What kind of winter tires are you using?

[OverlookEGR]

I am running general altimax arctics on my front wheel drive fusion and Winterforce tires on my 96 Buick Regal. I don't go off roading, but I find that a good set of four snow tires gets me where I need to go.

 

[Blackjack Dan]

I know as much about offroad tires as I do unicorns. I am wondering: are they a soft rubber compound? That is the key with winter tires. When the temperatures drop, they stay soft.

Andrew

Like I said my BFG AT TA KO are great all-around (all around, daily driver, Snow, off-road, rocks and mud) tires.

I would say these tires are medium to hard compound I feel the best thing that makes a great tire is the tread style and of course airing down when you're in off road of conditions.

A lot of people think a great snow tire is a great mud tire I haven't found that to be the case, MUD is a different animal!

I Don't like to play in mud much, I like rocks here's a picture of a rock buggy I have you can see I don't run much air in the tires that is not me in the photo btw.

That's my two cents worth on tires.

 

[OhioBurner©]

A lot of people think a great snow tire is a great mud tire I haven't found that to be the case, MUD is a different animal!

Dan you mention how a mud tires iren't necessarily a good snow tires, then show a vehicle that's completely not good in snow at all? lol Might want to start a different thread if you want to show of rock crawlers.

Here is a more applicable pic... my truck with Kumho MTs (that are snow rated actually).


Remember there are different kinds of snow... if we are talking about doing >50mph or whatever on the highway in possible snowy or icy conditions then no, most mud tires are not going to be a good choice, especially wide ones. However if your talking about going through 10" deep of fluffy stuff, at lower speeds, fat mudders can do pretty good. I use my F150 with slightly oversized mudders for going into the woods when there was snow down to cut firewood (the pic above), or hunting, etc. Did pretty good. But put it on the road and most factory tires probably would perform as good or better.

I really don't know how those tires were ever snow rated. A pretty hard rubber compound as well, and lasted forever. Deep snow ok, but not so great on the highway. I slipped once on ice at 50mph and ended up whacking the guard rail backwards. After that I had the center lugs siped at the tire shop. Not sure if it really helped.

This is one reason I like the Duratracs, they are nearly as aggressive as a MT but lots of sipes and studdable. However I lost significant gas mileage switching to them, even compared to my mudders!

 

[Wisneaky]

I use General tire altimax arctic tires. Check out the reviews and videos on tirerack.com. I can literally drive through anything with them on my awd car. They grip on snow and ice and provide great stopping on both also. There is also some videos on YouTube with people literally pushing snow with them on their cars.

 

[Blackjack Dan]

Dan you mention how a mud tires iren't necessarily a good snow tires, then show a vehicle that's completely not good in snow at all? lol Might want to start a different thread if you want to show of rock crawlers.

Nice ride Burner:

The pic of the rock buggy showed how low the tire pressure was, it's hard to show that in 10 inches of snow. My Ford has 18 inch rims on it and it works with the big rims, you can't get as aggressive I went from 36# to 24# and got me out of a sand bar.

And I do believe the OP asked the question about off-road tires.

And my point is it doesn't matter what tire or brand or style if you get stuck in the snow or mud or sand (unless your already high centered) try airing down.

 

[Holzstapel]

I have Nokian Nordman 5's on my 05 Jetta TDI. This is the first car I have ever put snow tires on and this is the first season with them too. What a difference!! I'm amazed how well it handles in the snow and icy conditions. I live in a very hilly neighborhood and I have had no issues with these tires.

 

[scooby074]

Hakkapeliitta 7 with studs. Hands down best snow tires out there, and Ive run Xice and Blizzaks prior.

BFG ATs on the ford. Garbage in snow.

 

[velvetfoot]

It's funny how Nokian changes the numbers on the Hakkapeliittas. I had ones a long time ago, and last time I shopped they told me they were back to one again.

 

[Swedishchef]

Hakkapeliitta 7 with studs. Hands down best snow tires out there, and Ive run Xice and Blizzaks prior.

