Winter Tire Review Thread (Please contribute)

[daiheadjai]

Didn't see anyone review Continental's Extreme WinterContact (which I believe have been replaced by Winter Contact Si).
I got mine way back in 2013, and used them for 3 winters (car was on a 3 year lease).

Mine were 205/55R16, purchased with a set of TE37 knockoffs (C$640 for tires, C$360 for wheels).

Dry surface impressions:
-Extra sidewall meant the car's turn-in and handling feel suffered (tires were noticeably more squirmy than the stock 17 Primacies and the Pilot Super Sports I used in the summer), but that's to be expected
-Braking felt worse (less stability, more distance) in the dry, again expected due to the reduced contact patch to make way for all the sipes and treadblocks

Wet/snowy conditions:
-These never let me down over 3 winters (mostly spent with Traction control off because I had a few close calls when the nannies cut power on me, e.g. during left turns), including a year of bi-weekly commutes from Toronto to London on the 401 (I'd often be passing SUVs in my low-slung sports car on snow-covered highways and local roads)
-I never once got stuck, although I did plan my routes to avoid steep inclines where possible
-Driving in slush and ice was perfectly-fine, though the car did have a tendency to tramline in tire tracks and grooves (probably more a result of the light weight of the car) - sometimes I would opt to drive in the lane with fresh powder, as opposed to the lanes where other cars had worn in ruts/tracks
-Durability was great - I even reused the tires and wheels in the Impreza we replaced the BRZ with (family duties/needs), until I had an unexpected rendezvous with a pothole at 60kph, which blew one of the tires and cracked the cheap knockoff rim I had it on (the tires likely could've done another season otherwise)

Pro:
-Inexpensive compared to Michelin's offerings (I paid $1,000 total with taxes in for tires and wheels; the tires cost $640)
-They did the job (car never got stuck and never spun out or lost control in the 3 years I had it)

Con:
-Just the dry-handling characteristics; the tires definitely felt more squirmy when turning at low speeds (e.g. parking garages), and under braking on dry roads - but this is probably more due to the nature of winter tires (and that I downsized to 16s)

[RToyo86]

Has anyone run continental viking contacts? They have the new contact 7 and it's beating everything on paper including the Hakkapaliita R3.

I priced a set out for $610 shipped. Also found a steal of a deal for a set of Hakkapaliita R2s on clearance for $580 shipped, and lastly I could replace another set of ice zero FRs for $618 shipped.

On the fence about what to order. I'm mainly interested in how they feel in the dry as all tires should Excell in snow/ice.

[churchx]

R3 IIRC was not grip wise improvement over R2, rather a bit improved wear & noise, similar with studded 9 vs 8. I'd rather wait for studless Xi-4 to be released, as studded xi4 north seemed THE best in last winter, noticeably outperforming hakka 8 & 9.

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by churchx

R3 IIRC was not grip wise improvement over R2, rather a bit improved wear & noise, similar with studded 9 vs 8. I'd rather wait for studless Xi-4 to be released, as studded xi4 north seemed THE best in last winter, noticeably outperforming hakka 8 & 9.

Interesting I've never been impressed with previous X-ice tires. Is the Xi-4 a drastic improvement over the Xi3?

[churchx]

X-ice4 has of smaller size, but abnormally high stud count per tire. But i guess there might be changes on compound/thread pattern aswell. Whell, whatever main reason is, if russian winter drift experiences count (very popular sport there with like 70-100 participants per stage), xin4 is current leader that dethroned previous one (hakka8) among road legal studded tires.
Take note, that there is big difference between studded & studdless ones. So it's not given for studless Xi4 to become leader as easy as XiN4, which largely won by that many studs .. still, that makes me wait with interest for upcoming tests of new michelin offering

[DarkPira7e]

I figured I'd have posted in here. I'm quite partial to the Hankook i*Pike tires. I've found that the General Arctic Claw tires are great as well. Some times I feel are more situational than others - The Michelins are great if you're driving on a thin layer on snow with ice underneath, but tires with more spacing between the tread helps with driving through very deep snow in my experience. I prefer winter tires with a spaced out tread design because I end up driving in 4"-12" snow at least a handful of times out of the year.

