Which Winter Tires Are You Going To Run?

[AirspeedX]

I've decided to go all out and put winter tires on my 4R. I could get away with A/T's, but being up in Northern Canada (I may be the furthest North than anyone on here?) I'm going to throw dedicated winters on to make it a beast in the snow and ice.

I'm leaning towards Michelin XI3's. I had X-Ice 2's before and loved them but they wore quick on my old Cavalier.

The other toss up is the Goodyear Ultra Grips.

What are you running this year??

 

[StuB]

I've been running Goodyear DuraTracs with studs in them on my Trail here in Oregon. Excellent "pairing" if you will.

 

[jrhaze]

I've decided to go all out and put winter tires on my 4R. I could get away with A/T's, but being up in Northern Canada (I may be the furthest North than anyone on here?) I'm going to throw dedicated winters on to make it a beast in the snow and ice.

I'm leaning towards Michelin XI3's. I had X-Ice 2's before and loved them but they wore quick on my old Cavalier.

The other toss up is the Goodyear Ultra Grips.

What are you running this year??

For me it will be studded general altimax arctic lt in 285/70/17. Ran them last year and they were great.

 

[jrhaze]

I've been running Goodyear DuraTracs with studs in them on my Trail here in Oregon. Excellent "pairing" if you will.

I don't find duratracs with studs to be that great as dedicated winter tires...ran them on my work truck for a while and I was unimpressed to say the least. Switched to a non studded true winter tire and that vastly outperformed the studded duratracs believe it or not...

Not scientific by any means, just personal experience YMMV

 

[mdogg]

I don't find duratracs with studs to be that great as dedicated winter tires...ran them on my work truck for a while and I was unimpressed to say the least. Switched to a non studded true winter tire and that vastly outperformed the studded duratracs believe it or not...

Not scientific by any means, just personal experience YMMV

It's very well documented that true winter tires are better than All-Terrain or All-Season tires for WINTER use (this does also include very cold temps even when dry or without major snow). I'm not going to rehash completely, but basically, the winter tires are made of different compounds which make them more useful in very cold weather than a summer, all-season, or all-terrain tire since those are more useful in non-freezing temps. Obviously, the saying goes "jack of all trades, master of none" and it definitely applies. Purpose-built tires will outperform other tires in certain conditions.

If you're going to have a dedicated set for winter use only, might as well make them winter tires to get the most out of them. Otherwise, you're using 2 sets of AS/AT tires.....

 

[jrhaze]

It's very well documented that true winter tires are better than All-Terrain or All-Season tires for WINTER use (this does also include very cold temps even when dry or without major snow). I'm not going to rehash completely, but basically, the winter tires are made of different compounds which make them more useful in very cold weather than a summer, all-season, or all-terrain tire since those are more useful in non-freezing temps. Obviously, the saying goes "jack of all trades, master of none" and it definitely applies. Purpose-built tires will outperform other tires in certain conditions.

If you're going to have a dedicated set for winter use only, might as well make them winter tires to get the most out of them. Otherwise, you're using 2 sets of AS/AT tires.....

Exactly...

I guess I was just trying to extend that though to say that even with studs the duratracs weren't improved to the level of performance of the dedicated winter tire with no studs.

And if you're going to stud the duratracs effectively turning them into winter only tires why not buy true winter tires to begin with?

Unless significant time is spent in very deep snow of course - I see the value for that type of use.

 

[cdthiker]

I can not speak highly enough about the general snow tire or the hankook snow tires.... I got a set of coopers with studs that I might try this winter( they came with the runner)

 

[JohnJerk]

Blizzaks on the 4runner and Duratracs on the FJ. Should be interesting to compare the two.

