I LOVE snow tires.

6 inches of fresh unplowed wet snow. A 2008 Honda Fit with fresh Altimax Arctic snow tires. I had to drive 40 miles in the blizzard tonight.

It wasn't just doable. It was downright fun.

If you can put up with their somewhat horrid dry-road feel, the Altimax Arctic is really is the grippiest winter tire in snow you can buy, outside of the outlandishly high priced Nokian Hakkas.

I drove a 2007 Honda Fit on Altimax Artics last winter in Michigan, never had a problem and had a blast!

Snow tires are excellent.

In reply to WildScotsRacing:

That's because the Altimax Artic is an older design that was originlly built to compete with Hakks in Europe, it's some Gislaved with a different sidewall mold.

I don't mind the dry road feel, it just makes the car drive like an old Buick.

You do feel like you are defying the laws of physics with snow tires at times. That can sure make it fun.

I installed Bridgestone W965 snow tires on my '95 4WD Cummins some years ago. While some would argue 4WD makes snow tires unnecessary, I disagree. 4WD may help you go, it doesn't do much to help you stop or turn. Nothing that weighs over 3 tons (empty) should be able to stop and turn as well as that truck did on those tires. They were my year-round tires since I didn't really drive the truck much otherwise.

I just mounted up a set if Hercules avalanche on my spare wheels, hoping they are as good as their reviews were.

I have Altimax Arctics on the Civic; miserable in the dry, but unstoppable in snow. I was planning to do some unusual attitudes training with my son this morning, but we got no snow at all.

My 9-5 wagon has Nokian WR G3s, which do well for being an all season tire rather than dedicated snows.

Our Volvo is wearing some Kumho Ecsta 4X tires and it was absolutely awful in the snow yesterday. Think I'll do some Black Friday tire shopping.

The Volvo wagons are great with Altimax Arctics.

With so many running them, did Altimax Artics replace Winterforces as the go-to budget snow tire? I'm running a set because they were cheap at WalMart last year.

I put Winterforce on my Mercedes wagon since they were cheaper and had a higher load rating than the Generals. Based on my past experience with Generals and Winterforce on a 740 wagon I prefer the way the Generals handle in the snow but both are fairly good.

My first experience 20 years ago w/dedicated winter tires was a set of Blizzak WS 50s on a 323 Mazda. I drove out onto a frozen lake with at least of foot of snow and was driving like I was in WRC until I realized I was probably causing water eruptions inside the ice fishing houses.

I figured for the 15" snows on my Focus, there's not a huge price difference overall, so I went with some Xice2's on sale (a couple years ago) to try and get some of the best tires I could get.

I figure since there's potentially so little traction available, I want every little bit of extra traction that the best tires can provide. I also chose a more ice oriented tire, as that's the lowest traction scenario.

I had Winterforces on the wife's Stupid Sunfire and both studded and non-studded on the Hideous Hardbody.

I'm in Western Canada. I hated those tires.

Merely "OK" in snow, but useless on anything slippery.

I bought a set of Michelin X-ice radials for the Crusty Chevy and was so amazed, I bought a set this year for my sweetie.

Way back in the mid 90's, I bought a pair of Toyo Observe G02 tires for a 323, because that's what I always did - just put a pair on the drive wheels. Except those tires were amazing. The front stuck awesome, but the back (all-seasons) went wherever the hell it wanted to. After spinning into a guard rail, I got two more put on the back real quick. I now always run four winters.

The dry road behavior of the Altimax Arctic is the only reason I have switched to the Michelin Xi3. It does give up just a little in snow grip to the Arctic, but has far superior handling and traction on cold, dry roads which is what we get in NE Oklahoma for most of the winter. But if any snow at all comes down (or our infamous and annual ice storms), the Xi3 is so far beyond even the best snow-rated all-season it's just mind blowing.

4 studded Michelin snows on my 942s made me look forward to pack ice and unplowed roads.

I put Winterforce tires on my KJ because they were cheap. They were good in snow but really stunk on ice unlike the WS 60's on my Fiesta.

It must have been amusing to see my Miata driving down the unplowed lane of I-75 in Michigan at around 10mph faster than all the 4x4 SUVs in the plowed lane yesterday. These General Altimax Arctic tires are excellent. Way better in the snow than the Dunlop Winter Sport 3D tires on my GTI & way worse on dry roads.

I still use the 1980s vtread snow tires, they have been fine on a foxbody, 2wd s10 and now a 2wd s10 blazer.

I bought a set of Bridgestone Blizzaks WS70's that are slightly used mounted on stock Toyota alloys for my wife's 06 Sienna. I haven't mounted them yet, but we haven't had any snow yet either. We have some Yokohama iPike snows on the van a few years ago and they were pretty good. I think these should be better, and also having alloys will dress up the van a little I suppose. I really wouldn't mind using the alloys as the summer wheels, but that means breaking down, and re-mounting 8 tires. Not something I want to do.

Yeah the altimax Arctic is really mushy on dry roads. My next set of snows will be something better, but I wanted a cheap solution so for now these fit the bill.

I don't mind the generals in the dry.

I had the Altimax Artics on the Miata last winter and they were unstoppable. I did put them on for about 50 miles during the summer while I was doing some work on the car. I didn't drive hard at all, but I could smell them as soon as I parked the car. They don't like warm weather.

I've never purchased a set of snow tires. . The couple times (if that) a year that we get a few inches does not warrant getting any. And if we get any serious snow, which happens periodically, the all seasons on my awd CR-V do fine. The place shuts down anyway. . Gonna be in Ottawa this week though, and I'll be putting my dad's Altimax Artics and spare steelies on his CR-V; he loves them, much better than the last no name brand ones he had.