Snow tire selection: Opinions, experiences, etc?

[Safety Guy]

Soon I hope to buy a set of four snows in 175/70-13 to put on Aqua's VW alloys for winter. I'll be taking the all seasons off (same size) and putting on my 13" Estrellas with the Falken 175/60s for a little fun for a month or so before winter sets in.

I've had good luck with Tires-easy so here is their selection of snow tires:

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?suchen=Ordern&cart_id=88861202.135.21421&ranzahl=4&Breite=175&Quer=70&Felge=13&Transport=P&dsco=135&sowigan=Wi&kategorie=6&Ang_pro_Seite=20&sort_by=preis

I'd see about a local place beating the prices (shipping will be about $10 per tire), but since I can dismount my old tires and mount my new ones, I figure shipping and mounting cancels each other out. Then I'll get them balanced at Wal-Mart for less than $6 each.

I'm leaning towards the Firestone Winterforces at $51 each, $61 shipped, for a total price of about $268 put on my car. I think then the snows would stay on my VW wheels for winter snow duty.

Come to think about it, I would still call some Firestone places to see what they'd charge all mounted and balanced just to check. If it's within $15 or so that would be a lot less work and worry.

How good are Winterforces?

(I ran Nokian Ws all season snows (Nokian's specialty) on Luxstiva, my automatic, and loved them. They were awesome! Just too expensive for Aqua.)

Opinions?

Karl

[bhazard]

Winterforces are beasts.

There was one on tire rack that had higher ratings. Forget what they were.

Lessersivad has studded winterforce. Mine weren't. Still awesome especially for the money.

[Safety Guy]

Here's Tire Rack's comparison page with four snows I chose to compare:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/CompareTires.jsp

The General Altimax is better reviewed than the Firestone, or the other two. I'm wondering if the demographic between the "cheaper" snows and the "premium" snows is reflected in the Conti's lower rating. These folks are used to "the best" and maybe their comparison tires are all expensive ones?

Nevermind that. I want the "cheaper" ones anyways.

Also, the Firestones are two pounds heavier each than the Generals, but the Generals are only "Q" speed rating. Not a problem, really. I generally stay under 99mph in the winter.

I may go with the General Altimaxes, which are about two bucks cheaper each from Tires-easy. (Both Firestone and Generals get good reviews from Tires-easy tire review, FWIW.)

Any other comments or experiences?

Karl

[spiko]

I have those Hankook's but studded. Seriously the best investment I ever made for my Festiva. I would highly recommend them, even if they're not studded. The performance is great.

[IdealSociety]

i have BFG Winter Sloloms on my escort wagon and they rock hardcore. super soft rubber but if you dont have a hookup at a tire place (i pay at cost for my tires through Tires Plus) they do get kinda spendy. Well worth it though since you only need them on the front ( i never run full snows on fwd cars)

[fastivaca]

I love the Hankook Winter I-Pike's... had them on our old Astro. Back in June I lucked into a set of the same tire on an Aspire at PnP. They date code was for September 2011 so they were practically brand new! Hopefully won't have to put them on for a few weeks yet .

As for running winters front only... I wouldn't recommend it. Here's what Tirerack has to say. I've seen a number of other write ups and videos on the subject and their conclusion are the same.

I tried running with winters on just the front but the back end seemed to have a mind of its own. I bought another pair for the back and the improvement was amazing. I will always put four winter tires on whether the vehicle is front or rear wheel drive.

[drddan]

General has always made a good solid tire (underated), and the Altimax has a cool "look" to the tread pattern. Agressive looking. Similar to what I have now, but a little more agressive, and my tires kicked butt in the snow. I may buy those, as I can get good deals on tires.

[schreurs1]

I'm in the tire business and see a lot of different snows on the market and I always go with the firestone winterforces. Id go with 155 80s tho, there about the same height but narrower so they plow thru snow better. And they're studdable. That's what I run on my festiva and I've never gotten stuck inin these south dakota winters. Whenever your gettin stuck just pop the clutch in 1st and they claw there way out.

[Safety Guy]

I'll probably get the Generals, but I'll also call around locally to see what kind of deal I can get on the Firestones or Generals.

