Achilles Winter 101.

Cheap and very functional.

I-Pikes vs WS3D: I've used both. Get the I-Pikes for mud and deep snow, the WS3Ds for mild to moderate snow and higher performance.

The Blizzaks are excellent tires too. But recently the Continental WinterContact tires have been beating them. So I think I'm going to try the Conti's this time.

I'm still debating about going with stock 215/45-17s, or going narrower and taller with 205/50-17s.

remember guys

blizzaks are good for heavily snowed in/ice areas

if you're gonna spend 90% of the time on asphalt the "grippy" layer burns off rather quickly and then they turn into an average snowtire after 10k or so.

Here is some recommendations - from what we have used here in Chicago area... where it can get pretty bad winters.

Blizzak LM25 - What we'd recommend for the FR-S. Can still enjoy the dry conditions with this car.
Excellent on dry and light snow
Fair in deep snow
Fair in slush
Fair in icy

Blizzak WS60
Good on dry and light snow
Excellent in deep snow
Good in slush
Good in icy

Nokian hakkapeliitta
Fair on dry *Very loud road noise*
AMAZING in deep snow
Excellent in slush
Good in icy

Hankook Ice Bear
Fair on dry *Very loud road noise and tires are so soft that it feels mushy*
AMAZING in deep snow
Excellent in slush
Good in icy

Continental Extreme Winter Contact
Good on dry and light snow
Excellent in deep snow
Good in slush
Good in icy

Do you guys sell and install the tires as well? If yes, can you please PM prices for each as well as cost for installation?

Thanks!

I think you mean the I-Pike.
http://www.qsrproductions.com/store/...er%20iPike.jpg

The Ice Bear (which has been replaced)
http://s3.amazonaws.com/client-stora...95b3/hansv.jpg
was a higher performance winter tire. It's tread was more like a touring tire, but made from a winter compound with extra sipes. So it wasn't as good as the I-Pike in deep snow, but was much better on cold dry tarmac.

The Ice Bear was replaced with the I-Cept Evo
http://www.goodgrip.co.uk/images/pro...ook_w310__.jpg

Yeah, When we purchased them it was still called Ice Bear.

Odd. A friend of mine had Ice Bears and he didn't like their deep snow performance.

Oh well, lots of choices out there. I think the thing people should look at when choosing a winter tire is this:

The more it looks like a truck tire, the better it will be in the snow. The more it looks like a car tire the better it will be when it's not snowing.

A lot of snow tires are like that where they have a proprietary compound on the outside; halfway through life their performance drops. In any case for the bolded conditions you'd want something like the WS3D, it's much nicer on the highway than a "true"* snow tire.

Note: The WS3D IS a snow tire; it carries the snowflake symbol along with M+S rating.
Which one a consumer chooses entirely depends on how the snow is in their area. FOr instance, studded snow tires are illegal where I reside so that option is gone. Since studded tires are illegal, one can reasonably assume that a studless snow tire won't be needed either.

Different winter tires are good at different aspects of winter driving. I meant that to mean that someone should consider what their main winter driving surface is like when they choose, and provided an quick and easy rule of thumb.

I'm always a little said when the day comes (usually late november here) when I have to remove nice firm summer tires, and put on squishy winter tires. But it's the best choice.

There's nothing like turning the wheel...and waiting for the car to turn because your sidewalls are squishy as hell.

My plan when winter rolls around is to get a set of Kumho Ecsta 4X ultra-high performance all season tires, put them on, sell the OEM tires and be done with it as storing winter tires is an issue, plus it's a pain having to have them remounted and balanced twice a year, and the Ecsta 4X's have dry/wet traction on par with the OEM tires and I had a set of them on my Dodge Magnum and I was happy with them on that car in the snow, and that was a high torque RWD V8 with wide tires.

Your BRZ will weep.