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Snow/Ice winter tires
pcleveland2
Member Posts: 516
in General
Winters here again, so this topic should be active
again!
Now that Winter is almost upon us and I have to
buy new snows for my new Ford Focus, I have to
decide which brand. Have ran both the Bizzaks and
the Artic Alpin and like them both. But the Nokian
Hakkapeliitta Q ($89) has really caught my eye
while doing research. Called around to get prices
and a dealer tried pushing me toward Hacook Zovac
W400 ($64). Really liked what I read about the
Nokian's. Not any test info about the Hacook's out
there at all, just what the dealer told me. What
does anyone had actual experence with these tires?
Don't want any info about studded tires!
Thanks, Pat
again!
Now that Winter is almost upon us and I have to
buy new snows for my new Ford Focus, I have to
decide which brand. Have ran both the Bizzaks and
the Artic Alpin and like them both. But the Nokian
Hakkapeliitta Q ($89) has really caught my eye
while doing research. Called around to get prices
and a dealer tried pushing me toward Hacook Zovac
W400 ($64). Really liked what I read about the
Nokian's. Not any test info about the Hacook's out
there at all, just what the dealer told me. What
does anyone had actual experence with these tires?
Don't want any info about studded tires!
Thanks, Pat
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Comments
Pat
Reports I have read on both seem to indicate a 15,000 to 25,000 mile life, depending on the winter conditions. This is one of the reasons I decided on the Nokian Winter Tire. Long life and excellent traction.
Pat
Pat
CR rated the Dunlop snows fairly good, but not as good as the Artic Alpin. Had them on my Sentra (13") and they handled real well in the snow and on pack snow and ice. Only had them thru part of last winter.
Pat
Pat
Thanks.
The depth of the stud was only about a sixteenth of an inch above the surface of the tire (not the eight of an inch I expected like the tires I used in the 80's).
Have been driving for about a week (150 miles) and the studs are now just barely above the tire surface. At this rate, I would expect the studs to be flush with the tire by season's end and will certainly not give me several season's wear.
My question is whether this is normal? Is the studding technology different from what it was several years ago or should I expect the studs to be longer? Thanks
When I was getting my Nokian Q's mounted there was another customer there (a rural route mail carrier) was asking the same question. He to was concerned about what would be left by seasons end. The tire store owner (a wholesaler) told him he would look around to see what other stud manufactures had to offer, but he also said that he didn't think there was much hope to find anything better. This rural route mail carrier is driving on a lot of dirt roads and blacktop and he has noticed that the studs do not last like they use to. Wonder what happens when they are driven on new concrete roads.
There was quite a bit of discussion on studs vs studless on the old "frozen" snow tire topic. Maybe those guys will find this new topic and help us out.
Pat
Kind of late now, but did you check out the Nokian site and their factory studded tire. Very interesting site. "www.nokian.com"
Pat
Might have paid a bit more for them than what I would have for the competition, but if they last as long and maintain their traction ability as the claim, they will be well with it. Have to admit that I took a chance, but think I did my homework well.
Pat
Specific Questions - tread life, noise, handling characteristics.
Any other tire recommendations?
Thanks
i would *strongly* suggest winter wheels in either a 16 or 15 inch size as well... skinnier and longer contact patches work much better in the slick stuff...
tirerack has several different reviews of snows. check it out.
good luck.
-Chris
We had them switched (free guarantee) to Pilot Alpin when I found out really needed a better performing tire for her Solara. The difference between the H and Q rated tires is dry vs snow traction.
H rated will give you a 8 out of 10 on snow and 10 out of 10 on dry.
Q rated will give you a 10 out of 10 on snow and maybe a 6-7 out of 10 on dry.
Since in upstate NY you get maybe a total of 25 days of snow covered roads that are not clear yet the dry performance was just as important as snow.
Check out www.tirerack.com they offered the price that was lower than the local shop by almost $200 less.
Good Luck.
First impression - excellent. We had about 4 inches of snow last week and the Ody made it up the hill to the main street and the traction control barely kicked in. My Accord would have been all over the place. Although 4" isn't much snow, it was slick enough out there and the tires I believe did their job. Ran them the following day on the highway at 70 mph and they were not much louder than the standard Michelin Symmetry.
I got them from Tire Rack with steel rims - neglected to order wheel covers. The black rims look pretty ugly. Maybe Santa will bring them.
As for the Nokian and Gislaved brands - although people rave about them, they were hard to find here in Boston without going to a Volvo or Saab dealer or a couple of exclusive tire emporiums. Essentially, they did not present a very good value to me.
Drew
Edmunds.com Townhall co-host
Vans and Aftermarket & Accessories conferences
I think you will be fine with 4 snows. The roads are closed well before I start having any problems getting around.
btw my father has a Passat wagon and loves it his lifetime mpg is 31. for 2001 the Passat goes from 150hp to 170hp for the 4 cyl.
Kevin
The Nokians worked very well. I almost went with Blizzaks or Observe's, but decided on the Nokian Q's.
They would of been the same price as the Blizzaks or the Observes, but I managed to get them on a bit of a sale ($110 canadian). They're were a lot cheaper than Goodyear Ultra Grip ice($180 or something insane like that).
Good luck in you tire hunting
Odie
Thanks for any opinions.
Leo
ps. would your suggestions be different if I were driving an AWD instead of a FWD?
Good luck,
Drew
Host
Vans, SUVs, and Aftermarket & Accessories message boards
skijazman: Snow-tires are your best choice. Many newer-model BMWs I've seen have winter tires shod in the winter. Even with the ESP feature, having just all-seasons might mean very slow acceleration up hills, or even not at all. And turning corners will be tricky, since power is to the rear and not the front.
Leo
Don't use winter tires in warm weather because they will wear out very fast.
Also, I used Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 tires on a Neon a few years ago. These tires had superior snow and ice traction. I don't, however, recommend using Blizzak WS-50 tires on a performance car. The tire tread is so good in the snow that dry traction is sacrificed too much.
leogenghis and others....thanks for the input. I'll keep checking back from time to time to see what the latest input is.
I am shopping for winter tires for my 2001 Sequoia (16" wheels).
I was looking at Bridgestone Winter Dueler DM-Z2 245/75QR16. Our local dealers don't stock these and are recommending a Cooper winter tire (don't have the details -- my husband spoke to them) and studs.
We are in the mountains in Vermont. We drive about half of our miles on dirt roads that have a base of ice on them all winter long; the other half on hilly, curvy paved roads (2 lane hwy) with imperfect snow removal and often black ice. We had Cooper all-season tires on our last SUV (Expedition) and they were pretty good, but we really want to go with dedicated snows to make life easier this time.
What would you use in these conditions? How will the studs be on paved roads?
Thanks in advance!
I would certainly recommend you go with the Bridgestone!