Stay with Non Studded Altimax Arctic or Nokian Hak.. 8 studded?
 

This may be a bit long...

I have done loads of research and have ran studless winter tires on all my cars for years. I currently have General Altimax Arctic non studded, which I recommend wholeheartedly to anyone, mounted and ready to go for this winter. It will be thier 3rd season but first on the BRZ and I have plenty of thread left 11/32nds. I have been very confident in my tire choices and happy with them.
However!
I came across this article and after reading it I'm considering getting the Nokian studded and giving my Arctics to my friend. I'm only considering it since the article states that wet ice around the freezing mark is the worse for studless and that is where I feel my encounters with ice will be in.I have also looked into the test and found they know what they are talking about.

The studless tire deception.
http://www.skstuds.ca/2015/10/04/the...ires-in-tests/

I'm also a bit worried since this will be my first winter in the BRZ. First new car ever :wub: I'm very confident and love driving in the winter, but feel that black ice may pop up and bite me in the ass, especially in this car. I have to be at work without fail and have a round trip of 45 miles. I'm on Long Island in New York and we can run studded tires with out penalty as of last year. Running a studded tire was never an option I considered since they were illegal till recently. So all of my efforts were put into finding non studded tires. So now I'm thinking.

Do I spend the $550ish ($137 per tire)to get just the tires or stick with my General's, and save the cash?
I wont have to pay for mounting them at all since my friend will take care of that for me.


Here is their current Test.
The English Speaker’s Guide to the 2016 NAF Winter Tire Test
http://www.skstuds.ca/2016/10/14/the...test/#more-898

Long answer:

Studded tires interest me as well (though, not allowed here - southern Ontario).

You've run studless winter tires for years, as have I. I have the luxury of installing my winter tire package in a warm garage the moment the weather or my spouse-ometer mandates that I should.

Which means that I could have any winter tire on my car for virtually no longer than it absolutely has to be. This mitigates the cons of running a studded tire (noise, etcetera) during marginal/season transition conditions.

If studded tires save you even once, they're worth it. Just remember, you'll be able to out brake virtually everyone behind you, but the fact that you use winter tires and are thinking of studded elevates you well above the 'masses are asses', so you are undoubtedly already driving for those around you.

Short answer:

If I could, I would.

Luckily studded are legal here. For all these years driven on studless only, thinking along the lines, that i'm mostly driving in city where roads are usually plown & with salt to deal with ice/snow. Last winter tried friend's MR2 on Hakkas 8 .. to hell with studless, i want such grip and control for my car too this winter :D
P.S.
You can save $ if you buy them for smaller wheels. H8 of 205/55 R16 were >100eur cheaper for me then H8 of 205/50 R17 size.

I live in upstate NY and still drive on clear roads the very great majority of the winter. No way would I be on studs if living on LI. They come with way too much of a compromise during the 99% of the time that the road conditions just don't call for studs.

In your case where snow-ice vs clear roads ratio is different, it might be so. For me snow-ice .. i'd say i need to drive 15% of total winter driving time, which is enough for me to switch. After all, if you study winter tire tests where they are tested both on clear roads and on snow/ice, studded are really not THAT bad on clear, yet they perform miraculously on snow/ice, where sometimes those several car lengths may mean crash or not. On clear roads at legal speeds grip is plentiful anyway, but on roads that are not i want every extra grip available. Bet it almost never plown road by house where i have to park it each day and preferably get going "to those clear roads" by myself and w/o shovelling/being towed and alike help, be it sudden snowstorm, be it winter ice track (which in "sideways" mode if you have enough grip to keep control in some ways even more fun then normal track racing) or some snow serpentine road to skiing place.

Thank you for your thoughts guys. This topic has been a controversial one with those I have talked to about it. Most see studded tires as an extravagance for our area where as a few see it as if it is legal why not? I'm still on the fence as the noise can be an issue. Also I'm waiting to hear back from where I park my car to see if studs are allowed. If not then the car will have to stay on the street. A deal killer right there. I have never recalled where I was left stranded by ice with my studless tires, however the "what if" is there.

Update: Well it has been confirmed that if I go studded i would have to park in the street. That is the end of that discussion for now. I may revisited this but for now I'm staying on my general's. Again thank you all for your thoughts!