Best meaty tires for snow

[Intruder]

I think the ice performance of any "mud/snow" tire is an afterthought by the manufacturer.

My guess is they do the bare minimum to get the mountain snowflake rating. Having that emblem probably sells more tires.

BTW, when did you become Canadian? Didn't think anyone to the south had a clue about TPB.

 

[sandcrawler]

I drive in snow from November to April. Live on dirt roads and drive back mountain roads almost daily. I chose Duratracs in the stock size (Note: because of the larger tread, the stock size Duratracs will rub, you'll need to do some trimming). They suit me year-round and have been better than I could have ever expected. They go on long road trips on paved roads, off-roading in forests, and of course, all over the slushy, snowy, muddy dirt roads I live on.

my opinion on the Duratracs is somewhere between yours and Intruder's. i've had them on since new, and they've been great but their winter performance has been somewhat lacking the last couple years; breaking loose too easily when they shouldn't have been, in my opinion. i'm going to try something different for my next set.

also: strange that you had to trim with 265/70-17 Duratracs. i never rubbed. :shrug:

 

[KidVermicious]

Fat chicks try extra hard to please you.

Hot chicks can be needy and moody.

Not sure how this applies to tires.

Fat chicks can be needy and moody too. Better to dance with the nerd girls.

 

[eddie333]

my opinion on the Duratracs is somewhere between yours and Intruder's. i've had them on since new, and they've been great but their winter performance has been somewhat lacking the last couple years; breaking loose too easily when they shouldn't have been, in my opinion. i'm going to try something different for my next set.

also: strange that you had to trim with 265/70-17 Duratracs. i never rubbed. :shrug:

This will be my second winter with them, so I am wondering how my opinion will change after I've put more miles on them. I can see exactly what Intruder was saying, and curious if I'll agree with him after this winter. First winter was great though...

And I made a mistake... I forgot when I put on my Duratracs I also put on a -10 offset rim, and with that addition, it made them rub at stock height.

 

[Intruder]

I can see exactly what Intruder was saying, and curious if I'll agree with him after this winter.

Our winters are much longer and more severe than yours so that's gonna make a difference.

 

[eddie333]

Our winters are much longer and more severe than yours.

...for which I am jealous!

 

[ben550]

Non-Winter Tires That Meet the Industry's Severe Snow Service Standards - Hunter's Ramblings about Performance wheels & tire | Tire Rack

Good article showing AT tires that meet the severe snow service standards

Only change to this list is that the Goodyear Silent Armor was replaced by the Adventure, which also has the mountain snowflake rating.

 

[forwheeler]

These tires don't get much attention, but if you're looking for a good quality winter/snow tire in stock size and a reasonable price, these may be the way to go. They got the highest rating by consumer reports, and are cheaper than many others:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsptireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeWinterContact

 

[LandCruiser]

Blizzak, notice the prominent siping.

New BFG, notice weak-ass siping.

30k BFG, notice siping has kind of widened and rounded off and only serves to trap small rocks/gravel.

 

[LandCruiser]

My guess is they do the bare minimum to get the mountain snowflake rating. Having that emblem probably sells more tires.

BTW, when did you become Canadian? Didn't think anyone to the south had a clue about TPB.

I spent a year in Halifax.

That show is always on Showcase--usually before their government-funded soft core porn.

 

[cbreze]

I love my duratracs, but found the 285's are far to wide for optimum snow travel. Look cool? Yes. Not best for good snow travel tho. I knew this going in, but thought, hey it's a 4runner. Best off road, all season vehicle ever! Right? Right, but tires do make a difference depending on conditions. Well , when this set of duratracs wear down enough for me to justify a new set I'll be sticking with the brand, but definitely going narrower, maybe even 265's. Not this winter, maybe next.

 

[USMCRUNNER]

There is also the new Nitto Exo. They look pretty promising.

 

[GabrielM]

My guess is they do the bare minimum to get the mountain snowflake rating. Having that emblem probably sells more tires.

Nope, it's not a 1:1 situation, M+S tires doesn't mean the mountain snowflake rating and vice-versa. Here in Quebec it's been a few years since the mandatory winter tire (mountain snowflake logo) and manufacturer have to comply on certain aspect of it.

 

[Intruder]

Nope, it's not a 1:1 situation, M+S tires doesn't mean the mountain snowflake rating and vice-versa. Here in Quebec it's been a few years since the mandatory winter tire (mountain snowflake logo) and manufacturer have to comply on certain aspect of it.

I think you misunderstood my post. I meant that some manufacturers probably do the bare minimum in the design of their tires to get the mountain snowflake rating, not that M+S tires automatically have the rating. Honestly I think the rating gives some people a false sense of security anyhow.

"In 1999, The U.S. Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA) and the Rubber Association of Canada (RAC) agreed on a performance based standard to identify passenger and light truck tires that attain a traction index equal to, or greater than 110 (compared to a reference tire which is rated 100) during the specified American Society for Testing and Materials traction tests on packed snow. The new standard helps ensure that drivers can easily identify tires that provide a higher level of snow traction."

http://www.tirerack.com/winter/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

Notice the traction is tested on packed snow, not ice.

 

[AirspeedX]

+ another 1 for Blizzaks from a Canadian here! They worked great in our long winter last year. Putting them on again shortly.

That being said, my General Grabber AT2's were rocking it on our snowy and slushy dirt roads today. Couldn't get them to break free at speed. I'm still one for winter tires though.

 

[philsey]

Blizzak, notice the prominent siping.

New BFG, notice weak-ass siping.

30k BFG, notice siping has kind of widened and rounded off and only serves to trap small rocks/gravel.

^^ This. If you understand what makes the best (not just acceptable) winter (read snow AND ice) tire, this is the most informative post in the thread.

 

[mace.]

Just get the Duratracs and a couple cases of x-acto blades. If you start today you'll have those bad boys looking like blizzaks by May.

 

[LandCruiser]

Just get the Duratracs and a couple cases of x-acto blades. If you start today you'll have those bad boys looking like blizzaks by May.

This can be done, and tire shops in Coloraday charge 15-30 bucks/tire to do this.

Home-made siping tends to "chunk" more than factory siping, and there's also the issue if your tire was really designed to handle temperatures of -20 and colder, or will it get rock hard at those temps.

 

[Land_Shark]

This can be done, and tire shops in Coloraday charge 15-30 bucks/tire to do this.

Home-made siping tends to "chunk" more than factory siping, and there's also the issue if your tire was really designed to handle temperatures of -20 and colder, or will it get rock hard at those temps.

I was going to ask about "aftermarket siping" - I saw this on YouTube the other day. Does anyone have any personal experience with this? The guy siped a giant MT tire. I'm not sure how long that siping lasts for, maybe 5-10k miles? I'd love to hear some real world experience about having a shop sipe a tire.

 

[KidVermicious]

I had Discount Tire sipe the KM2s on my '85 - their snow/ice performance went from "miserable" to "acceptable for an MT tire", a remarkable improvement and the only reason I can still use the KM2 tires in winter conditions.

The sipes appear to run about 1/3rd of the way into the tread blocks (they're deep blocks), and don't appear to have accelerated the tread wear any. They definitely chunk more though.