+1000

I have Hakka 5s, I had Hakka 2s. THey are great!

Andrew

 

[Swedishchef]

It's funny how Nokian changes the numbers on the Hakkapeliittas. I had ones a long time ago, and last time I shopped they told me they were back to one again.

They are actually at 8 now. Whoever told you that was full of Bologna

Andrew

 

[bwise.157]

Cooper AT3's on a 2005 Honda Pilot. They will climb a mountain side in almost any condition. I have a steep driveway that will make your butt cheeks pucker, and they have never failed! Most visitors chicken out and won't even try my drive. I just laugh at them with these!

 

[OhioBurner©]

Hakkapeliitta 7

Where do they come up with these names lol? Never heard of those. Bwise... I was debating between coopers when I put the duratracks on my trucks they seem to make some good tires. Had em on my work 3/4 ton vans and they did pretty good in snow, think they were the CTs. A fellow on a truck forum I'm on who lives in Alaska always seems to be the point of reference when snow tire discussion comes up since he is in it pretty much every day if the winter including driving through often deep snow. As I recall he's tried many and recommends 2 or 3, one if which was a cooper but I can't remember which.

Of course truck and car tire selection is going to be a little different, and I've mainly just delt with trucks, but on my wife's last car, a Lexus rx300 we actually put 'truck' tires on it and it worked so much better than what came on it. Got a super deal on Michelin LTX m+s. Now awd does wonders for cars, and even on the crappy maintained city roads when there was a couple inches of snow that RX could power through turns at intersections without slipping. She traded it for a similar Acura RDX but it takes low profile car tires so no more option of LTX or similar.

 

[bwise.157]

Only have 5,000 miles on my Cooper AT3's. They have been great, and American Made!!

 

[firefighterjake]

Where do they come up with these names lol? Never heard of those. Bwise... I was debating between coopers when I put the duratracks on my trucks they seem to make some good tires. Had em on my work 3/4 ton vans and they did pretty good in snow, think they were the CTs. A fellow on a truck forum I'm on who lives in Alaska always seems to be the point of reference when snow tire discussion comes up since he is in it pretty much every day if the winter including driving through often deep snow. As I recall he's tried many and recommends 2 or 3, one if which was a cooper but I can't remember which.

Of course truck and car tire selection is going to be a little different, and I've mainly just delt with trucks, but on my wife's last car, a Lexus rx300 we actually put 'truck' tires on it and it worked so much better than what came on it. Got a super deal on Michelin LTX m+s. Now awd does wonders for cars, and even on the crappy maintained city roads when there was a couple inches of snow that RX could power through turns at intersections without slipping. She traded it for a similar Acura RDX but it takes low profile car tires so no more option of LTX or similar.

Comes from the Finish light cavalry way back when who were known as the Hakkapeliitas for their war cry "Cut them down" as they charged the enemy. Guessing the idea is that with the name of these snow tires you will cut down the enemy -- snow -- and charge through all conditions no matter what comes your way.

 

[woodgeek]

I've got X-ice3's on my giant iPad, I mean Nissan Leaf. I looked at the Hakka's, but my winter roads are clear/dry 90% of the time, and the X-ice3s are supposed to be better for dry.

The spouse has already had a couple icy commutes with lots of SUVs off the road in ditches. She's already killed one tire/rim in an epic pothole and got it fixed. Just another winter here in 'The South'.

Its awesome climbing my 20° grade driveway covered in black ice with a 3400 lb EV.

 

[jharkin]

Of course truck and car tire selection is going to be a little different, and I've mainly just delt with trucks, but on my wife's last car, a Lexus rx300 we actually put 'truck' tires on it and it worked so much better than what came on it. Got a super deal on Michelin LTX m+s. Now awd does wonders for cars, and even on the crappy maintained city roads when there was a couple inches of snow that RX could power through turns at intersections without slipping. She traded it for a similar Acura RDX but it takes low profile car tires so no more option of LTX or similar.

The LTX M/S2's come in P-metric sizes, so you might actually be able to get them on that RDX? I run P-metric M/S2 on my wife's Pilot.

