Extreme Ice Tire Faceoff

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The_German

Joined
Jan 13, 2017
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128
Location
Montreal (West Island), Ile Perrot & Vaudreuil Reg
Car: 2010 Honda Fit

Guys, in my region they don't salt anymore.

I do about 50kms a day, 80% highway.

We recently had ice in the Fast Lane on the Hwy 40, and my tires are at 6/32 and it would be simple for me to get in a set of 175/65R/15 Michelin XIce 3.

OR:

Should I wait for next Season and go studded with a set of Gislaved Nordfrost 200 Studded (light carbide 130 studs per tire)?

I cross over railway tracks, road conditions are terrible with rain, freezing rain, no-salt re-freezing throughout the day, marginal snow clearing etc etc. They are allowed in Montreal and Quebec, and the roads here ALL need to be done 10 years ago so I am not morally concerned about ruining the roads when they don't mind if I slip off the road and wreck my car, not to mention safety for everyone around me and vehicle occupants (I have a child).

The roads in Montreal are so bad that people say, "They sure use a lot of gravel on the roads in the Winter" to which I respond, "That is just the roads falling apart".

This is just one of those "On the fence" things... I would like others to steer me either way based on experience.

I have recently had a change of heart about Michelin, people really aren't experiencing dry rot with the brand anymore but maybe I read wrong.

Thanks for any and all help guys!
 
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Dry rot with winter tires is a non-starter anyways. I don't think I've ever seen that.

Basically it comes down to whether you want studded or non. Studded, there are a variety of options. Studless, for ice, the Michelin is probably the best you can get.
 
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From the Motor.no test:

Quote:
The main conclusion of our big winter test is relatively clear: On ice, studded tires are still superior, especially when it comes to braking grip. From 50 km / h stops Nokian studded 39.7 meters, while the best studless tire - Michelin - stops at 55.7 meters. On snow, the difference almost wiped out. Hankook is the best spike covered with a braking distance of 49.5 meters from 80 km / h, while Continental as the best studless uses 52.9 meters to stop.
 
Just got a set of Gislaved Nordfrost 200 non-studded for my Kia Sorento this December.
Great traction. I can imagine the studded would work very well for your conditions.
 
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Originally Posted By: The_German
Thanks guys going with studded next Winter!

I didn't realize there was that much difference in stopping distance, 5 meters is like 15 feet.

How much time you drive in wet and dry?
 
Originally Posted By: The_German
Thanks guys going with studded next Winter!

I didn't realize there was that much difference in stopping distance, 5 meters is like 15 feet.


What is almost shocking is that the studded NordFrost 200 requires 13.1m (43ft) more than the studded Hakka8 when braking on ice from 50 km/hr. 15 years ago Gislaved was a "top 3" studded tire, but things are different now.

Do you have high tolerance to tire/road noise? Studded tires are much noisier that studless.
 
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Originally Posted By: SubLGT
Originally Posted By: The_German
Thanks guys going with studded next Winter!

I didn't realize there was that much difference in stopping distance, 5 meters is like 15 feet.


What is almost shocking is that the studded NordFrost 200 requires 13.1m (43ft) more than the studded Hakka8 when braking on ice from 50 km/hr. 15 years ago Gislaved was a "top 3" studded tire, but things are different now.

Do you have high tolerance to tire/road noise? Studded tires are much noisier that studless.

That is understatement. I can hear them 100ft behind my car with AC/DC cranked up all the way up.
 
Some are noisier than others.

Winterfarce are about the worst.. then middle of the road tires such as hankook and altimax arctics.. then quieter ones with exotic studs that come studded(not studded later at the tire dealer) hakka 8 etc.
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
Some are noisier than others.

Winterfarce are about the worst.. then middle of the road tires such as hankook and altimax arctics.. then quieter ones with exotic studs that come studded(not studded later at the tire dealer) hakka 8 etc.

I know some are quieter then others, but one thing is for sure: you cannot mistaken studded tire.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Are you one of those Habs that keep their winter tires on 365 days a year?

You asking me?


