snow tire experiences?
 

Greetings svxers,
I am considering buying some used Blizzaks for my 92 svx. I have heard good things about the Blizzaks . . .anybody tried them on an svx?
The tires are 215 55Q r16s.
So the big question: how will these tires fit on my stock rims and how will they work in the snows of the Colorado mountains in this size?
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance.
-macjack

I used to live in Colorado and there are a number of people here that do. I worked for Big O and Sims (now Swis, I guess) in Denver and have driven a number of cars with Blizzaks, but never an SVX. When I had an SVX there in '92 - '95 I never needed snow tires and I lived in Evergreen, commuting to Denver each day. I also made quite a few trips up top and along Hwy. 93 to Boulder, all without incident.

Be that as it may, Blizzaks are excellent tires, I can't think of any better all-around winter tire. However, half-worn snow tires aren't considered to be snow tires. Buying used ones for winter usage is a sucker's purchase. The tread depth is critical, obviously, and if I recall correctly Blizzaks are hydrophilic, meaning that their tread rubber softens when wet. This feature of the tread rubber is only so thick to begin with, so there's probably little, if any, of this rubber layer left on the tires. Another huge feature of Blizzaks was the amount of siping, the little razor thin slits in the tread. The siping enhances wet and icy road grip by providing more biting edges. The deeper the tread, the more flexing and biting those edges can provide.

Just food for thought. For me a good set of tires is just as good, if not better, as used snow tires. But if your heart is set on snow tires, buy a new set each season and sell them in the spring or next fall to recoup most of the money. Be the smart guy, not the fall guy. ;)

I've driven a contour with blizzaks and i bought the cheapest winter tires avail for my neon (wintermasters) and honestly I couldn't tell much of a difference.....

I say go cheap, you're not buying them for their performance road hugging ab ilities, you're buying them for grip.

- Ca$h

Beav's advice is very good, but I have to admit that I bought used snow tires for the SVX. The situation was a little different, though:

I bought them from my car's only previous owner. :D

They were really nice Nokian NRWs on bonafide steel SVX wheels from the dealer. The tires, since I've never had the chance to use them, actually have very few miles on them.

One did have a nail in it, though...

lol ca$h.. wintermasters.. I just put a set of four on my SVX.. they were cheap as hell, and made a WORLD of improvement over my bald AVS-dB's.. I think that basically any dedicated snow tire is going to be far better than vitually ANY all-season rubber you could throw on. I've heard good things about blizzaks, and I seem to remember hearing something about some kind of scandinavian-sounding company.. hakkapahta.. i have no idea how to spell or pronounce it, but it LOOKED sort of like that.. I head they were the best money could buy.. can't back that up though.

-Adam

The company you're thinking of is Nokian, Adam. http://www.nokiantyres.com/

Everybody in VT swore by Nokian tires. And some of them lived on roads that some of you wouldn't even recognize AS a road. :D

edit: Actually, here, this is even better. http://www.nokiantyres.com/index_en.html The tires I bought (used) for my SVX from the previous owner are Hakkapeliitta NRWs. They're just like these Hak 1s, only without the studs.

Blizzaks All the way around. I'm originally from AL and been 10 years in NY now. the 3rd week I was here was the blizzard of 93.... 48 inches of snow on a Saturday afternoon. The Blizzaks rock! not because of the tread pattern but the rubber compound. Remember the Hockey Rink Ad! For 200 days a year I'm convinced the SVX and Blizzaks are the combo to beat.

ww111

Thanks for the thoughts on the Blizzaks, and the dangers of getting socked with tired old tires.
I am still curious about the SIZE of these tires: I assume that they will fit the rims (?) and am curious about the optimal dimensions of a tire for driving in snow and ice.
thanks.
-macjack

I'm running Kumho snows, 205/55/16's.

Quite, and VERY good on snow. Sidewall's soft, but hey, it's a snow tire.

Oh, and they're CHEAP too. <$70USD a piece.

I'd be careful on the used Blizzaks. Some snow tires have a different compound between the 1st half and the 2nd half of the tread depth. My recollection is that the Blizzaks are like that, so it becomes a mediocre all season when the tread's done 1/2 way.

VK