Official 17/18 Winter Tire Thread

[cyra1ax]

Anyone got Toyo Observe GSi5? My Hakka R2's are on their last legs and I'll need to get a new set for next winter. Thinking either the Toyo's or something studless from Gisavled.

[Mostwanted]

Currently running Hakka 8s Studded on my Rav4, overkill yes, but driving 1000km per week on the highway better safer than sorry. I love them! Ran General Altimax Arctic Studded on my 4Runner before i sold it, I would have gone back to the Generals but got such an amazing deal on these Hakkas.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Loving my Champiro Ice Pro with 2mm studs. This is my fourth set.

[HiSpec]

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getting my studded Hakka 9s put on tomorrow. pricey as fuck but I've never had studded and after reading and watching vids about them, I decided to try them on my X5.

will report back when I've had a good chance to test them out.

Please provide your feedback on the Hakka 9s!!

[benyl]

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Anyone got Toyo Observe GSi5? My Hakka R2's are on their last legs and I'll need to get a new set for next winter. Thinking either the Toyo's or something studless from Gisavled.

Just got them on my F150. Hardly put it in 4WD anymore.

[max_boost]

Love my Blizzak WS80 and DMV2

the Nexen winspikes I have on the transit are also really good but blizzaks are life lol

[lint]

Running the Toyo Celsius on the Gti and so far so good. First drive when installed, they felt squishier than the stock UHP all seasons, but after driving for a bit don't really mind it. Slips a little more than the WS80, but I think they've performed really well over this first snowfall.
Still have the Continental Extremecontact DWS06 on the Flex, and have been really impressed with the snow performance as well. Have had no issues on the Bow Trail hill thus far.
Bought a set of Minerva - Emizero 4S ALL Weather for my mom's car. Felt good in the dry before the snow. She's been away, so I'll update when I get some feedback on how they do

[r3ccOs]

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I had some Nokian Rotiiva AT all seasons installed on my 3500 work truck last thursday.. I have a lot of weight in the truck much more than most people drive around with, but so far these tires kick ass on snow and ice. Kal tire assured me these are hard enough not to burn down quickly like a full winter tire did on the truck, and the price was good, 6 tires installed for 1600.00
I'm not even going to bother putting my chains in the back of the truck this year, I went up a deeply drifted rural driveway on Friday morning with ease and the truck is 2wd.

the Rotiiva's are awesome period. I used them last winter in a C ply in my half ton and rarely was there a necessity to use 4x4... they also wear quite good, but I was stupid using them through most of the summer (being AW) and they got down to the 40% mark and I decided to pull the plug and pick up the cooper AT/W

I would say the Rotiiva's on-road mannerisms are better than the AT/W and if you get the E ply (which you'd have) you get a ton of tread depth as well. The AT/W's IMO right now grips EVEN better on icy conditions and hardpack BUT are loud less comfortable than the Rotiiva's on the roads.

Offroad, I'd give the AT/W's the upper hand as their lugs are spaced to really clear out snow like a mud tire

Fuel economy seems better with the Rotiiva due to better rolling resistance, but also probably cause they were the C ply

if I were to drive my truck everyday, I'd definitely go Rotiiva again, even over an LTX M/S defender

[dj_rice]

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Anyone got Toyo Observe GSi5? My Hakka R2's are on their last legs and I'll need to get a new set for next winter. Thinking either the Toyo's or something studless from Gisavled.

I have the Garit KX version on mine this year. So far, pretty good but we haven't had the conditions yet to really test out. Still figuring out what PSI the tires work best in right now. Good bang for buck in this segment I think. But they are definately noiser than my summer Dunlop Runflats thats for sure but thats a given since winter tire.

[r3ccOs]

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Just got them on my F150. Hardly put it in 4WD anymore.

I found that though a full winter improves traction tremendously, I think it puts too much strain on the transfer case unless its a complete slick mess out. I think even hard packed roads warmer than -10 that with full winters (ulltra ice grip) that my turning radius was ridiculously wide while still feeling the wheel hopping, just going around corners.

