excellent investments and are bar-none one of the best tires on the market.

They are also excellent in mud, rain, snow, ice, etc.

I normally get between 45-60K miles per set running them year-round on my cars. I currently have WR's on my wife's Saturn, and RSi's on my GVR4. Excellent treadwear, very very low road noise, and complete confidence!

My wife's car noticed about a 3mpg gas mileage drop from Falken Ziex 512's (which were absolute garbage tires in wet or dry....) from 40mpg to 37mpg average.

As for my GVR4, I don't really care about gas mileage, I only care about having complete control, and you definitely have it with Hakkapellitta RSi's. I purposely enjoy going driving in blizzards because it is so much fun driving an AWD turbo car with ice racing tires and having total control!

Worth the price difference. Period.

Locally, Marty at Big Bear Tire in Oconomowoc has them in-house.

You can learn more about these tires at Nokian's website:
http://www.nokiantires.com/product-group?group=1.01

[Fast SVT]

Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3

Great snow tire that you can drive for a bit in the spring if you are not quick to swap them out. Very silent on the HWY.

Snow tires are the best thing you can do if you drive in snow. I always laugh at all you knuckleheads who spin out or skid through a stop sign thinking your all seasons would be good enough.

[Yooformula]

I have run blizzaks with awesome results on a fwd car damm thing drove like a studded 4wd in the snow. It was awesome! Recently I used the Goodyear snow grips on a fwd minivan and I was very surprised by how well they were especially for the price. I wouldnt mine picking up a set of snow tires for our suv, that would be pretty fun to drive I bet.

[buttersgt350]

i got the general altimax tires last winter for my wifes camry and they worked great. i think any snow tire is gonna work better then an all season tire. just find the best deal.