Which Snow Tire / Ford Focus Edition

Status
Not open for further replies.
SwampSurvivor

SwampSurvivor

Joined
Apr 9, 2008
Messages
16,461
Location
Central NY
Sold the Winterforce last night. Want to get rid of studded tires after I tore up a few road surfaces and roads.

Have new all seasons, but the best all season isn't going to compare to a snow tire.

I have two listed. Looking for budget friendly. Altimax Arctic would be the best choice, but I don't want to sink $350 on a set of snow tires. Nokians would be the dream choice with the best performance ... but I don't want to spend $450 on a set.

I am stuck between Cooper Weathermaster ST2 and GT Radial Champiro Icepro. I think the GT Radial would be a better snow tire, and it is slightly narrower.

The Cooper is going to be an American company. And I like Cooper tires.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct...d=15&cs=185

Or

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct...d=15&cs=195
 
Hold out for Labor day/ DTD direct. Got my altimax arctics for $41 ea after all the rebates last year.
 
Tire rack has Yokohama IG52C for $70 in your size and they are tested quite close to the Xice3. I think the studless tires seem to have matched the studable ones for durability now as well.
185/65R15 worked pretty good for me as well, with little sidewall mushiness. I found them good with the exception of deep snow when climbing my driveway, but that might be a function of weight distribution of a wagon, compared to my old Neon. I think a deep snow tire will always have a noisy tread pattern, so its up to you to decide what you need.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Altimax Arctic would be the best choice, but I don't want to sink $350 on a set of snow tires.

A set of Arctics in size 185/65/15 is $210 on TireRack right now, after a $50 MIR. Granted, you'll have to add shipping and install cost.

Sorry, no experience with the Cooper tires you mentioned.
 
Shipping is a killer with tirerack. I have ordered a few sets from there and it is always $30 or $40 per tire to ship to me.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Sold the Winterforce last night. Want to get rid of studded tires after I tore up a few road surfaces and roads.

Have new all seasons, but the best all season isn't going to compare to a snow tire.

I have two listed. Looking for budget friendly. Altimax Arctic would be the best choice, but I don't want to sink $350 on a set of snow tires. Nokians would be the dream choice with the best performance ... but I don't want to spend $450 on a set.

I am stuck between Cooper Weathermaster ST2 and GT Radial Champiro Icepro. I think the GT Radial would be a better snow tire, and it is slightly narrower.

The Cooper is going to be an American company. And I like Cooper tires.

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct...d=15&cs=185

Or

http://www.discounttiredirect.com/direct...d=15&cs=195


I was not at all impressed with those Coopers on my 05 civic. They showed little to no improvement over a good all season tire. Especially on slush or ice. A little better in deep snow. I changed them out after about 3 weeks into the winter and got Blizzaks. The Coopers would have left me stuck at some point. The current model LOOKS to have the same tread pattern, don't know if they've made other changes. Nitto (SN2 or NS2, not sure which) is what I use now. night and day better than the cooper, similar to blizzak.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Shipping is a killer with tirerack. I have ordered a few sets from there and it is always $30 or $40 per tire to ship to me.

It is showing me an estimate of $60 total (for all 4) for shipping to your area.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Altimax Arctic would be the best choice, but I don't want to sink $350 on a set of snow tires.

A set of Arctics in size 185/65/15 is $210 on TireRack right now, after a $50 MIR.

Also, this $50 rebate seems to be valid regardless if you buy it from TR or some other place.
 
The gt radial has a striking resemblence to my yokohama iceguard ig51v tires I ran this past winter. I can say that my yoko's were amazing on ice but just decent in a few inches of snow.

I know compounds make a difference, too. Maybe the gt radjal would be better in snow than my yoko's but the resemblence in tread pattern makes me say try the coopers.

I live a little southeast of you and know the snow we get. I believe the coopers may be better (assuming the compound is right).
 
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
The coopers look to have a nice agressive tread pattern. I imagine they would be great in the snow.


They're not bad if you're driving through fresh powder, but most winter driving isn't that. Slush, packed snow, ice - they aren't good. At least without studs, which is how I ran them. The tread seems hard and doesn't grip under those conditions. They were the only winter tire I've ever owned I wasn't satisfied with, didn't feel safe under most wintry conditions with them on. LOTS of better choices for all-around winter driving at similar or better prices. CR gave them good review, I stopped having faith in CR tire reviews after that. Overall I like Cooper tires a lot, just not this one.
 
