Winter Tire Reviews

[PAnderso]

Mikko, I just read your review or rather slam on the Blizzak WS-50 tires. I also noticed it was an old message. Do you have any more recent info on this tire?
I recently bought these tires & so far have been delighted with their performance. I was just curious if they may have perfected the tire since your review. Thank you!
PAnderso

[Mikko]

Originally posted by PAnderso
Mikko, I just read your review or rather slam on the Blizzak WS-50 tires. I also noticed it was an old message. Do you have any more recent info on this tire?
I recently bought these tires & so far have been delighted with their performance. I was just curious if they may have perfected the tire since your review. Thank you!
PAnderso

- No update, sorry. I don't think they would change anything about the tire anyway. Look for new releases of the same 'blizzak' name I guess.

The tire was mediocre fine overall, exept for the pavement. On the cold pavement, the grip when doing accident avoidance (thus, not regular driving), such as to avoid another car, deer, etc, it was horrible.

it is a tire that severely compromises tarmac performance in return for reasonable ice and snow grip.

I'm sure you will be fine. But just keep that in mind, that your maneuvering abilities on tarmac are nothing like how good they could be. Defensive driving!

[CBRComet]

It is a somewhat subjective opinion when people buy a new set of blizzaks or kumho or whatever and say that they are delighted with their performance. This is probably compared to the POS old tires they had or when you go from summer/all-seasons to winters. They probably are decent performers on their own.

This does not negate the fact that they may be inferior to higher performing tires from another manufacturer. Kumhos and other less expensive tires can be decent performers, but I don't think they are going to be OE on any Ferraris or Porsches anytime soon.

[googe]

any new updates?

[CalgarySupra]

WS-50 are the best that i know of

what is this disqualified bs?

even just having two in a real wheel drive car like supra/bmw you have near summer time control

[googe]

^

[fast95pony]

One thing I'd like to add ref the Blizzak WS-50 .

There are, I understand, 2 types : 40 series directional and 50 series non-directional WS-50 tires

I have 215/45-17 WS-50 (directional) on the Focus (all 4 tires )and I love them.This is my second year on the same set. I find them good on dry pavement and great in the snow/ice.

[fast95pony]

Originally posted by CalgarySupra

even just having two in a real wheel drive car like supra/bmw you have near summer time control

Having just two snow tires is dangerous .

[AcuraTl]

have four arctic alpines on the odyssey (sp?) havent even put them on yet will do so asap...great tires ! four thumbs up

[Moe Man]

nokians can only be purchased from kal tire, and they spank any winter tire out there, i have 4 cars and they all have nokians, never will i buy anything else

[QuasarCav]

Blizzak LM22 directional performance winter tire 195/55/15:

I chose these because I make alot of highway trips and needed the long life of a harder compound tire. They have alot of deep sipes and chunky treadblocks. The sidewall is only a bit softer than my Kumho 712's and the dry pavement ride is amazing. They are a little noisier than most but nothing offensive.

They are expensive at about 160ish per tire new but unlike the softer WS series they trade some ice/snow grip for treadlife and handling. They look pretty good with a lower profile and an aggresive tread pattern.

On the highway in on the dry roads it was hard to tell they were winter tires.

Their first test in snow was yesterday in Edmonton. They did handle well but were not exceptional. If you were easy of the gas and made slow turns they held up fine. On the highway in on the dry roads it was hard to tell they were winter tires.

I would buy a set again.

[googe]

Originally posted by QuasarCav
Blizzak LM22 directional performance winter tire 195/55/15:

I chose these because I make alot of highway trips and needed the long life of a harder compound tire. They have alot of deep sipes and chunky treadblocks. The sidewall is only a bit softer than my Kumho 712's and the dry pavement ride is amazing. They are a little noisier than most but nothing offensive.

They are expensive at about 160ish per tire new but unlike the softer WS series they trade some ice/snow grip for treadlife and handling. They look pretty good with a lower profile and an aggresive tread pattern.

On the highway in on the dry roads it was hard to tell they were winter tires.

