I'm happy with my Nexen Winguard Sport2s, they are a nice all-around tire. Maybe not the BEST winter traction but far better than all-seasons while still being inexpensive, quiet, nice handling and comfortable. My biggest complaint is they are not in any sense of the term low rolling resistance so saw quite an mpg drop with them from all-seasons on both the Kia and now the VW.
Your favorite winter/snow/ice tire?
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The strange thing is that I've seen winter tires on some cars around here where we have mild winters. Sometimes performance winters, which I understand aren't quite as soft. Still seems a bit overkill for someone just taking a car up skiing a few times a year.
One of my coworkers has a Stinger and got it with the performance tires. I remember him worried about when to get those tires off for winter. Something about they could crack in freezing temps. At the very least they were not rated for the temperatures.
(his winter tires are all seasons, go figure.)
I’ll play devil’s advocate - Going skiing* a few times a year is absolutely justification for a set of snow tires.
Look, if a person is going skiing, they’re spending at least $180/day for each person for a lift ticket. At least $200/night for lodging. They’ve got thousands of dollars in equipment, even if they intend to rent skis.
A ski week for a family of four is easily several thousand dollars, perhaps into five figures if it’s a popular time of the year.
With all that at stake, why not throw $800 worth of tires on the car to be certain you can actually go?
Alternatively, if you live in, say, Denver, or Salt Lake City, you absolutely want to be able to get up to the mountain (complying with chain laws or just common sense) when it’s snowing. Those “few days” a year are very important days.
*I’ve been skiing for over forty years now. While I own my own gear (boots, skis, helmet, Google, Gore-Tex jacket and pants, gloves base layers, mid layers, etc.) the lift ticket prices have soared to nearly $200/day. I have the Epic Pass so that I can save on lift tickets. The lodging this year is insane. $800/night for a one Bedroom hotel or condo near the area on some weekends.
Folks really need to stop looking at snow tires as a huge outlay for one event. Yes, it’s a big outlay initially, but…
The cost of snow tires is offset by the reduced wear on your regular tires.
You buy a set of snow tires, again, let’s say it’s $800 (many are significantly cheaper, but for my car, the good ones are about that).
You will get at least four winters of use. And during that roughly 20,000 miles, you will have extended the life of your regular tires by 20,000 miles. A big savings.
Now, look your $800 snow tires, they’re $200/winter, and they saved about $100/winter in wear on your regular tires
So, for $100/winter, extra, over the cost of regular tires, you’re covered for all the ski weekends, and snow events, that cannot be predicted.
So cheap, really, to be able to avoid one accident because you had superior braking/handling, or to be able to get in a couple extra weekends on the slopes when the conditions were awesome with fresh snow.
The cost of snow tires is offset by the reduced wear on your regular tires.
You buy a set of snow tires, again, let’s say it’s $800 (many are significantly cheaper, but for my car, the good ones are about that).
You will get at least four winters of use. And during that roughly 20,000 miles, you will have extended the life of your regular tires by 20,000 miles. A big savings.
Now, look your $800 snow tires, they’re $200/winter, and they saved about $100/winter in wear on your regular tires
So, for $100/winter, extra, over the cost of regular tires, you’re covered for all the ski weekends, and snow events, that cannot be predicted.
So cheap, really, to be able to avoid one accident because you had superior braking/handling, or to be able to get in a couple extra weekends on the slopes when the conditions were awesome with fresh snow.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Still cheaper than accidents.
Plus, you prolong life of other tires so more or less it turns out same cost.
As @Astro14 said, if one lives in SLC or the Front Range, snows are absolutely no brainer for skiers. Here when we get good snow feels like everyone takes day off and drives to the mountains.
I don’t want those people on all seasons.
It wasn't just that. I totally get that some people buy these tires and take them up on ski trips. But it was also the tires just remaining on the car for the entire winter in the San Francisco Bay Area. I've also seen some off-brand winter tires on a vehicle with Oregon plates, so whoever it was traveled hundreds of miles. I was thinking of the accelerated wear from driving it in relatively warm and dry roads.
Most drivers heading for the mountains just buy chains. If it's really bad, there's probably nothing more effective, but certainly it's got a ton of drawbacks.
I put Xice2's on the Outback with the knowledge that they aren't great in deep snow and slush, are pretty good on ice, and a great tire for the 98% time they are on wet or dry pavement. IMO with AWD you typically don't need the most optimized tires for deep snow, which tend to have the most wear and noise on the hwy. But if you live in serious snow country then you probably do.
On the fwd Focus I tried some Blizzak WS80's for the more aggressive tread for deeper stuff, and they are decent at that, not quite as good as I hoped, but they actually have very good hwy manners so I guess they are OK. Even down near 6-7/32 they did well in a recent trip into Toronto where lots of side streets weren't plowed yet, and the 2wd all-season tire cars were getting stuck.
My parents have a set of Toyo Celsius all weather tires they've run year round for a few years now on their Forester and they are wearing quite slowly and still work well in the winters, which is another option. I suspect my Xice2's and the Celsius perform pretty much the same in most conditions, with the exception of ice where the Xice2 should be better.
I ran Xice Xi3's on my Forester XT, and I currently run Xice Snows on my wife's 2009 Q5, with my Outback running CC2's. In addition to ice, the big difference in the CC2 vs the Xice's is braking. Gradual braking is fine (and I'm pleasantly surprised with the snow/ice performance of the CC2's), but you notice the most difference with hard braking/panic stops.
My biggest disappointment with the Xi3's on the Forester was that it made it much more difficult to slide the tail out and have fun in the snow.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
In Bay area it is not that warm during winter to see excessive wear.
We're going to see a high of maybe 72ºF today.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
We see that in Front Range during winter too.
It is not big deal.
Hercules Avalanche X-Treme have been very good for me especially when traveling to the UP to go snowmobiling in the winter months. This will be there last season due to tread depth, started this winter season at 6/32”, new they were 17/32”. I picked up some Toyo WLT1 to replace them next season on a Black Friday deal.
This is a really good point to consider. Despite Michelin's higher upfront costs, if you can squeeze an extra season or two AND maintain performance better over the lifespan then they are actually a great value. Most of the cheaper winter tires don't have full depth sipes because they require a more expensive manufacturing technique to get them to interlock for stability.
I've also noticed cheap tires tend to harden after only a few seasons which really impacts performance. Haven't yet had my Michelins long enough to see if that will be an issue.
I can say hardening isn't an issue on my first gen Crossclimates (not 2, not SUV, not +), bought in 2015. In fact of all the tyres I own, I can launch my car hardest on these. They are also amongst the narrowest tyres I own. Down to 2 tyres now, I ripped a sidewall open on 1 a year ago. I use them for "extended" winter only.
