Official 2016/17 winter tire thread

[speedog]

It's almost that time, saw some of that white shit hitting my truck's windshield Sunday afternoon up in Silver Springs and area.

[asp integra]

I have some Blizzak WS80's that were brand new last year to throw on. Still probably 85% so I will be good for a few more years. Probably won't throw them on till end of october/early november because the wheel/tire set up I am currently running has 'winter claw' winters on them which are pretty good in the snow.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I picked up some nordfrost gislaved last year. Currently rocking "performance all-seasons", so I'm not overtly worried, but I'll likely swap over sooner than later, since I can take another vehicle if it's too warm for winters.

[bh87]

I have a set of Nokian Hakka R2 SUV that I'll put on probably End of October/Beginning of November depending on weather, not too concerned about timing since I'm running Michelin All-Season's as Summer's

[G]

Does anybody have any good or bad experiences with the Chinese tire GT Radial Champiro WinterPro HP?

My Golf R has all wheel drive, so is it safe to assume these tires will able to handle going up and down the Bow Trail hill on the worse snowy days?

These tires are easily $400 cheaper than the exact same size tires made by Bridgestone and Michelin...price is just too tempting. Are the name brands that much better to justify almost twice the price?

I have Blizzaks on my Armada and its a tank in the winter. Are the Champiros comparable?

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

They'll be fine going up. Going down... Meh.

You still use all 4 tires to stop the car, regardless of AWD.

[mzdspd]

Originally posted by G
Does anybody have any good or bad experiences with the Chinese tire GT Radial Champiro WinterPro HP?

My Golf R has all wheel drive, so is it safe to assume these tires will able to handle going up and down the Bow Trail hill on the worse snowy days?

These tires are easily $400 cheaper than the exact same size tires made by Bridgestone and Michelin...price is just too tempting. Are the name brands that much better to justify almost twice the price?

I have Blizzaks on my Armada and its a tank in the winter. Are the Champiros comparable?

Check out Saliun Ice Blazer.. They are a chinese knock off of generals and they were really good last year. For an 18" (225/40/18) they were around 100 per tire. 110 for studded. A little floaty on the highway but thats it.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by G
Does anybody have any good or bad experiences with the Chinese tire GT Radial Champiro WinterPro HP?

My Golf R has all wheel drive, so is it safe to assume these tires will able to handle going up and down the Bow Trail hill on the worse snowy days?

These tires are easily $400 cheaper than the exact same size tires made by Bridgestone and Michelin...price is just too tempting. Are the name brands that much better to justify almost twice the price?

I have Blizzaks on my Armada and its a tank in the winter. Are the Champiros comparable?

Got them last year for my last season on the S4 to replaced the Blizzak LM-60. They did their jobs fine but we didn't really get a real winter last year either.

Given Golf R is a full 500lb lighter than S4, I'm sure it'll do fine. But I picked them last year because I know I won't own them this year. So YMMV.

[yipb]

Will be using WS80s I bought last year, only put on like 500 kms on them.. But I plan on getting Nokians next time I buy winter tires (probably 4 years later)

[max_boost]

Originally posted by G
Does anybody have any good or bad experiences with the Chinese tire GT Radial Champiro WinterPro HP?

My Golf R has all wheel drive, so is it safe to assume these tires will able to handle going up and down the Bow Trail hill on the worse snowy days?

These tires are easily $400 cheaper than the exact same size tires made by Bridgestone and Michelin...price is just too tempting. Are the name brands that much better to justify almost twice the price?

I have Blizzaks on my Armada and its a tank in the winter. Are the Champiros comparable?

what's the speed rating? are they marketed as performance or touring? some of the smaller names are pretty good but i am not sure about the chinese ones.

i've been riding hankook ipike w409/419 for years but last year i decided to switch to blizzak ws80. i'm sure the tread life is maybe 2/3 of michelin x-ice but for pure comfort/confidence/grip, it was straight out amazing. haha my gf has them on her fwd golf tsi and loves it. i rock them on my GLK 4matic and it's basically dummy proof.

ultimately it's up to you, baller.

[EF9 Sedan]

I sold my daily driver last year so I no longer had a "winter beater". My S2000 became my daily so I drove that through winter. Thankfully mother nature was nice last year so I didn't have ground clearance issues.

