Best snow tires?

[Crono]

Hey everyone, I'm looking a bit ahead to get winter/snow tires for my car. I'm fairly happy with my tires in summer and spring weather, but last October my car had minimal grip on the road even at low speeds on snow or even just very wet/slushy roads during that freak snow storm that hit the northeast.

My current tires are 17", P215/65R17 Michelin Energy Saver A/S. Any recommendations?

 

[jlee]

Any proper snow tire will be head and shoulders above what you have when it comes to snow traction. I've had good luck with Firestone Winterforce ($106/ea). I think black2na uses General Altimax Arctic ($115/ea). Both of those options currently have a $25 rebate on TireRack.

 

[Jumpem]

I have had good luck with Blizzaks and Michelin X-Ice.

 

[Howard]

X-Ice Xi3 seem to be pretty good.

 

[heymrdj]

Michelin LTX MS/2 in the summer/spring/fall, Michelin X-ice 2 in the winter. Both sets of tires are fantastic. Cost 1,800$ between both sets on my truck though

 

[Crono]

Any proper snow tire will be head and shoulders above what you have when it comes to snow traction. I've had good luck with Firestone Winterforce ($106/ea). I think black2na uses General Altimax Arctic ($115/ea). Both of those options currently have a $25 rebate on TireRack.

Hmm, good prices and reviews. I'm leaning toward the Winterforce - I may end up buying them from Mavis Discount since they are near me and price is similar ($105 per tire, not sure if there's a rebate in addition).

 

[jlee]

Hmm, good prices and reviews. I'm leaning toward the Winterforce - I may end up buying them from Mavis Discount since they are near me and price is similar ($105 per tire, not sure if there's a rebate in addition).

I had them on my Forester XT and now JCH13 has them (my take-offs when I moved, hehe) on his MS3. No complaints from me - I'm sure he can chime in too.

 

[JCH13]

Winterforce is good.
Dunlop Sport M3 is good.
Alitmax Arctic is good.
Blizzack is good.

I struggle to find a good reason to get one snow tire over another. Never gotten stuck, never been unable to go where I wanted to. Any real snow tire and good winter driving judgement are equal parts of good winter driving. Can't substitute one for the other though.

 

[Black2na]

used Blizzack Worked great on the beetle they were mounted on
Altimax Arctics i used on my cobalt for the past 4 years liked them so much bought the same snows again! never any problems nice passing big 4X4 trucks in the snow and having full controll! Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5's are also awesome tires i had them on my V70R and now there on my WRX.

 

[onza]

I run cooper weathermaster s2 or something to that degree. I live in MN and I felt confident on the roads.

I recall 700~ out the door for cost.

 

[vshah]

thread is tempting me to try out winters on my wife's legacy this year.

 

[Black2na]

thread is tempting me to try out winters on my wife's legacy this year.

you put snows on the car youll never drive on anything else in the snow. stopping turning and in general controll is WAYYY better if you live in a place that gets alot of snow or even a moderate amount your doing a disservice to your self by not running them.

 

[heymrdj]

you put snows on the car youll never drive on anything else in the snow. stopping turning and in general controll is WAYYY better if you live in a place that gets alot of snow or even a moderate amount your doing a disservice to your self by not running them.

So much this. I put a thread up here last year about my Expedition, whether or not to buy snows. Well ATG convinced me to and the night and day difference is out of this world. My X-ice2's handle so amazingly it made it an actual enjoyment to drive in the winter again. The tires felt like super glue when there was powder on the ground. Of course I'm coming from 2wd (rwd of course) and 45k on my all seasons (before I bought the LTX MS/2) so they were pretty worn anyways.

Either way, I'm already researching between the blizzaks, the winterforce, and the x-ice2 for my new Civic for this winter.

 

[JCH13]

^^ You can't go wrong with any of those tires. I have driven on all of them in the winter

I would get whatever one is least expensive.

 

[Vetterin]

I agree that JUST about any dedicated snow tire is a good winter tire. I have the Altimax Arctics on my Cruze (got them on sale at Walmart for $78 last year) and I have much better traction AND breaking power (which I believe is the more important of the 2) than I ever had with my 4WD Subaru Legacy and all season rubber.

 

[heymrdj]

^^ You can't go wrong with any of those tires. I have driven on all of them in the winter

I would get whatever one is least expensive.

Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[Xecuter]

I picked up a set of winterforces for the winter

:shrug:

 

[ViviTheMage]

I use Michelin Pilot Super Sports in the summer, and Michelin Alpin PA3's for winter on the 135i

you put snows on the car youll never drive on anything else in the snow. stopping turning and in general controll is WAYYY better if you live in a place that gets alot of snow or even a moderate amount your doing a disservice to your self by not running them.

This is why I got Alpin PA3's, they are great winter tires, but they retain the handling of a summer tire when there is dry pavement...but colder temps, which we get a lot of up here. We only get a few days of actual snow on the highway, and if it's bad, i'll use the xterra.

 

[herm0016]

i really love the blizzak dmv-1 on my truck. my tire guy tried to buy them off me this spring, he hates his winterforce tires, after having had the dmv-1 the season before.

 

[desy]

I use studded Altimax
based on this
http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-tires/general-altimax-arctic

 

[CraigRT]

General Altimax Arctic. Best snow tires I've ever had.

 

[heymrdj]

General Altimax Arctic. Best snow tires I've ever had.

I'm really considering these. I loved my General HTS LT tires I put on the expedition. I do love my Michelin LTX MS/2 tires even more though.

 

[Bacstar]

I'm looking at getting some snow tires as well. Seems like Good Year has a new tire out called the Ultra-grip WRT's, and the local tire shops have been mentioning these as soon as I call asking about what's available.