Need some help choosing the best or a ranking of ice performance for these tires

[jalikaria24]

These are the following tires I can get installed tomorrow relatively easily. Will probably only end up the ones i can find listed below!
Just want the best performance for ice, our city cleans snow pretty well so i dont ever think ill get stuck. As far as i did research seems like a studded will always be better. mostly driving city where ill encounter the ice etc

Michelin X Ice XI3- might be able to get a set from a buddy so price will be good, about 6-7/32 so will be good for a year or two
Nokian Hakkapaletta R9 studded- might be able to find a slightly used set if i wanted
Michelin X Ice Snow - $880 ish cad for a new set installed - can for sure get
Michelin X ice North 4 Factory Studded- $925 ish cad for new set installed - can for sure get
Goodyear WinterCommand Studded - $820 ish installed (might not be able to get these cuz the shop is busy)

dont want to get blizzaks, not happy with how only half of the tire is the good compound

or any other recommendation that might be readily available for 205/55/16 and i can try asking

if you could rank the top 3 in ice performance etc that would be best! Depending on price diff ill make the decision myself!

thx

 

[Rand]

conti vikingcontact 7

 

[jalikaria24]

conti vikingcontact 7

sadly cant seem to get that for my size seems hard, will try tho
however wouldnt that be worse then a studded?

 

[Rand]

not sure why you would want studded if the city clears snow quick.. of course your location would help.
studded have extra value if you often have icing in near freezing conditions 30-32f.

I actually have a set of the viking contact 7's on a 2020 elantra in your size.

As for my area 85% its dry or wet in winter.. and non-studded are way better in those conditions and dont cause road damage.

The viking contact 7's are a dream compared to many winter tires in the dry and wet. also their snow and ice traction is great.

They also handle slush and the refreezing "snow snot" type conditions very well.. much better than my blizzak dmv2 on the jeep.

The hakka R9's are great.. in a mountain pass in Colorado. not so much on dry or wet/salty conditions.

The tire size tells me this is some sort of compact car.. and I feel the vikingcontact 7's are great in that application from my own experience.

I have previously run, continental extreme winter contacts, firestone winterforce studded, blizzak ws-60, ws-70, ws-80, dm-v2, yokohama ig20, cooper wintermaster+ studded, michelin xice xi2, and probably several more I've forgotten just on my personal vehicles. The viking contact 7's are the real deal.

edit remembered another one, dunlop M3,

 

[jalikaria24]

not sure why you would want studded if the city clears snow quick.. of course your location would help.
studded have extra value if you often have icing in near freezing conditions 30-32f.

I actually have a set of the viking contact 7's on a 2020 elantra in your size.

As for my area 85% its dry or wet in winter.. and non-studded are way better in those conditions and dont cause road damage.

The viking contact 7's are a dream compared to many winter tires in the dry and wet. also their snow and ice traction is great.

They also handle slush and the refreezing "snow snot" type conditions very well.. much better than my blizzak dmv2 on the jeep.

The hakka R9's are great.. in a mountain pass in Colorado. not so much on dry or wet/salty conditions.

The tire size tells me this is some sort of compact car.. and I feel the vikingcontact 7's are great in that application from my own experience.

I have previously run, continental extreme winter contacts, firestone winterforce studded, blizzak ws-60, ws-70, ws-80, dm-v2, yokohama ig20, cooper wintermaster+ studded, michelin xice xi2, and probably several more I've forgotten just on my personal vehicles. The viking contact 7's are the real deal.

Thanks! The city clears snow but there’s always ice around the intersection or before you come to the intersection etc etc. I heard that studded Offer the best ice performance so that’s why I was thinking why not cux the difference is only like 80$. Right now it’s near freezing with ice in Alberta but it will also get very cold to -30 -40 soon

Sadly it’s gonna be hard for me to find the Viking contact otherwise I would totally think on it. I’ll try calling around tomorrow and see if I can get it soon.

what do you think you would take in my list? Better to go studded? I don’t mind road noise

 

[SubLGT]

For wet, polished ice: X-Ice North4 studded

For rough, very cold ice (below -20C): Michelin Xi3 or SNOW. But will be substantially inferior to North4 on ice when temps are around 0C.

Safest on ice overall, from 0C down to -40C: North4 or Hakka9

 

[SubLGT]

Comments from the latest NAF/Motor Scandinavian winter tire tests:

Dette er de beste vinterdekkene

Årets vinterdekktest bekrefter den evige sannheten: Ingen dekk kan være best på alt. Underlaget du kjører på bør være viktigste faktor for ditt dekkvalg.

motor.no

X-Ice North4:
In our test dimension (205/60 R16), Michelin has equipped its X-Ice North 4 with no less than 255 studs.

They are smaller in size than the competitors' studs and even though the four tires together have more than 1000 studs more than there are on a normal car, Michelin has the least tire noise.

The French spike bonanza ensures a full pot in all rounds on ice.

Similarly, the X-Ice North 4 has top results on snow, except when it comes to driving characteristics.

It has slightly worse side grips and clear understeer.

Michelin also excels on dry asphalt where it has the best stability, the most precise steering feel and the lowest consumption.

Among the tire's few disadvantages is that it performs worse on wet asphalt and [in aquaplaning resistance].

But overall, Michelin is delivering the best studded tire right now.

Nokian Hakka9:
The winter specialist Nokian rushes with a full pot from the ice rounds and picks the most points in total also on snow.

Compared to the other top tires, Nokian excels with entertaining driving characteristics with a rear end that delivers on expectations:

It communicates well and thus ensures a nice, neutral balance - at the same time as it helps to keep a good grip in the turns.

It is a performance that is repeated on all surfaces.

Although the tire is optimized for winter conditions, it does reasonably well on wet surfaces.

The weakness of the tire is the steering feel on dry asphalt - which is non-linear and provides weaker directional stability.

Nokian, on the other hand, is safe in the evasive maneuver test, where it balances the side forces well

On the other hand, Hakkapeliitta 9 is one of the studded tires with the most road noise.

 

[odie]

Cooper Evolution Winter with studs . Use for both cars . Reasonable price and gets better with rebate . Very similar to the original General Altimax Arctic .

 

[Jetronic]

Thanks! The city clears snow but there’s always ice around the intersection or before you come to the intersection etc etc. I heard that studded Offer the best ice performance so that’s why I was thinking why not cux the difference is only like 80$. Right now it’s near freezing with ice in Alberta but it will also get very cold to -30 -40 soon

Sadly it’s gonna be hard for me to find the Viking contact otherwise I would totally think on it. I’ll try calling around tomorrow and see if I can get it soon.

what do you think you would take in my list? Better to go studded? I don’t mind road noise

Studded are worse if there's no ice though. so you gain some at those intersections and lose some or a lot between them... Your choice, and it's good that you give this some thought but wouldn't want you to expect the studded beats the non studded in all areas. You know the conditions you're going to encounter best though.

 

[MattPersman]

The used x ice 3 at 6/32 aren’t worth buying unless it’s like 100 cause it’s at best one season. I wouldn’t throw good money after bad on those. Used winter tires don’t have much value because they do there best work when newer. I know they are michelins and are full sipes but 6/32 even wet braking starts getting worse let alone snow ice and slush

 

[odie]

Cooper Evolution Winter with studs . Use for both cars . Reasonable price and gets better with rebate . Very similar to the original General Altimax Arctic .

These are the Evolution Winter with and w/o studs . Ours are with studs .