Snow tires for winter? A/T for year round?

[5MilesBack]

I've never put snow tires on any of my trucks, but have put them on my wife's car and my daughter's car for the winter. I'm much more comfortable in my trucks with AT's in 4wd than the cars with snow tires. The cars will still slide all over the place even with snow tires, including my wife's AWD Subaru. And in a general sense, we don't get enough snow through the winter for me to justify putting snow tires on my trucks.

 

[RCB]

Thanks folks. Considering everything I’ll probably go for the A/T with a decent winter rating and call it a day.

Did find this video re A/T v snow tire which I found fairly informative. Long story short snow tires are better for snow, but for my purposes I don’t think it’s necessary.

 

[2buffalo]

AT tires year round is fine. Snow tires with studs are great on icy roads but suck on dry paved roads.

 

[Blurry1]

Considering how quickly snow disappears off of roads in Colorado’s and the fact you’re on the front range I would have a hard time justifying snow tires. Maybe if you lived in summit county. Between a 1998 Tacoma and a 2014 F150 in colorado I have only slid off the road once in 20 years. That was because I was going downhill much like you and didn’t slow down gently. I also think chains are largely a waste of time in CO having used mine only once in CO outside of trailblazing into elk camp. But that’s me.

 

[Poser]

Plenty of data on studded tires that show that, when compared to modern studless winter tires, that studs are only advantageous in a narrow range of conditions: purce ice. And, in fact, reduce your traction in other conditions since they reduce the contact of the rubber compounds.

 

[Swamppirate]

I have been using the Michelin LTX AT2 tires. A few snows here in VA with no issue.

 

[Dr.Spaniel]

I live in a city (Denver); the vast majority of my driving is on paved roads. Here and there I head up to the mountains to hunt, fish, ski, etc. Up to now I have driven standard all-weather tires exclusively. I drive a 4WD 2006 1500 Ram.

One thing I’ve learned is that all-weather tires (the kind that virtually everyone on the road drives) plus chains does everything I need for hunting season. In fact, last year we got a dump of snow prior to 3rd season (I’m sure many of you remember), and with chains on 4 tires I had no trouble going miles on decently rough trails in all that snow. I feel pretty bullet proof when I throw on chains; no problem there.

BUT - the trouble is when I’m driving in mountain roads and it’s snowy enough to be dangerous, but not snowy enough to get me to put on chains. This year, driving to a ski trip, I lost traction while heading down-hill on a standard highway for a few seconds. Got control and nothing bad happened, but still it makes me rethink my tire situation. Of course I might have avoided it by just driving slower, but I already knew that, and got into the situation anyway. Snowy conditions come up often enough that I want to be proactive about this.

So two thoughts come into my mind:
1. Always drive in All-Terrain (A/T) tires, year round.
2. Get a set of winter tires (aka snow tires) that are particularly good in winter, and switch between those and the summer tires seasonally.

Seems to me that the advantage of the former is simplicity and probably a lower cost, with the downside of perhaps lower fuel efficiency for the vast majority of my driving on the highway. The advantage of the latter, I think, is greater performance all around (good summer tires for the city, and probably superior performance in the snow as compared to A/T), with the downside being the hassle and cost of having to change them out every six months as well as storing them in the meantime.

What do y’all do? How do you arrive at your decision? Am I thinking about any of this the wrong way?

Lived in Loveland for the last three years and spent a bunch of time up the Saint Vrain running Falken Wildpeak A/T 3, 285/75/r17 on my GX470. We liked Pole Hill and any other little trail we could find on the MVU. I like them. I wouldn't put snow tires on any car unless I was much further north and never had to use chains even when heading up high. When I lived in Silverthorne and Frisco I drove a 1991 Buick Century and never slid off the road. The GX slays in the snow, particularly with the nannies turned off. Driving slow and knowing your vehicle usually makes all the difference. If I lived in Denver I’d be driving a Prius.

 

[stephane]

I’ve used Falken Wildpeaks AT3W on my Tundra all over western Canada through mountain passes in the winter and never had any issues. I’m due to replace them soon but I see the newer version is the AT4W and I’ve heard they’re heavier and my fuel economy is already pretty poor…not sure which tire I’ll get next but the wildpeaks are great in compact snow and ice that’s for sure.

 

[doc holiday13]

I have been using the Michelin LTX AT2 tires. A few snows here in VA with no issue.

Must depend on the vehicle those are on. Those came on my silverado and were literally a street tire. I got stuck on wet grass with those once. I needed 4wd to get me going

 

[cusecat04]

Upstate NY'er here, have been running winters and AS for all the cars the last 10-12yrs.
For us it really comes down to the AS being complete crap after 2 yrs or so of yr round use.... you end up buying new AS before you would really have to if only running them during the other 3 seasons.
See it all the time with folks sliding off the road after the first big snow fall of the season.
Stopping is key and even the 4X4 guys/gals can get up and going but stopping can be an issue.
I swap things out myself so having an extra set on hand is not a big deal to change over.
Think I come out ahead cost wise by being able to run the AS longer and have better piece of mind that my kid and wife are running on better grip during the crap weather.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

Dedicated snows like blizzaks or hakks can't be beat for winter safety on paved roads. I run blizzaks November to May and switch to three peak A/T the rest of the year.

AT are inferior in about every situation on snow/ice.

 

[ReaptheHeat]

I’ve used Falken Wildpeaks AT3W on my Tundra all over western Canada through mountain passes in the winter and never had any issues. I’m due to replace them soon but I see the newer version is the AT4W and I’ve heard they’re heavier and my fuel economy is already pretty poor…not sure which tire I’ll get next but the wildpeaks are great in compact snow and ice that’s for sure.