[NissanFanBoy]

Waited till now to get some winter tires for my wife's Juke, found a 17 inch set of X-Ice's with 8-9/32nds and black steelies for $450, decent deal I think since brand new is around $1000.

The tires that came on the Juke are the Nokian all weathers with about 6-7/32nds left and they felt really dicy on ice/snow. I'm guessing all weathers are useless once they get low...

[benyl]

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I found that though a full winter improves traction tremendously, I think it puts too much strain on the transfer case unless its a complete slick mess out. I think even hard packed roads warmer than -10 that with full winters (ulltra ice grip) that my turning radius was ridiculously wide while still feeling the wheel hopping, just going around corners.

I had DMV1s before. Leaving a stop light, I would regularly have 1 wheel spinning. So much so, I was tempted to the Raptor TCCM / Switch mod that gives me 2WD lock. I've just been too lazy to order the parts from Tasca. With the GSi5, I am not having the same issues.

With the DMV1s, I would put in 4Hi coming to a stop. Leave the light and then switch back to 2Hi. Let off the gas to disengage either the hubs or the TC, then keep going. I only get wheel hop on hardpack when I have the rear diff locked.

[03ozwhip]

so a few things on the studded Hakka 9s. they are loud as fuck. even with the new "suck in" technology they have, they are still loud on dry pavement.

in deep slushy snow these things are beasts, my wife is scared shitless of her own shadow and she is driving like a maniac with these tires on lol

they just grip all over the place. the shoulder studs really help around corners that are snowy and you never have to feel afraid of pulling out in front of a car just to get caught slipping in front of them.

I drove into chestermere yesterday from strathmore and took the off ramp into chestermere at summer speeds(dry all around) and it never felt mushy or any kind of soft, it felt nice and firm through that turn, I was really impressed.

the last thing I noticed is changing lanes and I'm only mentioning this because the X5 is a 20x10 and 20x11 staggered setup with meaty 315/35 in the rear.

the OEM run flats pull you all over the road when changing lanes pretty much anywhere. I'm running a square 275/40/20 setup with the 9s and it is a completely different feel in ride compared to the bigger run flats.

it is super comfortable and changing lanes is "normal" now and you don't have to correct your steering over a hump in the middle of the lane like you would the run flats.

anyways, so far I've had only 1 issue with these tires. price. they were a little over $1700 installed, but so far they're well worth it.

[NissanFanBoy]

Question.. Are all studded tires just as good? I'm debating buying these no name Chinese tires that are studded off PMC tire...Maxtrek... For my Z, it's either these or pay more for non studded Blizzaks.

[blownz]

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so a few things on the studded Hakka 9s. they are loud as fuck. even with the new "suck in" technology they have, they are still loud on dry pavement.

That seems really odd as I have had Hakka 7's on two cars and an SUV and they were all quiet. And I currently have Hakka 8's on an SUV and car and they are both quiet as well. The 9's have a lot more studs, so maybe that is it, but I find it hard to believe a newer version would be louder than an older version. Is there a chance that your alignment is out a bit?

So to be clear, I am talking about driving at speed. Driving less than say 20km/h you can easily hear the clicking sound of the studs in any of the vehicles I have had with Hakka's if the stereo is off.

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Question.. Are all studded tires just as good? I'm debating buying these no name Chinese tires that are studded off PMC tire...Maxtrek... For my Z, it's either these or pay more for non studded Blizzaks.

Most tests constantly show that for the most part, you get what you pay for. So I would say no. Plus, when it has such a huge safety impact, why would you take a chance just to save maybe $100/year over the life of the tires?

I know many years ago, two people I knew had two door Saturn Ions automatics (control your excitement...) and each of them just purchased new winter tires. One just bought some Michelin X-Ice (believe they were the original ones) and the other had Hankook ipikes (I think that was what they were called). Anyway, we went to a snow covered Canadian tire parking lot late one night and they did about 5 'drag races' and braking tests. Very unscientific, but the Michelins were clearly much better. And I think at the time the Hankook guy paid about $400 and the Michelin guy paid about $500.

And a better tire will be worth every penny if you really have a close call or end up in a minor accident vs a major one.

