winter tires for FWD SUV

[cookiedough]

Any experience or recommendations?  Leaning toward the Bridgestone Blizzaks but also heard most all winter tires made nowadays are a ton better than even the best all season radial tire for winter use only under 45 degrees 4-5 months of the year where I live.  Thinking of dropping down from an 18" OEM tire and buying 16" alloy wheels with 235/70R/16 winter tires that match same size almost of OEM's 235/60/18 mediocre all season tires currently using.  Reason going to 16" is cost of winter tires are about 50 bucks cheaper than 18" winter tires while new cheap alloy wheels are only 89 bucks each and won't be needing TPMS sensors changing since not going to put them on since too costly (200 bucks extra).


Besides Blizzaks,  can get a great deal online for Firestone Winterforce winter 16" tires for only 89 bucks each, any recommendations?

[3fan4life]

I like the Blizzaks and have been considering them as a winter for the wife's Subaru. But at the moment I am leaning torwards this tire:




http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Winter/WEATHER-MASTER-S-T-2.aspx


It doesn't cost as  much as the Blizzak and I have always gotten good service out of Cooper Tires. 

[R J]

Cooper tires are good.   I use them on my Chevy Trike, not a snow tire however.

My wife's Toyota Highlander I put a set of Michelin's on it.

Here is the tire I got, expensive.

http://www.michelinman.com/tire-selector/category/suv-crossover/ltx-a-t2/tire-details

[Hooter]

I have Firestone Destination A/Ts on my department command unit and they are great. I go where I want to and they are quiet. doing what I do getting stuck isn't an option. MY Deputy Chief has had them on his vehicle for going on 3 years so the wear has been good for him. FWIW

[3W-lonerider]

i'm running a continental extreme contact on my lincoln town car. now the towncar is a rear wheel drive that with all season radials was totally helpless in less than a half inch of snow. put these tires on and iv'e driven threw 4 inches of snow and never felt the car slide. if these tires work excelent on a 2 wheel drive they would work wonders on an all wheel drive. think i paid 425 mounted and balanced.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/BigPic.jsp?sidewall=Blackwall&tireMake=Continental&tireModel=ExtremeContact+DWS

[Patrick]

The Bridgestone is a very good tire. The Firestone is noisy. Depending on year make model of vehicle, you may not like the tire light always being lit.

[cookiedough]

thanks guys for all the advice, keep the suggestions, etc. coming in.  Also have heard the firestone winterforce snow tires are very good as well but noiser than most others don't know how bad though until you actually get them to see if too annoying to put up with 4 months of the year.  Safety is a concern yet I don't always wear my seat belt so the idiot light on the dash lit up all the time whether it be for the seat belt or no TPMS sensors won't bother me one bit as long as it doesn't chrip/ding at me all the time.

Doing more research still and even checking craigslist for winter tires some very good lightly used almost like new sets online but having a very tough time finding 16" rims/tires in the size I need so far.  If I can pickup slightly used snow tires/rims for 400 bucks (1/2 cost of new) in the size I need, going to get them no matter the kind of winter tires they are as long as they fit, anything is better than the P.O.S. stock OEM Kumho solus 21 tires I have now which totally suck in all winter conditions.

[Black Dog]

Cookie,

I've had very good results with the General Altimax Arctic.  It's a 'snow' tire, and should only be used in the winter/snowy season.  I went through TireRack, and for my FWD Honda Civic, and my sons AWD Subaru WRX, got them mounted on steel rims.  With these tires swapped out for the warmer weather tires (on all 4 corners), about Thanksgiving, and then removed around Easter, I've found them to be very 'grippy', and can go through just about anything a Wisconsin winter can dish out.

For my sons WRX, the Altimax Arctic were $97 each and the Blizzaks were $125

Here's a link to some info at TireRack

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Altimax+Arctic&partnum=055QR6AMAXA&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Subaru&autoYear=2003&autoModel=Impreza WRX Sedan&autoModClar=

Black Dog

[MarkT]

Two years ago I bought Michelins at Costco for the Exploder.  They had a sale so were competitive.  I am impressed.  Best gripping tires I've ever had.  Had a top rating from Consumer Reports.  Not the cheapest but I'm happy with them - the truck pulled right through bumper height snow and even a three foot drift of medium weight snow down my 200' drive.  Was expecting to have to dig it out but didn't get stuck.

[Varmintmist]

Always had good luck with Cooper M/S, not the Discoverer though.

[Former BMW Guy]

I had the first generation Blizzaks....hated them. They wore down very quickly.
I have Conti Extreme Contact on my Benz and wife has the Mich Pilot Alpine on her Quattro.
Both are excellent.

Good luck!

JP

[sugerbear]

on my second set of geolander a/t s.
had really good luck with them pretty quiet, good price.

05 chevy k1500

http://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/consumer/suvs_and_trucks/

look for the capacity you need.

just looked at tirerack.com, mine were less expensive than that ???

[JimC]

Blizzaks are great. I bought a set used for only one year with aluminum wheels ($550) for my wife's camry and it is hard to make them slip. You do want them mounted on an extra set of wheels because the winter rubber is very soft and wears quickly on warm dry pavement.