Are you from the land of the Montreal Canadiens aka The Habs?
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Are you one of those Habs that keep their winter tires on 365 days a year?

You asking me?




Not unless you are a Habs fan or secretly from Montreal
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat
Are you one of those Habs that keep their winter tires on 365 days a year?

You asking me?


Are you from the land of the Montreal Canadiens aka The Habs?

Man, had no clue about Habs
smile.gif

Not into hockey.
 
My parents have Nokian Nordsman studded on their Focuscape and they are quite quiet. Unless you actually see the studs you can't hear them.

The Winterforce I had on my Focus ... wow. Obnoxious.
 
I caved today and called my guys at Vaudreuil Honda and they hooked me up with a set of Nokian Hak 8's.

I'm surprised they aren't all sold out this late in the season. I didn't pay retail so full price may be the answer to that one.

I went with the stock 175 size (I usually go 185 to get a .25" boost to the ground clearance and a softer pothole ride).

The reasoning is I want a thin tire to cut down to the road quicker to give the studs a chance to work.

Ironically, I went during my lunch break to price out a clutch job on a 2009 blue Yaris that a Neighbour always rides the clutch on in the parking lot and it needs to be done.

I am really surprised it lasted that long. She rides that clutch to park every single day in our extremely small parkade outside (I live in a very old Condo building that was made in the 70s where many people couldn't afford cars hence the living in a condo thing.)

I kept listening to it every day and told myself that cluch is going to blow very soon. Well that finally happened the other day and I told her I was really aiming for $650 all in including the free packet of moly paste.

To give her credit I ride the clutch myself, I really never bothered with a manual trans in a small city vehicle. Going to mechanics it was a small sore point taking the trades course so late in life and not being amazing driving stick. I solved that issue by ragging out an old black Sunfire coupe around the school for a few hours and never refined it much since then.

Oddly, I had a massive fishtailing session that my highly refined videogame reflexes BARELY allowed me to recover from as we just had a mini Ice Storm here today with massive snowfall after freezing rain (I have these great nylon bags that slip over the Wipers that are lifesavers if you are too lazy to use cardboard on the windscreen or those nice Costco style covers. These nifty little covers slide over the wiper blades down almost the entire arm protecting it from being encased in ice. I just love them. Got them for like 5$ at Canadian Tire and should have bought a few pairs to give or for when these eventually tear.)

Anyway the appointment is at 8am on Friday I am really looking forward to trying out these Nokian tires and to give a nice long review and writeup here on this site with pictures and everything still looking for a nice little pocket camera so you can see the tire sipes etc, and those star shaped carbide crampons.

Thanks guys for the advice. 6/32nds really doesn't handle as well as I thought but the tire design is a few gens back now. They measured 7/32nd rear and 6/32nd front when I installed them late October so maybe with the highway driving I do they are due.

Yes, even with pulling strings all in I will feel this credit card bill, but I figure I'd be a sport and try them out.

I promise you this, if I am truly blown away it will be the ONLY tire I recommend in our Region just off Island to the West of Montreal. The lack of salting this year is actually worrisome.

I'll be back with a full review of the Nokian Hak 8's on my tiny Fit hopefully with a ton of photos. Thanks for the help with the decision guys.
 



I tried these out a bit with my Father and we are both blown away. The noise at any speed is a non-issue, we even lowered the windows.

I will really enjoy the extra grip in our very icy Montreal regions.

I got a great price at Vaudreuil Honda on 5 stock size 15" with the 5th mounted and balanced on a new OEM rim so I plan on doing the 5 tire FWD rotations to get 25% more distance out of the set but mainly in case I lose one to a sidewall puncture or a pothole blowout in my 3rd year of ownership I wont have to scrap the full set of studded tires early (as an insurance policy) or just to use as a spare if I get a fixable flat until I get around to the plug and patch.

We really clawed around an area I wouldn't normally drive with this little car with my Dad but the studded tires are just like velcro it is going to really allow me to enjoy Winter driving for the first time in my life. Thanks for your input and help guys!!
 
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