All Season or Winter Tires

[dh1963]

I need a good set of All Season or Winter tires. I live in a snow belt area and get lots of snow, but I also commute on a major highway. Can anybody suggest a good set of tires for a snowy region, but that also have a decent tread wear? I have a 1997 Jetta TDI.

 

[red golf tdi]

I have a set of Blizzaks on another set of wheels which I change to when the snow flys here in Minnesota. I love them! They grip like you wouldn’t believe, and they are good on the highway too. 99% of my driving is highway. In the spring I put the stock Goodyear Eagles back on. You can find tire/wheel packages with good pricing at www.tirerack.com

 

[Curious Chris]

I agree with the previous post about Blizzaks, they just kick in nasty snow conditions. The sacrifice is the low amount of miles you can drive while maintaining this performance. I ran Blizzaks when at least half of my driving was on typically unplowed rural highways, and just loved them.

This winter I am trying out Michelin Artic Extreme, which allegedly have better wear characterisitics and are great on packed snow and ice. My commmute now is predominately plowed freeway, hence my change of tires.

At tirerack.com I got four tires (195-??-15(stock tire size), mounted on steel wheels, and wheel covers for something like $529. Blizzaks are comparably priced and the separate set of steel wheels will save my nice 16" Alloy wheels with 205-60 for the summer.

 

[RnR]

I'm looking into getting some H-speed rated snow tires for my 2000 Passat Wagon gasser. These higher speed rated tires (Michelin Pilot Alpine and Pirelli Winter 210 Snow Sport) will never have as much ice grip as the Blizzaks due the soft rubber on the Blizzak, but since I still want to have some good handling, high-speed performance, and longevity I'll be giving them a try.

Tire Rack doesn't list any H-speed rated tires for my Passat TDI size (195/60 R-14) but does list a T speed rated tire (Firestone Winterfire), which is still a couple of notches above the Q speed rating of most snow tires like the Blizzak.

Disclaimer: These are just my current thoughts, I have not purchased these tires yet and felt how they performed so I am typing by theory not by experience.

Anybody have any experience with these?

 

[butch231]

Purchase the Blizzaks. They are the very best on snow and ice. I have gone around four wheel drive SUV's with them on my front wheel drive VW and my rear wheel drive BMW. Yes they don't wear long on dry pavement but I usually get 30 k out of them in two seasons, worth the price.

 

[kevy002]

I was wondering about this as well... I live in Edmonton and I will be driving the TDI every weekday for about 100 kms a day which my job requires me to... I know a lot of major routes will be clear but I still need a wonderful tire. I don't think a full out winter tire is cost effective for me... Thoughts?

 

[Little Jack]

Nokian NRW's are an excellent compromise for performance on dry and wet roads. They don't have the grip of a priority snowtire, but they do very well on the ice, slush, and snow packed streets...especially when you consider your are driving a front wheel drive car. Our Saab has never gotten stuck, even in two feet of snow. They have 15,000 miles on them and they still look new. I'm deffinately getting them for my Golf.

 

[RnR]

Little Jack: What size and speed rating do you have?

I checked out their web site and saw a T-speed rated version and an H-speed rated version listed for the 195/65-R15 size I'm looking for.

Thanks for the info on Nokian.

 

[kevy002]

I found those Nokian NRW's locally... at $130 Cdn. these will be the most expensive tires i've ever purchased...

but they sound like they're worth it. So I hope by weeks end I'll have a set on my Golf...

FINALLY no thumping tire noises coming from crappy Toyo's... soon... Thanks for the info on those tires!

Kev

 

[dieseldorf]

there is a broad selection of excellent snow tires out there for our cars. Pick something within your price range. If you look at Tire Rack's site, you can read personal reivews on the majority of the tires they sell.

I have Blizzaks, Graspics and a Firestone WinterFire (??) for our cars and they all seem comparable to me. We don't contend with deep snow but have to drive on icy/glazed surfaces. All those tires do well. The Firestone tire was being fire-saled last year and I purchased a complete set for a full size GM car for $42 each...one of the best bargains I have come across in a long time.

I have seen a lot of positive comments on the Michelin tires as well.

Get a set of steel wheels and have the snows mounted. That is the cheapest way to go. I seem to get about 5 seasons worth of use on the VWs.

 

[gamaf]

00 Jetta TDI GLS
I get flamed every time I mention this but here it is, I commute 85 miles per day,a little bit of dirt road, the rest is half rural rough pavement and the remaining is 4 lane divided. I am an hour outside of Ottawa. I use Micheline all season and have never had a problem. I sometimes go down my dirt road before the plough shows up. The only time I couldnt get through in the past two yuears was once when a 4x4 was crossways in the road and there wasnt room for me to get past. I carry a shovel and chains for an emergency, but only used the chains once when the dirt road was sheer ice. As my driving is 95% cleared roads, there is no need for snow tires. As for saftey,on dry pavement,which is where I am most of the time, my all seasons are safer than winters.

 

[RnR]

gamaf: I'll give you a pat on the back rather than a flame. First of all, sounds like you're a good winter driver since you can navigate safely and confidently through the bit of snow.

I definitely agree with you on the safety aspect. Tires aren't just tires, especially "at speed." Has anyone seen pics of deformations and dynamics in tires at high speed? Some pretty nasty stuff sometimes. Tire structural properties as well as inflation pressure have ALOT to do with this. I once passed an unsuspecting young lady in her snazzy Explorer on the highway, her left front tire was getting low on air and I could see the radial standing waves crumpling her tire. I tried to let her know she needed to give attention to her car but she thought I was making some crude gestures at her (maybe a good guess on other days

) at kept her eyes in front of her.

Anyway, that's why I'm looking for higher speed rated snows, something that will at least hold together and keep my wife plastered to the road even when she's cruising down the highway as well as do a little better on snowy back roads.

 

[kevy002]

I live in a small apartment with no storage space... no place to store the wonderful extra steel rims and tires and switch from summer to winter tires... All seasons are the way to go for me. The past 2 cars I've purchased had winter tires on them and they wear SOOOOOOOO quick. I'm sick of that. Tomorrow or the next I should have my Nokians... can't wait!

 

[dieseldorf]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by gamaf:
00 Jetta TDI GLS
I get flamed every time I mention this but here...<hr></blockquote>

Oh, gamaf, I think we had this identical discussion last season, didn't we?

To Snow or Not To Snow.

Bottom line: If you live in a climate where you encounter ice/snow and can afford dedicated snow tires, Buy 'em!

 

[mycruiseagent]

I've been using dedicated snows here in the hills of northern Connecticut for the last 5 or 6 years. We get a lot of days and nights with very icy conditions - there are a number of evenings coming home from work that I go right by people spinning their all-seasons and heading into the curb on some of the hills (usually plowed, but with the famous New England "Black Ice"). I've run the original Blizzaks, Dunlop Graspics, and this winter I decided on Nokian Hakka Q's. I've gone about 400 miles on them so far and don't think that they feel any worse than the Eagle LS' that came off the car (never to see the road again) and feel much better than the other snows I've used in previous years. Nokian has an article on their website that compares a number of the winter tires out there - they actually say some nice things about their competitors. Nokian Web Site Hakka Q Article

 

[Little Jack]

Sorry it took so long to post back RnR. We have H rated Nokian NRW's on the Saab. They are expensive, but if you don't have storage space for your snow tires or you just don't want to hassle with mounting and dismounting of your tires, then the Nokian NRW' are the way to go. We took a cross country Christmas trip last year and cruised at a comfortable 80 miles per hour. They are just a great all around tire.

 

[Little Jack]

By the way, the tire size is 185/65/15 on the Saab.

 

[kevy002]

Got my H rated Nokian NRW's yesterday!

I have a totally new car, never knew it could be this quiet! And the handling is much improved... I drive my car all day for work in the city and I am very much looking forward to seeing some snow with these on...

 

[Ashokan1]

I'm a big fan of the Yokohama Guardex winter tire. It is soft so it handles well and, as I understand, has nylon studs in it to grab the ice. Loved them on my Honda EX wagon years ago and I'm getting them this week on my Audi 80 and Passat TDI.

 

[Steve-o]

I'll second the recommendation for the Hakka Q's as snow tires. I live in an apartment, too, but there's enough room in the storage locker for a set of tires and wheels, so, in the winter, the Borbet alloys and "summer" tires come off and the Hakkas (on original steel wheels) go on.

Like some of the other posters, I live in metropolitan Minnesota. I find that I rarely have to drive through more than a few inches of unplowed snow. The big problem, though, is that the plows and salt level out the slush and I'm frequently driving on packed snow and ice. The Hakkas stick like glue. The NRWs, though, might be a close second for someone who drives on largely-cleared roads.

 

[boots]

I'm going to put Michelin Arcti alpins on my '00 Jetta. They worked OK on 96 G'Caravan and seem to be reasonable price at CTC.

 

[RnR]

Nokian NRW's installed this morning, but they installed the T-speed rated rather than the H-rated like I requested. After he put them on the car and I saw what they had done, I said I wanted the H rated. They have to order them, so I'll be going back in early this week to have the H's put on.

The T-rated version is a bit sloppy in handling at highway speed compared to original Michelin MXV4+. Not too bad, but I hope the H-rated are a bit tighter.

Traction was great on the 45 degree dry pavement.

 

[banzai]

I ran Bridgestone BLizzaks on my Mazda 626 for 2 winters and only came "unstuck" from the road once!
Drove THRU a bad patch of black ice- 20 other cars were off road.
They make a big difference- what is your insurance deductable?? Makes good tires worth it!

I am running Michelin Arctic Alpins this winter 2nd winter- I should have bought 4 steel rims- the ones for the 16" are kinda too low profile for my taste and driving- you stick right to the road and very quiet.