Snow tire recommendations

-
Steve, my driving in the winter generally is a very long trip twice a month. 700-1000kms. I started running winter tires many years ago on my trucks, after a few close calls, and I am a firm believer in them. After only a couple experimental brand tests, I have stayed with TOYO for about 10 years now. The beauty is that now you run two sets of tires and rims. They don't necessarily get more miles than before but they last longer in time because you are only running them half a year!
 
Went out and checked, mine are cooper weather master st2
Production date of 3511 which means they probably went on in November of 2011, 6 winters ago

Just starting to show a little wear on the outer edge

These tires have been great for me, and I have a tendency of pulling people out of ditches with the charger and these tires on

20171014_104904.jpg


20171014_104928.jpg
 
I run Blizzaks on my vehicles. I have a WRX that I put Blizzaks on in the winter and also have them on my Ram 1500 4WD in the winter. I used them every winter on a previous WRX too. They work excellently and last reasonable well for a soft snow tire. I also drove a comany vehicle that had the Michelin X-Ice on it on a pretty regular basis and they worked quite well too.
 
I just asked my go to garage to suggest me a good traction tire which would not break the bank and he found exactly what I was looking for. Oh by the way my car was a Hyundai Elantra back then now I have a Kia Forte which is the same company.
 
i can't believe no one has suggested the michelin Defender...it always had the highest rating.
If it is no longer made its' replacement is probably the same tire with some cosmetic changes
for marketing.
 
Blizzak's... yeah, we're in VA but in the mtns where we do get snow regularly. And I have rallied in Canada and Maine and MI in winter so am a student of snow tires. The siping of the Blizzaks are great when the snow packs and freezes into an ice mass. But Blizzak sidewalls are relatively weak, so I would not use them on anything besides a car in regular road use.

Cooper WeatherMasters for an inexpensive light truck tire. But the Michelin LTX MS2 is a better one.

For 17"-20", Michelin LTX MS2's for sure. That is what we run on our 2 work trucks that have to make 600-1200 mile work trips anytime of the year. It is decent compromise for snow and non-snow conditions, has pretty good siping to boot, wears well, can be bought in Load Range E, and has that Michelin durability. A set of chains completes the setup; we occasionally get 24"-30" of snow in one whack from winter nor'easters moving up the coast, and no snow tire is gonna cut it then!
 
Loris previous car was a Spectra...passed onto her son and over 500,00 kms, and still strong...so much for import junk eh??
Wanted to get another, but no longer make them, Forte took over, I liked the Forte(we test drove) and Lori didnt. So she went with Elantra.
So which tired did your garage recommend?

leblanc said:
I just asked my go to garage to suggest me a good traction tire which would not break the bank and he found exactly what I was looking for. Oh by the way my car was a Hyundai Elantra back then now I have a Kia Forte which is the same company.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the pics diy, Lori doesnt like her Coopers now, so Im not going to even try to talk her into it. We all know how that will turn out lol.
Cheers!
diymirage said:
Went out and checked, mine are cooper weather master st2
Production date of 3511 which means they probably went on in November of 2011, 6 winters ago

Just starting to show a little wear on the outer edge

These tires have been great for me, and I have a tendency of pulling people out of ditches with the charger and these tires on

View attachment 1715100284

View attachment 1715100285
Click to expand...
 
I put a set of Bridgestone Blizzak on a 2001 Camry for North Carolina winter. I got to drive it on icy roads once. They seemed plenty good for me. Just have to remember... they aren't magic though. I thought of it like this... if all season tires give you about 1% of their dry traction on ice, the winter tires can be twice as good. That still is only 2% of dry weather traction. Unfortunately my wife's niece totalled the car on dry roads by running a stop sign.

My all-time favorite tires (not winter tires) are on my SRT Ram. 305/40R22 Yokohama Parada Spec-X. After wearing out 2 sets of Pirelli, (now owned by China) I decided to try something else. I was amazed how well these 11 inch wide tires gripped on ice. Got caught by a traffic light going uphill on ice. Beside me was a quad cab 4wd Cummins Diesel Ram. Green light.. I ease up the hill and he just sat there spinning and going sideways.
 
Yeah but if you compare Elantra to Forte now, the "looks" are different. When we were looking the Chev sales rep even told us to check Hyundai out. In the end its Loris car and was her decision. 4 hour commute seat/time, I wasnt going to talk her into something she didnt want. She liked the looks of the Forte, but didnt like the test drive.

As for winter tires, again I took a back seat. She read thru this thread and read reviews and went with the TOYO OBSERVE GSI-5, 205/55/16 and just a hair over $600 balanced and installed. It might be a little early but her summer tires were getting thin and she didnt like them.
Thanks again all, here is a generic pic and link for info/reviews
Toyo Observe GSi-5 Tire Reviews (81 Reviews)

Toyo-Observe-GSi5_lg_super.jpg
 
Those should be fine. May be a bit noisy though. Time will tell how she likes them.
 
leblanc said:
The Elantra and the Forte are pretty much the same cars with different sheet metal like GM did with the Camaro and Firebird and others.
Click to expand...
So it seems, but I can tell You from the inside they have a habit of changing lots of things, little and not so little between Hyundai & Kia. Everything from cabin air filters to
major powertrain components have differences, say same year model to model, can interchange or not. One year one brand will interchange a part with a different year of
the earlier era of the same line in the other brand. We just find the part# and give it to the parts guy if it's there, if not sometimes You have to play match'em-up, or end
up getting it from the other guys anyway.
 
Plenty of Muffin tops... wearing tube tops. Quite a sight. UGH!
 
I remember when I got my new Kia Forte, it was the end of March so at the end of June I went to my usual garage where I get my work done and asked if he had left over snow tires at a good price, he went and looked at his stock and said he had 4 at $75.00 each including install and balance, that will do fine thank you. Far cry from $150.00 each. Seems to me I got 4 rims for winter with the deal at no charge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top