Blizzak WS90

[faramir9]

Shopping winter tires for the first time in years. Sticker shock....DTD has $110 instant rebate on Bridgestone till Sunday. That brings WS90 to an almost doable price. I never ran Blizzak but hear mostly good things. Car is a 2021 Sonata SE with 205/65R16 tires. Not looking for performance winter tires, just want to get to work and back safely on roads that seem to get less attention each winter.

Thoughts and advice? Thanks.

 

[bilibako2]

Go ahead.If it's mine Tire rack I always go with winter package /steel wheels with lug nuts on your door ready to install.Doing that since 1995.Welcome to driving with winter tires plus saving your thread on your all season tires.I normally get same size and put one all season tire on trunk just in case of flat just enough to bring tire for repair.

 

[edyvw]

Shopping winter tires for the first time in years. Sticker shock....DTD has $110 instant rebate on Bridgestone till Sunday. That brings WS90 to an almost doable price. I never ran Blizzak but hear mostly good things. Car is a 2021 Sonata SE with 205/65R16 tires. Not looking for performance winter tires, just want to get to work and back safely on roads that seem to get less attention each winter.

Thoughts and advice? Thanks.

Good tire. There are better IMO, but they are top contender.
I have them on Tiguan and just installed them on BMW and I ski twice a week, so see a lot of white stuff on really steep roads.
They are right now best buy of top brands. You can go cheap like Hankook junk, but you get what you pay.

 

[faramir9]

Go ahead.If it's mine Tire rack I always go with winter package /steel wheels with lug nuts on your door ready to install.Doing that since 1995.Welcome to driving with winter tires plus saving your thread on your all season tires.I normally get same size and put one all season tire on trunk just in case of flat just enough to bring tire for repair.

Thanks. Separate wheels is ideal, but I have limited storage room. btw, would that mess with the TPMS and warning lights on the dash?

 

[faramir9]

Good tire. There are better IMO, but they are top contender.
I have them on Tiguan and just installed them on BMW and I ski twice a week, so see a lot of white stuff on really steep roads.
They are right now best buy of top brands. You can go cheap like Hankook junk, but you get what you pay.

Thanks. That's the point. For my needs, a cheap winter tire would be OK---if such a thing still existed. Tire prices are now insane. I used to run Kelly Snowtrakker, Cooper Weather-Master or whatever was on sale that year. The old-style winter tires with 13/32" that are easy to make, as you have said.

Today, those tires are just a few $$$ less than a WS90 on sale. So for a few bucks more I will likely go with the top-quality tire.

 

[stormgol]

better tires than blizzak ws90. i'm dying. out of hundreds and hundreds of winter tires, there are maybe 2 or 3 winter tires that are marginally better in some apects. blizzak ws90 are s tier winter tires. the top of the food chain. apex winter tires. buy with extreme confidence.

 

[fsdork]

This is our first year with WS90s on the Tiguan. We've had a few weeks of snow already, and both my wife and I are impressed so far. Last winter was an '03 Explorer on DMV2s which were at/near the end of their life both in terms of tread depth and age.

 

[edyvw]

better tires than blizzak ws90. i'm dying. out of hundreds and hundreds of winter tires, there are maybe 2 or 3 winter tires that are marginally better in some apects. blizzak ws90 are s tier winter tires. the top of the food chain. apex winter tires. buy with extreme confidence.

Yeah, there are better winter tires than Blizzak, and I am using Blizzak.
Bridgestone was first company that made serious inroads in winter segment here in the US. That is why people like them, they are just on buying only them.
In Europe, largest winter tire market in the world, Bridgestone was always mid pack competitor. Good quality, reliable product , but never household name in winter tire business.

 

[stormgol]

if you are still undecided here is the list of S tier winter tires available on the north american market.

nokian hakkapeliitta 10 studded tires car and suv versions
nokian hakkapeliitta R5 non studded tires car and suv versions
bridgestone blizzak ws90
toyo observe gsi-6 gsi-6 hp gsi-6 ls
michelin x-ice snow
michelin x-ice north 4 studded tires
continental vikingcontact 7

 

[stormgol]

Yeah, there are better winter tires than Blizzak, and I am using Blizzak.
Bridgestone was first company that made serious inroads in winter segment here in the US. That is why people like them, they are just on buying only them.
In Europe, largest winter tire market in the world, Bridgestone was always mid pack competitor. Good quality, reliable product , but never household name in winter tire business.

winter tires in europe are different than american market winter tires. european winter tires perform extremely well in cities and mild winter conditions. the american market winter tires perform poorly or average in european tests because most of them are made to work hard in very harsh environments like the toyo gsi-6. they lack refinment but they are made for extreme winter. michelin x-ice snow is more like an european winter tire. toyo gsi-6 and blizzak ws90 are made for north american market with deeper thread. they are less polished but well adapted to extreme winter conditions.

 

[edyvw]

winter tires in europe are different than american market winter tires. european winter tires perform extremely well in cities and mild winter conditions. the american market winter tires perform poorly or average in european tests because most of them are made to work hard in very harsh environments like the toyo gsi-6. they lack refinment but they are made for extreme winter. michelin x-ice snow is more like an european winter tire. toyo gsi-6 and blizzak ws90 are made for north american market with deeper thread. they are less polished but well adapted to extreme winter conditions.

