Blizzak WS90

[edyvw]

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.

What is “urban” winter?

 

[edyvw]

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.

They do have DNA, but it is generally made as cheaper option, meaning snow will be fine, but people do complain about wet performance, noise. Not sure about ice. Here most people in the mountains run X-ICE, Blizzak and lately you see VC7 a lot. Nokian in some cases, but not a lot.

Whenever I go to ski and park vehicle I pay attention what people drive on. Interesting stuff to see.

 

[stormgol]

What is “urban” winter?

winter conditions in a large city that is well plowed.

 

[stormgol]

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.

if you check the list of tires i have posted, all the best winter tires on the north american market are there. as a matter of fact many of these tires are also the leaders in the european market. like the michelin x-ice snow,the continental vikincontact 7, the nokian hakka r5 et hakka 10 and the michelin x-ice north 4. so the best european tires you say are better than everything, well guess what, we have them in north america too.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2022-Tyre-Reviews-Studless-Winter-Tyre-Test.htm

 

[edyvw]

if you check the list of tires i have posted, all the best winter tires on the north american market are there. as a matter of fact many of these tires are also the leaders in the european market. like the michelin x-ice snow,the continental vikincontact 7, the nokian hakka r5 et hakka 10 and the michelin x-ice north 4. so the best european tires you say are better than everything, well guess what, we have them in north america too.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2022-Tyre-Reviews-Studless-Winter-Tyre-Test.htm

No they are not leaders.
If you want to know which are leader, familiarize yourself with ADAC.

 

[edyvw]

winter conditions in a large city that is well plowed.

Lol. Yes, bcs. what would we know about “rural” winters in the Rockies.
By the way, 95% of accidents happen 2 miles from home.

 

[stormgol]

No they are not leaders.
If you want to know which are leader, familiarize yourself with ADAC.

no. i d'ont live in germany, nor europe, nor any people in north america. what matters to me are tests done in the harsh conditions where i live. and the APA is just that. europe is europe and north america is just that: north america.

http://www.apa.ca/wintertire_reviews.asp

 

[BHopkins]

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

Have you seen some tread life data for winter tires? Love to see it if yes.

I realize that Michelin is the only company that offers a tread wear warranty on their winter tires. But that does not mean that theirs last any longer than any of the other leading winter tires. I think all the leading winter tires get about the same tread life.

And better is very relative. If you have studied the data on winter tires reviews, you will see that the leading tires all have their plus and minus. One may be top at grip in deep snow, but not perform as well as another at grip on ice. And a third may outperform both the other leaders at dry grip.

It is also interesting to read different reviews, and notice that 5 different review sources may have, for the most part, the same tires rated at the top, but each review will show them in a different order. For one, the X-Ice Snow may be #1. Another may rate the Hakka 10 #1.

For me, it is kind of entertaining when someone here critiques another for buying one of the top tier winter tires. Everyone has to pick the characteristics that they feel are most important for their driving environment and style. I say pick one of the top tier winter tires based upon your needs and budget. And don't worry about the naysayers. An yes, the WS90 does make the top tier in most reviews. Great choice.

 

[edyvw]

no. i d'ont live in germany, nor europe, nor any people in north america. what matters to me are tests done in the harsh conditions where i live. and the APA is just that. europe is europe and north america is just that: north america.

http://www.apa.ca/wintertire_reviews.asp

But, OP doesn’t live there. So, not relevant.

 

[edyvw]

Have you seen some tread life data for winter tires? Love to see it if yes.

I realize that Michelin is the only company that offers a tread wear warranty on their winter tires. But that does not mean that theirs last any longer than any of the other leading winter tires. I think all the leading winter tires get about the same tread life.

And better is very relative. If you have studied the data on winter tires reviews, you will see that the leading tires all have their plus and minus. One may be top at grip in deep snow, but not perform as well as another at grip on ice. And a third may outperform both the other leaders at dry grip.

It is also interesting to read different reviews, and notice that 5 different review sources may have, for the most part, the same tires rated at the top, but each review will show them in a different order. For one, the X-Ice Snow may be #1. Another may rate the Hakka 10 #1.

