Snow tires - recommendations?

[Andy Mink]

Just curious, when tires are studded and there isn't snow or ice, how long does it take until the studs are just annoying noise makers?

 

[firebanex]

1 season depending on how long your winter is. You may get 2 seasons out of them if you wait till the last minute to put them on and pull them off ASAP. Most folks up here get them destudded after the studs wear down as most are still pretty good snow tires without the studs.

 

[Atomicman]

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.

I've read 50 % so that would be about 5 to 5.5mm

 

[François Pugh]

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.

You know, in all my years of driving, I've never had an inspector of police officer measure my tread depth. That being said, I don't usually run them down to the chords .
It's pretty easy to tell when you've gone too far on a good tire (which is a lot more than half the tread depth).

 

[Atomicman]

You know, in all my years of driving, I've never had an inspector of police officer measure my tread depth. That being said, I don't usually run them down to the chords .
It's pretty easy to tell when you've gone too far on a good tire (which is a lot more than half the tread depth).

Point is Francois, Blizzak's good snow tread is only about 1/2 the total tire tread.

 

[François Pugh]

Point is Francois, Blizzak's good snow tread is only about 1/2 the total tire tread.

Exactly! The cost per mile driven on good snow tire rubber is way high!

 

[pete]

Exactly! The cost per mile driven on good snow tire rubber is way high!

agreed but then too, even a minor ding is $2K ....

note too, the Blizzacks for my vehicle are $187 while the same (size) x-Ice run $222, so there may be some recognition in the idea they wear out a bit sooner than some other brands.

 

[snwbrdr]

Exactly! The cost per mile driven on good snow tire rubber is way high!

Better than crashing your car, and then paying the deductible, and possibly increased insurance premiums as a result of said accident, as the risk of you is higher to the insurance company

 

[François Pugh]

Better than crashing your car, and then paying the deductible, and possibly increased insurance premiums as a result of said accident, as the risk of you is higher to the insurance company

How I justify the cost of my Hakkapeliitta 10 (and previous WR3) and my wife's X-ice.
Which one to choose depends on your ratio of snow/ice to dry wet pavement. I wouldn't put anything with less winter performance than the X-ice on in the winter.

 

[ScottB]

profile doesnt matter much for winter grip, ironicly nor for feeling, feeeling wil be a bit mushy regardless, comfort goes up with sidewall though. I usually size down 1 or 2 inches in rim diameter for winter tires

Nokian hakkapellita comes in both studless, and studded tires.

nokian, and their hakkapellitas, but as well the viking contact 7 is the goto winter tires here. we do 60-70mph.. and above on studless tires and drive like its summer. a good studless tire on good frozen road of snow has MUCH MORE grip than a bad'ish cheap'ish tire on rain! I've hot 170-180mph and such on them on closed roads (water), they are not really rated for it, but.. now you know they can do it!


I have both 21 and 20 inch sets of studless tires for my porsche cayenne, and 21/22 for summer. my a3, saab, and now e-up are all on 15 inches for winter, since I'm sometimes a cheap bastard.

on the 911's and panameras we run 21 and even 22 inch for winter as well, 0 issues, wide huge winter tires, are much better than one would think. we go ice racing and just hoon around on snowfilled fields a lot as well.

read first post not what just james posted

if you drive more on ice/snow, get the nokian R3, if you drive more on dryer, and wet roads, get the viking contact 7. the R3 will have a mushy feeling on dry roads, way more than the continental viking contact 7. if you can do studs, like the noise, and ice racing.. hakka 10s! only tire you can daily, and ice race.

x-ice is also a fairly decent tire, but for snow ice it not quite there if you wanna drive like there is no snow on the roads. for the cayenne my 21" set are R3's and the 20" set are x-ice, the Porsche Approved Warranty made me do that stuff... the "N mark tire shenanigans"

I bought new snow tires this summer for my Ford 2whl drive (front) CMAX plug in hybrid. I have a second set of steel rims which I bought a size or two smaller. I used this tire test as my guide and found others on his site were very helpful and believable.

2022/23 Tyre Reviews Studless Winter Tyre Test - Tyre reviews and ratings

Snow tyres, studless friction tyres, extreme winter tyres, nordic winter tyres. This category of tyre goes by many names, and they have one design goal, to be the very best on snow and ice for harsh ...

www.tyrereviews.com

I went with the Hakka R5's which I bought from Walmart and I am very pleased with them. Don't laugh at Walmart, the price was $20 lower than the tire rack, simple tire, ect... Their mounting and balancing charge was less, and if I had them shipped to the NH store I used, no sales tax (I had them come to my house which was bad choice and paid sales tax). I forgot that mounting and balancing can vary from $60 per tire locally to $18 per tire at Walmart tire center) Very pleased with the Nokians. Any of the top 3 from the test above (R5, contact 7, x-ice) would have been good. Anders info basically confirms exactly what the tyrereviews test info reveals. I am in the "Blizzaks are good but have short life" camp so didn't consider them. My friend swears by them and makes excuses for their life, I had a set and experienced short winter life and since I have summer tires on separate rims, have no interest in running them as summer tires.

