SUV tire recommendation from Northern neighbors

[D8Chumley]

Might be an odd question, but my son goes to college in Buffalo and obviously travels home for the holidays and while he is there. 2014 Escape Titanium, will need tires for inspection this summer. What’s a good all season tire with a good snow rating y’all might like up there? We get snow in PA also but this past year I plowed 1” on my driveway which I’m not complaining about. I was looking on TireRack and found a Vredestein that has a severe snow rating, anyone familiar with this brand? I’ve had a few sets of Nitto Terra Grapplers on my last 2 trucks that work well but they don’t make a 235/50-18 that I saw. Any input is appreciated fellas!

 

[DAKSY]

In my opinion as an Easter New Yorker, I would opt for a narrower tire for the lake effect snowbelt. Those 235s might look good & do what you want in the summer, but a wider tire won't "cut" thru that snow as well as a narrower one. Wider tends to ride up or snowplow. My 67 year old opinion based on 50 years of driving in NY winters. YMMV.

 

[tadmaz]

Michelin Defender LTX M/S or M/S2.

 

[hobbyheater]

Bridgestone Turanza Quiettrack

 

[festerw]

Michelin Defender LTX M/S or M/S2.

I'd 2nd that if they're available in the size or close to it.
We put Defender LTX on my wife's Durango 2 years ago and after 30k they've barely worn it seems with a 70k warranty. They haven't had any issue with Erie winters.

 

[peakbagger]

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2's are the best non studded winter out there. They are almost the state tire of Vermont. I see many winter beaters where the tires are worth as much as the rest of the car.

 

[salecker]

Sorry to disagree

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2's are the best non studded winter out there. They are almost the state tire of Vermont. I see many winter beaters where the tires are worth as much as the rest of the car.

Sorry to disagree...
Bridgestone Blizzacks are the best there is.That is from over 25 years of selling tires and using them where we get winter.But you cannot use them when is dry and warm,they will dissapear in a summer. The ones on my winter shitter are over 12 years old,they come of once the roads are bare.
There is no such thing as a All season tire that is good in the winter.
Toyo Observe winter tires with the walnut shells are not bad in the winter,don't come close to the Blizakks,but they wear exceptionally well for a winter tire during the summer. Those were what i recomended to people that didn't want the expense of two sets of tires and rims.

 

[johneh]

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2's are the best non studded winter out there. They are almost the state tire of Vermont. I see many winter beaters where the tires are worth as much as the rest of the car.
[/QUOTE)
On my second set Best Tire, I have ever owned for winter
Have tried Michelin, Good year and Bridgestone.
Bridgestone close but not as good on ice

 

[ABMax24]

Nokian's are by far the best winter tire available. Of course they can't be run in the summer, although they do make all weather and all season tires. Almost everyone here runs winter tires, probably 40% of them are nokians, the other 60% being all other brands combined.

We ran a set of the studded Hak 8's on a Jeep Patriot and they were awesome, felt like a rally car on ice. Worst thing about them was you were always checking your mirrors as we could always stop for a yellow light, the person behind us maybe not.

We now have a set of the studded Hak 8 SUV tires on our Diesel Colorado with similar results.

If you are really looking for a set of all weathers, then I would look at the Nokian WR G4. Don't buy all seasons, most suck in the snow and ice. https://www.nokiantires.com/tires/by-tire-size/all-weather-tires/?s=235-50-18

 

[D8Chumley]

Thanks for all the responses. He doesn’t drive much while at college, so a pure winter tire I wouldn’t need. And the 235s were what came on it, I’m on board with skinnier for cutting through the snow. He has 3 more years of grad school ahead so one more good set should get him through that with the amount he drives it. It came with some crappy Crosswind brand from Carsense when we bought it 2.5 years ago, they won’t make another winter

 

[D8Chumley]

Side note, we were in Florida 2 weeks ago he plays baseball and they play in a Spring Break tournament around Kissimmee, RussMatt Invitational. There were a lot of Ontario plates in the townhouse development we stayed, and one Subaru I saw from Vermont had the studded snowies on still. I had to laugh at that! Can’t imagine listening to that from VT to Florida

 

[bholler]

Side note, we were in Florida 2 weeks ago he plays baseball and they play in a Spring Break tournament around Kissimmee, RussMatt Invitational. There were a lot of Ontario plates in the townhouse development we stayed, and one Subaru I saw from Vermont had the studded snowies on still. I had to laugh at that! Can’t imagine listening to that from VT to Florida

We have the same car and honestly I find the awd and stability control systems good enough we just run decent all seasons and never have issues

 

[Granite Statah]

while I agree that Blizzaks are the best for passenger cars, I've found that Copper Discoverers are great for SUV use and can be run year-round. We get right around 40k miles, and we drive a LOT. Our Nissan Armada doubles as a hockey bus in the winter months, and it's seen some harsh driving conditions.
I'm not sure why my VT neighbors insist on running studded tires on their Subies. The worst part is they'll run them into May.

 

[D8Chumley]

I got Cooper Discoverer HT Plus for the wife’s Grand Cherokee, no issues and made in USA. Haven’t had a ton of snow the last 2 years but they did great the few times we had. I read a lot of reviews and they were pretty favorable

 

[D8Chumley]

 

[PaulOinMA]

I have a 2014 Escape.

