Anyone running Falken Wildpeaks in snow/ice?

[texadelphia]

This is my first winter with the 4runner and I need new tires before winter. On my Audi with Quattro, I've run studded Nokian Hakkapeliittas for the past 2 years, but it's hard to say how much I've really needed them. It has been an absolute tank in the winter but how much of that is the Quattro, or the tire compound, or the studs? I live outside of Portland in the woods and my "driveway" is a 3/4 mile bumpy gravel trail that doesn't get plowed, and the back roads I live off of barely get plowed. Anyway, we probably have 2-3 weeks a year where we have significant snow or ice on the ground but it does tend to stick around on our driveway since it's shaded and doesn't melt off. So I'm considering not getting studs and instead getting Wildpeak AT3ws and a set of chains just in case. Can anyone say how well the Wildpeaks perform in snowy/icy conditions? We're going to be moving in the spring so it would be great not to invest in dedicated snow tires for one season, especially since we're not really going anywhere with COVID and I work from home.

 

[3bears]

snow is not just snow, so you can get several different answers depending on where the snow is and the type.I say that because when I lived in oregon, up to 2 years ago, I found studded tires worked best on my 4runner, due to often hitting black ice, I lived and worked up near hoodo ski bowl, as a park ranger..
However up here ( alaska) the snow is different and studlless blizzaks work better than studded tires ( for me) I live on a hilly gravel road that is covered with snow at least 5 months of the year. When I first moved up here ( mid winter) I thought...boy no one has snow tires, then realized, nearly everyone runs blizzaks...not your typical studded snow tire. My son runs blizzaks on his taco and his ford 250.

My KO'2s sucked in the ice in Oregon. Up here they are "ok" in the snow

Also I hate putting on chains.

so dont really have an answer for you and your tire of choice, just giving you my 2cents.

 

[tgreenwood75]

I have 275/65R16 AT3Ws on my 4runner and see quite a bit of snow, I love them. Not sure how different New England snow conditions are from PNW but we get a few months of serious snow and definitely ice everywhere. Typically November or December through March is icy.

I have run the Wildpeaks for one winter and they were great in all conditions. I don't think I ever had a sketchy moment including gravel roads, snow storms, etc. They accelerate and corner so much better than any tire I have used in the snow. Braking, you still have to be careful, but they will be as controlled as your driving style is.

Beyond this car, my family has Wildpeaks on our Tundra and Land Rover Disco2, both of which also see a lot of winter use in Maine. Could not recommend the tires enough.

 

[bruised]

I have 30k miles and 2 winters on mine, living in the colorado front range where it is drier and we get ice but its normally from heavily packed snow and melts out quickly. When people ask me I almost always tell them to get a true snow ice tire. I am happy with them year round but I am also happy to slow way down on the highway. I have ridden in 4runners with ko2's and dedicated winter hakkapeliitta's and I would put the AT3w's at as good or better on ice than the ko2's but the dedicated winter tire was noticeably the best at stopping.

My review for the at3's is that they do great in fresh and packed snow, but that they are only okay on ice. They meet my needs year round for around town speeds. I have never gotten stuck anywhere but have had some butt clenching slides/lock ups coming to a stop on steep hills. My gf has a 2010 a4 with blizzaks and I have to add 3-4 car lengths to stops when compared to that. You have to remember that even with the same tires a car will have less weight transfer than a large truck and will stop better.

I probably end up driving into the mountains 2-4 times a week during winter to dawn patrol but when its icy I plan for a slow drive and am happy to make that sacrifice to not buy 2 sets of tires. If you are daily driving ice on the highway I would recommend a true winter tire.

 

[texadelphia]

I have 30k miles and 2 winters on mine, living in the colorado front range where it is drier and we get ice but its normally from heavily packed snow and melts out quickly. When people ask me I almost always tell them to get a true snow ice tire. I am happy with them year round but I am also happy to slow way down on the highway. I have ridden in 4runners with ko2's and dedicated winter hakkapeliitta's and I would put the AT3w's at as good or better on ice than the ko2's but the dedicated winter tire was noticeably the best at stopping.

My review for the at3's is that they do great in fresh and packed snow, but that they are only okay on ice. They meet my needs year round for around town speeds. I have never gotten stuck anywhere but have had some butt clenching slides/lock ups coming to a stop on steep hills. My gf has a 2010 a4 with blizzaks and I have to add 3-4 car lengths to stops when compared to that. You have to remember that even with the same tires a car will have less weight transfer than a large truck and will stop better.