[mzdspd]

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Question.. Are all studded tires just as good? I'm debating buying these no name Chinese tires that are studded off PMC tire...Maxtrek... For my Z, it's either these or pay more for non studded Blizzaks.

The chinese tires are usually good on ice and snow but they suffer on dry conditions. They are loud and at >80 km they are very floaty and unstable. If you just stick with city driving, they are okay for a cheap option. But they do not compete with a tier one tire like a blizzak.

I have Salium Ice Blazer that came on my car when I bought it, they work really well for the frozen lake training and winter driving but on a dry highway at 120, they are loud and have no corner stability.

[03ozwhip]

let me be clear, I don't hear the click of the studs, it's the road noise that is much noisier than my run flat all seasons.

[suntan]

I have Kumho Izens on the Fiesta. 6th season now. They have good traction. You will lose a ton of manoeuvrability. They brake well. Not as good as the Blizzaks but way better than any all-season tire. Also they melt like mad in warm weather.

The Santa Fe XL has Blizzak WS80s. They really are life.

It makes me wonder how good performance winters are, because hell those would be fun.

Many years ago, I had Nokian WR G1s on a Honda Accord. They were okay but not nearly as good a real winter tire.

I had Nokian WR G2s on a Ford Escape. Way better than the G1s. Great traction until it hit -25C, at which point they were utterly useless.

The first winter tires I ever had were Michelin Arctic Alpins. They were good at first, but the second season they sucked. Also they were loud as hell, and resulted in almost dangerous steering situations (they had I think zero sidewall stiffness).

[Tik-Tok]

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Question.. Are all studded tires just as good? I'm debating buying these no name Chinese tires that are studded off PMC tire...Maxtrek... For my Z, it's either these or pay more for non studded Blizzaks.

Kind of depends on your location IMO. If you're in the heart of a hilly suburb that almost never sees a plow or sander, then get cheap studded tires. If you live 2 block away from a major artery that gets constantly plowed, than quality non-studded is the way to go.

Or just buy a quality studded tire and live like a king.

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The chinese tires are usually good on ice and snow but they suffer on dry conditions. They are loud and at >80 km they are very floaty and unstable. If you just stick with city driving, they are okay for a cheap option. But they do not compete with a tier one tire like a blizzak.

The problem I've seen with cheap studded tires, is that a they will still become a hockey puck at -15 like all-seasons do, so now you're just floating on studs when driving on dry pavement, which is almost as shitty as all-seasons on ice.

[r3ccOs]

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Kind of depends on your location IMO. If you're in the heart of a hilly suburb that almost never sees a plow or sander, then get cheap studded tires. If you live 2 block away from a major artery that gets constantly plowed, than quality non-studded is the way to go.

Or just buy a quality studded tire and live like a king.



The problem I've seen with cheap studded tires, is that a they will still become a hockey puck at -15 like all-seasons do, so now you're just floating on studs when driving on dry pavement, which is almost as shitty as all-seasons on ice.

I'm almost a "budget" winter tire junkie and though I can say my favorite to date was a Gislaved Frost 5, I have used Nokian Hakka 7s, WRs, Ultra Ice grip, XICE2, General tire articmax (basically a gislaved), 2 sets of Goodyear Nordics, Firestones and now Coopers weather masters

I haven't yet used a chinese brand, though I'm getting more comfortable with more of the "common" brands; say Nexen, Champiro and Sailun...

Okay, NOW... when it comes down to getting value, compromise and unstoppable traction the BEST combo I've used where the tire was a low speed rated, jelly like sidewalls with unbelievable deep snow traction and ice grip, yet plauged with terrible milage and road noise as well as manerisms were the firestone winterfoce studded.

honestly terrible carcass but no punctures or buldges... didn't corner well and added tons of steering play BUT big deep lugs chugged through deep snow like a mud tire, and the sipes enhanced with studs kept up with the best non-studded I've used on ice

the Cooper weathermaster s/c's I bought are very similar but with just "slightly" better road mannerisms, but again with studs is a beast and luggy to get through the deep shit