My winter tires are Michelin X-Ice Xi3. My Escape came with 19s, and I went -2 for winter tires.

My wife likes Blizzaks, and has them for her Escape.

I need new A/S tires this year and have a set of 18" wheels that I bought off the Escape forums. Will get Continental Crosscontact LX25 or Continental Purecontact LS.

Here's a really interesting option for you to think about. Someone on the forums posted that he just got Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail. V-rated tire. USQG-:680 AA. AND has the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) symbol! It's the only all-terrain tire in 235/50-18 at tirerack.com.

(broken link removed)

 

[D8Chumley]

Thanks PaulO, that’s a damn good price too! They just moved to the front of the line. I was leaning Michelin LTX but they just need to last his last 3 years of grad school. He’s going to buy the car he wants once he gets a job and get rid of what dear old dad and mom bought him haha

 

[PaulOinMA]

I'm considering the Falkens now, too. How are A/T tires for everyday driving?

I have dedicated winter wheels and tires.

 

[bholler]

I'm considering the Falkens now, too. How are A/T tires for everyday driving?

I have dedicated winter wheels and tires.

They generally won't wear as well and will have more road noise.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Thasks. I thought there would be more road noise. Too much for a non-A/T person?

I was surprised that the mileage rating for the A/T tire was so high.

The tires I'm thinking of are Continental Purecontact LS. UTQG:700AA. 97V. EcoPlus+Technology

(broken link removed)

Continental Crosscontact LX25. UTQG: 740AA. 97H. EcoPlus+Technology.

(broken link removed)

And the Falken. UTQG: 680AA. 97V.

(broken link removed)

I'm thinking that for me, one of the Continentals is better. I have dedicated winter wheels and tires.

The LX25 starts with a tread depth of 12/32".

I don't go off road. We have a house on OBX, but I've never taken the Escape to the 4WD drive area just north of us. Lots of folks mention that CUV's ABS systems go all wonky with a lot of sand thrown on them. A CUV to me is more a raised up station wagon than an off-road vehicle. The dimensions are very similar to my '97 Passat GLX wagon and '03 Audi A4 Avant 3.0Q … only higher seating position. And no manual transmission.

 

[festerw]

If those are the 3 you've narrowed it down to I'd go with the Crosscontact. No real reasons other than the tread design looks good and they should wear well for you.

It may be an unpopular opinion but in my experience with multiple 4/AWD vehicles I've never had a terrible experience with good all season tires. I've run snows on a few and the performance wasn't much if any different than the all seasons for the road conditions we get.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Thanks. How did we ever survive? I grew up driving in the snow with (1974 Ford Pinto; 1972 Plymouth Valiant Scamp): rear-wheel drive, automatic transmission, no ABS, no traction control, bias-ply tires, no snow tires or maybe snows on the rear only.

 

[Zack R]

These might be too heavy duty but it's what I run since it snows here a lot. Although mine are E load rated truck tires due to the size I see a lot of people running them on smaller vehicles such as Subaru's around here.

BF Goodrich All Terrain KO2

I have about 50k miles on them at this point and expect them to last another 25k. They are snowflake rated meaning that they count as snow tires when required going over the passes. Compared to "real" snow tires they are not as soft and squishy but still do a great job.

As for normal snow tires my personal favorite is the General Altimax Arctic (pinned for studs, but I run them studless). They are a lot better than Blizzaks in both treadwear and traction. Blizzaks are ok at first but wear out rapidly.

 

[bholler]

If those are the 3 you've narrowed it down to I'd go with the Crosscontact. No real reasons other than the tread design looks good and they should wear well for you.

It may be an unpopular opinion but in my experience with multiple 4/AWD vehicles I've never had a terrible experience with good all season tires. I've run snows on a few and the performance wasn't much if any different than the all seasons for the road conditions we get.

I find the same thing with awd. We run winter tires on work vehicles. But everything else that gets driven in the winter is all season all terrain or mud terrain tires.

 

[bholler]

Thasks. I thought there would be more road noise. Too much for a non-A/T person?

I was surprised that the mileage rating for the A/T tire was so high.

The tires I'm thinking of are Continental Purecontact LS. UTQG:700AA. 97V. EcoPlus+Technology

(broken link removed)

Continental Crosscontact LX25. UTQG: 740AA. 97H. EcoPlus+Technology.

(broken link removed)

And the Falken. UTQG: 680AA. 97V.

(broken link removed)

I'm thinking that for me, one of the Continentals is better. I have dedicated winter wheels and tires.

The LX25 starts with a tread depth of 12/32".

I don't go off road. We have a house on OBX, but I've never taken the Escape to the 4WD drive area just north of us. Lots of folks mention that CUV's ABS systems go all wonky with a lot of sand thrown on them. A CUV to me is more a raised up station wagon than an off-road vehicle. The dimensions are very similar to my '97 Passat GLX wagon and '03 Audi A4 Avant 3.0Q … only higher seating position. And no manual transmission.

Yeah don't take your escape on the beach you will get stuck. It isn't so much the awd system just the ground clearance and tires that don't have enough sidewall to work right aired down