Snow Tire recommendations?

"Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
11/15/2016 at 11:10 • Filed to: None

I brought summer tires for the first time this season, Pilot Super Sport. They rock, totally changed the performance envelope of the car (03 Jetta GLI w/24v VR6).

But now winter is approaching. As I have always had all weather tires, I am new to the winter tire game.

What are my best bets? I don’t need to spend a lot of money as the tires will probably not be on the car longer than 3 months TOPS.

My tires are 225/45 17s if that helps.

Mandatory photo for your time.

DISCUSSION (22)

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:14

GT Altimax Arctic. For the price, they are excellent. Plus they are a good balance of being good in ice/snow/dry pavement. And they are excellent in cold rain. I am going on my third winter this year and have about 20k miles on them so far. Can get them studded too if that is your thing.

for Michigan > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:14

What sort of winter weather do you see? Plenty of standing snow, or mostly just low temps with the occasional ice?

The Lurktastic Opponaught > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:14

I’ve been exceptionally happy with the Nokian Hakka R2, but they’re pricy.

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > for Michigan
11/15/2016 at 11:19

important question. I have quite different reccomendations depending...

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:21

If you’re going for new, get the General Altimax. Great tires for the money.

Your best bet, on a budget, will be to pick up someone’s used set off Craigslist though.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > for Michigan
11/15/2016 at 11:24

I live in Washington DC. The city shuts down if there is more than 6" of snow, so now standing snow to drive in.

Cold and wet mostly. Occasional ice and light snow. I have a Rav4 and a 2010 Caddy DTS with all weathers for the real shitty weather.

for Michigan > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:28

In that case, my brother and I were pretty happy with the Pirelli Winter Sotozero (Tire Rack) tires we ran on his Miata last winter.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > The Lurktastic Opponaught
11/15/2016 at 11:28

I’m not trying to drop too much money as I won’t have them on long.

Tripper > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:31

I have a set of the “performance” Blizzaks for the M3 which have been great. I have a set of Yokohama ice guards for the S3, which are just ok in snow and garbage when it’s rainy. The Yoko’s were a good bit cheaper, but I don’t think it was worth the savings for the loss of performance. I have heard that Nokian Hakkapeliitta’s are the best, but I have no experience with them.

JRapp: now as good as new again > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:34

Nokian Hakkapellitas as hands down the best you can get. If you’re looking for a cheaper options, Blizzaks are decent as well. Although I picked up my Nokians from Craigslist, with wheels, for less than the price of a new set of Blizzaks.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:36

Hankook Winter I*cept Evo2

Kinja'd!!!

Anybody familiar with these? $100 each is right up my price alley.

AndreGiraffe > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:37

If you are ballin’ on a budget like I am, check out cooper weather masters. I got mine for around $110 a tire on 16s. Living in Erie last winter I had no trouble in my TL.

PotbellyJoe and 42 others > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:39

I swear by Blizzaks, but you being south of me and my driving (NJ to MI multiple times each winter) I get more snow whereas the ice is what you should be concerned with.

There’s a few deal on Tirerack. mount up to steel wheels and call it a day.

The Goodyears on steels after rebate are $602 shipped. Not terrible.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > AndreGiraffe
11/15/2016 at 11:44

Hankook Winter I*cept Evo2

I think I might give these a spin. They are $100 each and a $80 rebate when you pick up a set.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 11:56

You might not have them on long this year but you are going to want them for next year unless you are moving somewhere without winters. The Blizzaks on my old Outback have done at least 4 seasons and they still have a lot of life left in them (really they are going to dry rot before they wear out).

TahoeSTi > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 12:12

general altimax arctic, Studded if you have to start on anything with a good grade. With studded Altimaxes I can generally get my TDI sportswagon out of my driveway with up to 4" of snow....My driveway is 200ft long with a 12% grade....most 4x4s or awds with all seasons get stuck. The Altimax Arctic tires are great....last year i had to pull my brothers 4wd Explorer out of my drive way with my Subaru and he had “All Season Tires” With M+S on them.

Textured Soy Protein > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 12:14

Sounds like you’re planning to buy tires to go on the same set of wheels as your summers are currently on. I don’t recommend doing this. Many tire shops (Discount Tire for example) will swap your winter tires on and off the car for free, as long as you buy the tires from them, and they’re mounted on their own wheels.

If you figure mounting/balancing tires is $15-20 each, just for one winter you’re paying $120-160 to swap the tires on and off your wheels. Buying a cheap set of winter wheels will quickly be amortized, plus you can run winter tires in a smaller width & wheel diameter which is cheaper and narrower tires are actually better in snow. Also when you get rid of the car you can sell the wheels & tires together for at least a few hundred bucks because they’ll probably have some life left in them.

Winter tires break down into two main categories: performance winter and studless/studdable winter. The performance winters are designed to give you sportier handling in dry/wet conditions but trade off some deep snow capability compared to the studless/studdable. But the studless/studdable ones are much less sporty handling.

So...do you want at least semi-sporty handling, or super soft squidgy jelly donuts that will get you the best deep snow ability?

(Also, pedantic nitpick: all-weather and all-season tires are not the same thing. You most likely have not had all weather tires. All weather tires are a relatively new category of tire that carries the mountain-snowflake symbol i.e. they have been tested for severe snow duty like winter tires, but can be driven year-round unlike winter tires. All-season tires are your usual passenger tires.)

404 - User No Longer Available > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 12:31

I love my Continental ExtremeWinterContacts, lasted me 2 seasons on the Sol and now on my F30. Though those are discontinued now and replaced with WinterContact Si.

I would go a size down and narrower, 205/55R16, assuming brakes clear.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/15/2016 at 20:13

I picked up Nokian Nordman 5 a couple years ago. at the time they were 75% of the price of the Hakka @115.

AndreGiraffe > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/16/2016 at 07:11

Actually, I used to have those on my previous car, they worked great never had a problem.

Trevor Slattery, ACTOR > AndreGiraffe
11/16/2016 at 08:38

Were the decent in the snow? I read they are nice in cod weather and rain but only ok in snow and they wear kinda fast.

AndreGiraffe > Trevor Slattery, ACTOR
11/16/2016 at 12:18

I can’t really comment on wear since I only used them for about 7500 miles till my pos maxima exploded. They didn’t seem to wear too excessively though. On a fwd car with only two of them on the front wheels, I got through a Pittsburgh winter just fine. They weren’t nearly as good as the blizzaks I’ve driven, but for the price they handled decently. Not exceptional, but still pretty good. I drove to my friends house out in the boonies (on sketchy backroads) with 5" of snow on the ground and didn’t have any trouble. If you can drive well in snow, I think you’ll be fine with these.