The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Just out of curiosity, has anyone purchased a set of winter tires that they hated or were just pure crap?

Well, not "pure crap", but the Goodyear Nordics I bought for my first set of tires aren't nearly as good as the Hankook iPikes I have on my SUV or the X-Ice 3's I have on the new car.

However I bought the Nordics based upon price, and upon reflection I would have been better off spending an extra $150 on a set of 4.

All that being said, they are still significantly better than using all season tires.

[bossy22]

Got a set of 4 x-ice for $795 all in at Costco. These are for my suv. I had blizzacks previously and was quite happy with them. Tons of winter driving the past three winters on them. Curious to see how the x-ices compare.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by FireFly

However when it was pointed out that Goodyear is the official tire of all motorsports, he left in a huff to go google it. Sure enough, Goodyear has the best ratings.

That said, you're probably not driving a NASCAR or some such so I think it's personal preference.

Not entirely true.

Formula 1 is Pirelli
Nascar is Goodyear
Indy Car is Firestone
Superbike is Pirelli (Canadian is Dunlop)
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge and World Sport Car Series is Yokohama
Rallying is a mix of Yohohama, Michelin, DMACK.
Offroad is BF Goodrich and some others
Goodyear is rarely used if ever for the amateur racing series like autocross, time attack, etc.

It's essentially which tire company that will provide the most money to the racing series is the one that becomes the approved vendor. Tire suppliers to race series are constantly being juggled. In events like rallying where you don't have a designated manufacturer, you then see a mix of people choosing on technical aspects instead of being forced one direction.

Goodyear is a tire that get's good ratings, but they also have duds, but get ratings still based on the name. Similar to Bose stereo's (are they really worth that much with little improvement?).

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Had a conversation with my husbands boss who figured he had just purchased the best winter tires for his vehicle because they were the most expensive. My husband pointed out that Goodyear is the best tire maker in the industry. His boss did not believe him. However when it was pointed out that Goodyear is the official tire of all motorsports, he left in a huff to go google it. Sure enough, Goodyear has the best ratings.

That said, you're probably not driving a NASCAR or some such so I think it's personal preference.

I always wondered who that marketing worked on...

Does your husband also believe that Budweiser is the best beer in the world because they are the official beer of the Stampede?

[FLAMESRULE]

Had to hit 3 different Kal-Tires but finally picked up winters for the new ride that hopefully gets here next week.

Got the last 4 Nokian Hakka R2's in 235/60R18 in the city. Paired them up with a set of Klasse Apex in matte black.

[FireFly]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

I always wondered who that marketing worked on...

Does your husband also believe that Budweiser is the best beer in the world because they are the official beer of the Stampede?

Or it could be that I was not remembering correctly his quote?

Any particular reason you decided to take your response to the next level of ######?

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by FireFly

Or it could be that I was not remembering correctly his quote?

Any particular reason you decided to take your response to the next level of ######?

haha, I wasn't trying to be rude, I just found it funny.

[FireFly]

I find it funny that someone would choose the most expensive tires assuming they're the best and not taking any other factors into consideration.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Well, not "pure crap", but the Goodyear Nordics I bought for my first set of tires aren't nearly as good as the Hankook iPikes I have on my SUV or the X-Ice 3's I have on the new car.

However I bought the Nordics based upon price, and upon reflection I would have been better off spending an extra $150 on a set of 4.

All that being said, they are still significantly better than using all season tires.

That's really the thing for me, I'm on my 3rd set of winter tires and all of have been so much better than "all season/weather" tires that I've honestly felt little need to shop around on brand.

[rd_aaron]

Originally Posted by FireFly

I find it funny that someone would choose the most expensive tires assuming they're the best and not taking any other factors into consideration.

Paying more doesn't always mean getting more but I would put more stock in an expensive tire than one that sponsors NASCAR, if I had no other factors to consider.

It seems the tests are all a bit subjective too. Consumer Reports has pretty consistently rated the Michelin X-Ice in the top 2 or 3 for all winter tires. I picked the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 for our new vehicle as it had the highest consumer rating on TireRack (over 500 ratings) and beat the X-Ice. It all depends on the specific tire and who is testing/rating.

In the end, even a crappy winter tire is better than an all-season tire on snow & ice.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by rd_aaron

Paying more doesn't always mean getting more but I would put more stock in an expensive tire than one that sponsors NASCAR, if I had no other factors to consider.

