- Joined
- Jul 18, 2020
- Messages
- 227
For some reason these tires really seem to fly under the radar, so I thought I'd post my own thoughts on them. I currently have them installed on a 2016 BMW X1 (FWD-based Haldex AWD). I'm in the PNW, which is a tricky place for winter tires. I'm on the wet side, so the tires see a ton of rain, but when it snows in Seattle that turns to ice pretty quickly. The car also travels up and down the pass and to some trail heads, so it sees deeper snow, as well as highway driving on mixed snow/ice, compact snow and bare pavement.
Previous winter tires I've used are Michelin X-Ice 2 and 3, and Nokian R2's. Those are obviously different tires, as they are more "studless winter", and the Wintrac Pro is more of a performance winter tire. Still, the comparisons may be useful for some. On a 1-10 scale:
Snow: 8. They can struggle just a bit on really deep snow, with some predictable sliding, but they still have adequate traction to get up some crazy grades in deep stuff
Ice: 9. They are equal to the R2 and X-Ice 3's on ice, which was shocking to me. Only a studded winter tire is going to do better.
Wet: 9. I'd put the X-Ice 3 at about a 5 and the R2's at a 1, for reference. This is what makes these tires a win for a PNW winter. The R2's were downright dangerous in the weather that I actually see 90% of the time, which is cold wet.
Dry: I may never know.... OK, that's actually not true. I had them on for a trip to California last year and they were solid. It's still a winter tire, but more than adequate: 7
Noise: 7. The are not as quiet as the X-Ice, or the Bridgeston A/S that normally live on this car, but they're pretty good.
Fuel economy: 6. There's a noticeable hit on highway miles compared to the Michelin X-Ice 3's, which were strangely fuel efficient.
Wear: N/A. can't tell. Honestly, this is a non-issue though, since time will likely result in these being binned vs. mileage. For my driving, winter tire mileage isn't a concern.
The Michelin Alpin5 would likely be a solid competitor to these, but they have serious limitations in sizes. The other thing to note is price. While the price seems to have crept up on these, they seem to be among the best value in the category, at least based on purchase price (and as mentioned, I don't drive enough on winter tires for mileage to be a concern--I'll likely put about 15K miles over 5 years on them, and at that point I would not trust any winter tire--the compounds just get too hard over time. These will definitely have significant tread left at 15K which is my only concern. YMMV and all that).
Overall, I'm really impressed with these tires. The R2's were incredible in snow and ice, but I honestly thought they were downright dangerous in the rain. Granted I had them on a Golf R, but I was not really pushing the limits in the rain. The Wintrac Pros are their equal on ice, almost as good in snow, and aren't going to kill me in the rain. The only downside may be for folks who drive a lot, as the reviews seem to state that they wear a bit more quickly than some. Strongly recommended!
Previous winter tires I've used are Michelin X-Ice 2 and 3, and Nokian R2's. Those are obviously different tires, as they are more "studless winter", and the Wintrac Pro is more of a performance winter tire. Still, the comparisons may be useful for some. On a 1-10 scale:
Snow: 8. They can struggle just a bit on really deep snow, with some predictable sliding, but they still have adequate traction to get up some crazy grades in deep stuff
Ice: 9. They are equal to the R2 and X-Ice 3's on ice, which was shocking to me. Only a studded winter tire is going to do better.
Wet: 9. I'd put the X-Ice 3 at about a 5 and the R2's at a 1, for reference. This is what makes these tires a win for a PNW winter. The R2's were downright dangerous in the weather that I actually see 90% of the time, which is cold wet.
Dry: I may never know.... OK, that's actually not true. I had them on for a trip to California last year and they were solid. It's still a winter tire, but more than adequate: 7
Noise: 7. The are not as quiet as the X-Ice, or the Bridgeston A/S that normally live on this car, but they're pretty good.
Fuel economy: 6. There's a noticeable hit on highway miles compared to the Michelin X-Ice 3's, which were strangely fuel efficient.
Wear: N/A. can't tell. Honestly, this is a non-issue though, since time will likely result in these being binned vs. mileage. For my driving, winter tire mileage isn't a concern.
The Michelin Alpin5 would likely be a solid competitor to these, but they have serious limitations in sizes. The other thing to note is price. While the price seems to have crept up on these, they seem to be among the best value in the category, at least based on purchase price (and as mentioned, I don't drive enough on winter tires for mileage to be a concern--I'll likely put about 15K miles over 5 years on them, and at that point I would not trust any winter tire--the compounds just get too hard over time. These will definitely have significant tread left at 15K which is my only concern. YMMV and all that).
Overall, I'm really impressed with these tires. The R2's were incredible in snow and ice, but I honestly thought they were downright dangerous in the rain. Granted I had them on a Golf R, but I was not really pushing the limits in the rain. The Wintrac Pros are their equal on ice, almost as good in snow, and aren't going to kill me in the rain. The only downside may be for folks who drive a lot, as the reviews seem to state that they wear a bit more quickly than some. Strongly recommended!
