Blizzak tires year round?

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dsmith41

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From my research, Blizzak seems to be one of the best winter tires available but I am wondering how they would do on a car year round. Does anybody do this with these or any other winter tires?

I want something for my wife's car to help in the winter without the hassle and cost of having two sets of wheels and tires for differing seasons. Would they wear quickly on dry pavement like I am assuming they would? Any experience would be great!
 
I know a guy who runs snows, ONE set a year, all year...on a Porsche Boxter.

I think it's a bad idea, myself. However, some H rated winters can be run as normal tires too. The one that comes to mind is a Hankook W300. That's a very nice all around tire anyway.

Now, if you only drive a few miles a year or something, yeah, you can do snows only...like an old lady only going to church and for cat food....?

For a normal person, I don't think so.

The way I work around the cost of 2 sets is to make both all seasons. A nice new set for winter, that I take off and store over summer...getting a few good winters out of them and then they become the summer smokers when the worn set gets retired. I never have to throw out a tire before it's fully worn, and I always have the right amount of tread for the job. So, it's actually economical. Substitute a set of the Hankook snows for your new set and go from there.
 
Winter Tires: Will wear faster (softer rubber)....they are generally noisier...and they will negatively effect your MPG.

IMHO...I would change them out when the weather changes.
 
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Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
Winter Tires: Will wear faster (softer rubber)....they are generally noisier...and they will negatively effect your MPG.

IMHO...I would change them out when the weather changes.



This.
 
I would also think it would be downright dangerous to drive. The rubber compound is just not designed to handle pavement temps well over 100F in the summer heat. I bet blacktop easily gets 130F or more in direct summer sun.
 
I have no experience with Blizzaks but run Nokian Hakkapelitta 5 SUV winter tires on a Ford Explorer Sport Trac and Nokian Hakkapelitta R SUV winter tires on a Jeep Liberty. Their performance in winter weather is unreal. We drive both vehicles considerably less in 4WD. These tires are worth every cent we paid for them. I would not run any winter tire in the warm weather. I remove the Nokians between 4/1 and 4/15 and put them on around 11/15. Again, absolutely cannot say enough about Nokians for winter tires. Made in Finland and any country that is about 40% above the Artic Circle has to know how to design and build a winter tire. They are excellent!
 
If your tires are Q speed rated, then there is a reason why normal tirees are at least S speed rated. Q speed rated tires will run hotter at the same speeds - greater chance of failure.
 
Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
Winter Tires: Will wear faster (softer rubber)....they are generally noisier...and they will negatively effect your MPG.

IMHO...I would change them out when the weather changes.


Not too mention the fact that they handle like marshmallows and lock up during braking on hot, dry pavement at the blink of an eye.
 
If you can find them get a set of Nokian WR G2's or Nokian WR's. They are rated as winter tire but also an excellent all-season tire.

The Blizzack will wear out the winter tread at an alarming rate during the warm months and offer swishy handling also during the summer. I did it on a set of Blizzacks at the end of my Civic's life and it really did a number on the tread.
 
Originally Posted By: Oregoonian
Winter Tires: Will wear faster (softer rubber)....they are generally noisier...and they will negatively effect your MPG.

IMHO...I would change them out when the weather changes.


^^^^^^^^^

From what I understand, anything consitant above 7C / 45F it's time to change them back to summer/all season tires. The same goes the other way when switching from summer back to winter.
 
I would buy an all season tire with a winter rated tread if you really don't want to change out the tires. Some of the Nokian's would fit this description like someone has noted above. If you really want maximum traction in the winter you'll have to buy tires that you won't want to run in the summer heat. It can be done but they don't perform well and wear quickly.
 
Originally Posted By: beast3300
One week of warm weather and your winter tires are going to be no good.


Down in the Virgin Islands, a LOT of cars are shod with winter tires. The hills are steep, and lots of folks have very narrow and steep driveways that are asphalt or textured concrete. Traction is an issue.

I see mainly BFG winterforce tires, in fact, my MIL has them on her 01 camry.

Going up a hilly corner in St. John last summer, the camry with snow tires did far better than the sentra that we had borrowed, which had hankook tires on it. The sentra didnt make it until the third try... it was 80F out.

Would I run them in the states? Nope, not besides winter when I do. But they are used and quite functional for full temperature operation.
 
I would not do it, i have blizzaks and once the temps go above 55 degrees they get squishy and make a suction cup sound. Handling gets worse. I also noticed they wear down really fast in warm temps. I have a set of winter tires (blizzaks) and really good summer tires (bridgestone potenza RE960s) that are really great in the rain.
 
After getting three winters (about 45k miles) out of my WS-50's, the ice tread was nearly down to the indicators, so I left them on my Civic to use up the rest of the tread. They didn't do badly at all, gas mileage didn't take a hit, and they weren't loud. Handling was fine, although I didn't push it. I was pleasantly surprised. Ended up with over 65k miles total on them and they still weren't down to the wear bars. Finally replaced them when Michelins were on sale plus a rebate.

With the ice tread still on them, I don't think they'd do as well though and probably would wear quickly in warm weather.

I tried the year-round thing with Nokian NRW's (predecessor to WR) on a Corolla and it wasn't good. They were lousy in the summer, the tread developed a kind of a glaze on it and hydroplaned very easily. They were useless in the second winter.
 
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
Blizzaks will melt like a snowcone in Phoenix in hot temps..


No they will not, not at all.
 
Originally Posted By: dsmith41
From my research, Blizzak seems to be one of the best winter tires available but I am wondering how they would do on a car year round. Does anybody do this with these or any other winter tires? ........


The Blizzak WS70 will wear out quickly with this type of use. The Blizzak LM60 will wear out less quickly.

If you still want to run a winter tire year round, look at V or W speed rated performance winters, such as Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3, Continental TS810, Dunlop 3D, Pirelli Winter Sottozero. Don't expect good tire life.

Better yet, look at "all-weather" tires such as Nokian WR G2, or research all-season tires carefully and choose one with good snow performance.
 
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