For me, it is kind of entertaining when someone here critiques another for buying one of the top tier winter tires. Everyone has to pick the characteristics that they feel are most important for their driving environment and style. I say pick one of the top tier winter tires based upon your needs and budget. And don't worry about the naysayers. An yes, the WS90 does make the top tier in most reviews. Great choice.

Actually, X-ICE i had wore out much slower. X-ICE2 I had on X5 and Sienna. They wore out slower than DM-V2 I had, and generally were better tire overall.

 

[Astro14]

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.

I live in Virginia Beach and just bought winter tires. Blizzak WS-90 in fact.

Did you assume that I was born here, lived here my whole life, and never leave the state?

Because you just assumed that with another poster here.

In fact, the car will be kept in Colorado, so the tires make sense.

Since I have family in Utah and Vermont, and have lived in Vermont, Colorado and Winnipeg, I do have more winter experience than my current address might suggest.

 

[stormgol]

I live in Virginia Beach and just bought winter tires. Blizzak WS-90 in fact.

Did you assume that I was born here, lived here my whole life, and never leave the state?

Because you just assumed that with another poster here.

In fact, the car will be kept in Colorado, so the tires make sense.

Since I have family in Utah and Vermont, and have lived in Vermont, Colorado and Winnipeg, I do have more winter experience than my current address might suggest.

i assumed nothing about him. and i assumed nothing about you either, i just asked a question politely. what i made is a deduction. not an assumption.

 

[Astro14]

i assumed nothing about him. and i assumed nothing about you either, i just asked a question politely. what i made is a deduction. not an assumption.

With a laugh emoji embedded, your “deduction” came off as snarky. You literally laughed at the guy using winter tires in Florida and gave a condescending response.

 

[otis24]

I’m shopping for winter tires as well. I had read somewhere that the Blizzak WS90 only lasts a couple of seasons.

 

[SubLGT]

.....I realize that Michelin is the only company that offers a tread wear warranty on their winter tires. But that does not mean that theirs last any longer than any of the other leading winter tires. I think all the leading winter tires get about the same tread life.....

Michelin would disagree with you.

https://michelinmedia.com/pages/blog/detail/article/c0/a961/

Testing reveals that the new MICHELIN X-Ice SNOW tire..... lasts up to one additional winter season than the average of leading competitor tires.

Footnote: Based on third-party longevity tests, in North Finland between October 2019 and January 2020, on a Volkswagen® Golf 1.5 TSI comparing the MICHELIN® X-Ice® SNOW tire versus BRIDGESTONE® Blizzak WS-90, CONTINENTAL® Viking Contact 7, NOKIAN® Hakkappeliitta R3, GOODYEAR® UltraGrip Ice 2, Pirelli® Ice Zero FR in tire size 205/55R16 94H XL.

 

[Greasymechtech]

Some of us have lived all over the country and do travel often.

 

[Astro14]

Some of us have lived all over the country and do travel often.

Kinda' what I figured...

 

[SubLGT]

Have you seen some tread life data for winter tires? Love to see it if yes.

Not for studded tires or the WS90 and its peers, but for "central European" winter tires that data is published by German sources such as
ADAC and Auto Bild magazine. There may be other sources in Germany and elsewhere.

https://www.tyrereviews.com/Article/2022-Auto-Bild-Winter-Tyre-Test.htm

https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/tests/reifen/winterreifen/

In the 2022 Auto Bild test, the "projected tire life" for the Michelin Alpin 6 is 40,933Km, and for the Blizzak LM005 is 31,409Km. This does not support the idea that "all the leading winter tires get about the same tread life".

 

[krzyss]

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.

What?
Any sources?

Krzyś

 

[krzyss]

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.

https://www.myswissalps.com/car/winter

I have news for you. Alps are in France, Italy, Austria, Lichtenstein (?), Slovenia (?), Germany and Switzerland.
Each has a different law. Winter tires are a must at least in Germany.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/travel/driving-in-europe/winter/

Krzyś