Snow Tires

[Jack_Toepfer]

@moparjim - nailed it!
I usually default people to Blizzaks because they come in a variety of sizes for sports cars. BUT my Nokias Hakkas’ were the best snow tire I ever experienced, and I had them on an F250… unstoppable.
See what’s available in the size you want, and pick one of the 2 mentioned above. On my Hellcat I ran Pirelli Scorpion Snow and Ice and another brand I can’t think of, but I only ran those because I got them super cheap.

 

[AeroF16]

F16 i have driven numerous rwd cars in the winter, its not a problem until the snow is too deep for your ground clearance. X ice and blizzaks both did excellent for me.

I've always had a truck, so my experience is RWD until the rear end with no load starts sliding all over, then into 4wd.

I'm trying to avoid buying another vehicle for the Winter so I can buy another Hellcat when things get back to normal and, although we just bought a house, we are going to buy another property in a year or so.

I can always work from home with my full time gig and just postpone a trip to fly if the weather gets bad, so I'm going to check out the recommendations here and get some ordered.

Just looked at reviews for the OEM tire on my Jeep GC-L. Apparently they're shit in the snow, so looks like I'll be ordering a better set of all seasons for the wife as well as these.

 

[Prange]

I've had winter tires for over 20 years now. A lot depends on how much snow you get in your area. If you live in the snow-belt or in an area that has real winter cold and brutal snowfall on a regular basis from Nov-Apr, your priorities may be different. The guys in Minnesota, New York, etc. know what a real winter is.

Illinois isn't too bad, so I need a tire that is acceptable in the dry.

For me, my last set of Conti's worked out as the best compromise in snow/dry. I got 3 seasons out of them. I've had Pirellis, Michelins, Goodyears, and Blizzaks in the past.

As WhatKnot said, with proper winter tires, ground clearance is the limiting factor.

 

[Wayne]

Not at all. RWD is all I have ever driven here year round. However, with dedicated winter tires. I think with the Blizzak tires I could go as good as many 4WD/All WD vehicles that had all season tires. And, as I had them on the front as well, I could stop better than the 4 wheel drive vehicles.

Good point! All vehicles have 4 wheel brakes. It’s the tires that stop and steer you. I always put 4 snow wheels and tires on any vehicle I drive in the winter. I never drove any of my Challengers (SRT8, Hellcat, Redeye) in the winter. My Ram C/V van (Caravan cargo van) with 4 good snow tires is outstanding in the snow and ice in Upstate New York.

 

[parttimer]

Nokian Hakapalitta would be my first choice.
That being said my buddy owns a tire shop and he sold me on the new Continental Ice for my Ram and my mother's Grand Caravan.
He found no difference to the Nokian.
I use the Blizzaks on my 300 AWD. According to my buddy they are a slightly lesser tire.
Up untill the last 4yrs I pretty much had only RWD cars and I found its best to get a real good winter tire like any of the 2
I mentioned. Likely all 3 but I have yet to try out the Conti to vouch for them myself.
I have no reason to doubt my buddy though.

One thing you can do is try to get a tire thinner than the ones for summer. They work better in snow than a wider tire.

I've heard great things about the nokian tires. When I had my jeep SRT many people suggested them for winter tires. I've had good luck with one set of Pirelli snow tires, the second set, different model were terrible.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

 

[moparjim]

I've heard great things about the nokian tires. When I had my jeep SRT many people suggested them for winter tires. I've had good luck with one set of Pirelli snow tires, the second set, different model were terrible.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

The Nokian Hakka' is what the Blizzak was when it came out. Undoubtedly the best out there.
Interesting info on the new Continental ICE is it was developed by working with the biggest tire supplier in the Montreal area.
The thinking was we get large amounts of snow at times as well as ice from freezing rain and cold.
My friend is a Conti dealer but he tries a few different tires every year on his car. According to him the Conti is not giving anything up in comparison to the Nokian.
I hope so because I had Toyo's on my Ram.
Let's say they sucked.

 

[AeroF16]

The Nokian Hakka' is what the Blizzak was when it came out. Undoubtedly the best out there.
Interesting info on the new Continental ICE is it was developed by working with the biggest tire supplier in the Montreal area.
The thinking was we get large amounts of snow at times as well as ice from freezing rain and cold.
My friend is a Conti dealer but he tries a few different tires every year on his car. According to him the Conti is not giving anything up in comparison to the Nokian.
I hope so because I had Toyo's on my Ram.
Let's say they sucked.

The Conti all seasons for my wife's Jeep have excellent ratings on tire rack in all conditions. I'm going to order them for her car and looks like the Michellin might be the only one I can find in the factory size for my BMW.

 

[Deano]

Some one else here said narrower tires are better in the snow. So many vehicles these days use WIDE tires for traction. Snow is the one place that wide is a negative. So, don't hesitate to use a narrower tire for winter. It just needs to be the correct size for the wheel diameter, close to the overall diameter and have a similar weight rating to the OE tires.
Good place to research that: https://tiresize.com/comparison/

 

[Magnified]

You mean all this time using my 345s in the snow was wrong?

