Winter tires for my '14 Charger?

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Blue_Goose

Blue_Goose

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Ive never had winter tires before but figure they will be a good investment for the RWD Charger.

I'm probably going to get a package from the Tire Rack...I've settled on the black steel police wheels as I like the look and perfect for snow setup.


I've fallen victim to reading too many reviews on different tires and I'm now a little indecisive on which tire to get based on my commute.

My commute at a minimum is 100 miles a day r/t with about 98% of that ride on the highway. Lately NH winters have been hit or miss...hard to predict. I know we got walloped late winter last year where is seemed like 8-12 inches every other day lol.

My All season setup is 245/40 20" Firehawks (came with the car). I'll be looking at 225/60 18 for the steelies for the winter.

I was attracted to the Firestone Winter Force mainly due to the price but now I'm not so sure.

The Michelin X-Ice Xi3's and the Blizzaks WS80 have also caught my eye. With a 70 dollar rebate for the Michies they look a lot more attractive.

I'm on the road prior to 5am most days so suffice to say, I sometimes beat the plows out here in NH.

Given my commute as noted above, should I be a little apprehensive of riding the Xi3's or Blizzaks on bare pavement for extended lengths of time?

It seem's the one thing the Winter Forces have going for them is they perhaps last longer?

Ideas?
 
winterforce will drive you nuts on that commute
and they are somewhat bottom of the barrel for winter tires.

If you want "normal" tires that are very good in the winter get the xice xi3

the blizzacks are very good as well.
 
The Winter Force use a harder compound than the Blizzaks or WS80, so the tread will stay on longer. They will probably do better in deep snow too.

But they suffer from poor ice and hard packed snow performance, even studded.

Out of those, I'd go for the WS80

Edit: Are you able to go with 17'' wheels? Seems like 215-65/17 would be slightly better since it's a hair narrower.
 
Nokian Hakkapeliitta. The Finns know how to make a snow tire.

There are a few online sellers and plenty of local ones. You can get them factory-studded with some special lower-noise studs if that's your preference. They put the competition to shame.
 
Out of those choices, I'd go with the WS80 as well.

Too bad TR doesn't have the AltiMAX Arctic in your size. Looks like they are available in the 17" size.
 
I really want to stick with the black steelies so I'm sort of regulated to 18" tires. If I go to 235/55 I have a few more options.

I like the Blizzaks too but given the miles I do I'm afraid they'd wear too quickly?
 
I have a Chrysler 300 (very similar handling to your Charger since they're the same LX platform) and for the past few years I run Toyo Garit snow tires on all 4 wheels in the winter time. They have worked very well so far and would recommend them highly. I go up to the mountains for skiing during the winter time 2-3 times a week and they've never let me down once.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
winterforce will drive you nuts on that commute


Earplugs
laugh.gif
 
Studs on the highway drive me crazy. Not just the noise but the wandering. I'd go stud less.
 
The Blizzak WS** series seem to have a reputation for fast tread wear, compared to its peers. Check the TireRack survey results and see what the scores are for tread wear. Since you drive 100 miles a day, I would expect the Xi3 to give you longer service.
 
We have the Xi3s on a Cruze, same commute 100 miles/day. For reference I'm in lower NY - 1.5 hours outside of NYC, so we still get storms of 12" to 18" but they are not daily (last winter was abnormally bad of course). Xi3s did well, I don't have a comparison to any other snows though.
 
I have an older set of Blizzaks which are probably on their last winter. They are a very good tire. With any snow tire, they won't last as long as all seasons.

I've read that the Michelin's are a good tire as well. You also want to see if you can find out which tires have the least amount of noise. I don't think you'd want a cheap set of tires that make a lot of noise on a 100 mile a day round trip.

Regards, JC.
 
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Thanks for the replies, it looks like I might be leaning to the Michelin's.

Partly due to the good reviews of a low noise, good mpg smooth ride etc and partly due to the 70 dollar rebate on a set of 4.

The Goodyear WRT also looks like a contender but my experience with Goodies in the past has been spotty
 
I've always used Blizzak's in the past. I've often gotten over 40k miles on them as I do a lot of highway driving. When they get down to the last 45% of tread life where the good winter/ice compound is gone, I run them thru spring and get new ones the next year.

This time around for my new Cruze I went with the Michelin X-ICE XI3 because of their good reviews and low rolling resistance. I didn't want to impact my mpg much if any. I'm very happy with them this week in the dry, wet, snow and ice I've been on so far. They seem to be a little weaker in deep snow compared to the Blizzaks, but still good. My Blizzak's never hurt my mpg much (maybe 1 mpg on a 25mpg car), the Michelin's seem to be even better which should be expected. Either would be good.

My dad bought the Goodyear's and is very happy with them. They live out in the country on a dirt road and need it for all conditions, even deep snow. I think they would be a good tire but perhaps not quite as good on ice?
 
another thing to consider is MPG loss, it can add up to hundreds of dollars.

so suddenly those winterforce arent so cheap if they costing you 10% more gas vs michelin xice xi3

Its not really a priority for me but something to consider esp. for people with excessive commutes.

So far the blizzacks haven't been to bad.. about 5-7% loss over the oem high mpg tires, with the seasonal change is expected.

Also the blizzacks are not designed for very low RR.

I'd expect nokian hakka R2 or xice xi3 to have better mpg numbers.


If you go by marketing materials

bridgestone gives their ws80 a mere "good" which is the lowest rating

Michelin gives the xice xi3 a 10/10 for fuel economy.


Nokian merely says
"LOWEST ROLLING RESISTANCE, SMALLEST FUEL CONSUMPTION"
 
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Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 might be worth considering especially for a long commute. I had a rental car in Europe last winter with these tires and the level of grip was something that had to be experienced to be believed.

Watch this video.
 
Oh absolutely, that makes sense.

I guess everyone else really likes the xi3 as well since they aren't expected in stock until the new year.

If I go to 235/55 18 I can get the Xi2 for a similar price. Wonder what I'd be giving up vs the xi3 though
 
If you plan driving through deeper snow or slush, go with WS80.
Michelins are OK on packed snow, but slush and deep snow are not their better side.
 
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