Originally Posted By: dlayman
Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
The coopers look to have a nice agressive tread pattern. I imagine they would be great in the snow.


They're not bad if you're driving through fresh powder, but most winter driving isn't that. Slush, packed snow, ice - they aren't good. At least without studs, which is how I ran them. The tread seems hard and doesn't grip under those conditions. They were the only winter tire I've ever owned I wasn't satisfied with, didn't feel safe under most wintry conditions with them on. LOTS of better choices for all-around winter driving at similar or better prices. CR gave them good review, I stopped having faith in CR tire reviews after that. Overall I like Cooper tires a lot, just not this one.


Having read this post, I'll say go with the gt radials (if your still comparing the same two tires). My yoko's (very, very similar to the gt radial) were decent in any kind of snow and felt comfortable in any situation, just more (extremely) impressive on ice.
 
I feel the Discoverer's tread design would definitely NEED to have studs to do well in hard packed snow and ice. It doesn't sound like they would be too well in the slush.

I am more concerned with ice ability (without studding) and slush evacuation. I think the GT Radials would go well in that situation.

The reason I got rid of the Winterforce was from the digging of roads and parking lots.

I think I'll see what DTD has for sales on Labor Day Weekend. If I can get the altimax arctic for less, I'll go that route. Otherwise it will be the GT radial tires.
 
dont overthink. there are probably 10 winter tires better than those 2 ... and 1 or more are definitely going to be on the cheap during the labor day sale.
 
Good info here on the DTD labor day sale, TR also runs their winter tire sale around that time. With all the tire technology advancement now, which is the best way to go regarding performace winter vs studless ice tires? I live in NYC.
 
Depends on driving conditions and priorities. For absolute best winter (snow and ice) traction, I think studless ice tires are the best. But if you want better performance on dry and wet roads, which you may or may not encounter the bulk of the time in the winter, with less snow and ice, performance winter tires will do better. You will sacrifice some snow and ice traction (sometimes significantly) with them, though.
 
I live just East of Syracuse in Morrisville, NY. I've been driving 35-45 K mile yearly since moving here in 1970. I'm a true believer in getting the best snow tire availble which for me has been Nokian Hakkapelitta. Yes they're expensive! That being said a young guy has left a tire only business he worked at for years and opened a full service shop right on Rt 20 in Morrisville about 35 min. E of Syracuse. He has the best prices I know of anywhere in the country on Nokian tires but also carries many more economical lines. He also has a state of the art alignment machine. He might be worth checking out. No financial interest on my part just happy to have a new business with competent personnel and fair prices, would like to see them prosper. (which they seem to be doing!))
http://www.artireservicecenter.com/
 
Originally Posted By: stuffinder
I live just East of Syracuse in Morrisville, NY. I've been driving 35-45 K mile yearly since moving here in 1970. I'm a true believer in getting the best snow tire availble which for me has been Nokian Hakkapelitta. Yes they're expensive! That being said a young guy has left a tire only business he worked at for years and opened a full service shop right on Rt 20 in Morrisville about 35 min. E of Syracuse. He has the best prices I know of anywhere in the country on Nokian tires but also carries many more economical lines. He also has a state of the art alignment machine. He might be worth checking out. No financial interest on my part just happy to have a new business with competent personnel and fair prices, would like to see them prosper. (which they seem to be doing!))
http://www.artireservicecenter.com/


I went to college there ! I was glad I had Blizzaks on the Taurus when leaving Morrisville on 20 heading east!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Z
Tire size choice for 8" wide rims (Ford Expedition)
Replies
19
Views
524
AZjeff
FTTSHO
Just bought some Goodyear Wrangler Radials. How are these tires?
2
Replies
29
Views
3K
AdmiralYoda
K
Best studded snow tires?
Replies
13
Views
6K
Vercingetorix
J
DWS06 + in the snow
2 3
Replies
47
Views
4K
BrainThicknessVariation
V
A PSA About those tire TINS and date codes: Installers, It's Dates Out, for ALL tires.
2 3
Replies
47
Views
3K
CapriRacer
Back
Top