Winter Tire Review Thread (Please contribute)

[Thrilled]

I ran Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2s 215/45R17 for past two seasons. Turned the FRS into an ATV in the snow! That set is up for sale now as I've migrated to a WRX.

The thing that pushed me over to winters (other than ice skating on the stock tires for the first season) was that a full set of winters offers stopping capability which is more important than just improving traction for acceleration.

Imagine you can't stop and somebody gets hurt. The $$$ for winters suddenly seems like a small investment.

[pastuch]

Tire: Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2s in a 205/50R17
Size: 205/50/17 on stock rims
Suspension: Eibach Prokit (I LOVE THESE!)
Location: Ottawa Ontario Canada

I just bought the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2s in a 205/50R17. This is my third set of winters on my BRZ and they are fucking astonishing! Andre at Slicktires in Ottawa suggested them and it is the best tire purchase I've ever made. He did my summers, Eibach prokit and is incredibly knowledgeable about tire/rim fitment.
http://www.slickautosolutions.com/

I drove to work in a foot of fresh snow today and it was effortless. Braking performance was shocking, deep snow understeer was non-existent, oversteer was predictable and only there when I wanted it. My traction control loves these tires! It honestly feels like a different car compared to the Chinese Evergreen tires I was on last year.

I started this thread in 2012 on Bridgestone LM60s and they were good, better than the Evergreens but not comparable to Nokians in deep snow.

[Spacemane969]

Could anyone give me some recs? I'm looking for studless or performance winters that sacrifice the least performance for Traction.

I had a really bad summer with squishy, unresponsive summers and I don't want the dial to sway in that direction anymore than I have to. Our winters are milder than the northern part of the country and if it does get bad I'll be prepared to drive cautiously, I survived the El Nino last year on stock primacies somehow.

[Shark_Bait88]

General Altimax will be the best bang for the buck, Blizzak WS80s will likely offer the best traction.

[churchx]

Imho studless Nokian Hakkas R2 will outperform Blizzak. Not by much and at higher price though.

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by churchx

Imho studless Nokian Hakkas R2 will outperform Blizzak. Not by much and at higher price though.

Agreed. I tend not to mention the Hakkas, because hardly anyone is really willing to pony up the cash for them. I'm probably one of the few who is genuinely very interested in trying them, and seeing how they are at ice racing, and I still can't justify it. haha

[BoxRZ_86]

I am on my second set of blizzaks. Ws80 this time. Love them. Also decided to go up in height. 215/55 r17. No issues so far.


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[cantholdanymore]

Tire: Bridgestone blizzak ws80
Size: 205/55/16 on Monte Titano
Location: Sterling, VA

Bought these after being tired of not having a car after any snow accumulation. Installed during thanksgiving week. Initially they were very soft (either because temps were in the 60s or they needed to break in).
But when the temp goes bellow 40 these really start gripping. Last saturday we had our first freezing rain of the season. My car had about 3 millimeters of ice coat. I had a hard time scrapping the ice because my driveway is slanted but I went down the driveway and up the road like in dry pavement. I did a few hard stops at low speed to check grip and ABS barely engaged. No fuss just worked. Looking forward to the first real snow.

[Spacemane969]

Just about a week on Michelin X-ice 3s in Stock size and I freaking love these tires. I strongly believe that Low Rolling Resistance tires are a perfect fit for this vehicle. LRR goes virtually unnoticed as a component of handling characteristics but that extra stiffness in the side wall does wonders for the 86.

No noticeable mold release slickness and tread squirm is limited and very well defined.

These tires seriously perform twice as well in dry cold conditions than Hankook ventus v12s do in dry warm conditions.
The only downside is holy Traction lights batman! Even in hard straight line acceleration Traction will kick in. Not quite sure what causes this if anyone could chime in.

[Wyatt2617]

Been driving on my General Altimax's all winter so far. Not tons of deep snow, but lots of rain and icy conditions. Today is an ice storm and I got around pretty well. I noticed that these tires are a little slick on water, but do good in snow.

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[churchx]

Wyatt2617: looking at your car .. few hints -
1) even with smart entry one may lock car even with engine running, lock passenger door from inside, use mechanical key for driver's door
2) to quicker thaw ice over trunk too one may lower rear seats, as otherwise it may take too long

[Wyatt2617]

Originally Posted by churchx

Wyatt2617: looking at your car .. few hints -
1) even with smart entry one may lock car even with engine running, lock passenger door from inside, use mechanical key for driver's door
2) to quicker thaw ice over trunk too one may lower rear seats, as otherwise it may take too long

Great winter advice, thank you

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[Lynxis]

Tire: Pirelli Sottozero Winter 210 Serie II (they are a winter "performance" tire)
Size: 225/45/17 on 17x8 BRZ
Location: Ontario, Canada

Got these used locally for $150 for the set during last summer. Front set build date 2014 and they had 5/32 tread remaining. Rear set build date 2012, had ~9/32nd remaining. Fronts are newer but more worn, rears have more tread but are older. Only expect to get this year and maybe next on this set which is about par for the money I spent on them.

About how they perform: Note that my car is lowered 1 inch on coilovers. We haven't had a lot of deep snow and a very mild winter so far but I have had to drive through a few blizzards with them already. They handle cold, wet, icy and plowed roads very well. I cannot get the rear tires to spin on cold/wet roads with these.

Deep snow is another story though.

During the last blizzard, I got home before the plow went down my street so there was about 300 meters worth of 4 inch deep snow that I had to drive through. I turned off the TC and gunned it down the street and barely managed to drive the 300 meters to my house. I do think that part of this is the poor clearance my car has but the tires don't grip deep snow very well either, likely by virtue of being a performance winter tire.

I think these would be great for places that only get a maximum of 2-3 inches of snow but if you get more, then I think a proper winter tire would do better.

[churchx]

Deep snow & even wider then stock (i have 205 now, but probably would prefer 195) + removing extra weight from wheels due car underside sliding upon deep snow? No wonder.