Their first test in snow was yesterday in Edmonton. They did handle well but were not exceptional. If you were easy of the gas and made slow turns they held up fine. On the highway in on the dry roads it was hard to tell they were winter tires.

I would buy a set again.

i have a set of these on my car. not impressed at all. wouldnt recommend them, especially for the price. there is much better.

[Brewmaster]

Originally posted by Blur911
Most of the tires can't be found here as the manufacturers market different models. Plus, in most of the country, we can't use studs.

Studded tires ARE allowed in every Province and Territory in Canada although some provinces have a limitation to what months you can use them. In others there's no law that prevents you from using them 12 months of the year if you were silly enough to do it.

Most of these tires can be found in every major city in Canada but you would actually have to make a phone call or two to find them.

Kelvin

[ExtraSlow]

Nice ancient thread bump.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

4 years for one lousy comment.

[Mikko]

First thing's last: Any interest in the 2013 year's edition of this test?

Hi all. It has been eleven years (holy crap) since I first relayed that extensive winter tire review, translated and all. I hope you have all been well.

I've been trying to help a friend (girl) from Calgary choose new tires after she slid down an icy hill and into a pole a week ago which wrecked her car. Tried as hard as I could to look up the tires that were recommended to her, and to see what else is out there and how it all compares. Finding any kind of objective information is next to hopeless unless you pay. So I subbed and got myself the latest edition of the same massive test from 2003.

The girl wants to believe only what her local Calgary co-workers and local internet posters etc think, no matter how absurd. She dismisses all the numbers from the only source we have to go on, because, well, argument from popularity - if it's popular it must be true. Some of the guys spreading bad information are even employees at kal-tire. That is just wrong...

This left me feeling rather cynical and like I did all this research for freaking nothing. Then I remembered you guys. There were sane people here last I checked. Besides, seems the general populace there is in dire need of facts/education on the topic, if one ever hopes to fight the myths going around. Maybe this topic and you guys will help people, like her, to make rational, informed decisions.

So, is there any interest in getting the 2013 edition of this mega-test, covering 20 different (10 are studded, 10 are not) winter tires? I can supply the original article in Swedish (PDF) and also do a translation job of the charts if there is enough interest.

[googe]

Winter tire reviews are really hard to find. I'm sure an update would be one of the most viewed threads on here. I always use consumer reports, which isn't very good. Please share

[rage2]

Holy shit Mikko how have you been?

[alpha]

Interested

[Mikko]

No sweat guys, I'll do it. Btw seems I convinced the girl to try the only sane option for her after a nice long skype session. The world isn't 100% cynical-inducing - yet.

I will make it a spreadsheet which goes straight to the numbers for easy comparison of the tires. Then perhaps add in some of the subjective opinions of the article writer when it comes to how he thought they 'felt' like (I generally don't care much about that, as impressions/feelings have a hard time beating scientifically administered performance tests. For example, the feeling that a tire is great on pavement because it feels so crispy when turning the wheel a little, does not mean that it actually is either safe or has better grip on pavement than another tire.).

Not to spoil the fun too much, but it is very clear from the test that the Hakkapeelitta 8 is hugely superior to everything else in the kind of climate conditions we find ourselves in (Calgary, Stockholm). Has to do with lack of dedicated winter tire developers for our conditions, and now changed regulations for the tire industry regarding permissable road wear and harmful particles stirred up from the pavement - only the Hakka 8's passed the new test while adding tons of studs while everyone else has gone the opposite route of stripping off tons of studs instead).

The Michelin Xi3 that many (but not everyone) speaks so warmly of is similar in performance (though usually a little bit inferior) in most categories, except on ice where it is is atrociously poor when trying to slow down, much worse mobility (wouldn't want to have to rely only on that among icy hills for sure) but pretty good with the stability/handling part (i.e. it's predictable and consistant). What it has going for it is that it is pretty quiet, and it feels (but without more grip - even less grip in many cases) more responsive on pavement. A lot better than a no-season tire. But over 50% longer stopping distance than the Hakka 8 when icy? :S That's quite a flaw.

Gahh lots of numbers to add in.