Snow Tires for '22 Honda Odyssey: NE Ohio

We have a '22 Honda Odyssey EX-L for the family hauler, and are leaning on going with snow tires this year.  We had the van last winter and it was "meh" in the snow...it did not inspire confidence in winter conditions.  It's FWD, heavy, and feels squirely in the snow/icy conditions.  In "SNOW" mode, it just seems to limit throttle input so you're not spinning wheels when accelerating in slicker conditions. 

Looking at TireRack and DiscountTire for wheel/tire combos, pricing at around $2k for the lot. We're looking at the Blizzak DMV2 or Goodyear Winter Command Ultras, mounted on the rims each website recommends for the vehicle.   Package comes shipped with TPMS installed, too.

• Discount Tire: Bridgestone Blizzak DMV2
• TireRack: Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra

I'm confident that anything dedicated for the winter weather and conditions is better than the high mileage all season on the minivan now.  The cost is not prohibitive for us, but thought I'd run it past the hive to see if there's better sites for deals or options to consider.  I'm not looking to take up too much time sourcing and parting out compatible steel rims, new TPMS, and then lugging back and forth to a shop to mount/balance and install...really hoping for one stop shopping and convenience, but testing the water on cost comparisons.

I'm keeping in mind the cost and convenience with 3 kids; 2 in school and need shuttled back and forth, and a 1 year old.  Plus Mom and Dad's safety too.

So, any input or recommendations for best, one stop shop for wheel/tire packages for snow tires?

Thanks in advance!

I have run Blizzaks in the past and think that they are beasts in the white stuff.  That said, I am very happy with the Michelen CrossClimate 2 on my Sienna. Great in all conditions and impressive in the snow for an all-season tire. 

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

I have run Blizzaks in the past and think that they are beasts in the white stuff.  That said, I am very happy with the Michelen CrossClimate 2 on my Sienna. Great in all conditions and impressive in the snow for an all-season tire. 

 

Hah I was coming here to suggest something along these lines. Cheaper, no family time spent swapping wheels multiple times per year, no extra set of tires to store, and no having to have the ugliest wheels in the world for half the year.

I see those, thank you!
I do have the space to store the snow-specific wheels/tires at the house, so space storage is not an issue.  Maybe we'd purchase those all-seasons when the van needs new tires, overall.

Am I safe to assume, at least, between the Bridgestone and Goodyear tires posted initially, that those are solid options for my application?

I'd say either of the snow tires in the first post should be a reasonable choice.  The Blizzaks are probably going to be the slightly better snow performers of the pair. 

I see those Michelins on a few cars and am unimpressed.  They are heavy and seem to have a real hard rubber compound.  They drive like walking in super cheap shoes with plastic soles.

Living in Strangeville you don't have to deal with the snowfall that you get on the east side or closer to the lake, fortunately.  Both of the links you provided are broken, or at least they send me to a general page and not the specific tire/size.  Assuming that you have the 235/60-18, the Blizzaks are a no brainer.  The next best would be the Cooper Evolutions, but those cost even more than the Blizzaks. ($190 vs. $184 at Tire Rack)

I work at a Honda specialist in North Royalton and I buy all my tires from Tire Rack because they have better shipping than our tire suppliers do, and their road hazard coverage is top notch.  I have needed it twice and both times it was painless.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Pete, do you think his Odyssey EX-L requires 18“ to clear the brakes or is 18“ just a fashion upgrade?  Do you think he could go with 17"ers to be a little narrower which can be better in snow and a little cheaper? 

In reply to John Welsh :

It is hard to say.  To be blunt, most of the Hondas we see are outside of warranty with very few "new" models.

That said, I think they have 13" rotors so 17 inch wheels should clear.  The larger problem with your idea - which I do endorse, for the record - is that tires of the correct diameter but narrower in tread are remarkably difficult to find.