Speaking of the M/S2's they are pretty decent in the snow for an all season. Never any trouble getting up to go, though that s probably as much due to the automatic 4WD as anything. Braking and cornering are fairly decent.


On the Tacoma, per advice here I put a set of Nokian Rotivva's.. A p-metric AT tire with snowflake rating. So far they have been pretty darn good in the snow we had this winter.. I did get a little stuck once, but that was when I followed my buddy in his Ranger down a dirt road with 18inhces of unplowed powder on it. A brief shot of 4low with the locker engaged backed me out. of the ditch

Having real 4WD now has helped me understand why you see so many SUVs in the ditch when it snows... The traction under acceleration is so good its too easy to forget you wont have that same advantage when its time to stop. I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy.

 

[blackdoglabrador]

Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded on F250 Supercab and General Altimax Studded on Subaru Outback. Do not have complaints on either. Both are great in snow and ice. Nothing better then not having to worry about sliding off the road in winter. I have to try to get either of the to slip. This winter I think half of the commuting days the roads have been covered. Worth the expense. Let it snow!

 

[OhioBurner©]

The LTX M/S2's come in P-metric sizes, so you might actually be able to get them on that RDX? I run P-metric M/S2 on my wife's Pilot.

I of course looked when we needed tires on the RDX and they didn't. 235/55/18. Wish all these new fancy cars didn't all jump on the huge rim & low profile tire bandwagon. The lil Acura has bigger diameter wheels than either my F150 or F350 does.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded on F250 Supercab

I didn't figure those were available in E-rated truck tires but now I see they are. Might look into them when I wear out these GY DuraTracs if I get another set of rims to have a dedicated winter and summer set.

 

[Hansson]

This year I bought winter tires without studs. It actually works really well.
It was the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R 2.
A little warning. Nokian Nordman is manufactured in Russia and are not the same class as the Hakkapeliitta. It is usually ranked poorly in tests here in Sweden.
Hakkapeliitta is always at the top in the tests.

 

[velvetfoot]

They must be less noisy than studs?
I noticed the Nordmans were made in Russia when I was shopping a while ago, but they didn't have my size in Hakka or Nordman because, SUPPOSEDLY, there was some kind of problem with storms and the container ships, too late in the year, blah, blah, blah.

Love the e-logger, as always.

 

[Swedishchef]

Hakkapeliitta is always at the top in the tests.

AMEN! Finally someone who can confirm what I have read/think.

I am part of the Nokian cult...nothing else will go on my car in the winter. Swedes know tires: compulsary country wide (right?)

Andrew

 

[ewdudley]

AMEN! Finally someone who can confirm what I have read/think.

I am part of the Nokian cult...nothing else will go on my car in the winter.

There was a time thirty or forty years ago when nothing but Nokia, Vredestein, Blizzak, or Gislaved would do, but more often these days we're seeing many other brands that compete successfully on the track; Cooper, Pirelli, Continental, General, Hercules, Goodyear to name a few. What excellent winter tires have in common is hydrophylic rubber compounds, an 'open' tread pattern, and plenty of siping. The brand seems to matter much less these days.

 

[Clarkbug]

Ran Hankook IceBear tires on my little Mazda for a long time. Great grip, didn't wear much, and I even ran them in the summers once I got past the winter wear bars.

Now running some Dunlop's on my Impreza which are OK, and have Cooper Weather masters on the wifes Forester. Goes great and they are pretty sure footed. When I have to shop for some again I will be looking at the Nokian lineup... They are really great tires. Worth the cost if you will own the car for more than a few seasons.

 

[BlackGreyhounds]

Blizzaks.

 

[john193]

Great thread, just what I was looking for. ive got another point to ponder. I'd like my snow tires to be mounted on dedicated wheels, so I can just switch them out in my garage. I'm planning to go with a negative rim size, but can't decide if I should get steel wheels or a cheap alloy set?

Any opinions out there? I read steel wheels tend to be heavier, so sturdier? But is there a big mpg penalty?