Your favorite winter/snow/ice tire?

JHZR2 said:
Snow tires at a used tire place wlll be of dubious utility, and may be dangerous due to performance or false confidence...

Ive read that especially those Blizzak tires are GREAT when new, but the special compound doesnt go all the way down, so it loses performance quick.
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The used tire place I went to, I don't know what it is with these places or whatever but they didn't want to just say that they didn't have it. They would rather do this thing where they lead you on and make you think they have something and act like they're looking but they're really not cuz they know they don't have it and it just reinforces all the negative stereotypes.

At least this time I didn't put a deposit. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
 
Another question, what about ordering from TireRack.com (that's the most expensive one) or simpletire.com or discounttiredirect.com - is it true the tire places do the same, when it comes to a tire in size or kind they don't have?
 
schwinney said:
Another question, what about ordering from TireRack.com (that's the most expensive one) or simpletire.com or discounttiredirect.com - is it true the tire places do the same, when it comes to a tire in size or kind they don't have?
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Not sure exactly what the question is, but I've heard of retail tire stores actually ordering from Tire Rack at a wholesale price and selling tires to a customer at a retail price. However, I've even been to a Firestone shop where the manager said that if I wanted any tire available in the United States, he could get it one way or another, even if it wasn't anything that came up in the Firestone database.
 
Every tire shop I‘ve been to offers price matching.

I just had a tire fixed (leak) at the local Discount Tire. I was very impressed. Clean shop. Nice folks. Good work.

OK, they also liked my car, which is ingratiating, but hey, how many turbo, AWD wagons have a six speed manual?

Were I in need of snow tires, I would go down to Discount tire, with a print out from Tire Rack‘s website of the tires I wanted, and see what they charge. Pull out the web price if needed, but I think you’ll find it’s not needed.

I put a couple of Michelin Pilot Sport AS4 in 285/35ZR18 on my wife’s Mercedes at the Mercedes dealer. A bit higher price than any local tire shop advertised, but free mounting and balancing and an included road hazard made them price competitive. It was cheaper than buying from Tire Rack, paying shipping and mounting. Much, much cheaper.

Tires are a commodity. Shop around.

But given my recent Discount Tire experience, I would start my shopping there.

Finally, and this is important, only mount winter tires in sets of 4.
 
y_p_w said:
Not sure exactly what the question is, but I've heard of retail tire stores actually ordering from Tire Rack at a wholesale price and selling tires to a customer at a retail price. However, I've even been to a Firestone shop where the manager said that if I wanted any tire available in the United States, he could get it one way or another, even if it wasn't anything that came up in the Firestone database.
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Hmmmm. You are right, I forgot the question.

My question would be with ordering from online be something you would do to bring it somewhere to have the tires mounted and installed. More often than not precisely to avoid their markup on the sale.

Now this Firestone... now you have me wondering, how he can offer that.

Some applications ARE more specialty, such as 15" rim...
 
Cooper Evolution Winter w/ studs for both cars . Reasonable price and both perform well . Deep sipes and studs for more bite .
 
OP is looking for used tires,
If considering Biizzack, the tube multi cell compound with bite particles is included in the first 55 percent of usable tread, allowing for continued water dispersion and added grip as the tread wears…so the performance will fall off in the last 50% of the tire life. Something to consider.
 
@Tjbouwhu I have found this to be true in every snow tire I’ve owned.

I change them out at 40-50% tread remaining. I could run them through the summer but the noise and performance reduction isn’t worth it.
 
schwinney said:
Hmmmm. You are right, I forgot the question.

My question would be with ordering from online be something you would do to bring it somewhere to have the tires mounted and installed. More often than not precisely to avoid their markup on the sale.

Now this Firestone... now you have me wondering, how he can offer that.

Some applications ARE more specialty, such as 15" rim...
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It's pretty easy. They'll have a reseller business license and can purchase wholesale and sell retail. I had some Pirellis which they didn't sell there, but the manager said they could always order from one of several wholesalers they work with. I think if I had a specific part I wanted them to install, they could have done that too by ordering it online. As long as they have a license to install tires, I don't think there's any restriction on what brand.

As far as buying tires online to save, that's pretty easy. I've had tires sent directly to an installer that Tire Rack worked with - part of their installer network. They charged me more than I would have paid if I had bought tires there, but the savings from the tires were more than offset. I've also had tires sent directly to me, and I found a shop that would install them. They might have charged $15 each if I had bought tires there, but it was $20 since I brought my own in.

There are downsides, including that there might not be stuff like courtesy rotations/balancing or even road hazard repair/replacement. I bought a set of tires from America's Tire and when I shredded a tire on the freeway, I paid for a prorated replacement. I think I paid maybe 20% of the price (tires were pretty new), but had to pay for their regular installation.
 
I liked the Hankook i-pikes that came with my Volvo 940 wagon.

When I buy new, I get the DTD store brand "Champiro Ice Pros" made by Sumi rubber, who makes other store brands as well.

Since you're shopping used, I'd look at the condition of the particular tire. And feel it, see how pliable the rubber still is. You can ruin snow tires by running them through a summer.
 
Availability of tires may be playing a role in my selection.

Though, in keeping with the thread of discussion.. Anyone ever use Firestone Winterforce 2?
 
Tjbouwhu said:
OP is looking for used tires,
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^ Not necessarily, that ship has sailed most likely. Pistol-packing fast-talking local place with tires never did produce to me these used tires they were talking about, even pictures of, and simple, it is because they didn't have them and didn't want to tell me, so. Never pursued them.
 
schwinney said:
Availability of tires may be playing a role in my selection.

Though, in keeping with the thread of discussion.. Anyone ever use Firestone Winterforce 2?
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Yes, they were horribly loud. Driving down the interstate it sounded like a helicopter was flying directly over your car. It would actually cause resonance in the interior plastics. I ended up taking them off and selling them to a guy I worked with. Even with his hearing damage from years of working with loud tools, he couldn’t believe how loud they were.
 
Since moving to CO 8 years ago I had numerous different snow tires. Currently have Michelin X-Ice 2 on Sienna, VikingContact 7 on BMW and WS90 on Tiguan. But after all those tires I have to say best overall tire so far is VikingContact 7. Does everything good. Third winter they are still uber quite.
 
I find I like General tires, well, in general.

All snows seem to get loud and wear funny on me, so none of them are really “favorites”, just a tool for the job at hand.

Where I live the roads are kept up to shape quickly, so I would probably avoid used snows and would rather buy new all seasons each fall. Very location specific! If I had to drive at o dark thirty no matter what then i’d always rock snows, but at the moment its more of a luxury having them.
 
I always had Dunlop winter tires in Germany because they were cheapest at the Exchange. No complaints. Would probably buy Dunlop Maxx or Bridgestone Blizzaks if I needed real winter tires in NC.
 
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