Snow tires

[Baggsy]

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Thanks. That's what I have been hearing. With the rebate on now, getting them done at Costco for only $835 all in, seems like a steal.

The thing about Costco is you need to buy the rims separate, and later queue up with all the old people to get them changed there.

I was was told I could buy the tires, put them in my trunk, go home and online order rims to my house, then bring it all back to be installed, when the rims arrived. Oh, and line up again every year after that.

I drove to an Active G & R and lined up, on Sunday for a written quote, was told they'd phone me back on Monday with a verbal one . . . Should I call them back or just write them off?

 

[DJM]

I'd call them back, ask where the quote is. Most steel wheels come from the same place so I don't see much of a discount on $60 wheels. Never considered G&R to be that great on pricing anyways. I had the tires, wheels and TPS assembled and installed at Costco, took 2 hrs and a $250 dollar shopping spree inside, after that I decided to do my own changeover in the driveway. Takes me 1hr to do everything properly.

 

[Joe Bass]

Baggsy-- my understanding is that you can buy the tires online, pick the destination warehouse and book an install appointment.
DJM-- have a list going anyway... $250? That's just diapers, wipes and tp. I'll be happy to get out below $500!
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 625 Windows Phone using Tapatalk

 

[daught]

I understand many people run all seasons but since pretty much every insurance company offers a 5% discount for running snow tires, the all weathers make more sense to me. Personally I've run snows ever since my first car at 18. A decent set of used snows, already on rims, will only cost like $400 if they're good. I've bought and sold whole sets as low as $200.

Hehe at 18 I was rolling in a 1JZ MK3 supra with performance summers... even in the winter I lived.
Now driving a quattro with winters is so easy. I guess I passed the natural selection driving skills test.

As for used tires, I find kijiji is a pretty big waste of time if you compare it to a trip to walmart US where a full set of 215/55/16 cost less than $400.

 

[DemonPig]

You can buy Chinese tires here for $400 too. No need to go to Walmart in the States.

As for lining up for seasonal swaps, almost any place is busy this time of the year. That's why if you guys are somewhat mechanically inclined, and I know that a lot of you are, just swap wheels yourself if both sets are mounted. It'll take you 20 min. Torque them properly though. Every vehicle has a different spec. Most people way over-torque lug nuts causing stud elongation and a reduction in clamping force resulting in a potential falloff. Remember to clean all the mating surfaces with a steel brush and break cleaner or similar.

If you guys buy rims, make sure they are hub-centric, eliminates lots of vibration. Unfortunately most cheap steel rims are not perfectly round anyhow, lots of shimmy and hop. Go aluminum alloy if you can afford it.

Costco system with rims being sent to the house and tires to the warehouse is complicated, however Costco does not force you to buy rims from them. You can provide your own.

All-weather tires don't last. They are softer than all-season tires. Good for people who don't drive much. Winter tires are also much better than all-weather for (guess what) winter.

I avoid Green and Ross since ever they tried to charge me $700 for a used Ford Probe rim.

 

[DemonPig]

I had Michelin LTX m/s put on both my Grand Cherokees after the junk OEM Goodyears wore out. Probably the best tire I have ever owned. From heavy rains to heavy snow they were fantastic. Most of the feedback I have seen on the LTX m/s2's were positive and an improvement over the originals.

LTX M/S2 is a fantastic tire. I have not yet had any feedback indicating that the previous generation was better in any way. People have to remember that there are more factors to tire wear and handling than just the tire. Maybe the car is getting a bit old after a while, no? Wear and tear. Beat suspension doesn't help.

For insurance approved all-season SUV/truck tire - BFG All-Terrain T/A KO2. You will get your 5% discount. BFG is fully owned by Michelin.

 

[dricked]

I was looking for e rated snow tired for my truck....I think on days it's crappy weather I'll drive my car instead. Those things are stupid expensive.

 

[DemonPig]

LRE tires are expensive to begin with, winter even more so. Not many options either. What kind of truck do you have? Does it actually require LT tires? Many people put LTs on trucks without realizing that they don't need them.

