The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[BlackArcher101]

I recently got new X-Ice North studded tires and they are hands down the best winter tire I've owned so far. Stuck like bare pavement this morning.

Another option for a shop is Spec R. Good folks there.


edit: Can't believe I started this thread 13 years ago

[Hemi-Cuda]

Swapped tires on our new-ish Highlander for the first time today, it sucks so much worse than my Mazda 3. 20" rims may look cool, but they suck balls to mount

[You Need a Thneed]

Got my winter tires on yesterday, perfect timing.

So much better driving around this morning.

[tvp2003]

We're booked in on Friday for new winters at Kal Tire.

There were a couple of smaller shops advertising chinese winter tires for dirt cheap, but at the end of the day we decided against it. Did a bit of googling yesterday and apparently you can buy that particular tire wholesale on Alibaba for $10 each (!). In some climates they might be okay but I figure Calgary is not one of those climates.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

We're booked in on Friday for new winters at Kal Tire.

There were a couple of smaller shops advertising chinese winter tires for dirt cheap, but at the end of the day we decided against it. Did a bit of googling yesterday and apparently you can buy that particular tire wholesale on Alibaba for $10 each (!). In some climates they might be okay but I figure Calgary is not one of those climates.

Good call, those chinese tires heatsoak easily and the rubber will turn hard making them effectively useless. Some combat this by using rubber that's too soft, and then they wear too fast anyways.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by bdubbs

Extra ups for Urban X. I'm not sure if their hours have changed, but when I used them in the past, the north location wasn't open on weekends so I used Urban X South and they were great. One time I needed tires mounted and it would have been closed before I got there, but they kept the shop open for me and did the job perfectly with no complaints.

Amazing service. In the past, they didn't stock Hakkas though, not sure if that's changed also.

Kal Tire used to say they were the only authorized retailer in Canada, but I've never really asked UrbanX to see if they could order on tire.ca and mount for me. I should ask them next time I'm there.

I remember my Nokian all weathers felt like they were on par with some lower end winter tires. AWD with Hakkas I bet you could do speed limit starts and stops with complete impunity. That's part of the fun stuff on a day like this. (That and being able to do a 180 turn via hand brake on a street instead of the normal 2-3 point turn)

[you&me]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Kal ... AWD with Hakkas I bet you could do speed limit starts and stops with complete impunity. That's part of the fun stuff on a day like this. (That and being able to do a 180 turn via hand brake on a street instead of the normal 2-3 point turn)

Can confirm. I was on solo parent duty with a sick wife at home and drove about 200km all over the city today with nary a slip. The feeling of comfort and security from that is something else, especially when watching the all-season strugglers unable to navigate a simple right turn at a stop sign.

No e-brake turns though.

[chedder]

Just got some cooper discoverer snow claws with studs put on my pickup. I've only driven in town so far but on snow packed and icy streets I don't even need 4wd.

[81MC]

Ran Toyo Observe GSI-6 on my truck this year. Really impressed with them, very happy I didn’t try to save a few more bucks.

[DoubleF]

I'm swapping the winter tires on the vehicle and starting to feel good about getting it done. I'm on the last tire and I slow down to look at a little arrow printed on the tire..

Rotated wrong.

[InglewoodFan]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I'm swapping the winter tires on the vehicle and starting to feel good about getting it done. I'm on the last tire and I slow down to look at a little arrow printed on the tire..

Rotated wrong.

Been there, the first year I had my newest car. Put the all season back on that corner, drop the jack, figure out which other one is wrong (hopefully only one), jack it up again. Sorry man, pain in the butt but at least you caught it.

Sent from my IN2025 using Tapatalk

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I'm swapping the winter tires on the vehicle and starting to feel good about getting it done. I'm on the last tire and I slow down to look at a little arrow printed on the tire..

Rotated wrong.

Been there. Except I didn’t notice until I removed them in the spring… Now I have a routine of laying out the tires adjacent to their position on the car, doing the tire pressure before mounting, etc.

[flylock shox]

Curious if anyone has experience with Michelin's Cross Climate 2s.



From what I've read they look great - particularly if you don't drive in deep snow often - but haven't been able to find them in stock anywhere.



I've got some Blizzaks on hold til the end of the month as my plan B, hopefully buying some time to evaluate the all-weather market further. I'm in Vancouver, so snow driving is a 5-10 time/year type of thing, and I get the impression the Cross Climates can handle that, but would love to hear what others on the forum who've actually tried them think.

[Shazam]

Weatherpeak are better. I have both.

[chemgear]

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/albertans...them-1.6152475

Albertans know winter tires are important, poll shows only 56% use them

The survey, conducted by Leger for the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC), found that just 56 per cent of Alberta drivers use them, slightly below the national average of 63 per cent.

More Alberta drivers are using winter tires than those in Manitoba (54 per cent), but 74 per cent of drivers in Atlantic Canada have them installed.

Many of the same factors – cost, different driving habits and belief that all-seasons are "good enough" – were prominent in this year's report, but TRAC says more drivers nationwide are using them.

[Enoch Root]

I would think the types of vehicles being driven makes a difference too. Pickups are far more popular in the prairie provinces than the east, and pickup drivers are probably significantly lower winter tire users than sedan drivers.

SUVs as well, though I imagine they are probably more equally distributed across the country.

[81MC]

And trucks are the worst. Artificial sense of safety because you’re up high, more dangerous to the people in the car you hit, more likely driven aggressively, and more likely to be on the north side of $30k. They’re always the ones in the ditch along highway 1, always the ones riding your ass in a snow storm, and yet they won’t drop less than their ####ty lift kit for a decent set of tires for half the year because they’re so ignorant of reality.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by 81MC

And trucks are the worst. Artificial sense of safety because you’re up high, more dangerous to the people in the car you hit, more likely driven aggressively, and more likely to be on the north side of $30k. They’re always the ones in the ditch along highway 1, always the ones riding your ass in a snow storm, and yet they won’t drop less than their ####ty lift kit for a decent set of tires for half the year because they’re so ignorant of reality.

And...blind everyone in front of them with badly aimed insanely bright superlights...

[81MC]

And…everyone behind them because their oversized tires would let be so blatantly obvious if they were appropriately placed inside the wheel wells and shrouded by mud flaps.

[MegaErtz]

How early is too early to have my winter tires swapped off?