Dedicated winter tires

[Teaman1]

Do any of you guys run dedicated snow tires for the winter? Do you feel that you gain much traction using them? After a couple recent snow storms, I’m considering buying a set

 

[JohnB]

Absolutely. I had a set of Blizzaks on my Subaru and now some Les Schwab Wintercats on my Frontier. I live where there is typically snow on the ground off on for close to 5 months. I've had good luck finding tires on wheels used for pretty good prices. This let's me swap them myself and save some bucks that way. I figure my insurance deductible is 1000 bucks so if I can buy some snow tires for 3-400 it's a no brainer.

 

[swehrman]

Another vote for Blizzaks, or Cooper M+S with studs.

-- Scott

 

[LandYacht]

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2s have been very good for us. Problem with most is as you get through the tread the traction goes down significantly as the compound changes. Have seen that with Blizzaks, but not the Hakkapeliittas. The R3s are supposed to be even better.

Goodyear came out with a couple new tires this year too that replaced the ultra grip. The wintercommand would be a dedicated winter tire, but the all season version would be year rounder.

We run the GoodYears year round on our fleet can’t remember the specific model. I run the Nokians year round on my personal van and get about 45k miles off them. There are very few places that see more snow and ice than the roads we drive on.


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[cmahoney]

Blizzaks on some cheap rims for the winter. Night and day over AT’s or MS tires.


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[Teaman1]

How do you guys feel about studded tires for highway travel? I drive 40 miles to work each day, was stuck away from home for two days last weekend so I’m just looking for any little way to improve my ride for the winter haha

 

[Squamch]

Snow tires are great. Studded snows are life changing.

 

[LandYacht]

How do you guys feel about studded tires for highway travel? I drive 40 miles to work each day, was stuck away from home for two days last weekend so I’m just looking for any little way to improve my ride for the winter haha

Old technology. Seriously check out the new snow tires, studs are good for ice and making your coefficient of friction significantly decrease on dry roads.

Unless you are off the beaten path and on a steep incline don’t go the stud route. A dedicated snow tire like R2 or R3 will do almost all of a studed tire and not suck on dry pavement.


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[Shraggs]

Most definitely!

Run blizzard or Nokians in all cars in winter.

Ran same with truck for a while, but got to be hassle.

With 4 w drive can get away with some AT tires. We run Nokia rativva in wife’s 4 runner and the Goodyear duratracks in my tundra. The latter has been an impressive surprise on snow.

 

[hodgeman]

I live where winter lasts from Sept to May... I run dedicated winters on all my rigs. Blizzaks make a huge difference. I used to run studs but the studless winter tires have improved drastically in the last twenty years and once the cold sets in and the roads dry out, listening to studs singing at 70mph gets old fast.

I can usually get 3-4 seasons out of a set before the compound wear changes the handling.

 

[alaskanparret]

Blizzak DMV2’s on the tundra made it amazing. Hands down better than hanooks with studs.

At least for the winters in Alaska it was awesome.


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[HOT ROD]

We are on our first set of Toyo open country wlt1 winter tire... So far we have been impressed with a dedicated studless snow tire...

 

[Desk Jockey]

Run them on my wife’s vehicle in the north east. It is a little extra piece of mind for her and me. Adds some traction but I am not sure how much.

 

[cusecat04]

I won't go without them now on our FWD rigs. Put them on a set of steel rims and you can change them out when you want/need. It's always eye opening where I'm at with the first snow fall, half used AS tires are not a good choice. I can usually get an extra season out of the AS that only see nicer weather as well.

 

[SWOHTR]

My opinion, after having grown up in WI and living in ID:

If you have a 4wd, get a great set of A/T tires. BFG A/Ts treated me well on wintry WI roads and snowy mountain roads in ID. They are extremely capable in snowy road conditions and work well on FS roads. Spend the money ($1200ish) for a good set of A/Ts and never have to worry about rotating them out every spring and fall. I know BFG A/Ts have a 3-peak rating which means they're great winter tires.

If you're putting dedicated winter tires on a car...get non-studded tires if you want dedicated winter tires.

In my 3.5 years living in northern ID, I never understood people's affinity for studded snow tires - especially those who have 4wd vehicles. Get one great set of A/Ts to use year-round, it'll be cheaper than having and maintaining two sets of tires. Studs wear "wagon wheel" ruts in the road unlike anything you've seen. There's mandated "rotate no later than" dates too that may vary from state to state, and if you're late to the party good luck getting into the tire shop in a reasonable amount of time. Additionally, studs are not legal in every state. If you want to drive to another state in the winter (say, go south), your studded snow tires may not be legal there...forcing you to rotate your tires again. My opinion is they should be outlawed in favor of non-studded solutions, for 4wd, AWD, 2wd, and FWD applications all alike; YMMV.

 

[Wrench]

Winter tires are super soft when cold. They hook up like that's their job.....they also wear like butter in the warm months.

They work.

 

[Lawnboi]

I just run AT.

If I were doing a lot of Highway winter commuting I’d grab a set of winter tires as that’s where I want them.

 

[5MilesBack]

We generally don't get enough snow to worry about it. But I've been contemplating it for a couple of the vehicles. Seems like something has changed over the years which causes these roads to be much slicker than they ever used to be. Not sure if it's what they spray the roads with or new rubber compounds, but even an inch of snow turns the roads into a skating rink around here anymore. Growing up all we had was rear wheel drive vehicles and we'd just throw some sand bags in the trunk or in the bed of the truck and never had any problems. But these days, even in 4WD it's like a deer on a frozen lake at times. Something has changed.

 

[Dust Rider]

Blizzaks from November to April
Also like Nokian Hakks
My F350 wears GY Wranglers , set of chains behind seat and 500# of sand bags in bed.

 

[Poser]

I have Hankook IPikes + studs between mid October and sometime in April, driving a RWD Tahoe around and have 0 issues, from hard ice to hood deep, light powder. I realize studs are considered archaic and only work in a narrow field of conditions but my North facing street shaded by a steep hills on both sides pretty much stays a sheet of ice most of the winter. I commute on a fat bike and have studs on those tires too. There is also a road I drive frequently to get into the backcountry that has an S turn following a 90 degree, steep uphill left turn that lots of people have trouble with as you just can’t carry any speed into it and I’ve always gotten up it with little more than a slight slip. My GF has AT tires on her 4wd that perform well, you just have to get new tires sooner than you would otherwise. I think either option is fine for around here, but dedicated winter tires always inspire confidence when it gets nasty out. It’s always amusing to be driving up through the mountains in a near whiteout, completely relaxed with one hand on the wheel and sipping from a cup of coffee with the other while 2% of the population of Texas is taking donut crashes into snow banks at a rate of 2 per minute with their big trucks with mid tires