I've thought of the 155/80s, but in Ohio we don't get crazy snows too often, and most of the driving will be on slippery or wet or dry pavement through the winter months. For that I want the wider, lower aspect ratio treads.

Ideally, I'd get 165/70-13s, but even though there are these Sunnys in that size:

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?dsco=135&sowigan=Snow&Breite=165&Quer=70&Felge=13&Speed=&kategorie=6&LoadRange=&Marke=&ranzahl=4&suchen=View+tires

They are more expensive and more of an "unknown" quality. Also, replacing them at some future point might become difficult or expensive.

The 175/70-13 size is still rather common, so that's an advantage on a trip if one of my tires goes out.

Karl

[snq]

Nokian' s last season were my favorite. I pulled people out of snow banks all day long. Blizaks the season before that and imo better for snow banking but highway speeds abit noisy

[Bert]

In 12 inch up here the only option was Canadian Tire's version of Nordic (Goodyear) 145/80 snows but they were discontinued 2 years ago. Their 13 inch is still available, relatively cheap, only in 175/70 but in their own right they make a night and day difference between summer and/or 'no-season' tires of any make or brand. In adjacent Quebec the highway traffic act now requires motorists to have tires with the 'snowflake' logo on them during the winter months and people are fined for not complying. But you do get what you pay for and one day if I'm feeling particularly flush will invest in the uni-directional Michelin X-Ice brand that I've had spectacular traction with on larger cars especially my pickup truck. Winter Michelins on the back of my 86 F150, instead of the 20 year long love affair with 'no season' Michelins was akin to having a couple of engine blocks and a bed of patio stones in the back. It was that impressive when I switched one day mid-winter and purposely retraced the route I'd done with the old tires that very same morning. I was so cocky I even stopped on a snowy road to pull a guy out of a ditch, and I even offered to do an ad for the company right after that. Where they really shine is starting and stopping on glare ice. But be forewarned; good snows wear at an unbelievable pace once the weather warms up. I tend to put mine on in mid-December (I watch the weather forecasts) and pull them off in late February if I get good vibes about weather. Half-worn snows make top of the line summer mud tires should the occasion present itself.

[Bert]

PS: Stay the hell away from alloy wheels during the winter months. The rim corrodes and the tire bead often gets compromised (you get routine flat tires whenever the temperature drops substantially (ie formerly unfrozen salt water along the bead)) and alloy rims are very brittle should you bump a curb at -20 or below. The beauty of having ugly-looking steel wheels kicking around is for dedicating them for winter tires.

[m715]

Karl, I have run quite a few of these tires. I always did dedicate 13" 323 rims for these after the Dunlop DS1 went obsolete. Since then, I have had WS 50 Bridgestone Blizzaks, Michelin X Ice, Dunlop DS2, Winterforces,Yokohama Ice Guards, and now Continental Extreme Winter Contacts. I still have a set of the Winterforces on Shtinky to wear out before the snow hits as we speak.
Best ones?
1) Dunlop DS and Continentals. They are the absolute best traction tire on a Festiva.
2) X Ice, Ice Guards, then the WS50's
3) Winterforces. Not a bad tire, but they are a poorer choice for wet driving. You can skid MUCH easier on them. They BY FAR however are the least expensive, and easiest mounting tire of the bunch. ( I mount my own Winters also)
When I bought the next to last set of Winterforces from Tire Rack, they still had 323 steelies left, and they were on closeout. 8.00 ea for wheels, 18.00 ea for the tires. The guy could't get over how cheap the tire package was, and bet me it was the least expensive ever sold at the Rack!
They would be likely alright there in town where you are, Karl. You have been out to my place, so you know how I really put tires to the test year round.
Be sure to add about 80-100 lbs in the back with the Winterforces. They * can* get a little squirrely in the rear if you are too light back there in the ice.

HTH
Michael

[m715]

Her is a pic of those Winterforce

[bhazard]

My festy was fine last year with only fronts on. Another one I have experience with was horrible. Could NOT keep the rear end in the rear for anything.

I would run all four. On a set of dedicated wheels.