winter tires

[Bill Bumface]

Winter tires that are a great deal: Kumho kw19'w

Winer tires that kick ass above all other winter tires: Nokian hakkapeliittas

[TimSJ]

The Nokians are great. I have pirelli Scorpian Zero Ice and Snow on my wifes SUV and they work well. Fairly quiet and good grip

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by HitterD

I found that the more common Winter tires (X-ice and Blizzaks specifically) did very well on snow and ice, but the performace suffered significantly on dry roads.

A fair comment - my summer tires are low profile 17"'s and the change to X-Ice is most noticible. Much less feel throug the steering wheel and "floaty". But then again, the traction is unparalleled in the snow, and ultimately I buy them for the snow performance, not the dry.

A review on Canadian Driver had much the same comments for the Nokia WR's - don't expect a 100% perfect solution in the dry with the same feel. It's always a compromise.

[Canada 02]

Question for the knowledgable here: how important is it to have winter tires on a rear-wheel drive vehicle? Would having AWD and the presumed better traction substitute for winter tires?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Question for the knowledgable here: how important is it to have winter tires on a rear-wheel drive vehicle? Would having AWD and the presumed better traction substitute for winter tires?

AWD won't help you brake. You might get off the line faster, but not stop a lick faster. In fact, the additional mass from the AWD system might make a stop longer. A friend has an Audi Quattro A4, and went the Nokian WR route for this reason.

As for winter tires on a RWD car - am I missing something? Isn't this pretty obvious? I had a used RWD 5 spd Volvo 240DL as my 1st car and I think if every one had to drive one of those in winter for a few month, the roads would be safer for all the skid correction and recovery one had to perform while driving that RWD tank.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Question for the knowledgable here: how important is it to have winter tires on a rear-wheel drive vehicle? Would having AWD and the presumed better traction substitute for winter tires?

Winter tires would definitely help. A couple of dead bodies in the trunk would probably help more

[HitterD]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

A fair comment - my summer tires are low profile 17"'s and the change to X-Ice is most noticible. Much less feel throug the steering wheel and "floaty". But then again, the traction is unparalleled in the snow, and ultimately I buy them for the snow performance, not the dry.

A review on Canadian Driver had much the same comments for the Nokia WR's - don't expect a 100% perfect solution in the dry with the same feel. It's always a compromise.

Absolutely. Everyone has different needs for their tires, and thus every review/opinion should be taken in that context.

Like I said, my needs are for a winter tire that will perform well enough on snow and Ice, but will be very good on dry roads in cold conditions. The Pilot Alpine's are the best option for this. The Nokia Wr's are probably just as good for this as well, but the Michelins were readily available at my dealership, so I went with those. I'll admit i don't know much about the Nokia's.

Given that the highways are usually dry, but the temperature is still cold (all season tires really suffer in performance at below 0 C temps), I needed a good balanced option. If I used the X-Ice, traveling up the #2 twice a week to Edmonton, I need something better on dry. If I don get in a blizzard on the highway, I still feel confident in the Pilot Alpins ability to handle the snow, even though it won't be as good as the X-ice.

I agree though, the X-Ice are a great option for city winter driving, and I would recommend them to anyone in that situation.

[Hemi-Cuda]

add another vote for the Nokians. i was running them all year round without a hitch until i got a nice set of rims and performance summer tires, now they're strictly a winter tire that stay on my stock rims and i honestly can't tell a big difference in driving with these on dry pavement vs the summer ones. another bonus buying from Kal-Tire (aside from the tread warrenty) is they'll rotate the summers and winters on for free

[Claeren]

I have had a lot of luck with http://www.tiretrends.com/ over the years, especially with the hard to fit large diameter/low profile sizes.

They also never charge the Alberta tire tax of $5/tire (i believe that is how much it is...)

It is a Canadian/B.C. company.

Claeren.

[CRXguy]

+1 for Tire Trends.

[snappyk]

We've been selling a ton of the Michelin X-Ice tires so far. Today I sold 2 sets of them and the girl in fornt of me sold 4 sets or something like that. We have the 4 for 3 sale on right now, shop around but they are a good tire.

[Bertuzzied]

I'd like to thank all those who recommended the Nokian tires! they are great! Kal-tire is another story though. I'm surprised they are only sold there.

My car though...maybe i'll think again before i buy a hybrid. The electric battery engine shuts off when it's colder than -30. So i'm putting around in my 92 horsepower car using the same amount of gas as everyone else! hahaha.

[Kipru]

Every wintertire test i have seen recently has had Nokian or Michelin as number one.

I'm very pleased that you there, all way in canada can see how good job the finnish engineers and test drivers have done with those tires.
Being a small manufacturer they have to concentrate to a narrow field and try to be the best in it. I didn't even know that they exported those tires to north-america but i guess quality sells in the regions where you really need it.

They used to be the same company with the Nokia mobilephones, but naturally they were moved to separate company to avoid misunderstanding.

[KevanGuy]

If you buy from Costco in the South be prepared for the absolute WORST customer service ever. I get so angry even thinking about it that I dont want to get into it all here. Just be prepared. On multiple occasions I have experienced thier garbage. Every single time I have to deal with them they are horrible. You save a couple bucks a tire but it is NOT worth the crap-ass service they give you AFTER they have your money.

[Bobblehead]

My wife had a flat Monday morning. That was NOT a fun tire change. Now I see the tread is starting to get down. Probably OK for summer but not in the snow. Which Nokian's have people used? I see Kal Tire's website lists 4 different snow tires.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

My wife had a flat Monday morning. That was NOT a fun tire change. Now I see the tread is starting to get down. Probably OK for summer but not in the snow. Which Nokian's have people used? I see Kal Tire's website lists 4 different snow tires.

if you just go into Kal-Tire and ask then which tire would be best for your vehicle that would probably be the best route. they sold me on my Nokians and i have no regrets. i don't know how their prices compare to anywhere else because i've never bothered to shop around anywhere else. i've always gotten excellent service there so i've never had an incentive to try and get a better deal elsewhere

[Dion]

Originally Posted by KevanGuy

If you buy from Costco in the South be prepared for the absolute WORST customer service ever. I get so angry even thinking about it that I dont to get into it all here. Just be prepared. On multiple occasions I have experienced thier garbage. Every single time I have to deal with them they are horrible. You save a couple bucks a tire but it is NOT worth the crap-ass service they give you AFTER they have your money.

Thanks for the heads up! I was thinking about putting some Michelins on my Ford Escape and will go elsewhere now.

[sicsun]

hey, thx for everyones advice. i went with the blizzack and it works great on my car but alright on my girlfriend. was going for the nokian but didnt like their service. just to let people that dont know ,when your buying blizzack ask which model that your getting cause they have four models. so when you call into any dealers that carries it,they usually give the lowest model and charge you really high. got mine at 750,girlfriend at 500 cause her was the lower end. i d call around to five different stores and this one was the best. if anyone wants blizzack at a good price,i would gladly give you the number to this place.

[Shawnski]

I also run the Nokian's (WR's now) on my Grand Prix GT year round. Good tires. And as I go over the Salmo/Creston and Castlegar/Salmo passes regularly without problems, I think I could safely recommend them for anyone looking.

[Madman]

If you must go to Kal-Tire, (and unfortunately to get Nokians, you do), then stay far far away from the Deer Valley one. They did nothing but screw us around and treat us like idiots. I will never shop there again and will do my best to steer everyone clear of there.

I did hpwever have a positive Nokian buying experience from the Kal-Tire up by Franklin years ago.