Studded Snow Tires

[nsfour]

Quick question, is Studded Snow Tires legal here in Calgary?

Thx!

[Hakkola]

Yes.

[VetteRacin]

Yup they are legal but definitely not needed around the city

[Freebs]

there is what 3 or 4 days a year that you might need them.. and by might need them i mean if you have decent-good snow tires and drive normal you will be fine... go to saskatoon in the dead of winter then you might consider them... even there you could get away with out them

[r0g3r]

i plan on getting some winter tires, how does one tell if the winter tire is of good quality? do we just follow the rule, the more expensive the better it is?

which company has a good reputation for manufacturing winter tires, what price range would i be looking at for 16 inch tires + rims.

[Mibz]

Nokian make phenomenal winter tires. Either the RSi or WR will be great in Calgary. I'd lean towards the WRs. I feel bad driving the RSis on wet, but bare, pavement.

[nobb]

Its a bit early, but I just got a set of Blizzak WS-50s from Tirerack because they are having a closeout sale for $60/tire. These are supposed to be really good tires in the snow and ice, but suck in dry pavement. I forgot where I read this, but I recall a review saying that the Tubemulticell stuff they use in the Blizzaks makes it outperform a studded tire in the ice. I wonder if anyone can confirm this...

[Freebs]

I ran michelin x-ice tires for 3 winters and they were just as good the day I put them on to the last day this winter, probabaly could get away on a 4th winter on them and it do drive pretty hard on them.
I think thats the same as my old man put on his 2002 Trans am and he uses it every day in ther winter and its pushing over 400whp :P not that he is constantly using it but point is they work awesome.

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by Mibz
Nokian make phenomenal winter tires.

:werd:

I always get Nokians.

[Canmorite]

Picked up a set of Nikoan RSi's for the winter. These + AWD will make for some fun :D

[r0g3r]

how much did you pay for your nokian RSi's? im looking at the kaltire website and it doesn't say anything about price?

I'm leaning towards those too, I've heard only good things.

And also, what do you guys think about the All-weather(not all-seasons) tires? are they as promising in the winter as they say they are?

[Canmorite]

Originally posted by r0g3r
how much did you pay for your nokian RSi's? im looking at the kaltire website and it doesn't say anything about price?

I'm leaning towards those too, I've heard only good things.

And also, what do you guys think about the All-weather(not all-seasons) tires? are they as promising in the winter as they say they are?

I bought them on a set of rims with one seasons use for $500. Not sure what they go for in stores.

http://cgi.ebay.ca/4-New-Nokian-Hakkapeliitta-RSi-Winter-Tires-225-50R16_W0QQitemZ330250697093QQihZ014QQcategoryZ66474QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1638Q2em118Q2el1247

:dunno:

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by Freebs
there is what 3 or 4 days a year that you might need them.. and by might need them i mean if you have decent-good snow tires and drive normal you will be fine... go to saskatoon in the dead of winter then you might consider them... even there you could get away with out them

If that's the way you want to think, you can actually get away without using winter tires at all. If you use all-seasons and drive carefully you'd be fine as well. It all depends on what you want - if you want the maximum traction possible in snow and ice, studs are a part of the equation.

Originally posted by Mibz
Nokian make phenomenal winter tires. Either the RSi or WR will be great in Calgary. I'd lean towards the WRs. I feel bad driving the RSis on wet, but bare, pavement.

I wouldn't use WRs as dedicated winter tires, especially since they aren't winter tires. Bare pavement isn't what wears down winter tires, it's warm pavement that does it - so I'd say it's better to get real winter tires, but maybe something that's more performance oriented such as Alpin Sports or whatever they're called. FWIW, I use WRs on my winter car that I occasionally drive in the summer time as well.

[picmerollin]

price is not the determining factor of quality.

For winter you need lots of "sipes", good tread (aggressive is better) and common sense- the brand of tire is not irrelevant it is just not the deciding factor.


blizzak ws-50's are awesome, i have had them on a turbo II rx-7 for a couple if winters and it was a blast. The car was really fun to roast around in (ran soo good in the cold air) and the tires were 100% predictable on snow or ice.

pricey$$$


on a 93 golf i had snow tires called "champiro" WT snow tires and they were excellent for about 4 yrs. Cheap and awesome, they were around for the 4 year block i was a student (broke) and i had some good buddies who were always game to skip a day and rip to banff/golden- so these tires were essential and got alot of mileage on the snowy roads.

cheap$

i was caught without a winter ride for last bit of sloppy roads, so i peeled off the summer tires and got Michelin alpin's PA3 for my sporty car. This was also a blast, i was way more cautious with this one since it was a little nicer than my previous vehicles, but with those tires and trac control off it was fun.

wayy to much $$$$$$

and currently a have a winter beater pathfinder than has studded nokians, i have a feeling it is going to get around alright in the snow :thumbsup: but i have yet to try it since it was just added to the family.

came with the tires and a some rust!! perfect for winter!!~ free

in my mind snow tires are a must, 50% so the nice wheels stay nice and 50% so i don't get stuck or crash.

i swear by them, but not by any specific brand or model.

[EvolutionI]

Nokian RSIs ftw. I saw the new hakkapeliitta Rs last week, and they look so sweet.