Take my Volvo for example, which is currently riding on 225/45-18 Blizzaks vs. the stock size of 235/40-18.  17 inch wheels clear the brakes, barely, but finding narrower tires of the appropriate diameter is difficult.

A 235/60-18 could be a 215/70-17 in a minus fitment, within six revs per mile.  Tire Rack only shows three tires in that size.  Annoyingly, one of them is the Blizzak DM-V2   That helps now, but in two or three years when the tires need to be replaced, you don't want to get stuck with an uncommon size.

Really, at least around here, they do a very good job of plowing and salting, so most of the winter is spent driving on dry pavement, or maybe light slush, and you're typically held up by yahoos in lifted trucks on mud tires who can't get out of everyone else's way when it IS bad, so having good winter tires is more for personal satisfaction and looking out for oneself, rather than a dire need to get through a foot of wet cement like snow on a regular basis.  This is also why I prefer the blizzaks, because they handle ice rather well, and ice is the actual bad part about winter.  Snow has at least some level of grip 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I did some tire shopping and it seems that for 2022, the 18" is the small offering. If you move up to the Odyssey Elite or Touring then they go to the fashion upgrade of 19" wheels. 

My intention was going to be to recommend some older Odyssey factory alloy wheels gotten at a JY be mounted with the snow tires. But, in years past the Odyssey wheels were 17"

In reply to procker :

As far as what my dealership offers for winter tires for the Odyssey. I would mention the Blizzak DM-V2, General Altimax Artic 12 or Continental Viking contact 7.

Based on my experience, I wouldn't consider 235s to be wide at all for something as heavy as an Odyssey.  Narrower will help in slush or soft snow, but 235s under that weight should cut just fine.  And wider is better on hardpack or ice. 

The main roads do get plowed pretty good, but the side roads off mains and parking lots w/schools get a little dicey.  We really weren't impressed with the all seasons in the snow.  Plus factor in a tighter timetable to get the school pickup/dropoffs going smoothly, I want that extra traction and control. 

Sorry on the links, but you're right..my thought was the Blizzaks first too.  And yes, I'm looking for a straight swap in size w/out the worry for anything down the road, so I'd be sticking with the 18"s.  I was debating the previous gen steelies, but the initial quick searches I did for them didn't show anything too promising (then again I'm not always searching for these things)...

Thanks for the feedback, all!

Hey Pete. (l33t FS) I sent you a PM. 

I ran two sets of WS-series Blizzaks on our '05 Odyssey, which we owned from 2008-2019. They made a huge difference in winter driving as the Honda traction control is that generation wasn't great and would kill any momentum you had if it detected slip. Much better handling and braking in the slippery stuff, as well.

I ran them in the stock size, which was a 16" wheel with 235 width. I'd consider a 225, but didn't have any complaints with keeping the stock size.

I'm considering picking up a set of Blizzaks for our '17, and have already picked up a set of OEM Honda 17" wheels for the winter set.

If hakkapeliittas are out of the budget get blizzaks. 

I personally don't like Hakkas because it seems like they were made to be used with studs, so sacrifice ice traction.  Studs are not legal in Japan (IIRC) so Japanese winter tires are engineered to work well without them.

80sFast said:

If hakkapeliittas are out of the budget get blizzaks. 

I don't like disagreeing with Pete but this is my suggestion too. I had Hakkas on my E28 back in the day (east-side Cleveland winters) and they were fantastic. Next best I've had are Blizzaks. That's what I put on the M3 for this winter. 

dps214 said:

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

I have run Blizzaks in the past and think that they are beasts in the white stuff.  That said, I am very happy with the Michelen CrossClimate 2 on my Sienna. Great in all conditions and impressive in the snow for an all-season tire. 

 

Hah I was coming here to suggest something along these lines. Cheaper, no family time spent swapping wheels multiple times per year, no extra set of tires to store, and no having to have the ugliest wheels in the world for half the year.

