APA Winter Tire Rankings

[Jlui]

I was wondering if anyone has faith in last year's APA winter tire rankings.
http://www.apa.ca/template.asp?DocID=97
Been searching the web (Tirerack, Consumersearch, APA, Tire1010, ect) for some advise on winter tires for our Subaru Tribeca.


Narrowing it down to Yokohama Geolanders or Nokian Hak 5's.

Anyone have thoughts on the APA or one the Yokohama's.

[94boosted]

I've read in a lot of places and talked to a lot of people that say the Nokian Hak's are the best winter tires you can get yourself, but they are pricey.

[max_boost]

Any winter tire will be better than no winter tire. With that said, narrow your choice down by asking yourself a couple things.

Generally the lower the speed rating (Q,R,S,T), the more dedicated that tire is for the snow, meaning it'll wear out quicker if temperatures warm up and handling will suffer in the dry and vice versa. In Calgary, who knows as it might be warm up until January! but this is for a Tribeca so dry road handling/performance is probably the last thing on your mind. :D

I've used the older version of the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-Z3 before and let me tell you, these things were un-fucking believably amazing in the snow. Our old Ford Windstar was a machine with these tires haha

[tirebob]

The problem with rankings is that it is terribly subjective to so many variable that it impossible to say one tire is truely better than another tire for every situation...

A lot of the problem comes from the person selling the tire to the consumer. If someone comes in wanting a tire that is going to endure well for a lot of high speed, long distance driving in areas which do not get a ton of snow but they need them just in case, and the guy behind the counter sells him Blizzak WS60's, he is going to be sadly disappointed with that tire, even though it is one of the best pure ice tires out there. That is because his expectations were not met, not because the tire is bad... Quite the opposite actually.

With the internet these days, it is easy for someone to order tires without getting all the relevent info they need to purchase a product that best suits their specific needs. For some people that is extreme ice traction. For others that live way up a township farming road that never gets plowed, it is a deep snow tire that may suit them best. For that long distance higher speed driver, he will probably like something with better handling and treadwear giving up on the most extreme traction a bit. For some people there priority is keeping the cost as effective as possible as they are students on a very limited budget.

As you can see, how anyone can say one tire is the best and another isn't is beyond me. It is most important to find someone who can help you wade through all the bullshit and get to a tire that suits exactly what perameters make a tire work best for your specific set of circumstances, and those web results are not always the best thing if you don't know what properties make it suit your needs...

[Impreza]

What are the Blizzak LM-25's suited for?

[tirebob]

Originally posted by Impreza
What are the Blizzak LM-25's suited for?

They are a premium level tire otiented toward providing some of the better handling and wear within a top quality tire. This means the the tire does sacrifice some of it's most extreme ice and deep snow traction when compared to a tire such as the Blizzak WS60...

Again, as it has been said many times, ANY true winter tire is going to have far better abilities when compared to even the best all season, so you will still make a big difference in all winter conditions, so if this is the type of tire you think will suit your driving needs, it is a great product...

*EDIT* - I should note that the LM25 is being phased out and replaced by the newer LM60. The size you may be looking at could already be discontinued...

[Jlui]

Very well said Bob. I'll send you an email to see what will be good for my Subaru.



Originally posted by tirebob
The problem with rankings is that it is terribly subjective to so many variable that it impossible to say one tire is truely better than another tire for every situation...

A lot of the problem comes from the person selling the tire to the consumer. If someone comes in wanting a tire that is going to endure well for a lot of high speed, long distance driving in areas which do not get a ton of snow but they need them just in case, and the guy behind the counter sells him Blizzak WS60's, he is going to be sadly disappointed with that tire, even though it is one of the best pure ice tires out there. That is because his expectations were not met, not because the tire is bad... Quite the opposite actually.

With the internet these days, it is easy for someone to order tires without getting all the relevent info they need to purchase a product that best suits their specific needs. For some people that is extreme ice traction. For others that live way up a township farming road that never gets plowed, it is a deep snow tire that may suit them best. For that long distance higher speed driver, he will probably like something with better handling and treadwear giving up on the most extreme traction a bit. For some people there priority is keeping the cost as effective as possible as they are students on a very limited budget.

As you can see, how anyone can say one tire is the best and another isn't is beyond me. It is most important to find someone who can help you wade through all the bullshit and get to a tire that suits exactly what perameters make a tire work best for your specific set of circumstances, and those web results are not always the best thing if you don't know what properties make it suit your needs...