winter tires: studs or studless?

It's soon to be that time of year again in the frozen north and I need snow tires for my Mustang. I tried a set of bridgestone blizzaks ws70 last winter and while they were good on snow they weren't great on ice, especially at intersections or the sheer icy conditions we get after winter rain. One road in particular that i have to drive for work every two weeks, 150 Mike round trip, is as polished as a skating rink for most of the winter and both ends of the car would drift going down the road.

I'm thinking about getting studded tiress this winter, probably hankook ipikes, over another set of blizzaks. General articmax and firestone wintermax are also available locally, if those are better options. Keep in mind that any online recommendations will cost about $200 to shop here.

For the far north grm community, which do you prefer studs or studless winter tires? I don't give much care about road noise in winter, I need traction more than anything else. The roads are almost always covered in ice and snow after mid October to april, so dry pavement manners are secondary. It's normally -10 our colder during that stretch too so rain performance is not a real concern every for the random warm spells we get where it'll jump up above freezing for a day, rain, then drop back below 0 degrees and leave an inch of ice over everything for the rest of winter.

I had Graspics on the Rolla and they were great on the ice. Studless. Better than what I replaced them with, which I would not buy again. Check out the TireRack reviews, as they test their snow tires on an ice skating rink on RWD beemers. If the studded are better and you have ice all the winter long, I'd go with that. Also note that we only get a week or so of bad ice a year, on average, so I'm pretty "amateur" in the ice driving area.

Blizzaks are snow tires. And all the other choices you mention, aren't great ice tires either. If you are doing mostly snow or ice covered road, and you aren't bothered by the noise, just get studded tires. Studded tires are only a problem when you drive a lot on pavement, because the studs have no traction on asphalt and they wear really quickly.

I don't think the hankook ipikes rated all that well in TireRacks tests. I and many others on the board have used General Altimax Arctic. I've run them the last two winters in Chicago and they are a great winter tire. They can be had in studded form or studless. I have no experience with studded tires.

I don't know why the IPikes aren't rated well... because they're AWESOME.

IIRC the general is actually a Gislaved, which is Swedish.

At least it sounds like you actually need studs / snow tires.

I cringe all winter long here in the Willamette valley (PNW) listening to all those studs shredding our road system when we get MAYBE one snow day a year.....

Well yah, I live in Fairbanks Alaska so winter tires are necessary.

Blizzaks all the way. Have proven superior in ice racing than other brands. The thing I hate about studs is the noise. Slippery on pavement.

Nokian said: In addition to its firm grip, Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 offers drivers a uniquely smooth and pleasant driving experience. The pleasant driving experience is down to an innovation similar to that used in good running shoes: air shock absorbers that soften and absorb the impact of the studs on the road, creating a flexible and smooth driving experience. The combination of multi-edged and sturdy anchor studs and air shock absorbers is referred to as Air Claw Technology. This technology also reduces wear and tear on the road, dampens tyre noise and prolongs the service life of the studs.

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=131172&group=1.01&name=Nokian+Hakkapeliitta+7

Good for over 200 mph...... I kid you not http://tire-dev.whitehorse.com/hakka7/

Nokian tires are the best of the best; they make studded and studless varieties. Where I come from, studded tires are illegal...but even the studdable Nokians left unstudded seem superior to anything else.

I bought a set of studded General Altimax Arctics. Great tires - hated the studs.

Personally no studs - they are noisy on bare pavement and frankly here we get more snow than ice. They do nothing on snow.

Blizzacks are NOT snow tires - they are a winter tire and they are focused on ice traction, as are Michelin X-Ice. Other tires are more focused on snow like the Firestone/Bridgestone Winterforce. The General is a compromise between both, not best in snow or ice, but pretty damn good in both.

You need to focus on what you get more of, snow, ice or a mix, and pick on that basis.

DC

FSP_ZX2 wrote: Nokian tires are the best of the best; they make studded and studless varieties. Where I come from, studded tires are illegal...but even the studdable Nokians left unstudded seem superior to anything else.

Nokians are indeed excellent but HOLY HELL they are expensive. $150+ per tire in common sizes, and that's the low end!

NGTD wrote: I bought a set of studded General Altimax Arctics. Great tires - hated the studs. Personally no studs - they are noisy on bare pavement and frankly here we get more snow than ice. They do nothing on snow. Blizzacks are NOT snow tires - they are a winter tire and they are focused on ice traction, as are Michelin X-Ice. Other tires are more focused on snow like the Firestone/Bridgestone Winterforce. The General is a compromise between both, not best in snow or ice, but pretty damn good in both. You need to focus on what you get more of, snow, ice or a mix, and pick on that basis. DC

Main roads are clear to several inches of hard packed snow or ice. Slush doesn't exist at our normal winter temps of -20 and colder. Rain happens infrequently, wet heavy snow less frequently too. It's mainly super dry snow, hard packed snow on roads, and ice. Blizzaks were great on most of the road but scary at intersections where everything was slickest. The ice road I rode every other Friday was flat scary.

Sounds like you definitely need studded tires. Since I moved to MD 50 years ago I have not had any studded tires so I can't help on brands. Blizzaks work just fine for me.

Swank Force One wrote: I don't know why the IPikes aren't rated well... because they're AWESOME.

This. There are a few Ipike variants. The W409's are what I love. I've used them on E30's and E36's with fantastic results.

I had General Altimax Arctics on my Mazdaspeed3 and now on my Alfa 164 and they are excellent in the snow and decent on the ice. Icy roads are not a major problem where I live because the sand and salt trucks deploy the instant a snowflake hits the ground (that brings another problem- rust). I've never tried them with studs but they are studdable.

It sounds like if you're encountering a lot of ice that you should consider studding the tires. Also, I don't know what Mustang you have but a buddy of mine on another forum has a 2013 V-6 Performance Pack like mine. He adds some weight in the trunk and a spare set of 17" wheels with Blizzaks and says it does great in the snow.

My rallycar (STi) runs general altimax's studded. The ultimate combination for snow AND ice traction.

If you need further proof, go to the TireRack and look at their winter tire comparos.

my road is up a heavily shaded canyon and is very icy nearly all winter. Studs are legal here in Colorado. I use studded Firestone Winterforces on my two 4x4s, and they work well.

Studs were great... in 1965 Nylon tires.

These days studs are so pointless. Good snow/ice tires in the winter rock.

I have personal experience with Blizzaks and Michelin X-ice. Both are far superior to any studded tire I've ever had.

I've run the exact same tire in both studs and studless, and studs were an improvement of about a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. I won't do them again.

I'd do the studded tires. You will have better control, stopping will be slightly better. Slow down or anticipate your stops, ice is a bitch!

It sounds to me like you are one of the few cases where studs are actually going to be beneficial more than 5% of the time and not a total detriment the other 95%. Most drivers sped very little actual drive time in the condition that would warrant studs and compromise dry and wet grip tremendously to satisfy their paranoia. I run nokian hakka (r)s on my (rear wheel drive with lsd) is300 and its unstoppable in all conditions. They are a little wollowy at speed, but wear is amazing.

P.S. Ive run into the revlimiter in 5th a bunch of times with them on there, no problems (on a closed corse )

skierd wrote: Well yah, I live in Fairbanks Alaska so winter tires are necessary.

There's your problem- my brother and his family finally gave up after 6 years there- heading back to Idaho.

ok, that's no help.

So based on your experiences, i would go studded. if ice intersections are that common, go with that as the driver for the extra safety. I wish I could honestly recommend a brand, but studded tires are not legal in Michigan.

I'd give studs a try, but ask the locals what they use first.