Which of these winter tires should I pick?

Status
Not open for further replies.

JHZR2

Staff member
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
52,633
Location
New Jersey
Background: Bought a 2015 Honda Accord Hybrid. Two of the cars I used to drive had snow tires, and while I try to avoid weather and being out when I can, sometimes you just get caught, and Im a believer.

I ran GY Eagle Ultra Grip on my saab, I forget what I have on my BMW... Dunlop something. FWIW, the GY Eagle Ultra Grip is rated high on TR, and the Saab was unstoppable.

So, Im interested in buying snow tires. The HAH doesnt use a TPMS transceiver, instead, it uses the relative rotating speed based upon pressures. So my plan is to just get a set of identical wheels or some other equivalent 16 or 17" OEM wheel.

For now, lets assume I stay with the OE size. So 225/50R-17. It is V-rated as OE.

I checked discount tire and tread depot, and they didnt seem to have much good. I then checked tire rack and Costco. Better.

Here is the work-up of what Tire Rack offers:

Screen%20Shot%202015-08-07%20at%208.55.55%20PM_zpsokrsic6k.png


That was in my size, available. A full workup of all tires of all types is listed here:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=W&VT=C

Costo offers the X-ice and the Blizzak LM-32. They also offer the WS80 Blizzak.

So that's my playing field... The tires listed on the image above plus WS80.

One factor going in is that Costco is a slightly better deal. But if they dont have the best tire, then so be it.

So, tests...

Here Tire Rack tests the Pirelli Sottozero and Dunlop Sport 4D:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=181

Here the Tire Rack tests WS80, Winter Maxx, X-ice, and Yoko Ice Guard. So all tires that are on the list.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=193

The thing that first strikes me is that the first review shows SUBSTANTIALLY reduced 50-0 braking distances. For example, the Sottozero is 106.9 ft while the WS80 is 128 ft!!!! Oddly, the tires in the second link which are longer from 50-0 in high 30's wet are shorter 12-0 on ice, which may be where it matters more...

My first gut is that for whats available, the best options are the Pirelli Sottozero ($180), Dunlop 4D ($167), or the WS80 ($157 at costco, so that means shipped). The wild card is the LM-32, which is $170 each but there isnt a good set of reviews...

So I think the WS80 may be the best option, when dry handling, noise, cost, etc are considered. Only thing Ive observed is an issue is that while weight rating is right at 94, the snows are H rated while OE is V, FWIW.

So, thoughts? Open to other options too...
 
Do you want performance feel?

thats easy get the dunlop 4d
probably the best performance winter tire available in the USA
if not.. close to it.


If you want max winter traction
there are many excellent tires all of which will outperform the oem tires in any kind of winter slop.

I would shop by price for WS-80, or xice xi3
the pirelli options are attractive but usually not available as a super deal and not superior.

ie triple rebate dtd holiday sale type thing.

Since its august now.. at least wait for the DTD labor day sale to see if anything good is available for hundreds cheaper.

Another option would be nokian hakka R2 DTD should carry them.

might have to be inventive with optional sizing.
 
Wow, the winner is starting to come forth quickly...

Ive loved dunlop tires in the past, but havent bought any in a while... Does Dunlop offer rebates now and again?
 
Originally Posted By: Rand

Since its august now.. at least wait for the DTD labor day sale to see if anything good is available for hundreds cheaper.



Yeah this and availability too!

I'd downsize to a 205/65/16. More sidewall to take the potholes.

If it were me and I had multiple cars I'd save the "nice" car on all seasons for road trips etc and take the beater in the snow, though that could be impractical with a RWD BMW. And of course if your wife's driving the Accord you'd want snows.

I like the altimax arctics I got last labor day from DTD. Blasted through snow drifts so deep in a rinky dinky Dodge Neon the snow went up over my hood and windshield.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: Rand

Since its august now.. at least wait for the DTD labor day sale to see if anything good is available for hundreds cheaper.



Yeah this and availability too!

I'd downsize to a 205/65/16. More sidewall to take the potholes.

If it were me and I had multiple cars I'd save the "nice" car on all seasons for road trips etc and take the beater in the snow, though that could be impractical with a RWD BMW. And of course if your wife's driving the Accord you'd want snows.

I like the altimax arctics I got last labor day from DTD. Blasted through snow drifts so deep in a rinky dinky Dodge Neon the snow went up over my hood and windshield.
wink.gif



My new accord is the "beater"... Its my daily use car and she drives the odyssey. But we dont beat on any of our cars and none of our cars have dents or damage. I intend to keep it the same way.