I had around 25 sets of “European “ winter tires and around 15 sets of “American “ winter tires, and I have no idea what you talking about.
People living in Alps and Southern Alps might think differently than you.
There are numerous tures in Europe that have deep threads etc. They are in cheaper category.

 

[khittner1]

I've been happy with both General Altimax Arctics, and the current Altimax Arctic 12 (in your size on my current '20 Camry LE).

You also can't go wrong with a Nokian snow tire, either---their "Nordman" lines are their re-labelled, previous-generation top tires, at much lower price points. I have the Nordman 5s, and Nordman 7s on my spouse's and childrens' cars, and they can get anywhere they need to under nearly any condition.

If you run snow tires on a different set of winter wheels (and having snow tires not mounted on wheels won't save any storage room), without a set of TPMS sensors, you'll have to live with the TPM system light on your dash for the winter. Tire stores typically overcharge for TPMS sensors---the identical sensor models are available on Amazon for 1/2 the price that my local Discount Tire wants for them. Since they price-match, I check to make sure that I have the Amazon price on a printout for whatever DT would put on my vehicle, and they'll sell them for that amount (while complaining "that's less than we have to pay for them").

 

[stormgol]

I had around 25 sets of “European “ winter tires and around 15 sets of “American “ winter tires, and I have no idea what you talking about.
People living in Alps and Southern Alps might think differently than you.
There are numerous tures in Europe that have deep threads etc. They are in cheaper category.

mmm no. if you go in the mountains with extreme snow conditions, you want deep threads and studs. been there, done that. and most european winter tires are not that. most of them are like the hakka r5. wich are excellent winter tires. just not extreme winter tires. that is why the hakka 10 exist. it is the most popular winter tire in quebec canada. the michelin north 4 is also an extreme winter tire. and the alps are not that extreme. the road are extremely well plowed. it is not even mandatory to have winter tires in the alps, while it is mandatory in quebec.

Must-knows about winter driving in Switzerland

Traveling by car in Swiss winters: the rules about tires, profile depth and snow chains, plus tips for a safe winter journey.

www.myswissalps.com

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

Put a set on my wife’s Forester about three weeks ago. Not really much to report yet but they are a quality product. They’re not all that loud and ride nicely so far.

 

[slug_bug]

Had to put my NB Miata into service(usually store it for winter) several winters ago because my daughter had a sudden need for her own car. I put a set of WS90's on a cheap set of rims and daily drove it through a Michigan winter with no issues. I thought they were great winter tires.

 

[edyvw]

mmm no. if you go in the mountains with extreme snow conditions, you want deep threads and studs. been there, done that. and most european winter tires are not that. most of them are like the hakka r5. wich are excellent winter tires. just not extreme winter tires. that is why the hakka 10 exist. it is the most popular winter tire in quebec canada. the michelin north 4 is also an extreme winter tire. and the alps are not that extreme. the road are extremely well plowed. it is not even mandatory to have winter tires in the alps, while it is mandatory in quebec.

Must-knows about winter driving in Switzerland

Traveling by car in Swiss winters: the rules about tires, profile depth and snow chains, plus tips for a safe winter journey.

www.myswissalps.com

Winter consists of varios road conditions.
This week we had 70 degrees on Monday, rain on Wednesday, flurries on Thursday, 2-3” of snow yesterday, with -9 overnight (f not c) and today it will be 36, tomorrow 49, up to 56 this week.
What you gain with Hakka10 in snow, you lose in dry and wet, dramatically. And last time I was in Canada, people drive on dry pavement too.

WS90 is NOT that tire. WS90 is tire in category of R5, VC7, X-ICE etc.

 

[SubLGT]

If you drive a lot of miles during winter, there are better tires that will last longer, such as the Michelin X-Ice SNOW.

 

[edyvw]

Had to put my NB Miata into service(usually store it for winter) several winters ago because my daughter had a sudden need for her own car. I put a set of WS90's on a cheap set of rims and daily drove it through a Michigan winter with no issues. I thought they were great winter tires.

Yesterday I had first opportunity to try them on BMW in snow and ice. So far I can’t say they are different than VC7 I had. They bit more squishy in dry though. But just a bit.
Will see once I see serious stuff in the mountains.

 

[Greasymechtech]

I wonder if the sibling FirestoneWinterforce2 has some of that Bridgestone DNA. Its also cheaper than the Blizzaks(one of my favorite snow tires).

Adjust tire PSI as needed. I ran my Blizzaks at 35+psi depending on vehicle when roads were clear. Once it started snowing, the PSI was dropped to 28-30 for the foul weather, and PSI bumped back up/down as needed. The PSI helped reduce snow tire squishiness when not in snow.

Regardless, its not a performance tire and one should not expect any snow tire to excel on dry roads for autocross maneuvers.

 

[stormgol]

I wonder if the sibling FirestoneWinterforce2 has some of that Bridgestone DNA. Its also cheaper than the Blizzaks(one of my favorite snow tires).

Adjust tire PSI as needed. I ran my Blizzaks at 35+psi depending on vehicle when roads were clear. Once it started snowing, the PSI was dropped to 28-30 for the foul weather, and PSI bumped back up/down as needed. The PSI helped reduce snow tire squishiness when not in snow.

Regardless, its not a performance tire and one should not expect any snow tire to excel on dry roads for autocross maneuvers.

you live in florida and use winter tires? just asking politely. the firestone winterforce 2 are adequate winter tires. perfect for florida not for northern quebec. they are good for urban winter.