Studless V/S studded winter tires

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cecil56

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Would like to pick some brains with real life experience. Vehicle is a 2018 Subaru Forester AWD.
Driven 22 miles each way to work and back Mon_Fri. Read last year the factory tires suck
in winter. Decided to try them and buy new winter rated tires if needed. Had more snow in Iowa
last year than normal and got around fine. However the prediction for this year is worse.

I realize dedicated winter rated tires are best. Drove a 2 WD pickup before. Studded tires and
weight in the back were pretty much required. This Subaru is much better than that with factory tires.

I understand studded tires would be best on ice and not help in snow. Trying to decide which way to go.
Not looking forward to noise from studded tires, but I'm 63 yrs old with bad knees and need to make the
trip safely.

Looking at Bridgestone Blizzak, Michelin X-ice 3, Nokian, etc. Trying to decide between going bald or
studded. Any advise would be much appreciated!
 
I've have run Blizzak's on several vehicles for years, ands then I tried Michelin X-ice on my Tahoe, and Nokian 8 studded on my 02 Camry over the last 2 winters. I have been very disappointed in both of those tires for winter traction. I should have stuck with Blizzak for Iowa winters. I was really surprised how little traction I had on ice with the studded Nokian tires that I had spent $500 for my 02 Camry. The nearly worn out WS70 Blizzaks on my 12 Camry were better.
 
I can't imagine any need for studs on a 4x4 in flat Iowa. Are they even still made? I don't think I've even seen a car with studs around here since the 80's before FWD became the majority.
 
Just my .02.... when it comes to winter safety, I won't compromise for anyone in my family or myself. A studded tire is a must. Every vehicle in my signature, except for the F150 which is a company vehicle (but does have snowflake/mountain tires) has a set of dedicated studded winter tires. With snow comes ice.

A few years back I did try Blizzaks on the Hondas. I feel they are way overrated, but again, my opinion.
 
We always go with studded here in eastern Washington State. The county plows do not start plowing to well after the snow is compacted into concrete and impossible to remove after that. Then this compacted snow slightly melts during the daytime hrs thus turning our roads into a solid sheet of two inch thick ice at night. This has never changed in the 24 yrs we have lived here.
 
Consider the Nokian R3, probably the best studless tire

If you still insist on studded tires, Nokian has their Hakka 9. It uses two kinds of studs, and the studs feature a built-in shock absorber cushion so they're less noisy and also less-damaging to the pavement
 
Originally Posted by atikovi
I can't imagine any need for studs on a 4x4 in flat Iowa. Are they even still made? I don't think I've even seen a car with studs around here since the 80's before FWD became the majority.


Iowa is NOT all flat like you imagine! Google Loess Hills if you have some time. Small mountains in Iowa. It's not all flat corn and bean fields like most think.
Previous house had a 40 degree angle to climb for 2 blocks. House was built into the Loess Hills. Some drives are worse than that. Better get a run on it or you would
not make it home. I live in a very hilly area.

That aside: You folks are the best! In the time to fry up a pan of bacon for BLT's tonight, I have this much advice. This website is great!
Keep your thoughts coming please folks. Can't make up my mind. (and yes, you can still get studded tires) I still have a pair for my RWD pickup truck
that is now just a fishing and hauling stuff vehicle.
 
Temperature is a very important consideration when deciding on studded vs studless. If your winter temperatures hover around 30F, then a premium studded tire will blow away a premium studless tire on ice, especially on the smooth polished ice that forms at intersections.. As temperatures get colder, around the 0F to 15F range, the ice traction of a premium studless will improve substantially and the ice traction of the studded tire will degrade moderately. Studless tires have a large degradation of ice traction as temperatures warm up to 32F, and as the ice surface becomes polished.
 
I live in WV and have never needed studded tires in my almost 40 years of driving. There are 2 different good sized hills and 1 very steep one as my options to get to my house. The very steep one is hardly ever used by most people when it has snow on it and my A4 pulls it with no problem even with just all season tires.
Icing happens in some places between mountains where the sun doesn't shine on the road but those are usually the first to be treated by the city and state.
I occasionally see/hear those with studded tires and just couldn't imagine driving around like that all day.
 
