Winter Tires.

Have an open mind. The practicality of changing two tires at a slower rate then you change one is I rrefutable That is the simplest way of putting it. But then, we so called fuzzy math people will pay more money for insulation then trying to buy the cheapest heating fuel by burning wood. It's called saving money by looking at all the competing factors.

 

I've had great luck with Michelin X-Ice on my Subaru, just put Hankook RW11s on my 2016 though, haven't had any snow to test them out yet though.

 

I have used studded Altimax tires for a few years and I have not noticed any difference in dry or wet other than road noise compared to non studded Altimax that I have also tried in the past.

Here is a great link from tire rack testing tires. Video explains it well too. While there wasnt much difference in snow traction, there was a good improvement in ice traction with studs and about a 5% reduction in dry emergency braking with studded tires, which to me isn't significant enough to worry about.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=123

 

You may not until you do an emergency maneuver. Seldom do the people left standing have an issue with anything. If they are making road noise, you know imediately that the contact surface differers when hitting the pavement. Then, you have to decide for yourself if metal vs rubber on pavement increases or decreases stopping distance.

 

If you look at the individual catagories of performance of the various tires on Tire Rack tests, for deep snow, light snow and ice, there is not much difference in performance between the better/ best and several other less expensive brands. Yet, for a set of four, you can pay hundreds of dollars difference. Cheaper snow tires perform as well in snow and on ice if you can take things like, higher noise on dry pavement. If it's a difference that you can accept with a truck you can save money and still be safe.
Ultra Grip, Altimax and even Winter force have very acceptable and often, superior winter performance and used in a truck, you can save lots.

 

Looks great

 

Exactly. The one ton 4 wd plow truck with a sander on back that I used had LT versions of the Firestone Winterforce tires. They are noisy, don't handle real well on pavement bit are every bit as good as other LT snow tires that were much more expensive. Seeing that we seldom got more them two years out of even the best snow tires, economizing is good......or I got paid less. We were hard on them because they went on very early and stand on very late....when it was warmer. Had to stay prepare for unanticipated storms.

 

Here's a more recent test.

http://tekniikanmaailma.fi/winter-tyres-2016

Studded tyres
BridgestoneBlizzak Spike-01
ContinentalIceContact 2
DunlopIce Touch
GislavedNord Frost 100
GoodyearUltragrip Ice Arctic
HankookWinter I*Pike RS
LinglongGreen Max Winter Grip
MichelinX-Ice North 3
NokianHakkapeliitta 8
Nordman5
PirelliIce Zero
SavaEskimo Stud

Non-studded tyres
BridgestoneBlizzak WS80
ContinentalContiVikingContact 6
GoodyearUltra Grip Ice2
MichelinX-Ice XI3
NankangIce Activa Ice-1
NokianHakkapeliitta R2
NordmanRS
PirelliIce Zero R

Blue=Studded tire
Orange=Studdless

 

This makes a lot of sense. I would only add that when buying tires look at the manufacture date. The rubber ages whether being used or not, and deep cracks can form in rubber that is older than six years.

 

Good idea.......
Other thoughts.....Quite obviously it is not worth letting tires sit for a long time but an average of 15 -20 k per year easily means you replace the tires well before that happens. That is 45 to 60 k on each set within that time. Storing tires inside out of the sunlight when not used and they age slower then those on the car. Tires DO age faster when subjected to elements while on the car and sitting faster then when in appropriate stowage. It's not running cars but with weight on them too that accelerates aging. You will see on trailer tires, the cracking starts on the bottom were the tire bulges during storage. Hopefully, you store the unused tires inside and not supporting weight. Still, that is an excellent suggestion to check dates before you buy tires used this way........

 

Got those Nokian installed this morning. Got them a bit bigger (265 70/17) and they fit perfect. No complaint on my way back home. For some reason the bigger size is actually cheaper.

 

My winter tires are my summer tires, it never snows in Phoenix!

 

Hankook Dynapro ATM

 

Check out canadian tire. The motomaster total terrain WT, get them studded and you will be happy. Great tire made in north america and price is hard to beat. Some stores wont stud so confirm before purchase. We sled in Rocky Mountains so I speak from experience.

 

I wouLd up size my snows or regular in a heart beat except for two problems. First, I cut down the room for snow and slush to collect, secondLy, everything including the spare needs to be up sized as well just in case a flat is on the rear or you need 4 wd

 

I got the Nokian R2, which consumer reports rated highest of those they tested. But isn't there supposed to be a snowflake symbol on all winter tires? I can't find one on these.

 

Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT

 

I also see one, as he said just after M+S

 

Thanks for the picture and pointing that out. Tomorrow when it's light I'll confirm that on mine.