 

[daught]

You can buy Chinese tires here for $400 too. No need to go to Walmart in the States.

As for lining up for seasonal swaps, almost any place is busy this time of the year. That's why if you guys are somewhat mechanically inclined, and I know that a lot of you are, just swap wheels yourself if both sets are mounted. It'll take you 20 min. Torque them properly though. Every vehicle has a different spec. Most people way over-torque lug nuts causing stud elongation and a reduction in clamping force resulting in a potential falloff. Remember to clean all the mating surfaces with a steel brush and break cleaner or similar.

If you guys buy rims, make sure they are hub-centric, eliminates lots of vibration. Unfortunately most cheap steel rims are not perfectly round anyhow, lots of shimmy and hop. Go aluminum alloy if you can afford it.

Costco system with rims being sent to the house and tires to the warehouse is complicated, however Costco does not force you to buy rims from them. You can provide your own.

All-weather tires don't last. They are softer than all-season tires. Good for people who don't drive much. Winter tires are also much better than all-weather for (guess what) winter.

I avoid Green and Ross since ever they tried to charge me $700 for a used Ford Probe rim.

$400 for general altimax tires, not Chinese junk. No one can touch that in Canada even for 20% more. Canadian tire had them on 25% off sale for $160. That's almost double than what it costs in the US. Heck, I doubt I can get four ****** chinese tires for $400 here.

http://www.walmart.com/finder/tires/fv

 

[Scuba Steve]

I was looking for e rated snow tired for my truck....I think on days it's crappy weather I'll drive my car instead. Those things are stupid expensive.

Ct has the motomaster snows in e rated on sale for 25 percent off quite often. Made by Goodyear and a decent snow tire.

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[DemonPig]

$400 for general altimax tires, not Chinese junk. No one can touch that in Canada even for 20% more. Canadian tire had them on 25% off sale for $160. That's almost double than what it costs in the US. Heck, I doubt I can get four ****** chinese tires for $400 here.

http://www.walmart.com/finder/tires/fv

Well, it's more like $115 CAN so $460 total plus taxes plus gas. I'm also sure you could find a better deal than what Canadian Tire sells for. Walmart here is all done with tire business I think though, don't know who sells General. However, if the difference is $100 or less there's no way I would bother driving down, unless I lived next to the border.
BTW, they are also Q rated, your car probably needs H. That's 3 downgrades...

 

[DemonPig]

Ct has the motomaster snows in e rated on sale for 25 percent off quite often. Made by Goodyear and a decent snow tire.

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Buying Motomaster is basically buying economy Michelin (more Uniroyal really) and Goodyear designs that have been rebranded. Goodyear does not excel in winter tire technology.
They are not the worst tires though and probably cheaper than most in LT range.

 

[MSRP]

$400 for general altimax tires, not Chinese junk. No one can touch that in Canada even for 20% more. Canadian tire had them on 25% off sale for $160. That's almost double than what it costs in the US. Heck, I doubt I can get four ****** chinese tires for $400 here.

http://www.walmart.com/finder/tires/fv

Buying now is obviously the worst time to do so in terms of price.
Pre-season, early september, I picked up a set of xice3's for just over $400 in 205/60/16's from Simply Tire. They had a gb discount + manufacture $70 rebate + $70/off to mount and install yourself + 3% cash discount. Compared to Tirerack, I could have saved about $100, but I missed a rebate that they had in AUGUST. I potentially could have saved about $120, but factor in time, more spendy mount/balance close to the boarder, savings were not as significant. Buying now, you're probably paying an extra $300 for a set of 16's locally vs August pricing south of the boarder. $300+ for anything over 16".

Now tire shops are so busy that they couldn't' care less if they "lost" your business as they can barely accommodate the business flying through their doors. Most shops are booking "installation" appointments for the end of the November!!

 

[SunnY S]

any opinions on the Bridgestone DM-V1 Blizzaks for SUVs?

I've tried all the big brands over the years, but never tried Bridgestone winters.

