Snow tires - recommendations?

[nay]

ms nay is still loving the DMV2. I asked her how they are working, she says awesome, and then continues to note sliding in areas that are sliding prone to us locally because we have really steep roads with really variable conditions that cause a lot of problems. The words “I was drifting” have escaped her lips.

You can’t really put a premium on confidence.

 

[bbbradley]

Coming up on mid January and my snow tires have yet to see snow on the roads. I hope to test them this winter. Ugh...crappy winter this far.

 

[Dwight]

ms nay is still loving the DMV2. I asked her how they are working, she says awesome, and then continues to note sliding in areas that are sliding prone to us locally because we have really steep roads with really variable conditions that cause a lot of problems. The words “I was drifting” have escaped her lips.

You can’t really put a premium on confidence.

Are these the Bizzak dm-v2?

 

[lakinzo]

Among the top tires that are excellent for ice and snow, you have to consider Bridgestone Blizzak vs. Michelin X-Ice. Three Bridgestone Blizzak tires were named the best for highway use, durability, and thick ice, while Michelin LTX Winter was the best tire overall for snow performance.

 

[lakinzo]

When it comes to snow performance of these snow tires. The best tire overall was the Michelin LTX Winter, and the best tires for highway use, durability, and thick ice were three of the Bridgestone Blizzak tires.

 

[François Pugh]

When it comes to snow performance of these snow tires. The best tire overall was the Michelin LTX Winter, and the best tires for highway use, durability, and thick ice were three of the Bridgestone Blizzak tires.

I'm having a little trouble seeing how you can give the Blizzak tires any marks for durability when if you want to keep that ice and snow traction you'll have to get a new set when they are half worn out; the first half of the tread wears the fastest.

 

[wiread]

I’ve been running Blizzaks quite a while. Life of 3 different vehicles and 3 seasons is expected of excellent traction and another season or 2 of lower performance but still improved over all seasons.

For me the, the extra control during braking or turning are absolutely worth it. This year I did put some continental viking 7s on the minivan but I don’t really drive that to have a report. My truck still has Blizzaks . We’ve had so few snow days this year it would be hard to tell anyway lol

 

[François Pugh]

I’ve been running Blizzaks quite a while. Life of 3 different vehicles and 3 seasons is expected of excellent traction and another season or 2 of lower performance but still improved over all seasons.

To me 2 winters of lower performance is not acceptable. I can live with slowing down for the deep slush and a little lost deep snow traction with the lower tread depth in years 4 and 5, but no way do I want to miss out on the ice performance or other snow performance.

 

[wiread]

It depends on miles in those years of course, and I normally don't use them to year 5. Only time I have was when we were between maybe getting a new car or not and didn't want to invest in new tires I wasn't going to use so we played the "let's see how bad winter is" before we buy some game. Mostly I've found them still better than a regular all season, but definitely not as good as a fresh set of blizzaks. Problems is, I haven't found a tire that performs as good around here in those 3 years as the Blizzak. I don't have extensive experience with others of course. but many start out at the level of a year 3 or 4 blizzak and that isn't good enough for me.

 

[nay]

Are these the Bizzak dm-v2?

Yep.

 

[nay]

To me 2 winters of lower performance is not acceptable. I can live with slowing down for the deep slush and a little lost deep snow traction with the lower tread depth in years 4 and 5, but no way do I want to miss out on the ice performance or other snow performance.

My operating theory is 2 winters of snow performance anyway and then use them as summer tires. Half worn winter tires make great summer tires and then you don’t need to buy summer tires.

My actual operating premise is that studless snow tires don’t have any real purpose in a continental climate (no true ice events) because they don’t outperform the good all weather tires to enough of a degree and at the point they did, you are going to want studs.

High humidity maritime climates with frequent ice that is wet are a different consideration, but we get a lot of soapy snow and cold skiff, and more lug spacing with moderate siping can often outperform tight lug spacing with extra siping, because siping doesn’t do anything in soapy snow and it doesn’t create snow on snow traction when you have skiff over cold ice.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Going on season 4 with my Blilzzak snows. They are amazing.

 

[firebanex]

8th season on a set of Blizzacks on my wifes car.. they predated our marriage and I had no idea they were that old. They still had pretty decent winter performance surprisingly. That said, I replaced them with a set of Toyo Observe g3 ice this year and those are lovely as well. Couldn't get a set of Hakkapelitas like I have for my Baja for obvious reasons. I'll have to replace the Hakkas on my Baja next year as the snowflake is almost gone after 4 seasons. Baja gets a bit loose on corners now

Been watching this thread for ideas to use in the Interior of Alaska, since the snows are on the cars from October to almost May some years.

