Best MPG to Performance ratio snow tire

Are these the michelin m/s2 that everyone is referring to?

$316+ Michelin LTX M/S2 Tires

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=LTX+M/S2

 

Yes those are it. It's sort of surprising that they're so good because the tread pattern isn't aggressive at all but I assure you they're top end. I think the BFG's look better though and are better on dirt.

 

I have tried a lot of dedicated snow tires and find even the cheaper ones are excellent compared to tires that stay hard during the winter. The technology is advanced enough so that to for me in snow country, I pay less for tires by using two sets over the life of the car. The reason is simple. Your summer tires need to be replaced sooner because even half worn they become terrible in snow. Snow tires on the other hand have such Deep tread to begin with, even down to 5/32 inch , their wear bars, they are still good. So I change tires over all less frequently and am safer doing it.

It's tough to tell just looking at a tread unless you are a tire expert. Tire Rack tests and customer reviews are pretty reliable. They are an excellent place to start looking.

 

This is it.

 

Snow on snow as a higher CoF than rubber on snow so you do not want a real aggressive tire self cleaning tire.

 

Am I missing something?

If you're buying a set of tires just for winter there is absolutely no reason to be looking at a highway all season. No matter how good it is compared to others like it, it will not compare to even the cheapest of dedicated snow tires.

 

Yea I was sort of confused by that also? Is this definitely the correct model because it does state "all season highway" on the link I posted

$316+ Michelin LTX M/S2 Tires

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...X+M/S2&AID=10398365&PID=2206300&SID=two231641

 

The people who are recommending that tire for a dedicated winter tire should not be. It's not one.

 

Got any suggestions as a neighboring New England man?

 

I have Yoko Geolandar G072s and they're great.

I've run General Altimax Arctics before and like them a lot as well. Don't really have experience with any others.

 

I have a set of Hankook winter I-Pikes on my Tacoma and my dad has a set of blizzaks on his Highlander.
The hankooks were cheaper and tend to be better in deep snow while the blizzaks are better in lights snow and ice.

As said earlier, any dedicated snow tire is better than a street or all-terrain tire. We also live in buffalo NY so that speaks for itself.

Hope this helps,
Charlie

 

The following is an entry in the link you cited.

Note: The LTX M/S2 Highway All-Season tire is NOT a dedicated winter / snow tire. It does NOT meet the severe snow traction requirements and is NOT branded with the mountain/snowflake symbol.

 

For people looking for a low budget dedicated snow tire, i recomand the Kelly snowtrakker ST2.

I've used the Yokohama IHT20 for few years but they are now discontinued and i found a very similar one in the Grandtrek SJ6. Normaly those tires are more ice oriented but when you choose 265 or wider there is more space in the pattern and they perform very well in snow and on ice. I live in Québec where we receive between 3.5 and 4.5 meter of snow each winter with temperature of -40C so dont talk to me about 4 seasons or mud and snow tires.

 

If you are at all concerned about snow there is no beating a dedicated snow tire. The difference between an allseason M&S rated tire and a modern snow tire is amazing.. like night and day, salt and sugar, black and white difference. You will have to take them off in summer however.

I recommend the Blizzak for no particular reason, Ive used several different kinds I can't remember all i've used. Blizzaks x2, Arctic Alpin's, I think another that I can't remember.

I did use a set on a 1995 Chevy Caprice year-round including most of it's life in snow free Alabama...they lasted prolly 3-4 years. Very squishy in the summer heat however.

 

I'm just astounded that immediately after the OP says he is going to have dedicated wheels and use these tires for winter only people recommend highway all seasons and all terrains. Having a set of tires and wheels for winter use only and then just putting all seasons or A/Ts on them would be the biggest waste of money I can conceive.

 

Yea definitely have clarification on that with you pointing it out. Going to go with dedicated winter set. Think I'm going with Blizzak unless I find better option.

 

MS2 - exceptional highway handling (In a controlled safety enviroment of course, you can do things your not supposed to do with a truck), and you can stop on a dime if you need to. A very very very solid, confident driving experience. You also feel more power on hard acceleration because you aren't losing gradual traction. For as tall as the tread blocks are, they manage to NOT make the steering or truck feel squirlly or numb. These tires really have minimal performance tradeoffs...because of this, they can be expensive!

Wear also is exceptional, I haven't noticed any wear at all since I put them on last November. Speed and rapid lane changes aside, I haven't abused them at all by spinning the tires or drifting out the rear.

Snow handling is as good as it gets without being a full up snow tire. All the ABS concerns went away with this tire. They actually designed the tire around snow requirements, but for some reason they never qualified it as a snow tire. Check youtube, Michialen actually interviewed their engineers about this tire specificlally, and I could tell they aren't lying about or exaggerating the performance claims. Driving in the snow was a joy, once all the knuckleheads were off the road.

On fresh solid ice, accumulating, they did lousy going up gradual incline. But to be fair, it was still icing, and my driveway had zero residual salt or anything.

 

Costco has the $70 off 4 Mich's going on again right now. Can get a set of MS2's for about $680+ tax.

 

Like the op i have two sets of rims and am looking at dedicated snows.

Leaning towards studs, is anyone familiar with the nokian nordman 5?

I am familiar with bargain basement studs, the last of my four kids graduates college in 8 months, have had a bunch of vehicles with a bunch of tires in the driveway over the years.

I have 18 years driving experience north of chicago. If i could put agressive chains on all four corners five or six days annually i would run the stock dunlops year round...

 

Hankook winter I-Pikes - studded or without are hands down the best winter dedicated tire you can run on any vehicle.