All the main sites praise the tire. And it only costs slightly more than the worn down Hanook iPike RW11s I'm currently running, quite happy with and was going to replace with.

Was eyeing the Mich Lattitude XI-2, but snow grip seems like its not as good, which is very important to me.

Might have to give these Bridgestones a go.

 

[chiller]

i have them on my suv right now ...

i had pirelli ice and snow scoprions before the blizzak and what i can say is that the pirelli's were better in SNOW and the blizzaks are better on ice ... i have about 20k driving on the blizzaks now and the pirelli's when done were about 40k'ish

any opinions on the Bridgestone DM-V1 Blizzaks for SUVs?

I've tried all the big brands over the years, but never tried Bridgestone winters.

All the main sites praise the tire. And it only costs slightly more than the worn down Hanook iPike RW11s I'm currently running, quite happy with and was going to replace with.

Was eyeing the Mich Lattitude XI-2, but snow grip seems like its not as good, which is very important to me.

Might have to give these Bridgestones a go.

 

[SunnY S]

i have them on my suv right now ...

i had pirelli ice and snow scoprions before the blizzak and what i can say is that the pirelli's were better in SNOW and the blizzaks are better on ice ... i have about 20k driving on the blizzaks now and the pirelli's when done were about 40k'ish

Thanks for your comments.

I love the Pirellis Ice and Snow, and ran them in the past, but they are so freakin expensive! Couldn't justify buying them again at inflated pricing, especially compared with the amazing experience I've had with the much cheaper Hankooks.

I've always had good success using TireRacks surveys as a guide and have found them fairly accurate to my own personal experiences. They rate the Bridgestones as having better snow traction than the Pirelli's,

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=W&VT=LT

Taking a chance with the Bridgestones, and remain skeptical with their tread life. Guess I'll find out.....

 

[chiller]

Thanks for your comments.

I love the Pirellis Ice and Snow, and ran them in the past, but they are so freakin expensive! Couldn't justify buying them again at inflated pricing, especially compared with the amazing experience I've had with the much cheaper Hankooks.

I've always had good success using TireRacks surveys as a guide and have found them fairly accurate to my own personal experiences. They rate the Bridgestones as having better snow traction than the Pirelli's,

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=W&VT=LT

Taking a chance with the Bridgestones, and remain skeptical with their tread life. Guess I'll find out.....

I bought my SUV in winter of 2005 and had the Pirelli's on for 5 years then burned them off for the summer on the 5th year @ approx 40k ... so only about 8k of winter driving per year.

I am now on the 4th season of my Bridgestones at about only 20-25k so less at about 5-6k / yr of driving and subjectively they look 'thicker' then my pirelli's did at the 4th year. I guess I'll know when I go into next year if they will be ok for a 5th winter. I'm surprised at the tire life myself.

I had Blizzaks on my wifes car before and swapped them for Hankook RW11 last year. The Bridgestones again were better on just general winter days in the city (slushy, icy) but the Hankooks were way better going into the snow belt... I have them on now and went to work today since its all slushy, even on a small car with a 2.0L i4 engine I can make the tires slip off a light. The bridgestones never did that.

 

[MarcosSantiago]

Update on the Bridgestone Blizzak WS80

The snow is here and there's no salt on the roads yet. I can tell the tires do better and better as it gets colder and colder. But this means the tire is very much a hard core snow and ice tire. Michelins were more balanced, IMHO, for a wider range of temperatures.

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

 

[fjbabe]

So which are the better snow tires for soccer mom vans?

I bought some weird new Finnish winter tires that my former tire place recommended,
and they were garbage in the Quebec snow, with the fronts wearing out in six months.
He'd told me they'd last a year, so I was on slicks the last couple of months, which I wouldn't recommend.

Also, soccer ball vs hockey sticks decal on the back.
which instills the most fear, or should I just put both?

Hockey all the way.... lol

 

[Baggsy]

Getting the Michelin X-Ice 2s, surprisingly enough at the local Honda dealer, with Honda hub centric rims.

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