[RToyo86]

Originally Posted by churchx

X-ice4 has of smaller size, but abnormally high stud count per tire. But i guess there might be changes on compound/thread pattern aswell. Whell, whatever main reason is, if russian winter drift experiences count (very popular sport there with like 70-100 participants per stage), xin4 is current leader that dethroned previous one (hakka8) among road legal studded tires.
Take note, that there is big difference between studded & studdless ones. So it's not given for studless Xi4 to become leader as easy as XiN4, which largely won by that many studs .. still, that makes me wait with interest for upcoming tests of new michelin offering

Our province bans the use of studs which makes me relatively ignorant to studded tire performance in general, beyond the obvious that they tend to perform better.

Is there an ETA on when they plan to release the XI-4 studless?
I can't imagine a huge leap if Michelin retain a similar tread pattern/Sipes as before. They place 6-7 vs other studless I've looked at.

[churchx]

Sure on that? Wasn't Xi3 often alongside ws80 & hakka r2 also among top 3 in many reviews of past?

[RToyo86]

Not suggesting they're bad, based on reviews there are a lot of good winters that have popped up in the last few years. My main issue with the XI-3 on these cars for my area is dealing with deep snow. We get snow dumps often enough that I wouldn't buy anything that isn't a Nordic class tire.

Here is one with a bunch of studded and studless.

http://www.skstuds.ca/2019/02/14/201...ed-by-the-naf/

[venturaII]

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

Didn't see anyone review Continental's Extreme WinterContact (which I believe have been replaced by Winter Contact Si).
I got mine way back in 2013, and used them for 3 winters (car was on a 3 year lease).

Mine were 205/55R16, purchased with a set of TE37 knockoffs (C$640 for tires, C$360 for wheels).

I had the same tires, except on 16x6.5 steelies. Overall I wasn't terribly impressed compared to other snow tires I'd had previously. They were good enough in poor weather when new, like any new tire generally is, but they went downhill with age faster than other snows I've had. I replaced them with a set of studded Uniroyal Ice and Snow 3s, which are noticeably better at moving soupy slush out of the way due to a directional tread pattern that appears intended for wet performance, and more void space. In harder conditions (packed snow and ice), the studs are obviously in another league, so not a fair comparison there. The studs do hurt dry performance, but I really don't care about ultimate cornering capability in the winter. The tires have turned the car into hilarity to drive in the winter, whereas before, it was merely adequate.

[churchx]

Actually studs don't hurt dry performance .. they hurt dry tarmac pavement itself . The main and only reason for them to not be legal in several countries. Studs on street-legal tires should mostly hide inside tire. Not so much damaging pavement .. and not so much affecting tarmac grip.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by venturaII

I had the same tires, except on 16x6.5 steelies. Overall I wasn't terribly impressed compared to other snow tires I'd had previously. They were good enough in poor weather when new, like any new tire generally is, but they went downhill with age faster than other snows I've had. I replaced them with a set of studded Uniroyal Ice and Snow 3s, which are noticeably better at moving soupy slush out of the way due to a directional tread pattern that appears intended for wet performance, and more void space. In harder conditions (packed snow and ice), the studs are obviously in another league, so not a fair comparison there. The studs do hurt dry performance, but I really don't care about ultimate cornering capability in the winter. The tires have turned the car into hilarity to drive in the winter, whereas before, it was merely adequate.

I had the tires for 3 years and continued to use them for a 4th with my Impreza until one met its untimely death at a pothole... Really disliked how they handled dry pavement, but drove around with TC off 99% of the time with no issues (though I didn't really have to contend with steep icy inclines). I did like the 12 month or 2/32nd road hazard warranty Continental offers though.

[DarkPira7e]

Originally Posted by churchx

Actually studs don't hurt dry performance .. they hurt dry tarmac pavement itself . The main and only reason for them to not be legal in several countries. Studs on street-legal tires should mostly hide inside tire. Not so much damaging pavement .. and not so much affecting tarmac grip.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. Studs on dry pavement is more prone to losing grip in my experience. It's not like the grip is BAD, just WORSE than non-studded

[churchx]

I'd gladly trade grip when there is a lot of it for any extra grip when there is little of it though. And not just because i love drifing on ice tracks , but also because i'm thinking such specialization choice will be both safer/will let avoid potential bigger accidents or longer getting stuck in worst cases then some gains when it's fine & reasonable already. In my eyes biggest drawbacks of studded tires are only two, - they are not road legal everywhere, hence if i'll drive across EU, i'll need to switch them out, and another - they are LOUD. Especially because our cars lack noise insulation, especially at highway speeds, and god forbid if also rear seat is lowered to fit ski set in car
BTW, am i wrong that X-Ice Snow might be what supposed to be studless X-Ice4?