theraymondguy
Well-known member
Dunn Tire in Buffalo. Call ahead with your wants and they'll help you pick out what you need. Coopers by the way, you need Coopers.
Snow tires
- Thread starter Baggsy
- Start date
theraymondguy
Well-known member
I think you're right. Michelin and Bridgestone are junk tires, shouldn't be anywhere near the top...
They did come with the winter tire logo on them so technically they were winter tires you could run in warmer weather. I read some history about them and basically they were designed to be winter tires for high speed performance cars. Then they figured out that the same technology that made them not wear out at high speed (which meant higher tire temperature) also prevented them from wearing out on normal cars in the summer. That said, I've also heard they weren't very good in the winter but I've also seen a few reviews by people that love them.
They've been replaced by the WRG3, which is the same idea. Supposed to be slightly better in winter but at least one review I read said they were worse.
The one objective flaw in using the Tire Rack recommendations is that they don't carry Nokian and don't rate them. Certainly, their top list is incomplete because of this.
rbjeepthing
Well-known member
So spent the last hour mounting my new snow tires (GY Ultra Grip ICE WRT) and putting my old ones that came with my car which I hated on my wives. Turns out the ones I hated were Michelin X Ice Xi3...lol. This brings me to my next statement I think a lot of the reviews depend on the vehicle your driving and the places you are driving. One tire that works for one person likely won't be the same for another person or their vehicle.
MarcosSantiago
Well-known member
At the end, I got the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 (installed them today). I hope they last a long time.
At the store, I was comparing the winter tires while I was waiting. All winter tires feel the same (at the touch), very soft and grippy. The new Blizzak is the same. The blocks on the thread do not seem to be very aggressive like other tires. Blocks are pretty much squares on the side, then diamonds, then triangles on the center.
EDIT: I mentioned the blocks because I read the following marketing material when I was reading the reviews, the new blocks increase grip by 10%:
"The WS80 has smaller shoulder blocks, which increases the biting edges of the blocks by 20% as well as increasing lug channels. Bridgestone says that this increases overall grip by 10%. The shoulder blocks have a small sipe running parallel to the tire that is 3D-cut to improve lateral stability."
Once I got them in the car, these Blizzaks feel exceptionally firm. Usually winter tires have a softer side wall, or at least that is what I am used to. These tires feel pretty damn hard. I am no expert, but I am assuming that was the point, it is the build design of the carcass / sidewall. Over bumps they feel more "thud-ie" than the OEM 4-seasons tires that came with the car (Toyo Proxes A18 ). Huge difference in grip on a day like today (wet and cold). Noise seem to be very, very low for a winter tire, I pray to God it stays like that, the Mazda5 is a little bit loud, I do not need any additional sound effects. The handling seems to be really good.
The are the first Blizzaks I ever get, before these I had Michelins Ices, so that's my point of comparison
At the store, I was comparing the winter tires while I was waiting. All winter tires feel the same (at the touch), very soft and grippy. The new Blizzak is the same. The blocks on the thread do not seem to be very aggressive like other tires. Blocks are pretty much squares on the side, then diamonds, then triangles on the center.
EDIT: I mentioned the blocks because I read the following marketing material when I was reading the reviews, the new blocks increase grip by 10%:
"The WS80 has smaller shoulder blocks, which increases the biting edges of the blocks by 20% as well as increasing lug channels. Bridgestone says that this increases overall grip by 10%. The shoulder blocks have a small sipe running parallel to the tire that is 3D-cut to improve lateral stability."
Once I got them in the car, these Blizzaks feel exceptionally firm. Usually winter tires have a softer side wall, or at least that is what I am used to. These tires feel pretty damn hard. I am no expert, but I am assuming that was the point, it is the build design of the carcass / sidewall. Over bumps they feel more "thud-ie" than the OEM 4-seasons tires that came with the car (Toyo Proxes A18 ). Huge difference in grip on a day like today (wet and cold). Noise seem to be very, very low for a winter tire, I pray to God it stays like that, the Mazda5 is a little bit loud, I do not need any additional sound effects. The handling seems to be really good.
The are the first Blizzaks I ever get, before these I had Michelins Ices, so that's my point of comparison
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Our family, I am the one always shopping for winter tires for everyone. I buy either Bridgestone Blizzaks or Michelin Xice, almost exclusively. I find they are the best for in and around town to deal with ice and slush. We don't do too much driving up to the snow belt, maybe 3 times a winter. We don't do many long drives on them, maybe 3 times a winter. 99% of the time they are just used in town. I typically get 3-4 years on the Blizzaks and perhaps 4-5 years on the Michelins. This is based on the average 20-24k / yr (total driving) so take out 1/4 of that for winter driving.
I actually bought over the summer a set of WS70's for my Odyssey since Tire rack has a close out sale since the WS80's were coming out.
Something to think about : Baggsy, you should check if you need sensors or not. they are not required by Transport Canada, what I mean is that for my Odyssey (05-10 generation) I read the manual. Without the sensors the TPMS light will light up and lock out the Traction Control disable. so if you get stuck, you can't turn it off to spin both tires to get yourself out. So with that in mind, I have decided to use the stock aluminum rims with the sensors already on as my winters. I'll get some bigger rims for summer time use and have the TPMS on with the Traction control disable not available. I doubt I will need to disable that feature in the summer time.
I actually bought over the summer a set of WS70's for my Odyssey since Tire rack has a close out sale since the WS80's were coming out.
Something to think about : Baggsy, you should check if you need sensors or not. they are not required by Transport Canada, what I mean is that for my Odyssey (05-10 generation) I read the manual. Without the sensors the TPMS light will light up and lock out the Traction Control disable. so if you get stuck, you can't turn it off to spin both tires to get yourself out. So with that in mind, I have decided to use the stock aluminum rims with the sensors already on as my winters. I'll get some bigger rims for summer time use and have the TPMS on with the Traction control disable not available. I doubt I will need to disable that feature in the summer time.
I understand that you can purchase the sensors as well. So that might be my best choice, if I can afford it. We've been running new cars into the ground, in 10-12 years.
MarcosSantiago
Well-known member
I am not sure about "all" reviews or tests, because some winter tires are studdable and some are not, so I don't think that's how they do it.
It is like saying "all snow tire reviews are done with chains on"... I kind of doubt it.
theraymondguy
Well-known member
I've had a full set Bridgestone Blizzaks, and they were good on a Honda Civic. Later I had a full set of Coopers (for a lot less money) on a later generation Civic and they were as far as I could tell, just as good. Therefor IMHO the Coopers should be at the top as well.
Last year through the worst winter in a generation I had Bridgestone Highway Tires on my service van (OEM all seasons). Along with the Stabiltrak traction control, I made out OK: only struggling in deep snow or iced sections - neither of which would a snow tire be of any notable benefit. Without Stabiltrak, these tires are very poor.
I've never seen a true winter tire that is not studable.
Two of your statements are completely false. Many snow tire reviews are done without studs, and M+S designation is an archaic spec concerning tread geometry, nothing more.
You couldn't be more wrong.
Riceburner
Well-known member
Where's a cheap place to get tires mounted and balanced in north GTA/RH area?
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