Been using Blizzak for the past 20 years or so, since the WS50. Just put 2 new SUVs into service this year, the RAV4 and JGC.
Bought studded Hakka 9 tires for both. According to the local Kaltire, the OPP use the Hakka 9.
Will report back on the tire performance after a few snow falls. And iced road driving.
 
Originally Posted by SubLGT
Temperature is a very important consideration when deciding on studded vs studless. If your winter temperatures hover around 30F, then a premium studded tire will blow away a premium studless tire on ice, especially on the smooth polished ice that forms at intersections.. As temperatures get colder, around the 0F to 15F range, the ice traction of a premium studless will improve substantially and the ice traction of the studded tire will degrade moderately. Studless tires have a large degradation of ice traction as temperatures warm up to 32F, and as the ice surface becomes polished.


I'm guessing from the winter forecast and the months I will be running the tires, majority will be under 30F. Not looking good. I'm down on the Iowa / Nebraska line and we are now into the third flood from the Missouri River this year. Never seen a year like this before. Hope I never see one again. Interstate 29 north and south were both closed a while back, due to flooding. Had to drive 15 miles
on a curvy, hilly 2 lane highway to get to work filled with local people heading into the Omaha, NE. area for work. Throw in semi trucks and trailers to boot. Death trap waiting to happen.

Much as I despised with a less than 1 year old new vehicle, I drove gravel roads to work for 2 weeks. Swore I would never drive a new vehicle on gravel. Couple days on the death trap highway changed my mind. It's been a crazy year here. Google floods of 2019 Pacific Junction, IA. Homes there had 9' of water in them over a month. Looks like a ghost town now. About 3 miles from where I live now.
 
Studded General Altimax Arctic's on dedicated winter wheels. I've had X-ice and other studless tires and they are OK. The studded tires are without equal in my driving conditions.
 
If ice is concern then as SubLGT wrote there is extra temperature question.
Warm ice (in Russian speak) around 0C - 32F: nothing beats studded tires. It seems the best one to get is Nokian Hakkapelitta 9 (at least in the USA).
Cold ice (0F - 17C or was it -30F or C) then metal studs cannot penetrate the solid ice and chemistry of studless does the magic. Not sure about Blizzaks but they were changing that fast models while Michelin kept selling Xice Xi3.
and my Xi3 were sold with my old car with 4 years of winter driving and snow wear bars were not touched, yet. They seem to be good for 5 winters. That is a record for my winter driving. Others last 2 winters.

Where do you spend most of the time in winter on the road? Snow, ice, wet or dry pavement? Do you have to be on the road in the worst?

Winter performance tires trade ice and snow for wet and dry.

Krzys
 
i have a set of unstudded artic ice for the outback. seattle area had a hella lot of snow last winter and they were awesome on fresh snow. got me up hill with no issues. then the snow turned to ice and they were lot less effective on ice. i would get studded next time for sure.
 
Originally Posted by dbias
I live in WV and have never needed studded tires in my almost 40 years of driving. There are 2 different good sized hills and 1 very steep one as my options to get to my house. The very steep one is hardly ever used by most people when it has snow on it and my A4 pulls it with no problem even with just all season tires.
Icing happens in some places between mountains where the sun doesn't shine on the road but those are usually the first to be treated by the city and state.
I occasionally see/hear those with studded tires and just couldn't imagine driving around like that all day.


Have you tried going down that steep hill on all-seasons, when it has snow on it?
 
Originally Posted by leeharvey418
Originally Posted by atikovi
I can't imagine any need for studs on a 4x4 in flat Iowa.

It's not completely flat, and they don't believe in guardrails.


Yep, a few winters ago after an ice storm, I stop counting at 40 cars in a ditch as I was driving through. The cops eventually just started putting orange flags on the stuck cars.
 
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