I am now convinced (changed my mind from the testing) that snow tire size is not that important for traction, but can save you $$ in purchase price. I also learned that like everything now a days, tires are specialized and there is not just perf, all season, and snow categories. Living in Massachusetts on the coast I would be best served with "all weather" tire category (one down from what I bought). However, when I drive to a ski mtn I definitely encounter studless winter tire conditions and I will accept the dry performance hit so I have the tire for the northern ski country conditions I spend a fair amount of time in. If I lived up north, I would run studded tires, but not in Mass. Here is what I bought for my car. BTW, these tires are very quiet which is pleasant with my electric car. My previous Yoko snow's were howling by their end of life.

 

[anders_nor]

nice @ScottB !

I'm currently on all VC7 on all cars! for studless, still have a pair of studded hakkas for 1 of them, but my new epoxy coating in garage doesnt like stud so yeah


Proper winter tires, is so DRASTICLY much better than others. we had 40cm of snow, I was still going 60-80kmh with my e-up, snow just going OVER the hood of car since its so small. you could hear the protection under car takeing a beating.

I agree size is not very important, getting a good tire is. We usually go down 1-2 inches over summre, since bumpy iceroads can be a bit harsh, but 21-22-23" on the porsche 911's still work fine.

 

[pete]

How I justify the cost of my Hakkapeliitta 10 (and previous WR3) and my wife's X-ice.
Which one to choose depends on your ratio of snow/ice to dry wet pavement. I wouldn't put anything with less winter performance than the X-ice on in the winter.

Honestly, I felt much as you, I found a pair of cheap rims for my Exploder.

I think I noted prices, the winters were actually "cheaper" per tire than my regulars. Note this is 18inch winter to 20inch summer.

Some research was needed on my part but in the end, with the rims and lower cost 18" tires, and given their lower wear out mileage, there isn't a great difference as I offset the miles on my summer tires.

This actually worked out well this time around as my summers have one more season of decent tread, and then I'll replace em. Either fall, maybe in spring but I can option for a sale price.

The winter as noted are 18" and I downsized a bit to allow a bit of added clearance for chains if I need em. I really don't but I am a bit of a "worst case" type mostly when traveling with family. If by myself, I'd just pull out a sleeping bag and overnight in a parking lot, but chains if needed are nice as a back up.

I did this too first with my truck, except same rim size due to clearance and they're 17" which run cheap(er)anyhow.

 

[Tom K.]

Point is Francois, Blizzak's good snow tread is only about 1/2 the total tire tread.

Still true? I know it used to be the case, but not sure anymore, as I'm having no luck finding a direct answer on the interwebz this morning.

Regardless, I typically swap out my winter tires at half-depth on the tread, so that I still get the slush performance I want. It helps that I don't really roll up the miles in the winter. Round trip to the ski hill is 30 miles.

EDIT: I did find this, from a tire seller: "When the Blizzak is 50 percent worn, a tread depth indicator on the tire tread lets the motorist know that only ten percent of the remaining tread is the Multicell® compound."

 

[Ken_R]

You know, in all my years of driving, I've never had an inspector of police officer measure my tread depth. That being said, I don't usually run them down to the chords .
It's pretty easy to tell when you've gone too far on a good tire (which is a lot more than half the tread depth).

Its only an issue if you have an accident then they measure and you might be guilty of damages due to your neglect.

 

[ADKmel]

After a wicked ice storm and taking almost 2hrs to go 7miles- even in low gear with the 'slickery' on my subaru I was sliding into the fall line- had to creep up high on the road, then car would slide down. I had to walk the last 1/2 mile home in the snow bank. That's when I went to studs. yes they are loud- I turn up the music. I got 3yrs- about 40-45K miles on the last set, the day i went to take them off I got a flat tire- not wanting to be stranded in the rural no cell area I live I bought new ones this year. Rather be Safe than sorry

 

[anders_nor]

Just curious, when tires are studded and there isn't snow or ice, how long does it take until the studs are just annoying noise makers?

years! on years! studded tires can last 10 years quite easy if you have the right ones, and dont use them to much in head/dry asphalt

 

[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?

Answered my own question after borrowing Mrs Silverback’s car. I put a new set of Viking contacts on yesterday. Old ones measured 6/32.

 

[Tom K.]

Answered my own question after borrowing Mrs Silverback’s car. I put a new set of Viking contacts on yesterday. Old ones measured 6/32.

Yup, nothing helps in slush if you don't have tread depth!

Living in the PNW for decades, I never wanted studs, since I drove far more on dry and wet roads than actual snowy/icy roads.

Now in NW MT it's far more snowy/icy and far less slush, so may very well go studs the next time around. Mrs. K needed new winter tires two years ago, during crunch time, and all we found was a set of studded Hakkas, so we grabbed them.

They are TIGERS!

 

[pete]

Yup, nothing helps in slush if you don't have tread depth!

Living in the PNW for decades, I never wanted studs, since I drove far more on dry and wet roads than actual snowy/icy roads.

Now in NW MT it's far more snowy/icy and far less slush, so may very well go studs the next time around. Mrs. K needed new winter tires two years ago, during crunch time, and all we found was a set of studded Hakkas, so we grabbed them.

They are TIGERS!

Similar in midwestern states like Ia, Wi, Mn, Il, where roads are plowed. Had a buddy who was fine with FWD as he noted if it snowed a lot, he'd just stay home.

one of the links here noted Tire studies and how Northern Europe really didn't plow much due to snow fall verses middle Europe that did plow. So they generally had two distinct markets for the snows and what they intended to handle. I found this pretty interesting.