 

[comtn4x4]

My vote would be the Blizzaks. I ran them winter only on my Accord for years here with great luck getting through unplowed roads east of Denver. On my TE I will be leaving on the duratracs to see how they do. For many years I ran BFG AT TA's on my Durango and my Taco with very good success. (Although my understanding is they aren't that great in icy situations)

 

[Jeremy556]

I'll be running my 285/70/17 un-studded Duratracs. Used my 265/70/17 Duratracs for one season living above 8K ft and going across passes pretty much every day of 10K+ ft, while it was snowing like hell in May. I never really felt the need for anything better, but we get a lot more grippy-dry-powder than refreeze-slickasshit-ice.

 

[jambo]

I've decided to go all out and put winter tires on my 4R. I could get away with A/T's, but being up in Northern Canada (I may be the furthest North than anyone on here?) I'm going to throw dedicated winters on to make it a beast in the snow and ice.

I'm leaning towards Michelin XI3's. I had X-Ice 2's before and loved them but they wore quick on my old Cavalier.

The other toss up is the Goodyear Ultra Grips.

What are you running this year??

I got falken from kal tires they are simply the best I think. I drove up and down the coke all winter highway 5 , cannot stress enough how good they are

 

[jambo]

I got falken from kal tires they are simply the best I think. I drove up and down the coke all winter highway 5 , cannot stress enough how good they are

I am sorry I meant to say Nokian from kal tires not falken. I must be thinking something else when I wrote that comment. Will upload pic later on. Winnipeg cops use nokian tires. Best for our Canadian winter's.

 

[jambo]

I am sorry I meant to say Nokian from kal tires not falken. I must be thinking something else when I wrote that comment. Will upload pic later on. Winnipeg cops use nokian tires. Best for our Canadian winter's.

This is what I got and you can add studs if you want

Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2

 

[the great him]

I've been running Goodyear DuraTracs with studs in them on my Trail here in Oregon. Excellent "pairing" if you will.

im sorry but it is such a wast for you to run studs here... we do not see enough snow or ice to justify it. i do SAR, and snow camping and wheeling, and im driving up and down the gorge at least twice a month. i will guaranty i see way more snow and ice than you and i would never run studs -especially in a 5th gen with all its new advances in traction control and stability control... its been proven that studded tires on wet roads are worse than a hwy tire as far as traction, and 90% of inclement weather we see here in portland/vancouver is rain. we see a few small snow flurries every year and every couple of years we see a couple inches of snow that last for a day maybe two, and like every 10 years we see 6" or so of snow that will stick around for a day or two. if you need to, put chains on, but i still dont know why you would even need that, ODOT is always out plowing roads and besides 70% of our roads get shut down when the snow comes so your not diving anywhere anyways. all studs do is rip up the roads and make driving in the rain more dangerous for everyone. this is not the mid west or new england.

It's very well documented that true winter tires are better than All-Terrain or All-Season tires for WINTER use (this does also include very cold temps even when dry or without major snow). I'm not going to rehash completely, but basically, the winter tires are made of different compounds which make them more useful in very cold weather than a summer, all-season, or all-terrain tire since those are more useful in non-freezing temps. Obviously, the saying goes "jack of all trades, master of none" and it definitely applies. Purpose-built tires will outperform other tires in certain conditions.

If you're going to have a dedicated set for winter use only, might as well make them winter tires to get the most out of them. Otherwise, you're using 2 sets of AS/AT tires.....

i cant agree more the rubber compound in snow tires is so much better suited for snow and ice, they have so much more factory sipping.


i have run the blizzaks DM-V1s and loved them the traction i got with them in ice and snow was unreal! i took them snow wheeling one time with some guys who were running big open MTs and had way better set ups than i did and i kept right up with them in the deep snow, but when it came to hills and other things i would walk away from them. i even had to tow one guy up the paved road to get to the trail.

i would still have those tires and use them if we saw more snow and ice than we do. it was kind of a waste for me(i got the tires brand new for free- someone bought them and never picked them up from the dealer i worked at so we sat on them for a season and instead of sending them back and costing us more money i just asked if i could use them and they said yeah.) so i ended up selling them after one season cause i didnt have a spare set of wheels at the time. if i had the money id get another set cause those tires are hands down the best snow tire i have ever run. very predictable on the road and even in snow and ice. they give good feed back and are responsive and reassuring. i have run other blizzaks in the past on other vehicles and always had a good experience. idk maybe it was just the 4runner that made these tires stand out so much better. but i have run the blizzak lm60's on audi quattros in the lake tahoe area and they were also outstanding tire.

check em out
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+DM-V1

 

[PricklyPete]

I'll be running Blizzaks.