I probably end up driving into the mountains 2-4 times a week during winter to dawn patrol but when its icy I plan for a slow drive and am happy to make that sacrifice to not buy 2 sets of tires. If you are daily driving ice on the highway I would recommend a true winter tire.

I lived in Denver for 5 years before we moved out here and never ran anything but all-seasons, but I also didn't go to the mountains much. I was also driving a VW Golf at the time. I did one snowy trip up to Carbondale with the all seasons which had some clinchy moments, especially coming over the divide, but I managed.

The thing I'm most concerned with is ice, but I absolutely hate running studs. We haven't got much of that the last 2 years but historically this part of Oregon does get quite a few ice storms and is frequently wet and cold more than snowy. I'm not daily driving so I'm just trying to find a good compromise. Maybe something non-studded is the way to go for peace of mind against occasional black ice and just not going out much when it's icy. I don't want to spend the whole winter driving around afraid of losing it on black ice, especially if my wife is driving by herself.

 

[bruised]

Maybe something non-studded is the way to go for peace of mind against occasional black ice and just not going out much when it's icy. I don't want to spend the whole winter driving around afraid of losing it on black ice, especially if my wife is driving by herself.

I would agree just get a non-studded snow tire. Blizzaks are great just some say they dont last very long. Gf just switched from blizzaks to michelin x-ice last season and they seemed pretty close to the blizzaks but are supposed to last longer. I'm pretty sure they offer a version of those in sizes for 4runners. GL

 

[thegipper]

I have the Falken Wildpeak AT3W (265/75/16) on my 4R and I live in Wisconsin. So far, they have been excellent on and off road in the snow. The only tire worth a damn on ice is a studded winter tire.

Good luck

 

[texadelphia]

I would agree just get a non-studded snow tire. Blizzaks are great just some say they dont last very long. Gf just switched from blizzaks to michelin x-ice last season and they seemed pretty close to the blizzaks but are supposed to last longer. I'm pretty sure they offer a version of those in sizes for 4runners. GL

That's good info. I'm not too concerned with wear on the Blizzaks. I only need to get one season out of them and I'm not putting a lot of miles on the car right now.

 

[texadelphia]

I have the Falken Wildpeak AT3W (265/75/16) on my 4R and I live in Wisconsin. So far, they have been excellent on and off road in the snow. The only tire worth a damn on ice is a studded winter tire.

Good luck

I agree that studs are the only real defense against ice. For as much as I encounter ice though, I think I'm willing to just drive carefully with something at least designed to deal with snow and ice.

 

[3bears]

I would agree just get a non-studded snow tire. Blizzaks are great just some say they dont last very long. Gf just switched from blizzaks to michelin x-ice last season and they seemed pretty close to the blizzaks but are supposed to last longer. I'm pretty sure they offer a version of those in sizes for 4runners. GL

my son is on his 3rd season with blizzaks on his taco, 2nd season on his ford f250 and Im on my 2nd season in my 4runner.

but a lot of that is how much dry pavement they see, up here, they see very very little. Otherwise I too heard that they had a low life.
In a month or so, we wont see any pavement, the road department does not even try to get back to pavement, its all just packed snow and they main concern is fresh snow and keeping that knocked down, keeping signs visible, traffic lights working and broken down cars and accidents cleared from the roads.

 

[3bears]

kind of an edit.
did not get a chance to put on my blizzaks yet. had to go to town and have to say my KO2's suck on ice.
did a bunch of work on my 4runner the past few days, cold temps, snow etc so not driving in new snow and ice that had fallen....had to go into town...not fun...coming home had my locker on coming up the hill.
blizzaks on tomorrow

reminded me KO2's suck on ice, but in the snow, they did ok

 

[texadelphia]

kind of an edit.

did not get a chance to put on my blizzaks yet. had to go to town and have to say my KO2's suck on ice.

did a bunch of work on my 4runner the past few days, cold temps, snow etc so not driving in new snow and ice that had fallen....had to go into town...not fun...coming home had my locker on coming up the hill.

blizzaks on tomorrow



reminded me KO2's suck on ice, but in the snow, they did ok

Good info.

Pretty sure I've settled on getting Blizzaks. I was looking at GT Radial Icepros as they're almost half the price of Blizzaks and seem to get good reviews but I'm thinking I'll just drop the coin on a proven performer.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk