Winter tires

my dad has run his towing business for 34 years... and i've towed for 5 of those. if you live where it snows you are in 2 groups of people.

group 1 - Have snow tires
group 2- Should've had snow tires

they make an incredible difference... and for 'maybe' $300 you'd save by not having snow tires (after getting double the life out of your summer set).. is it really worth the life of you, your family, or the family coming at you at on the road? This all depends on where you live and what winter conditions you deal with. Growing up in NW PA with a foot of snow at a time via lake effect erie.. the roads were not plowed and clear... most the winter they were just hard pack snow/ice at best. 99% of snow/ice accidents are traction related... increase traction... reduce risk of accident.

 

I ran Silent Armors on my tacoma & my tundra.
They were good tires, but I did not like how they handled ice & hard pack especially towing in the mtns.
Each set I tried in one winter season only to purchase a dedicated snow tire pkg (rims/tires), swapping them when the snow flys.

 

This bears repeating. For those who cannot afford winter tires or can't do it logistically, siping is a good option. Machine siping is more effective than the siping you get molded in. It can be done to any tire. You can get center siping or full width. When the tire is flexed by braking or accelleration, the sharp edges are exposed and provide much more grip. The razor cut rubber is self sharpening so the edges are always sharp.

 

Yea south Burlington is one of those areas where snow tires is a good idea, especially if you are towing. My snows saved my life on a fusion coming down 87 out of plattsburgh.

 

To get a mountain snowflake symbol, the tested tire only has to perform 10% better than a typical all-season tire in snow. That's why a few all-terrain tires like the GY SilentArmor and Duratrac carry that symbol, even though their tread compound is too hard for winter temps.

 

Blizzaks

 

X2. Tread compound makes as much difference as tread pattern. Modern winter tires like the Blizzak have a porous layer that breaks the surface tension of the water on snow and ice to improve grip (directly opposite to how an iceskate works).

The drawback is the porous compound cannot be built into the full tread depth without hurting tire integrity, so the tire gets great traction for the first half of its treadlife. When the porous layer is worn away, performance falls back to the level of older winter tire designs like the Firestone Winterforce.

 

I can't say enough about dedicated winters on all 4 corners, especially in the NE due not just to potential snow, but especially because of the icing conditions. Will all-seasons, your 2wd will be stuck more times in a winter than you'll care to count.

I've got Blizzak DM-V1s right now, and am very happy with them for snow, ice, wet and dry winter performance. I've had Toyo Open Country G02+ on a different truck and really liked them too.

The tread does squirm a lot with these dedicated winters, but hey, you're not buying them for cornering performance, are you?

Not sure if anyone else mentioned it, but studding may be great for ice performance, but is illegal in some areas (like southern and eastern Ontario) due to road damage, and may affect dry weather performance.

YMMV,
Marc

 

HAHAHA!!! ya i guess they don't clear the roads here!!!

 

I used Michelin X-Ice last winter and didn't like them at all. In fact I tore a hole on one within 1000km's.

I also used Goodyear ultra grip tires. Awesome in the snow but not at all impressive on ice.

The tire that I'm currently running in the winter is the Firestone Winterforce studded tire. Very pleased with the preformance.

 

Goodyear Duratrax or or Michelin LTX A/T 2

Both great tires.

I have the duras on now and plan on leaving on for the winter. And in the spring I have another set of rims and will be getting the LTX for the summer.

 

near Manchester area

 

Hum. Should I listen to a tow truck driver or a Automotive Product Manager?

I think I will go with the tow truck driver and common sense.

 

I am a big fan of the michelin/goodyear tires.

I was thinking of getting the michelin x-ice for my dad's van.

Did you run them on your taco? Did you get to use them in the snow? did they not work well in the snow?

 

I have the Michelin x-ice on my work vehicle (12 Suzuki Grand Vitara) I do a lot of driving.
I'm not very pleased with them at all. They are ok in the snow but really don't give a lot of traction in deep stuff (4" or more). I'm guessing where the thread isn't very deep. They are ok on the ice but no where near as good as a studded tire.
I seen a ton of good reviews on them but honestly I would never buy them.