I have the AT4 and my Blizzaks destroy them.

That says something since the AT4 is actually a great tire in the snow.

 

[xsn10s]

A good friend told me this when I moved to the PAC NW. " A guy needs 4-5 rigs up here.". I keep AT's on the Chevy Tahoe, MT's on the lifted Jeep XJ Cherokee, and really highly rated all season tires on the Camry. On the street it's hard to beat a really good AWD or FWD car with good all seasons or dedicated snow tires. If you must drive a truck then run either good snow tires or sipped AT's and sandbags.

 

[Blockcaver]

Lived in CO for 35 years. Commuted to work from Golden to the Henderson Mine and Mill for 33 years then up to Climax for a few years. Probably have put more miles on in the high country, crossing the divide on I-70, Berthoud Pass, Fremont Pass, etc than most on here.

For the last 20 years we lived there we exclusively ran Michelin LTX M&S. They are called a Defender now. This was on a Ford F150, Nissan Titan, Honda CRV, Nissan Xterra and a Nissan Murano. Never once had any issues getting stuck, losing control, going in the ditch, getting around stuck and jack knifed semis, etc. I ran them year around as we saw occasional snow storms in the high country even in the summer months. Wet traction was excellent too.

I found the Michelin LTX M&S to be way better for my use than the All Terrain (ATX?) version in the limited driving I did with All Terrain version (not my truck).

 

[ODB]

Lived in CO for 35 years. Commuted to work from Golden to the Henderson Mine and Mill for 33 years then up to Climax for a few years. Probably have put more miles on in the high country, crossing the divide on I-70, Berthoud Pass, Fremont Pass, etc than most on here.

For the last 20 years we lived there we exclusively ran Michelin LTX M&S. They are called a Defender now. This was on a Ford F150, Nissan Titan, Honda CRV, Nissan Xterra and a Nissan Murano. Never once had any issues getting stuck, losing control, going in the ditch, getting around stuck and jack knifed semis, etc. I ran them year around as we saw occasional snow storms in the high country even in the summer months. Wet traction was excellent too.

I found the Michelin LTX M&S to be way better for my use than the All Terrain (ATX?) version in the limited driving I did with All Terrain version (not my truck).

They are great tires. Have them on my kids Highlander. Great traction, great wear, quiet. A very good tire.

 

[Macintosh]

Live about an hour south of the canadian border in a humid cold area. Generally have snow on the ground mid nov thru early april. Snow falls during the day, cars drive on it causing it to briefly melt, and as it gets cold for the evening it freezes and turns to a glaze of black ice…thats nothing special, just your average evening commute across the northern part of the country.
think about it in terms of where your problem is most likely to occur. All seasons are ok in snow, not so good on ice. Studded snows are clearly better on ice, but not as good on plain pavement, and probably similar in unpacked snow. But most folks have no issue with slightly degraded pavement performance because thats not the issue, and for the few times/year most folks need to drive on unplowed snow its pretty easy to throw chains on if you already have them. To me, the problem people are solving for is ice, so dedicated winter tires like blizzaks or studded tires of some sort make great sense for winter pavement driving. TONS of people around here switch tires out winter/summer.

If you get 40,000miles out of a set of tires, and you switch out two sets, you have 80,000 worth of tire…so the cost isnt “more”, its just more “up front”. (Assuming you have that many miles left in a vehicle).

 

[TaperPin]

I poo pooed studded tires until I tried a set right before a trip between Boise and Wyoming that was expected to have bad weather. The front that passed through left the road covered in ice and we passed two different fatal crashes. Money well spent. If you ski or often encounter icy roads there’s nothing better than studs. A set of tires and rims can often be found for $200-$300 in great shape if you’re patient.

 

[SWOHTR]

3-peak rated tires have done me well for years. I grew up in WI and have lived in Idaho and Washington as well. All that to say, I'm a northerner at heart and have seen some snow.

Just get the 3-peak rated ones, if you need anything else, get chains and/or evaluate your driving decisions. It's always good to have extra traction aids (chains, socks) on hand anyways as most passes will require them at some point or another.

Studded tires are ridiculous. They put ruts in the roads similar to a wagon trail. When the plow then goes over the road, it only scrapes the snow off the high points...not the ruts...caused by the studs, thereby exacerbating the problem. IMO studs are willingly living in 1950. And if you have studs, let me guess, you also heat your house with fuel oil....

 

[86indy]

I can’t speak to dedicated winter tires but I bet they’re worth the money. They have different durometers for below 40 degrees and lots of siping.

I’ve found most A/Ts preform less ideal in michigan snow and ice. I try to find a tire with smaller tread blocks and good spacing so they deform more and lots of siping for my truck. I currently run GY territories on my truck (made specifically for the bronco) and they work well but I input expect to get 30-35k out of them.

I also liked the gen 1 Falken Wildpeak.


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[Marbles]

Tires are important safety equipment in my opinion. I use snow rated all season in the summer and they work ok during shoulder season. Right now I'm using Falken WildPeak AT3s for summer.

Use Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10's for winter (with studs living on the coast, probably don't need studs in Colorado).

The WildPeaks are good, but don't touch the performance of the Hakka's. Conditions where over 45 mph feels unsafe with the WildPeaks I can comfortably run 65 mph on the Hakka's. The difference is in stopping and lateral stability, anything can get you to speed, the issue is can it keep you on the road and let you stop?