CCL123 Posted October 18, 2011 Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 Hi there, With winter coming I wanted to get some winter tires for the Canadian winter but I have no idea where to start! I've been reading reviews on Bridgestone Blizzak amongst others but I was hoping for some person experiences. Thank you in advance!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorpio Posted October 18, 2011 Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 I've had best results for winter traction with both Blizzaks and Michelin X-Ice snow tires.The Blizzaks did wear very fast though I found in comparison to others I've had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianzed Posted October 18, 2011 Report Share Posted October 18, 2011 (edited) I have been told by several tire dealers to try the BFG slalom series winter tires ( I have always had good luck with BFG in the past also) They seem to be priced reasonalbly , the parent company of BFG is Michelin tires. Edited October 18, 2011 by canadianzed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL123 Posted October 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2011 Oh wow ! ok ! Has anyone ever had experience with Hankook, I talked to some tire guy and he was saying that it was a good brand, but it might be becasue he had a whole bunch in his warehouse :S I know that I've had good experience with Dunlop all season tires but I'm not sure about the winter ones Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted October 20, 2011 Report Share Posted October 20, 2011 On my last car I had Hankook I-pikes. They were very good in snow and the wet but not great on dry roads. In fact one day when I was heading over the mountain (15% grade for ~1.5 miles) there were tons of cars stuck and I had to stop several times. Never had a problem getting back under way. The tread pattern is very similar to a General snow tire and both exhibit a strange behavior on hard braking...basically the rear end gets squirelly. I only had this once and it was a complete panic stop, other hard braking was fine. I have also had blizzaks and found the Hankooks to be a little more stable feeling on dry roads but they were no where near the handling I got from teh Dunlop M3's I had before. Those drove more like all seasons that were actually good in the great snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL123 Posted October 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 On my last car I had Hankook I-pikes. They were very good in snow and the wet but not great on dry roads. In fact one day when I was heading over the mountain (15% grade for ~1.5 miles) there were tons of cars stuck and I had to stop several times. Never had a problem getting back under way. The tread pattern is very similar to a General snow tire and both exhibit a strange behavior on hard braking...basically the rear end gets squirelly. I only had this once and it was a complete panic stop, other hard braking was fine. I have also had blizzaks and found the Hankooks to be a little more stable feeling on dry roads but they were no where near the handling I got from teh Dunlop M3's I had before. Those drove more like all seasons that were actually good in the great snow. Ok! Thank you! I guess with the hard breaking i could just leave a longer distance, but other than that were there any other complaints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted October 21, 2011 Report Share Posted October 21, 2011 Not really...for the price they performed great. I only had them for one season but they didn't seem to wear all that much, well relative to something like a Blizzak. I think I would have gotten possible two more winters out of them (~30k total). That is basically what I got out of the Dunlops; after the 3rd winter there wasn't enough tread for another winter so I ran them out to summer. If I had to do it again and had the extra cash I would have gotten performance all seasons just because I don't think they gave up that much ultimate snow traction and handled dry roads great too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL123 Posted October 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Has anyone tried Yokohama TI's? This tire centre near where I live said that it was the best for the Edge. They also told me to instead of going 245/60/18 to go 235/65/18, do people normally do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackdaniel Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 If price is no concern Nokian Hakkapeliitta ( not sure of spelling) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted October 28, 2011 Report Share Posted October 28, 2011 Has anyone tried Yokohama TI's? This tire centre near where I live said that it was the best for the Edge. They also told me to instead of going 245/60/18 to go 235/65/18, do people normally do this? Going narrower is common with snow tires. In theory it helps with traction but I have never seen a test showing it made real world differences. Unless of course you do what rally cars do and go much narrower. But the size difference you are talking about is ~1/2" and certainly won't cause any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL123 Posted October 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2011 Going narrower is common with snow tires. In theory it helps with traction but I have never seen a test showing it made real world differences. Unless of course you do what rally cars do and go much narrower. But the size difference you are talking about is ~1/2" and certainly won't cause any problems. Oh my gosh, ok wow! Thank you for answering my questions! Yeah the only concern was that going for a different size other than stock would have been illegal or someting, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SELAWD2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 I have been told by several tire dealers to try the BFG slalom series winter tires ( I have always had good luck with BFG in the past also) They seem to be priced reasonalbly , the parent company of BFG is Michelin tires. Hi canadianzed, I too live in Canada. I drive a SEL AWD and I was wondering if you went with the BFGs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SELAWD2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Going narrower is common with snow tires. In theory it helps with traction but I have never seen a test showing it made real world differences. Unless of course you do what rally cars do and go much narrower. But the size difference you are talking about is ~1/2" and certainly won't cause any problems. Do you know if by going narrower I would need to get a new set of rims? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SELAWD2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 I was told to go with Pirelli Scorpion. The price difference was but 8$ a tire. Has anyone tried these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted November 2, 2011 Report Share Posted November 2, 2011 Do you know if by going narrower I would need to get a new set of rims? Depends on how narrow you go and what tire you choose. There are charts online that will list tire size and recommended rim widths. But if you are making a minimal change to width you likely won't have any issues. A good sanity check is to look at Tire Rack and see what they package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl-z Posted November 3, 2011 Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 I wanted to go with Bridgestone Blizzaks as they always seem to among the top rated winter tires and I could have got them at a very good price from Costco. Unfortunately Costco would not install them on my MKX because they are 3 speed ratings below the stock 20" Pirelli all-seasons (Costco has some pretty anal tire installation policies). I ended up getting them to install Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow which have the same speed rating as stock. The good thing about these tires is that the size I got - 235/65R/18 - are extra-load rating (a good idea for a relatively heavy SUV) and rated highly for dry roads which always end up being the majority of my winter driving. Oh yeah, I can also drive continuously on them at 170 km/hr. As if. