Winter Tire Review Thread (Please contribute)

[Stonehorsw]

Does anyone know about a good compromise for winter tires to a long travel?
I am planning (checking feasibility) to have a road trip from Michigan to Nashville in December.
Michigan: 21-32F
Nashville: 32-51F

Besides that, I will use the brz for short commute of about 5miles at 40mph max. So, main focus is the road trip regarding durability and short commute without being reckless (like last winter, which was fun and good from an engineering/learning perspective, but not good for a daily driving)

[CaptainFenderbaum]

Originally Posted by Stonehorsw

Does anyone know about a good compromise for winter tires to a long travel?
I am planning (checking feasibility) to have a road trip from Michigan to Nashville in December.
Michigan: 21-32F
Nashville: 32-51F

Besides that, I will use the brz for short commute of about 5miles at 40mph max. So, main focus is the road trip regarding durability and short commute without being reckless (like last winter, which was fun and good from an engineering/learning perspective, but not good for a daily driving)

Goodyear Wintercommand or Michelin x-ice. As a tie-breaker, I'd probably go with the Michelins due to them having a very good tread life warranty for a Winter tire .

[bucketfoot]

Won't put them on for probably another month, but I picked up my first set of snow tires (Vredstein Wintrac Pros) for my 86 this week.

I'm looking forward to putting them thru their paces.

[86-75309]

I just got Vredestein Wintrac Pros mounted on my OEM wheels (205/50R17) and they're sitting in the garage waiting to be put on the car. Maybe this weekend. Our first snow usually happens in early November, but sometimes we get a merry Halloween.

[Ohio Enthusiast]

I ran Wintrac Pros last winter at stock size on OEM rims (summers went on RPF1s). They have good dry and wet traction down to cold temps. There wasn't too much snow and no ice last winter, so not a lot of actual snow experience, but I wasn't too impressed with them. About on par with decent all seasons, I would say.
They are pretty squashy, though (not sure if that's due to sidewall or tread blocks). Going from the summers to these felt like driving on a playground rubber mat. Going back to the summers was a revelations in steering feel.
Still, for the few days of snow we had here it was fun sliding around at low speeds. Very controllable.

My area of Ohio doesn't get a lot of snow and it is plowed and salted well, so I'm perfectly happy with them. If I was in an area with more frequent snow that stayed on the roads for long stretches I would definitely opt for more aggressive snow/ice tires.

Once these wear out I'd probably have a go at the Sottozero 3s, for variety's sake. The UK tyrereviews.com tested both (and other winter tires) and they are pretty comparable. It's annoying that Michelin Pilot Alpin's don't come in 17" sizes - these are supposed to be better in all categories (dry, wet and snow).

[Stonehorsw]

…just need a car now

[Inferno5]

Heya fellas...so this is my first post be kind lol...I grew up on 2 door sticks and finally got rid of my Rogue I was encumbered with for several years and picked up a 2019 TRD GT SE 86 and am IN LOVE with my car. SO, last year during our midwest ice day, I got stuck on a tiny little incline as I failed to get snow shoes put on her and hadn't expected that day to come so quickly lol. I do NOT want to make that mistake again and would love some expert input. I've researched this site regarding that and concluded that it looks like Wintrac Pros, Blizzaks and Ice-X seem to be a good bet. So my issue being inexperienced in buying wheels/tires separately and online is how to do that lol...I have the stock 215/40R18s so am aware I'll need smaller rims to fit a beefier snow shoe. I have several places around here that will let me ship to them then put them on. I don't want to blow a lot on winter rims but I'm fine with the pricier tire. SO, any advice on how to go about making sure separate rims and tires will clear the brakes etc? I just don't want to be dumb about it and find out they won't fit and pay a gajillion dollars to ship stuff back lol. HELP ME LEARN!!! Thanks

[churchx]

If you haven't sold off stock wheels, worth putting your cool aftermarket 18" wheels aside, and reuse for winter stock 17" wheels. Tires will cost less, will have higher sidewall that will protect wheels more on bad roads (and less pain to have stockers damaged), and also the lesser diameter, the narrower tire sizings available.

[Inferno5]

I'm actually keeping the stock tires/wheels and I'll swap out for the winter months. So I looked at blizzak WS90s...if I buy smaller rims does that mean the tires will fit? When I go onto your typical tire sites it tells me those tires don't fit the 86 but I swear I've seen people on here that have them?
OK, so after digging in and learning more I see that if I buy 17" rims I can play with the tire size - but if I have 215/40r18s on will Blizzak WS90 on 17" rims at 205/40r17 work? I'm assuming yes as those numbers are within the same stock tire parameters. Any advice before I pull the trigger on ordering these suckers?

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by Inferno5

I'm actually keeping the stock tires/wheels and I'll swap out for the winter months. So I looked at blizzak WS90s...if I buy smaller rims does that mean the tires will fit? When I go onto your typical tire sites it tells me those tires don't fit the 86 but I swear I've seen people on here that have them?
OK, so after digging in and learning more I see that if I buy 17" rims I can play with the tire size - but if I have 215/40r18s on will Blizzak WS90 on 17" rims at 205/40r17 work? I'm assuming yes as those numbers are within the same stock tire parameters. Any advice before I pull the trigger on ordering these suckers?

With winter tires, the typical rule of thumb is to go one size smaller. This car can actually go down to 16"s, but in your case 17"s i think is the smallest you can go because you have the brembo brakes and 16"s wont clear the calipers.

The other thing is that you want the circumference of the tires to be the same or as close as possible to the OEM tires to not mess up the speedo accuracy too much. You'll need a tire calculator to figure that out.

https://tiresize.com/calculator/

So the stock 18"s are 215/40/18. The 17" size closest to that would have to be 205/50/17.

The last thing is you need to find rims that will actually clear the calipers, and that will take some searching and advice.

I can't speak for the 17"s, as even though i have the same 18"s as you, i dont have the brembo brakes so my winters are 205/55/16 on 16" steel wheels.

As for winter tires, I'm using Yokohama Iceguard IG53. I will say i wasnt too impressed with their capabilities when i used them on a Scion iM, however they never let me down and i never got stuck. We'll see how it goes in the 86 this time around though.

[saltywetman]

your brembo's likely won't clear 16's and since your TRD came with 18" stockers, it kinda sucks you're pretty much forced to get 18" winters which are more expensive and less ideal for conditions as you are limited in options for 17's that clear brembos. you may want to go to the stickied post to see what other 17's clear brembos easily. I ended up buying a set of the rs2.0 trd 17" forged wheels from the dealership at the same time I bought the car at a bit of a discount since it was confirmed they cleared a lot of the smaller bbk's. I don't have brembos but similar sized brake kit and just put on my 17" winters last week w/o any clearance issues.

I think your cheapest option if you don't mind subaru centercaps would be finding a set of used oem brz performance pack wheels off someone who stores their cars over the winter and has a set of aftermarket wheels for summer

[Inferno5]

Great thank you! I'm going to call one of the tire places around here and see if they can work with what I'm looking at. I really appreciate your input! Hoping to continue to learn as I've seriously find my lifetime auto love

[Veypor]

I switched from a 17" OEM wheel Michelin X-Ice set up to a proper 15" Pirelli Ice Zero studded setup and never looked back.
Link to wheel directory post

[churchx]

Veypor: don't know if they sell them in Canada, but here in Europe, studded michelin x-ice north 4 are best studded ones. They also retain studs better then eg. hakkapeliitas.