I bought a set of Toyo Garit KX tires and mounted them on another set of AP1 rims. To my surprise, the S2000 feels amazing in the snow. Never got stuck and never felt nervous driving in heavy snowfall.

[Minimalist]

For the second season in a row I'll be going with studded Nordfrost Gislaved and hoping for the most brutal winter in decades. Gotta snowboard.

[JohnnyHockey]

My 09 G37x sedan came with a set of brand new Hakkapalitta R's that the previous owner didn't put on last winter due to the mildness....should I use them, I'm just afraid of excess wear if we have another mild winter...

Anyone want to buy them off me? 225/55/17s..

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I have 225/45/17 Champiro Icepros with studs I kept from my ATS that are going on my STi, however that car likely will only make it to Ghost Lake and maybe some winter rally x up at Castrol. Have semi worn Duratracs on my 4Runner and I'm not looking forward to driving on those things this winter...

[killramos]

Still gonna rock the Conti RFT's on the BMW, probably target an October 1 swap over date. Would like better tires but can't justify it until i burn off this set. Starting to notice the loss of traction during the morning commute already.

Also need to start looking for some Rims/tire for the Lexus. Step one is rims so it looks like I need some 17x7-7.5s offset +30-45. ( I really have no idea how offset affects things... )

Anyone have experience with DAI Alloys? I have literally never bought aftermarket rims before.

As for tires probably goodyears again as my uncle can get them for me for next to nothing..

With AWD and all seasons i have a bit more time on this though.

edit:
Also does anyone have any info on Lexus TPMS, is it easily programmed these days and do they allow aftermarket sensors? Heard horror stories about toyota only sensors and needing the serial numbers off the sensors in advance of programming by the deal ( leading to costly dismounting charges to get things working ). Might consider going through winter without TPMS but i don't know how much the car will like that ( sirens / warnings etc ). I never used them on the toyota as the reset button was hidden somewhere in the dash.

[Kloubek]

Bought a set of 19" G37 wheels last spring. Some curb rash, but for $500 and the fact that it included Blizzaks (2X65%, 2X90%), I figured that was a good deal.

Refinished them and haven't had them on my car since. I'm actually looking forward to seeing how they look, as the colour is almost dead-on to my body colour.


» Click image for larger version

Only negative is that the sensors are almost certainly of an older design so I'll have to ignore the tpms all winter.

[G]

Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf
They'll be fine going up. Going down... Meh.

You still use all 4 tires to stop the car, regardless of AWD.

Is this from first hand experience?

Originally posted by Xtrema


Got them last year for my last season on the S4 to replaced the Blizzak LM-60. They did their jobs fine but we didn't really get a real winter last year either.

Given Golf R is a full 500lb lighter than S4, I'm sure it'll do fine. But I picked them last year because I know I won't own them this year. So YMMV.

Thanks X.

Originally posted by max_boost


what's the speed rating? are they marketed as performance or touring? some of the smaller names are pretty good but i am not sure about the chinese ones.

i've been riding hankook ipike w409/419 for years but last year i decided to switch to blizzak ws80. i'm sure the tread life is maybe 2/3 of michelin x-ice but for pure comfort/confidence/grip, it was straight out amazing. haha my gf has them on her fwd golf tsi and loves it. i rock them on my GLK 4matic and it's basically dummy proof.

ultimately it's up to you, baller.

Gary at UrbanX said they are pretty equivalent to the ipikes and ice bears.

They have a h-v speed rating as they are advertised as winter tires for sports cars.

Fuck it I'm going to give it a try. If I don't like them I'll just replace them.

[schocker]

summers 4 lyfe!

Will be going on winter #3 with my federals. They have been wearing pretty well too when I measure them instead of kaltire.

[ExtraSlow]

Wifes federals will last another winter. Guess I'd better call Bob to get them swapped onto the rims.
Savage Honda Fit has good studded tires. I will swap those at the last possible second in the garage, since that tick-tick-tick noise drives me insane.

[n1zm0]

One year old Hankook iPikes(that I wish I studded) ready to go on the winter beater.

(If anyone need some 205/65/15 X-ices for one or 2 more seasons, lmk, they're just sitting in storage. super cheap Beyond price!)