Winter tires
 

When my BRZ finally arrives, winter will be starting here. Just contemplating winter tires. What would be the most suitable winter tires? On my previous Impreza I had Michelin Alpin which performed quite well. Rear drive chassis might prefer something different though?

Whether FWD, RWD or AWD, a good tire is a good tire, winter or otherwise. If those performed well for you, get them again. Or just do some online research, there's lots of good review info out there. Just focus on the winter conditions you're likely to encounter and match the tire performance to that; i.e. do you get more snow or more ice, etc. Since I'm not too far from Akron, I like to throw the local guy a bone and go with Goodyear rubber. I'll be putting a set of Ultra Grip Performance 2's on the stock rims come Thanksgiving weekend and leave them on, adding a 2nd set of wheels and better summer rubber in the spring.

I've used Toyo Observe winter tires before and was extremely pleased with them.

I'll probably go that route again unless I find something with great reviews at a lower price when it's time to shop.

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Please seach there are many threads on winter/snow tires already

I've always found the Bridgestone Blizzak to be the best. I have had Michelin, Hankook, Cooper & Yokohama before and the Blizzak was superior to all of these.

Note that I have emailed Scion Canada 2 weeks ago asking about the maximum speed of the car being 50kph or 30mph as stated in the owners manual if equipped with snow tires and they have not gotten back to me yet, they say they are researching the question, will keep you informed

I've run General Altimax Arctic tires on a few Miatas and now a new Focus and have been very happy. With snow tires, I don't think the incremental cost of going from a tire like a General to a Blizzak gains you that much relevant performance. I've not driven a car with Blizzaks, but I can't imagine needing more grip then the General's have.

I like to go with a performance winter tire, not a general passenger car winter tire. I had good luck with my last set of Hankook i*cept evo's which I bought because of a recommendation by Consumer Reports. Excellent dry and wet handling [for a winter tire] and acceptable snow and ice traction. Also showed good wear; the best winter tire I have tried.

I had Blizzaks long ago and they were very squirmy in the dry and not that good in the wet - until they wore down and then they were good in the dry and SCARY in the wet. These were original Blizzaks though, not the newer performance models.

Blizzaks are very good in snow, mediocre in the dry/wet. The Continental WinterContact tire has been beating the Blizzaks lately in tests. I'll be giving them a try this year.

Tires like the Hankook I*Cept Evo are not as good in the snow as the Blizzak or WinterContact, but they are great when it's not snowing. So they're a good choice in areas that see consistent winter temps around 40F or lower but not a lot of snow.

the general altimax arctic's are really highly rated by reviewers.. the studdable ones also allow you to convert for hard pack and ice if you live in that kind of area. i think for the fr-s we're going to throw a set of winter tires on some wheels i have lying around and just put them on if they're calling for snow within a couple days.