It seems the tests are all a bit subjective too. Consumer Reports has pretty consistently rated the Michelin X-Ice in the top 2 or 3 for all winter tires. I picked the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V1 for our new vehicle as it had the highest consumer rating on TireRack (over 500 ratings) and beat the X-Ice. It all depends on the specific tire and who is testing/rating.

In the end, even a crappy winter tire is better than an all-season tire on snow & ice.

agreed.

and I also got the DM-V1s for the same reason. I don't really trust anything other than consumer reviews (and even those I'm skeptical about, so many companies are filling their 'reviews' with paid reviewers nowadays).

[t0rrent98]

The Michelin Ice X I got from Costco is pretty awesome so far. The ride is so much smoother than my All Season's were and not too mention it's sounds a lot quieter too. gonna be pretty fun driving with Winters with my Impreza.

Through I wouldn't be one of those maniac's who think I'm all that because I have an All Wheel drive car.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by t0rrent98

The Michelin Ice X I got from Costco is pretty awesome so far. The ride is so much smoother than my All Season's were and not too mention it's sounds a lot quieter too. gonna be pretty fun driving with Winters with my Impreza.

Through I wouldn't be one of those maniac's who think I'm all that because I have an All Wheel drive car.

X2 on the x ices. Have them on wife's explorer. Excellent snow and ice traction. I have cheaper Firestone winterforces on my truck. Not nearly as good but still night and day over all seasons. Wouldn't drive in winter without winter tires. The peace of mind for my family is worth the expense.

[wooohooo]

I have the good year duratrac's for my truck, it's an all season tire but has a winter rating. It's a decent tire for an all season. Definitely not as good as the X-ice 3 and the blizzak ws-60 on my other vehicles, but a lot better than the standard all season tire.

I haven't gotten stuck and had to drive off road a few times in my truck. Pulled out a few smaller sedans stuck in a parking lot.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Just out of curiosity, has anyone purchased a set of winter tires that they hated or were just pure crap?

The reason I ask is I have a hard time thinking of another $1,000 purchase I make with so little research into the decision making process. It's basically "I need winter tires, here's money, make my problem go away now!" and I honestly don't comparison shop or read reviews at all.

Just wondering if other's share this experience of if I'm missing out on some comparison shopping.

I previously had the Kumho KW17s, and I didn't really like them. They were not that good in the snow. I still got stuck regularly. Switched over to the Blizzak WS70s afterwards and loved them, so for my new car I stuck with the Blizzak WS80s. Still loving them. I would like to try the Nokian Hakka Rs someday, as I hear and read good reviews of them. I don't think I'd have a problem with either the WS80s, Hakka Rs, or the Michelin XI3s.

My cousin's running the Hankooks, and he says they're not good. He almost got stuck going up his driveway last night, which sounds kind of brutal for a winter tire.

[Dentoman]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

My cousin's running the Hankooks, and he says they're not good. He almost got stuck going up his driveway last night, which sounds kind of brutal for a winter tire.

I have Hankook I-Pikes for my SUV and really like them.

[BlackArcher101]

The KW17 is a poor snow tire. If you look at the tread pattern, it has a very solid looking block pattern with very little gap between tread blocks. It's more an ice tire as it tries to maximize surface contact and has lots of siping. Any bit of loose snow or slush and this tire would have a to "clog up" and have tendency to float, not performing as well. The KW22 is a much better option from Kumho for any amount of snow driving. The WS70 also has a better tread pattern for snow and IMO the siping looks to be better than the KW17, so the increased performance there isn't surprising.

The I-Pike's are good for snow, but their ice performance is a bit lacking. I'm running them and wish I studded mine for that ice traction.

[Tyler]

Booked an appointment to get some new Toyo GiS5's put on my CUV. These tires any good?

[lazy_programmer]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Booked an appointment to get some new Toyo GiS5's put on my CUV. These tires any good?

I have these on my trucks for 3 winters now, we had blizzaks on the othervehicle, and find them comparable. If you look at the 1010 tire reviews, these tires and the xice are all in the 4.1- 4.5 /5 range, so I suspect they are all very close in performance.

[Bill Bumface]

I've read way too much of the tire test data out there when buying tires, and Goodyear is definitely not sweeping those tests.

Michelin, Continental, Dunlop, Pirelli, Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Bridgestone, Nokian, General, Hankook etc all have made tires that win the comparison tests for their segments. All the major tire companies are largely chasing each other every year.

The only exception I can think of is when Michelin Pilot Sports were as close to unanimous as it gets for the best summer high performance passenger car tire available a few years in a row.