 

[Wayne]

One of the reasons I traded in my Redeye was due to it having to sit in my garage for 5-months during the cold winter weather. I plan to drive the Trackhawk all year. My wife’s SRT Jeep (which I also traded in for a Trackhawk) had a second set of OEM wheels with Pirelli Snows in the 295/45-20 size. This was a good combination, however, the 295/45-20 size is very limited for snow tires. 265/50-20 is identical in diameter, but seems too narrow for mounting on a 10” wheel. I’m sure I could get them mounted, but don’t think it would be a good combo. I wish the 295/45-20 size had more winter tire options.

 

[Jack_Toepfer]

My car had 275s all around on Hellcat replica wheels… with 300lbs in the trunk it did great.

 

[parttimer]

One of the reasons I traded in my Redeye was due to it having to sit in my garage for 5-months during the cold winter weather. I plan to drive the Trackhawk all year. My wife’s SRT Jeep (which I also traded in for a Trackhawk) had a second set of OEM wheels with Pirelli Snows in the 295/45-20 size. This was a good combination, however, the 295/45-20 size is very limited for snow tires. 265/50-20 is identical in diameter, but seems too narrow for mounting on a 10” wheel. I’m sure I could get them mounted, but don’t think it would be a good combo. I wish the 295/45-20 size had more winter tire options.

Same problem I found with my SRT was the limited tire choice. I ran 275's for my second set, 265 is much better, but as you said, finding someone to mount them might be hard.

 

[AeroF16]

Purchased the Continentals last night for the Jeep, installing next Friday.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Continental&tireModel=CrossContact+LX25&partnum=65TR0CCLX25&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=Jeep&autoYear=2021&autoModel=Grand Cherokee L 4X4&autoModClar=

I am going to buy the Michelins Xi3s for the BMW. They come in the factory size for my wheels, 245/40/19, and rated pretty high. Also going to get a descent discount through Discount Tire. They are doing 10% if you buy online, 10% for being military (got both of these discounts on the tires I bought last night) and then, starting Oct 15th, Michelin is doing $110 manufacturer rebate if you buy a set of 4.

They come in second to the Blizzaks on TireRacks survey but Bridgestone doesn't make that tire in my OEM size. TireRack has a new Michelin Tire, the X-Ice Snow, "projected" as the number one tire but they don't have any data on it. Don't think I am going to buy tires based on their feelings haha.

 

[HWDan]

X-ice snow was introduced last fall, funny that no one has posted reviews on TireRack for it at all.

They were supposed to replace the x-i3's so if you do get the Xi3's you should check the date codes so you're not getting old stock from last season.

Anyway too late but here's Tirerack's review ...

 

[AeroF16]

X-ice snow was introduced last fall, funny that no one has posted reviews on TireRack for it at all.

They were supposed to replace the x-i3's so if you do get the Xi3's you should check the date codes so you're not getting old stock from last season.

Anyway too late but here's Tirerack's review ...

Huh, I didn't even look into it because the charts made it seem like they hadn't been tested.

Not ordering until the 15th when the Michelin rebate starts, I'll look at the snows more!

 

[AeroF16]

Well The X-Ice Snows are on backorder everywhere I looked.

With all the supply chain issues these days, I didn't want to get stuck without a good tire, so I ordered the Xi3s. Getting them installed on Tuesday. Our temps are dropping into high 30s, low 40s at night but are still around 60s during the day. Probably a little early to have them on but I'd rather have them on and not need them than not have them on and be halfway between here and Vegas stuck on the side of the road.

 

[moparjim]

Well The X-Ice Snows are on backorder everywhere I looked.

With all the supply chain issues these days, I didn't want to get stuck without a good tire, so I ordered the Xi3s. Getting them installed on Tuesday. Our temps are dropping into high 30s, low 40s at night but are still around 60s during the day. Probably a little early to have them on but I'd rather have them on and not need them than not have them on and be halfway between here and Vegas stuck on the side of the road.

Here the rule of thumb is steady temps below roughly 44f and it's time for winter tires.
My buddy that owns a tire distributer told me last week that they are running out of some winter tires already. By law we have to have them on for Dec 1st. The people waiting may have problems later.

 

[AeroF16]

Here the rule of thumb is steady temps below roughly 44f and it's time for winter tires.
My buddy that owns a tire distributer told me last week that they are running out of some winter tires already. By law we have to have them on for Dec 1st. The people waiting may have problems later.

Yep, agreed on both temps and getting screwed by waiting. Luckily, the temps will be in the 40s when I go to work then the car will sit and the temps will hit 60 on the 5 mile drive home, so I’m not too worried about it.

 

[Magnified]

Here the rule of thumb is steady temps below roughly 44f and it's time for winter tires.
My buddy that owns a tire distributer told me last week that they are running out of some winter tires already. By law we have to have them on for Dec 1st. The people waiting may have problems later.

So by law, all vehicles in use on December 1st must be equipped with snow tires? What is the penalty for violation?

 

[moparjim]

So by law, all vehicles in use on December 1st must be equipped with snow tires? What is the penalty for violation?

Yes from Dec 1st to March 15th all road vehicles must have all winter tires with the snowflake stamped on them. The fines are 200 to $300 plus costs. As the law is written.
These costs I believe is towing to either a repair facility or a tow yard. So as you can imagine it can get expensive.
The traffic deaths in winter months here have halved since the law was brought in.
I never had a problem with it as I have always had winter tires on all 4 wheels for a much longer period than the law requires.