I typically dump my snows when the lowest area of tread depth gets down to 4/32" or at the end of the season where they reach that, depending on weather. Surprisingly, even at that tread depth and 4 years of age, the prior set of Nokians on the Jeep weren't significantly degraded in terms of grip compared to a fresh set of the same tires. Deep snow / slush grip wasn't as good with the reduced tread depth, but that was the only significant difference.
In reply to rslifkin :
I’ve been really impressed with nokians in general.
WS-80's on the Odyssey for wife and kids. I mounted Michelin X-ice on the Yukon on a set of OEM GMC 17" wheels. This will be my first winter with Michelin tires. I used Toyo A/T's on my Jeep last winter. Snow traction was good. Ice traction wasn't.
wawazat said:I used Toyo A/T's on my Jeep last winter. Snow traction was good. Ice traction wasn't.
Ice seems to be where the difference really becomes clear.
I've got lots of winter driving experience, on winter tires and on all-seasons, in a variety of cars. Mostly FWD, a couple RWD's (a Miata, a Mustang, and an old '77 Ram D200 I wish I still had), and a couple Subaru's but the Tacoma is my first daily driver 4WD vehicle (I had a 7.3 F250 extended cab 4x4 for a couple years but I didn't drive it as much as I would have liked as it didn't like starting at -40F, plus car seats didn't fit well). I think I've used every generation of blizzak since the WS-30's, Blizzak DMV2’s, Blizzak W965’s, Hankook I-Pike's with studs, General Arctic Altimax's with studs, Cooper M+S's, and Mastercraft Coursers Winter which are currently on my wife's CRV. I also have a set of Cooper AT3 4S on my Tacoma which have the mountain-snowflake rating.
By far the best winter tire I’ve used was the General Arctic Altimax with studs. Even when the roads are so slick I could barely stand up they gave my Mustang enough traction to stop and turn almost like it was on dry pavement. Braking on ice was incredibly good. The second best are the current Blizzak WS-80’s followed closely by the DMV2’s. Everything else I’ve used have been a good step behind those three tires in terms of traction on snow and ice. Still noticeably better than most all-seasons, but not as good as the best winter tires.
This year I decided to experiment with running a winter rated all-seasons year round and bought a set of Cooper AT3 4S right before the snow fell in November. They have been considerably better than the standard Hankook all-seasons that came on the truck and most all-seasons I’ve used in winter. In fact, I’d say they’re comparable to the second tier winter tires I’ve used in the past on packed snow and fresh snow. Ice performance isnt quite as good, but still better than a normal all-season. In fact I am more than comfortable saying that most people in most of the lower 48 don’t need a tire more aggressive than these for winter.
In reply to skierd :
Studded tires are illegal in most states. But I sure agree they work wonders.
Best studs aren’t really studs. They are washers on top of studs. Under racing conditions the torque applied to most studs tends to flatten the stud and instead of riding on the tip they lay down. Under those conditions the washers ( with little tits in the center have the whole edge of the washer to dig in and provide traction.
I like Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 for sporty cars. They worked surprisingly well on my C6Z06 driven year round in Milwaukee, so I got a set for the M3 that replaced it. They are good enough in the amount of snow I can drive in with a low sports car, and pretty good on dry cold pavement. They put down power much better than you would expect, M3 has a tune and probably around 450whp, Z06 had a cam am and dynoed at 505whp.
The dealer screwed up our snow tire order on our new GTI. Instead of the Continentals we had ordered from their selection, they installed Kumho Wintercraft WP72s. They have been an excellent surprise so far for the price point. I went with the stock VW sizing because I wanted to use the OEM wheels (which are ugly, in my opinion). And yes the dealer made it all right financially for their screw up.
Snow tires are something I won’t do without now . The insurance discount essentially pays for a tire per year.
In reply to ZOO :
There’s an insurance discount?
In reply to irish44j :
In order to make you happy, Blizzak WS what ever the current number, (80).
I'm sure most every one who mentions Blizzaks are also are talking the WS series.
Have a good day.
In reply to 80sFast :
10 percent from our broker. State Farm. Not sure if it is everywhere though.
After driving on highways and byways after latest 2 day snow storm and thinking about this thread, I would like to add to my original thoughts on all season tires. I saw many front drive cars spinning tires attempting to gain traction in the soft snow, hard pack snow or icy patches. A couple slid into the curb attempting to stop at intersections. I also saw many AWD vehicles struggling for traction. All season tires. The CX5 with AWD and Blizzaks never spun a tire or actuated the traction control or ABS.
Also yesterday, my stepdaughter asked why she has experienced sliding when attempting to steer at intersections twice this winter. She is driving a 2017 Honda Civic after turning in her 2015 Civic. On my trip home, I remembered reading about some manufacturers equipping new cars with summer tires with all seasons as an option.
So, no wonder Minneapolis St Paul metroplex had over 900 accidents/spin outs/vehicles in the median during 2 day storm. I am sure some of those could be attributed to drivers using cruise control on low/no traction conditions
In reply to outasite :
Drove by a body shop with three crashed cars out front yesterday. Looked like they were all on all seasons.
Altimax Arctic recently, only because Winterforce wasn't available in those sizes.
I have to get some for the new car and I'm probably looking at the cheapest name brand snow tire. No idea what size I'll end up with - have to see if I can fit 16s (probably)
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