Blizzak or X-Ice

[Huskymaniac]

Originally Posted by bheinen74

pretty sure i came across an artilcle in regards to the blizzacks, saying that when new they are awesome, but that the way the tire is designed, the rubber outer layer is soft and then when it wears some, the rubber gets hard and is no good after half the tread is gone. Whereas, other snow tires, the tread is still soft with half wear or less. So, blizzacks once wore down slightly, are a hard rubber and not so good whereas, other brands when worn down still stay soft and work great still.
I put nokians on my legacy and will report back.

The first 55% of the tread are the special compound. I get rid of mine after that. There is nothing, other than studs, that sticks to ice and packed snow like Blizzaks. And some people say that Blizzaks are even better than studs. I never ran studs so I can't really judge. But I have run X-Ice and Nokians and I can say the Blizzaks are better than both. The X-Ice were OK but wicked noisy. The Nokians were not very good in my opinion. Unless I drove in central Canada or Alaska, I would rather run Goodyear Tripletreds than Nokians as I didn't think they were that much better than decent all-seasons in the snow. If you are going to bother with winter tires, go all the way.

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by icingdeath88

yea well I live closer to the beach than you

I'm probably closer to the beach than you


(who cares if the water is only 40 degrees and the air temp is 20)

[92 SVX]

Originally Posted by icingdeath88

Lol while you guys are shopping for snow tires I'm looking for summer tires to wear year-round.

I got new summer tires early this year I am so glad I am in the same boat as you
jax so a little further north but right at the beach too

[Rodolfo]

FWIW, and with all due respect: I never saw the need for premium snows for AWD or 4WD vehicles. On the other snow tire thread, I pitched Blizzacs as the only tire I thought made a difference on ice. But, my experience with those tires is 12 years old, when I think they were fairly new technology. I only invested in those tires when I drove rear-wheel drive cars. Until I turned 50 and bought my SVX, I had no interest in anything other than RWD, and such cars are dangerous in the Colorado, Illinois and Michigan snows I've experienced -without special tires or studs.

My SVX was the only non-RWD car I ever REALLY enjoyed driving; but I never thought of putting tires on it that I'd have had to treat gently and drive minimally for fear their ice properties would wear out. I always just shopped for the best-driving, best-looking, quality AS tires and found those perfectly adequate for my SVX winters. AS tires are such good drivers and lookers now, I even use them on my RWD car that never sees the snow.

(I am not claiming the best AS tires compare to the best "summer" tires; it's just that up north, one-season-or-so tires are a pain in the butt.)

[1986nate]

Snow tires are very useful on 4wd and AWD vehicles for braking. In inclement weather, it's not the driving around and turning that is the cause for concern, it is the emergency type braking situation where 4wd and AWD aren't going to help you for squat. With snow tires, they greatly reduce your stopping distances. I never had snow tires until last year on my silver. They make a huge difference...

[Rodolfo]

Originally Posted by 1986nate

Snow tires are very useful on 4wd and AWD vehicles for braking. In inclement weather, it's not the driving around and turning that is the cause for concern, it is the emergency type braking situation where 4wd and AWD aren't going to help you for squat. With snow tires, they greatly reduce your stopping distances. I never had snow tires until last year on my silver. They make a huge difference...

I don't doubt this one bit. I had agreed as much on the other thread, then I remembered that my own "huge difference" Blizzak claim was not only dated, but based on experiences with RWD cars.

[Andrew P.]

Well, so much for getting blizzaks. Every tire store around was out of stock
for the size I wanted.
I ended up going with the X-Ice. At least the guy at Discount Tire dropped the price on them to only a few bucks more than the blizzaks.
I guess I'll just have to see how they do.

[1986nate]

Originally Posted by Rodolfo

I don't doubt this one bit. I had agreed as much on the other thread, then I remembered that my own "huge difference" Blizzak claim was not only dated, but based on experiences with RWD cars.

Gotcha... See, I learned how to drive in RWD with normal tires and never had issue. They included 3 early 80's GM G bodies with high torque Olds V8's and an 89 astro van with the 4.3. I was actually bored when I had my 2 late 90's FWD GM W bodies as they don't have a normal e brake handle and have the "pedal" with the release lever. Not easy to have fun in and there's too much control.
I was able to have fun with my silver last winter as it was extremely unpredictable since the transfer clutches were almost completely shot and would only transfer power to the rear when the front tires were fully spinning and the C sol. was receiving a signal to transfer full power (50/50) to the rear, then it would swing the a$$ end around and I could have some fun. This was very unpredictable which made it quite enjoyable for me.

BTW, that same trans had a failed high clutch so breaking anything more really wasn't a big deal. It's not something the average SVX owner would want to do as upon removal, there was 1 full tooth that was stuck to the diff drain plug when I did the 4.44 swap. It was just waiting to completely disintegrate.

Oh, and my idea of fun seems to scare the crap out of a lot of my friends.

[92 SVX]

I grew up driving rwd as well, and in northern nd Ice and snow pack, not to mention drifting snow was a way of life, 9 or 10 months out of the year. My first car was a 1970 Ford LTD and then I had a 1972 Pontiac Catalina and several more in the same vein. I drove all year on All(no) Season tires and really didnt know or care about the difference however I later learned how good very high performance summer tires were and from that point on I was already changing out summer tires for something else so checking out blizzaks it was a night and day difference. If I still lived where I needed it I would go with dedicated winter and summer tires in a heart beat.