Downside to getting rid of three cars.

I had no issues driving a RWD 318i with snows everywhere for years.

But Im not doing that with the 135i.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Wow, the winner is starting to come forth quickly...

Ive loved dunlop tires in the past, but havent bought any in a while... Does Dunlop offer rebates now and again?


I'm pretty sure they do, but I'm not sure what time of year they offer the rebate, for some reason I feel like it's in spring.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand

Since its august now.. at least wait for the DTD labor day sale to see if anything good is available for hundreds cheaper.



Im not really seeing how tires in this (somewhat ridiculous) size is going to be hundreds cheaper. More availability with newer cast tires is a good point, certainly dont want leftovers since my wear rates allow me to keep tires for 10+ years. The tires WILL age out before they wear.

But Im just not seeing how prices will come down that much in this size... Since non snows are selling in the $130-150/tire range...

Though I dont regularly shop snows so perhaps Im wrong with that?

Im not in a rush obviously... Dont really need tires until Thanksgiving.
 
Did you get rid of the s-10? I'm surprised that you are not just using that with all terrains for winter duty ,esp if its 4wd.
 
Last edited:
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 (studless) or Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 (studded). I won't ever be buying another brand of winter tires.
 
Originally Posted By: spasm3
Did you get rid of the s-10? I'm surprised that you are not just using that with all terrains for winter duty ,esp if its 4wd.


Frankly I dont care to expose it to the salt, nor use the fuel. I want a car for all the driving I do, simple as that. Other vehicles are not in play.
 
I can tell you that I put the Goodyear WRTs on my Forester last fall and was very happy with them through a extremely tough New England winter. I don't believe WS80 was available yet in my desired size when I placed the order, and passed on the Xi3 because it was more expensive than the Goodyear and didn't seem to offer better performance as far as I could tell.
The Goodyears had very nice dry/highway manners for a winter tire to go along with snow and ice performance that kept me out of trouble on hairy roads (and my occasionally disastrous driveway). I had two different types of Blizzak on my old RAV4 and found their highway performance to be lacking at best and just plain scary at times. I'd guess they may have been better than the WRTs on a sheet of pure ice, but I preferred the overall balance of the Goodyears.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Rand
Since its august now.. at least wait for the DTD labor day sale to see if anything good is available for hundreds cheaper.

Im not really seeing how tires in this (somewhat ridiculous) size is going to be hundreds cheaper. More availability with newer cast tires is a good point, certainly dont want leftovers since my wear rates allow me to keep tires for 10+ years. The tires WILL age out before they wear.

But Im just not seeing how prices will come down that much in this size... Since non snows are selling in the $130-150/tire range...

Though I dont regularly shop snows so perhaps Im wrong with that?

Im not in a rush obviously... Dont really need tires until Thanksgiving.

I think what Rand mean to say is DTD may have some kind of rebate on Labor day weekend.

Usually DTD and local DT/AT have some good rebate(s) on major holidays to spur sale, also some tire manufactures may have some rebates too.

If you can wait and if you're lucky you may be able to stack few rebates for $200-300 for 4 installed tires.
 
Step 1 is to decide what type of winter tire you need. If ice traction is your #1 performance priority, and snow traction is #2, get one of the studless tires, like the WS80.

If wet traction, dry traction, and slush planing resistance are your highest priorities, get a performance winter. But you will be giving up a significant amount of ice traction, and a little bit of snow traction.
 
Remember that winter tires (with the mountain and snowflake) are allowed to have a lower speed rating than OE. Do you get a lot of snow? If you do, you may want the non-performance snow tires in a smaller size "minus sizing"

If you're using them primarily for the cold and you don't get too much snow, then the performance snows in the OE size are best.

I HATE directional tires because you can't rotate them. The real problem is that almost ALL the winter tires on your list are directional, except the Winter Maxx (studless).

As far as performance snows go, here are some good non-directional choices.

I know Tire Rack doesn't sell them, but you should also consider the Hankook iCept evo W310 (a performance winter tire). Available at Walmart at a great price. (Don't worry, it's NOT a WM-only tire). Available at most chains and independent tire shops.

Another good performance snow tire is the Yokohama W-drive. I believe Discount sells them.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
You can rotate directional tires...


Not from side-to-side you can't, unless they flip the tire and remount. Walmart is the only place I know of that includes remount/balance in their lifetime balance and rotation.
 
My super fast wearing summer tires seem to be doing fine rotating front to back. I guess every car is different.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top