Pickup Truck Winter Tires - Considering Michelin X-Ice Snow SUV

[Oldswagon]

I am looking for a new set of winter tires for my Tundra. My previous over Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2s are 6 years old so they are due to be replaced. They were decent, but I'd like something improved, if possible. I live in a cold rural area with long winters, and lots snow, ice, hard packed snow and slush. You name it we have it depending on the time of winter.

Right now I am leaning towards Michelin X-ice Snow SUV tires. I have had good luck with Michelin snow tires on my wife's cars, but haven't run them on my truck yet. Otherwise, in my size (I run 255/70R18 for my winter tires) there are Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 SUV and Yokohama Ice Guard G075 tires. I have run the older version of the Yokohama's before and they were decent too, not too far off the Blizzaks. I have never run Nokian tires, but a co-worker with a Tundra has them and thinks they are the best tires ever (although this is his first set of winter tires on a truck).

Anyone have real world experience on input on any of the above tires with a pickup?

 

[OVERKILL]

I just put those on my Jeep last year, so far, very happy with them.

We have the older Latitude X-Ice Xi-2 on the RAM, but it will get the X-Ice snows once those are done.

 

[Rand]

What tires are available in that size? what was the org. size?

 

[edyvw]

They can only be an improvement. I had older Xi2 after DM-V2, and they were better too. Unfortunately, due to size issues, I had to purchase again DM-V2 for Atlas. Although good tire, there are much better options, x-Ice definitely being one of them. Yokohama won't be in that class. Nokian, in general, has very good snow/ice performance, but it is not as well rounded as Michelin or Continental.

 

[CheezWhiz]

I tried Blizzaks and went to studded tires instead. Yes, studless are as good or better in most conditions. However, studs are far better at around 32 degrees, which is where you find yourself with absolutely no traction whatsoever even with studless snow tires, but you do actually get some traction with studs.

 

[totegoat]

Besides tires, weight in the bed will improve traction. Have a safe winter.

 

[Astro14]

Nokians have always been great in the conditions you describe. Every other Vermont car (real Vermont, not tourists, and not transplants) is running Nokian. Look at a globe, see where Finland is - they know snow!

I would go Nokian. And, for a Tundra, as was said, throw half a dozen 50lb bags of sand in the back. The weight does help, and you can spread it on the ice, if needed, to help those who didn’t get Nokians.

 

[SubLGT]

......... I live in a cold rural area with long winters, and lots snow, ice, hard packed snow and slush. You name it we have it depending on the time of winter......

Have you considered a factory studded tire from Nokian or Michelin?

 

[Oldswagon]

Have you considered a factory studded tire from Nokian or Michelin?

I have run studded tires in the past, and the noise/degradation in dry road performance wasn't worth it to me. Other than the better traction on glare ice, I found a premium winter tire has generally been better overall for my conditions. Despite the harsh conditions I see over winter, a large percentage of driving is on bare roads, since half of my commute is on a major highway that gets cleared pretty quickly.

What tires are available in that size? what was the org. size?

There are a few other tires in 255/70-18, but other than the Toyo Observe, which I think is a dated design, there isn't much else I'd consider. My Tundra runs 275/55-20s, but my old one used 275/65-18s, which is what most Tundras use. My winter wheels are 18" steelies. I have used 255/75-18s for winter tires because they are narrower and also a fair bit cheaper than the 275/65-18s. All three sizes are the same diameter.

 

[SubLGT]

Have you seen this test of the Michelin Snow SUV tire and 7 other SUV winter tires?

2022 ViBilagare Nordic SUV Winter Tyre Test - Tyre reviews and ratings

We're going to let the test do the talking for this one. The excellent Swedish testers at ViBilagare have tested eight SUV studless friction winter tyres, included the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 SUV ...

www.tyrereviews.com

 

[Bighorn2500]

Running Toyo WLT1 in a narrower size LT245/75R17 (same OD as LT265/70R17) for the winter months on my 3/4 ton. They been good to me especially going to the UP for snowmobiling trips.