 

[silverback]

I’ve had good luck with my current Continental Viking Contact 7s but I’ve had a few white knuckle decents lately on plowed, salted roads with an inch or two of very slick slush (created by the chemicals since temps around 20F).

What is the current state of the art for this condition?

 

[pete]

When it comes to snow performance of these snow tires. The best tire overall was the Michelin LTX Winter, and the best tires for highway use, durability, and thick ice were three of the Bridgestone Blizzak tires.

heck, I've got the best of both worlds then!

I have Michelin X-Ice in front, Blizzack DM-V2 in back.

In Steamboat last week and when headed out to airport I was graced with a rock dropping off a bluff that shot out and hit my tire. Literally saw it dropping in corner of eye and had no time to brake.

At ~100 ft/sec driving, either very unlucky or lucky is deflated well and didn't hit window, body, etc. Sounded like a sledgehammer hitting.

Only tires I could find in shorter notice was a set of Blizzacks, autoshop guy had various tires on hand, and these matched size, wear/diameter well.

I was more worried until getting a few hundred miles on the vehicle, surprisingly they seem decently matched. 970 miles and over snowpacked, ice, blizzard winds, etc.

likely ordering a used X-Ice with same remaining thread as I hauled back the third good one just for matching.

 

[Ken_R]

I'm in the market for a set of 4 snows to get my car ready for the winter --> normal, limited commuting + multiple ski trips to ME/NH/VT/NY where the weather can range widely.

Any recommendations for brands/models to consider and avoid?

I've run Blizzaks in the past (they were like marshmallows on dry roads, but gripped well in snow), General Altimax (worked well and last way longer than I would have expected), Arctic Alpin (no real memory of them being good or bad). I'm considering runflats for them as well as my car has no spare and being stuck with a flat, albeit unlikely, it not my idea of a fun way to spend a wintery night.

Depends on the vehicle

 

[Dr.T]

Depends on the vehicle

Audi SQ8 Blizzak LM001RFT, Jeep Wrangler Blizzak DM-V2, Ford F-350 Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT 3. Just got back from central BC (Sun Peaks) and the Nokians were excellent on the truck. The Audi pretty much wears its winter shoes in the garage as I don't want to take it out on the salty/filthy roads........they're on just in case

​

 

[Atomicman]

I'm having a little trouble seeing how you can give the Blizzak tires any marks for durability when if you want to keep that ice and snow traction you'll have to get a new set when they are half worn out; the first half of the tread wears the fastest.

Exactly correct Francois! Had Blizzaks in the past....worthless once the good tread is gone at 50%.

I just put new Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV on my ML63s AMG. Drove over to Leavenworth WA to see our bootfitter yesterday with one of my sons. Snow and Ice most of the way. Blewett Pass was compact snow and ice . I-90 had a lot of patches of snow and ice partially covering some lanes. Highway 2 past Leavenworth was solid snow and ice and the boot fitter's driveway had been plowed but at least a foot on the ground. The Pilot Alpins were amazing. Worked perfectly. I had to get rid of Hakka R3 SUV. I hit something on the road last March and my left rear was unusable. Couldn't get the R5's and the R5's are still not available. I have discount tires road hazard warranty. The give me a tirre free and 50 % off the other 3 and went with the Pilot
Alpin 5 SUV. I also have to say these are the quietest most comfortable riding snows I've had and they are 295/35- 21". Sometimes I think they are smova (as The Herminator would say)and quitter than my Pilot A/S 4. By the way -5 on Snoqualmie Pass and -1 when we got to Leavenworth, by lunch time it was a balmy 9 degrees!

 

[François Pugh]

Update:
I now have studded Hakka 10s on my 2012 Mazda 3. Best snow and ice tires ever.
I gotta admit, it sucks having to drive at reasonable speeds when the roads aren't snowy or icy though. I have to keep remembering to leave an extra, extra, safety margin on dry and wet asphalt.

 

[snwbrdr]

Exactly correct Francois! Had Blizzaks in the past....worthless once the good tread is gone at 50%.

In some states 3/16" is the minimum tread depth for winter tires, which is around when the multi-cell tube compounds on Blizzak WS/Dm series tires wears out.

In certain european countries, around 5mm is the legal limit for minimum tread depth for winter tires also.