The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[worth]

If you are getting winters this year and haven't got them yet, go tomorrow or you'll regret it.

I haven't put mine on yet. Will wait it out a week or two until the average temperature is below 7C.

I switched to Blizzak WS70's last year and regret my decision. Should have stayed with Nokians.

[Wormius]

Does every tire shop do studding on new tires? Is it bad for any reason to drive with studded tires while there isn't any snow or ice on the roads?

[GreatWhiteEbola]

For a budget tire, the Federal Himalayas have treated me well.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Good bump, I've been thinking about this lately. Has anyone seen any good deals around? Any success buying tired from those online sites that ship to fountain tire?

[Old Yeller]

Originally Posted by worth

Should have stayed with Nokians.

What Nokians did you have previously?

[TurnedTheCorner]

Winter is coming, you say?

[worth]

Originally Posted by Old Yeller

What Nokians did you have previously?

Hakapaletta R's. Don't think they make the same model anymore since I bought those probably 6 years ago, but I'm sure they make an equivalent replacement.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Does every tire shop do studding on new tires? Is it bad for any reason to drive with studded tires while there isn't any snow or ice on the roads?

Personally I don't believe Calgary gets enough snow/ice to warrant studded tires. Generally the only advantage of studded over winter tires is over ice from a stop as in snow there's no difference and in fact regular winter tires have shown to perform better in cornering over snow or ice. Major drawbacks fir studded tires is that they are very loud and are hard on the pavement. Typically the roads in Calgary are bone dry well over 50% of the time in the winter so the majority of the time you are rolling on extremely noisy tires.

The video below shows just how far winter tire compounds have come as they perform better than studded tires when it comes to cornering;

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=7

[Jimmy Stang]

I was in Sweden a few years back and noticed that nearly everyone used studded tires. It was early March, and although it was still just above freezing with a little bit of snow falling, the roads were mostly bare. I can't attest to what a full winter looks like in Stockholm compared to Calgary, but I was surprised that so many people used studded tires.

The only advantage that I noticed while there, being a pedestrian the whole time, is that you can hear cars coming around bends a lot better because of the added road noise!

[Nyah]

Has anyone had any experience with Falken Eurowinter tires? I'm thinking about putting those on my CT200h, which is a super light car. Or does anyone have any other suggestions?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Nyah

Has anyone had any experience with Falken Eurowinter tires? I'm thinking about putting those on my CT200h, which is a super light car. Or does anyone have any other suggestions?

Not winter tires but I did have some of their all seasons and thought they were garbage. It is possible that their winter are better.

[5seconds]

I just bought a winter tire package online from http://1010tires.com/ . They're Canadian and have free shipping on winters right now. They haven't been delivered yet, so can't comment on shipping time, but the price was good.

[Nammer403]

Im looking to get steelies any place that has the best price? or they all relatively the same

[Nyah]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Not winter tires but I did have some of their all seasons and thought they were garbage. It is possible that their winter are better.

How so? Did the tread just wear quickly or did you find they had handling issues?

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Nyah

How so? Did the tread just wear quickly or did you find they had handling issues?

They wore very quickly, and I didn't like they way they handled.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Personally I don't believe Calgary gets enough snow/ice to warrant studded tires. Generally the only advantage of studded over winter tires is over ice from a stop as in snow there's no difference and in fact regular winter tires have shown to perform better in cornering over snow or ice. Major drawbacks fir studded tires is that they are very loud and are hard on the pavement. Typically the roads in Calgary are bone dry well over 50% of the time in the winter so the majority of the time you are rolling on extremely noisy tires.

The video below shows just how far winter tire compounds have come as they perform better than studded tires when it comes to cornering;

http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=7

While most of my driving is in Calgary, there is always the trips out to the mountains or highway driving. Not only that, but you get the idiots who don't know how to take off from a stop at an intersection and end up creating icy patches all over the place. Not sure if studs offer and advantage in those conditions. I did almost have a coronary when coming to a stop at one of those and kept sliding, almost into the intersection.

[calumniate]

Got a set of goodyear graspic ds-3 tires on sale from urban-x last year. Made a huge difference although they're not exactly high end. Can't speak about treadwear because I hardly drive, but so far so good.

[The Yen Man]

I have the Bridgestone Blizzack WS70s. Seems pretty good so far. Last year was the first year running them after running the Kumho KW17s (which were not very good IMO).

For Falkens, I can't speak for the winters, but I have the ZE912s, which are the high performance all seasons. They seem pretty decent for the price.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I have the Bridgestone Blizzack WS70s. Seems pretty good so far. Last year was the first year running them after running the Kumho KW17s (which were not very good IMO).

.

Getting some of those on my wife's vehicle next week. Good to hear.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

For a budget tire, the Federal Himalayas have treated me well.

Same here, the guys at UrbanX recommended them and they've served us well.