 

[Greg_Canada]

im sorry but it is such a wast for you to run studs here... we do not see enough snow or ice to justify it. i do SAR, and snow camping and wheeling, and im driving up and down the gorge at least twice a month. i will guaranty i see way more snow and ice than you and i would never run studs -especially in a 5th gen with all its new advances in traction control and stability control... its been proven that studded tires on wet roads are worse than a hwy tire as far as traction, and 90% of inclement weather we see here in portland/vancouver is rain. we see a few small snow flurries every year and every couple of years we see a couple inches of snow that last for a day maybe two, and like every 10 years we see 6" or so of snow that will stick around for a day or two. if you need to, put chains on, but i still dont know why you would even need that, ODOT is always out plowing roads and besides 70% of our roads get shut down when the snow comes so your not diving anywhere anyways. all studs do is rip up the roads and make driving in the rain more dangerous for everyone. this is not the mid west or new england.



i cant agree more the rubber compound in snow tires is so much better suited for snow and ice, they have so much more factory sipping.


i have run the blizzaks DM-V1s and loved them the traction i got with them in ice and snow was unreal! i took them snow wheeling one time with some guys who were running big open MTs and had way better set ups than i did and i kept right up with them in the deep snow, but when it came to hills and other things i would walk away from them. i even had to tow one guy up the paved road to get to the trail.

i would still have those tires and use them if we saw more snow and ice than we do. it was kind of a waste for me(i got the tires brand new for free- someone bought them and never picked them up from the dealer i worked at so we sat on them for a season and instead of sending them back and costing us more money i just asked if i could use them and they said yeah.) so i ended up selling them after one season cause i didnt have a spare set of wheels at the time. if i had the money id get another set cause those tires are hands down the best snow tire i have ever run. very predictable on the road and even in snow and ice. they give good feed back and are responsive and reassuring. i have run other blizzaks in the past on other vehicles and always had a good experience. idk maybe it was just the 4runner that made these tires stand out so much better. but i have run the blizzak lm60's on audi quattros in the lake tahoe area and they were also outstanding tire.

check em out
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+DM-V1

From all the reviews i have read, they are the best winter tires for snow, ice, etc. When i need a set i will buy them...

 

[philsey]

I'll be running Blizzaks.

+1. This will be my third winter. Also on my wife's CRV. They are excellent.

 

[Lolrax]

+1. This will be my third winter. Also on my wife's CRV. They are excellent.

Yep. I had a few different sets of winter tires in the past but nothing has really compared to how excellent Blizzaks are. I bought the DM-V1s that fit the stock Limited wheels and they are absolutely unstoppable in snow and ice. Super impressed.

 

[Newf4R]

Yep. I had a few different sets of winter tires in the past but nothing has really compared to how excellent Blizzaks are. I bought the DM-V1s that fit the stock Limited wheels and they are absolutely unstoppable in snow and ice. Super impressed.

There's no doubt you're further north than me, but when the snow hits in December we don't see pavement until March for sure. I ran Blizzaks last winter and they served me really well! This is my fourth vehicle with Blizzaks and I can't say enough good about them. The majority of people in my neck of the woods run studs, but Blizzaks have treated me well, so I see no reason to run anything else. My co-worker just picked up a 2013 Ltd. and of course, worked a set of 20" Blizzaks into the deal. I've had a lot of friends run A/T's on their trucks in the winter and after 1 season doing so they make the switch. It's no trouble getting places... it's stopping when you get there.

 

[Intruder]

I'm planning on looking at the Geolandar I/T G072 and the Nokian Rotiiva AT. I seem to be having trouble finding a 285/70/17 winter tire that will also be capable off road.