Anyone running Goodyear tires

Michelin Defenders are the best all around tires I’ve ever owned. Pricey but worth it.

 

Interesting your Duratracs are doing so well in snow. I found them to be significantly worse than my old Blizzaks. My Duratracs were scary on ice.

 

To be fair that is probably because you were comparing an all season to a dedicated winter tire. The traction definitely drops off once the tires a a few years old (much like a winter tire) and I typically replace them when they have about 30k miles.

 

I will stick with my Falkens.

 

That's like being interested in the fact that a box end wrench works better on a bolt than an adjustable wrench.

 

Why is that? They both have the Three peaks mountain and snowflake pictogram for winter use. From that I'd expect the Duratracs to do well for winter use, which I did not find to be the case.

 

You forgot to add in the incurable cupping and absolute inability to stay balanced. Otherwise, 100% spot on.

 

3PMSF means that the tire performs 110% better than a reference all season tire per an ASTM standard. Duratracs are an all season tire that has an enhanced level of traction on compact snow that can be driven year round. Blizzaks are a specialized, dedicated, winter tire that will wear to the cords if you try to drive them year round. Blizzaks and Duratracs are two very different tools.

 

The 3PSF symbol just means the tire gets 10% better traction than an average all-season tire. It isn't a high standard. Some sizes of BFG AT KO2 are 3PSF rated, but they're even worse in snow.

The Duratrac has a relatively soft compound and wide lug spacing. In my experience it's good in deep snow, but there's nothing in the tire's design that helps it on ice. To get good ice traction, you'd need to install studs, if road legal in your jurisdiction.