Came here for the same thing. They're snow rated with the 3 peak symbol too, meaning they meet at least minimum requirements for snow tires. 
I see you've moved on from that but I have them on our van and couldn't be happier. Excellent dry weather ratings, too. Note that winter tires perform significantly worse in dry conditions than regular tires. Since mid Michigan doesn't get the lake effect much and only has like four times out of the year where there is actually significant snow on the streets before the plows get to get to it, running snows is a safety risk for the rest of the winter. 

Feel free to disagree with me all you like 

I just put a set of those Michelins on a Rav4.

They remind me of a pair of cheap shoes I had when I was a kid, hard plastic soles.  My Blizzaks feel better on dry ground.  I was loading the trucklet side to side to try to identify a bad wheel bearing and they felt uneasy even at such low forces.  Not quite greasy, not quite hockey puck, kind of both.

Local knowledge: I take 71S to work and get off at the 82 East exit.  On the Blizzaks I will enter the corner at 65-70 and let the cornering forces slow me down.  They work WELL when it is dry, this is not enough to feel any significant slip angles.   Not as good as, say, my Conti ECSs of course, but better than an all season.

It occurs to me that this is probably why I only get about one, one and a half seasons out of winter tires 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

I personally don't like Hakkas because it seems like they were made to be used with studs, so sacrifice ice traction.  Studs are not legal in Japan (IIRC) so Japanese winter tires are engineered to work well without them.

There are 2 lines of Hakkas.  1 is meant to be studded (and I think they're only available with studs pre-installed these days), the other is designed as a studless tire.  The current models would be the Hakka 10 (studded) and the Hakka R5 (studless).  I'm certainly no fan of running any studdable tire without studs. 

I ran the Hakka R2 on the Jeep when I was still driving it in the winter and thought they were great, although they were a hair short on drive traction on above-freezing wet pavement.  And they braked and turned better than they accelerated on any surface.  The colder the weather got, the better they performed it seemed like. A warm snap in winter wasn't good with these.  I drove them on the highway at 70* once.  They felt pretty weird and I could smell the tires a bit when I stopped. 

SWMBO's Prius is currently wearing a set of studded Hakka 9s for winter.  They're a lot louder than the R2s were, not as well mannered on pavement (although still not bad other than the noise).  But they're nearly unstoppable in snow. 

The E38 is wearing Blizzak WS80s (same generation as the DM-V2).  They're a hair louder than the Hakka R2s ever were (especially under braking), but they're surprisingly well mannered and grippy on pavement.  They feel a bit mushy, but that's really their only significant flaw on a dry winter day.  They don't have the same seemingly endless grip on really cold hard pack that the Hakkas do, but in most real world snow driving I'd say they're in the same ballpark. 

BLIZZAK WS-80 were my favorite on our 2010 Ody, but they've been superseded by the WS-90 which are probably just as grippy but maybe a little noisier. 

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I had WS80s and had to road hazard one for sidewall damage, they replaced with a WS90.  I honestly could not tell a difference in tread pattern or construction.  I think they just updated the name to be honest.

I think I am at four 80s and five 90s right now.  Still not as good as the WS15s 

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

I had WS80s and had to road hazard one for sidewall damage, they replaced with a WS90.  I honestly could not tell a difference in tread pattern or construction.  I think they just updated the name to be honest.

From the pictures online, the WS90 tread pattern looks a little more open, the blocks aren't spaced quite as close.  But otherwise pretty similar. 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

I totally get the idea of "YMMV" but it bears mentioning that subjective and objective test results (Tire Rack and Consumer Reports) say they're great. 
 

Again, moot for OP since he wants dedicated snows and all. 

Having gone to school in Cleveland and living in the lake effect band, you want the best snow tires there are.  Hakkapellita's, hands down.  After that the blizzaks but be aware that once the "special" layer has worn off the blizzaks they're no better than a regular all season tire and will look like they have plenty of tread/life left in them.