 

[Ignitiondoc]

I currently use the X-Ice Snow SUV tires on all four corners of a GMC Canyon in mid Michigan. They're 265/65-17. I've used them for two winters now with good results. I use them primarily to improve traction on ice and packed snow, as the roads are cleared of deep snow quickly, but icy conditions tend to linger. Much better than all season tires in those conditions but, as with all winter tires, the traction is slightly compromised on wet roads.
They are wearing well, with 9/32" remaining after approximately 10k miles. Be aware that they only start with 10.5/32" though, which is less than some competitors. They still perform well in the snow. Fairly quiet too.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Wife's Q5 is going to need new winter tires soon, size 235/60/18. We've had Nokian Hakka R2 SUV on there for the past 9 years, and I've had no complaints about them in general, but tread depth is getting shallow.

I'm thinking Michelin X-Ice Snow as well. Not sure if Conti VikingContact 7 is a direct competitor - it is about $40 cheaper per tire.

 

[edyvw]

Wife's Q5 is going to need new winter tires soon, size 235/60/18. We've had Nokian Hakka R2 SUV on there for the past 9 years, and I've had no complaints about them in general, but tread depth is getting shallow.

I'm thinking Michelin X-Ice Snow as well. Not sure if Conti VikingContact 7 is a direct competitor - it is about $40 cheaper per tire.

I had VC7 and I still think it is best snow tire on the market. I would say WS90 is just tad bit better on wet, but VC7 does everything else better. The tire doesn’t have IMO any weakness and it is not absolutely best in any one discipline, but just does everything very good.
Much better than R2. Quite, good dry and wet performance, comfortable, retains performance.

 

[mdocod]

I like where your head is at going to the 255/70R18 for winter. Longer narrower contact patch. This is the "right" thinking but it's important to consider how the load is being handled by different size tires and whether we can actually take advantage of the narrower profile or not.. In some cases, when we move to a narrower tire, we loose load capacity and have to run higher pressure, which can be counterproductive for winter traction.

My understanding is that tundras that shipped with 275/55R20 OE tire size call for 30PSI front and 33PSI rear on 113 load index SL tires. 255/70R18 maintains this same load index in SL so pressures can stay the same.

Have you considered 265/70R18 or 275/65R18? These can both be found in 116 SL Load index. The V7 is available in the 275/65 and the X-Ice is available in both sizes, in all cases these are SL tires...

The X-Ice in 255/70R18 is an 116 XL tire, which would "technically" need to be run at 32PSI front and 35PSI rear to maintain the same load capacity as OE in 113 SL. This actually reduces your contact patch size slightly compared to OE. Realistically you can probably get by fine running OE tire pressures in winter temps but it's worth being aware of this difference.

In 265/70R18 or 275/65R18 116 SL, you could "technically" run 28PSI front and 31PSI rear while maintaining the same load carry capacity as the OE tire setup. This provides a larger contact patch over OE, which is the direction you want to go for maximum winter traction. The 265 is also slightly oversized on diameter, so buys a bit more clearance in deep snow, and I would expect it to draw out an equally long or longer contact patch at 28PSI as the 255 at 30PSI.

Of course, those pressures are assuming potential highway speeds on dry pavement with GVWR load- assuming MORE weight on the rear.. If your bed is empty, consider airing down the rear! I would personally run 265/70R18's at 28PSI front and more like 25PSI rear if it's unloaded. If you're in a blizzard pushing through snow/ice at low speeds, I suggest airing all 4 down. I run as low as 8-9PSI on 315/75R16's (studded duratracs) in really heavy snow conditions, but that's with over 9" of LT E sidewall to work with. On the Tundra you're working with more like 7" of SL sidewall and a heavy V8 up front, so I would probably not go below ~16PSI on that front end for low speed deep snow conditions.