If you are going to go to 16 inch wheels, check the fit first, they may not fit over the brake calipers.

Jim

[cookiedough]

Blizzaks are great. I bought a set used for only one year with aluminum wheels ($550) for my wife's camry and it is hard to make them slip. You do want them mounted on an extra set of wheels because the winter rubber is very soft and wears quickly on warm dry pavement.

If you are going to go to 16 inch wheels, check the fit first, they may not fit over the brake calipers.

Jim

Yep, my tire installer guy locally mom and pop shop was concerned about the 16" rims fitting over the brake calipers since might not fit being standard OEM 18" tires now.  I see a set on craigslist used pretty decent price 18" same size as my rims just south of Milwaukee into IL but still would have to consider buying extra/cheaper rims and won't be able to make it there until Sunday and they emailed me back stating a guy from Milwaukee is coming down on Saturday.  Day late,  dollar short as usual.

[Dogg]

Go to pepboys and buy a set of cooper tires. Just an fyi, the definity is made by cooper. Look at the A/T2 great tire and reasonably priced. Plus its buy 3 get one free. Their road hazard cant be beat by anyone. Its a great program.

[Hotrodwing]

 :cooldude:have 4 Altimax's on my HHR for the past 3 winters.  They are great.

[MNBill]

I put a pair on my son's Lumina here is MN. I would not recommend doing that, he said the rear slid around alot after that. He said they went through deep snow great but he was most impressed with how much better the car would stop, the softer rubber would grip and stop on packed snow and ice much better than the all season tires he had.

[cookiedough]

I put a pair on my son's Lumina here is MN. I would not recommend doing that, he said the rear slid around alot after that. He said they went through deep snow great but he was most impressed with how much better the car would stop, the softer rubber would grip and stop on packed snow and ice much better than the all season tires he had.

If you are referring to winter only tires only on the front tires of a FWD vehicle,  I already know that is not safe since the all season radials on back will slide sideways when stopping and is very dangerous. 

[fudgie]

Why not save money and just get some tires you can use year round instead of just in winter? Seems like a waste of $$ to spend $500 for tires you use 3 months a yr.  ???

[cookiedough]

Why not save money and just get some tires you can use year round instead of just in winter? Seems like a waste of $$ to spend $500 for tires you use 3 months a yr.  ???

Reason being is because my Kumho tires are at only 27K mileage plenty of tread left will go 55K but are the worst tire ever to put on OEM in over 25+ years of driving in winter here in WI. During summer or no snow,  these tires are very good and ride and handle and great treadwear/longevity as well don't want to throw them away.   Even at 10K first winter last year our FWD SUV on even 1cm of snow spins tires and have to take off traction control and spin the heck out of the front tires to get moving from a stop.  Well documented Kumho solus 21 tires last long but are one of the worst cold weather winter tires on the market today.  Plus, in WI I would use them near 5 months of the year as long as temps are below 50 degrees mid-November to end of March. 

[Patrick]

Way back when it was common practice to install the snow tires around Thanksgiving. All-season tires kinda did away with that tradition. However, there are times and places where there is nothing like a good old snow tire. During the winter you save wear and tear on your good wheels and tires and during the winter you beat up the plain old wheels and have some traction to boot. Heck, some of us didn't worry about wheels and tires, we changed vehicles. 'Winter beaters' with good 'snow's' used to be common practice too.

[MarcusS]

Mitchelin cost more because you get more. I put 60K miles each on two sets for my 2wd Pu then went the cheap route with a set of Firestone becuase the truck is no longer my daily driver. 35K later I am depressed that i did not fork up the extra 400$. The Firestone are now about 60% gone and lost thier grip. The ride is also like a truck.   I also but a $1,200 set on my wifes Expidition and went snow skiing with out slipping a wheel. If you plan on keeping a vehicle another 60K, put your money on the ground. At 60K the mitchelins still had plenty of tread but had lost thier grip in mud and snow on my truck. If you can safely get 50 percent more wear, the addional cost is worth it. The quality of the ride is a bonus. I learned to drive in Ohio and had lots of fun spinning bias tires in the parking lots. My third setof tires for my mustang were mitchline and my fourth set for my PU will be mitchelins. Toyo, Cooper, general and the others are solid tires but I just get more miles and better ride from Mitchelins.

[doubletee]

Blizzaks! 

Had them on all four corners of RWD BMWs I used to drive through the winters. (Now it sits in the garage when the weather's bad, so it's shod with extreme performance summer only tires). Except for getting highsided because of the low ground clearance, there was nothing it wouldn't go through with those on them. Used to drive by and around many a 4-wheel drive vehicle shod with all season radials.

Going at least minus-1 is a good thing when going to snow tires. Besides being cheaper, they provide a narrower width which helps in the snow, too.

Always put snows on all four corners, regardless of how many wheels are driven. Getting moving and keeping in motion is the easy part. Stopping and turning is where you'll really see the benefits of snows, and you need them on all four corners to provide that balance.

[Tropic traveler]

What the heck are "winter tires"?????