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL123 Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 I wanted to go with Bridgestone Blizzaks as they always seem to among the top rated winter tires and I could have got them at a very good price from Costco. Unfortunately Costco would not install them on my MKX because they are 3 speed ratings below the stock 20" Pirelli all-seasons (Costco has some pretty anal tire installation policies). I ended up getting them to install Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow which have the same speed rating as stock. The good thing about these tires is that the size I got - 235/65R/18 - are extra-load rating (a good idea for a relatively heavy SUV) and rated highly for dry roads which always end up being the majority of my winter driving. Oh yeah, I can also drive continuously on them at 170 km/hr. As if. Yeah right now it is deciding between the Blizzak and the Michelin X-Ice Xi2. I went to visit my local tire guy AGAIN (im sure he hates me by now lol) and he said that since I'm bascially doing most driving in a region where theres gonna be more ice than slow I should go for either Michelin, Bridgestone, or Yokohama. The thing is though the Blizzaks are like 229 a tire i think at Costco with no rebate, and the Michelins are 235 a tire with $70 rebate. SO yeah i'm still deciding, deciding lol. Kinda procastinating a little too cause I don't want the summer rims to come off And thank you thank you for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlepse Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 I know on another forum I was active on there were a lot of positive reviews on the X-Ice tires. I don't believe these are a dual compound tire so they don't lose much of their effectiveness all at once. The Blizzak's have that tube microcell tech that is only on the outside portion, so about half way through the tread block the magic is gone. Granted every snow tire gets less effective over time but the Blizzaks do drop off quickly and tend to wear faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlebout Posted November 16, 2011 Report Share Posted November 16, 2011 I have been told by several tire dealers to try the BFG slalom series winter tires ( I have always had good luck with BFG in the past also) They seem to be priced reasonalbly , the parent company of BFG is Michelin tires. I just got my Edge and I received a free winter tire package from Ford. They supplied the BFG's. Have not had any snow yet, but they drive real nice on dry/wet roads. They have lots of great reviews online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SELAWD2011 Posted December 5, 2011 Report Share Posted December 5, 2011 Has anyone tried/heard of Cooper Artic Claw or Cooper WSC. I found the Artic Claw for a low price 172.50$ tax in. However the guy only has them in 235/65/18. Is it ok to go narrower Will it impact the drive in any way? Lastly, Im not planning on purchasing the tire sensors for the winter steel wheels. Does this impact any of the electronics of the car or will it be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL123 Posted December 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 Has anyone tried/heard of Cooper Artic Claw or Cooper WSC. I found the Artic Claw for a low price 172.50$ tax in. However the guy only has them in 235/65/18. Is it ok to go narrower Will it impact the drive in any way? Lastly, Im not planning on purchasing the tire sensors for the winter steel wheels. Does this impact any of the electronics of the car or will it be fine. I just got the 235/65/18 Yokohama Geolander, and let me tell you the tires are awesome! I went narrower, so far I have not seen a difference in driving but I actually think they look better narrower. Anyways as for the sensors, I opted to stick the stock sensors on my winter tires, but have NO sensors on my summer. Theres nothing wrong with that, you just have to deal with pressing the OK button everytime you get into the car cause it will say "Tire Pressure Warning". And you also have to deal with that little light on your dahsboard. Other than that you should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richy Posted December 13, 2011 Report Share Posted December 13, 2011 I have been looking at a package from Tirerack for 17" 235 65R 17's for the Blizzak and a set of painted silver Sport A7's for less than $1050. Seems fair. Going to 18's and/or chrome really adds up fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL123 Posted December 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I have been looking at a package from Tirerack for 17" 235 65R 17's for the Blizzak and a set of painted silver Sport A7's for less than $1050. Seems fair. Going to 18's and/or chrome really adds up fast. That sounds like a good price! We paid around 910 just for our tires and to have them installed. If I remember correctly the Blizzaks should have a rebate on them. We would've of went with 17's for the winter but decided in the summer that it'd be super fun to shop for summer rims so we were stuck with paying extra for the 18's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11edgelimited Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 (edited) I just traded in my 08 scion xb in for my edge limited AWD. I realize the XB is front wheel drive and about 1000 lbs lighter than the edge. But I just put a set of Michellin X ice's on that. Well I had to do a round trip from NY to NC, AL, VA, back to NY about 2300 miles in a week, and I have to say for being winter tires they are by far the quietest and nicest riding I had put on that car with excellent dry traction. Never got a chance to drive in snow with them. They did come with the $70 rebate but it is a mail in rebate and I sent it in the week of thanksgiving and nothing even shows up on their rebate site yet. I travel for work 8 months out of the year so drive about 25,000 miles a year. I have had EAGLE ULTRA GRIP GW3, DUNLOP SP WINTER SPORT 3D, BRIDGESTONE BLIZZAK WS60 XL, Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice and most recently MICHELIN X-ICE XI2. My favorite in the snow were the ultra grip GW3. dry pavement were the Michelin's and they even come with the Green X rating. My least favorite were the Ultra Grip Ice, After about 15,000 miles they were worn down to the snow legal bar and they were horrible on dry pavement. When it comes time to put tires on my edge they will probably be the Michelin X-ice XI2's. Edited December 18, 2011 by 11edgelimited Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
11edgelimited Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 the Tire Rack deal is: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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