2014 Snow Tires

[ddmd]

Looking for snow tire recs for the SVX. Has anyone used
Bridgestone Blizzak LM32, WS70, or WS80's on their SVX.
How about Michelin X-ice or Goodyear ultragrip's. Any other
recommendations?

[dannmarr]

I use Goodyear ultra grip on all my cars. This is my fourth year on the SVX and they still have pleanty of thread on them.

[Blacky]

If you drive on a lot of cold dry roads or in icy conditions, Yokohama W Drive is a nice high performance winter tire. In heavy snow they don't have very big lugs for grip.
I did make it down a 1/2 mile long unplowed driveway with about 6-8 inches of snow yesterday. The belly pan was dragging all the way.

[Crazy_pilot]

The Ultragrips are getting great reviews online. Haven't tried them personally but they might be the next set on the Legacy. My friend burned out a set of X-Ice in 2 years, but I wouldn't consider that normal as he thinks he's Ken Block and also drives them year round (including a 4000 mile trip from Toronto to New Orleans last August, with a stop at the Tail of the Dragon). He did win the RWD class at our Snowkhana last year with them. My parents have had X-Ice's on their Forester for 2 or 3 years now and love them.

[dannmarr]

During the snow storm in Febuary, I drove about 5 miles through unplowed roads as high as the bumpers with no problem. Was it the tires or was it the all wheel drive? or both

[92snowmachine]

I bought hankook i pike studded snows the day after buying the svx. They still have most of the tread after several years of winter only use. The only time I got stuck I plowed so much snow under the car I was high centered. Took a few minutes and a shovel but wasn't a big deal to get out. The snow was so deep it was harder to open the doors.

[ddmd]

Yeah, I saw some of the very positive reviews. You can probably write one with all of the miles you have on them. How is the handling/ride comfort/road noise? I have a bias toward not losing too much in the way of handling. I agree with you in that the combo of snows and AWD is a killer combo.

Originally Posted by dannmarr

I use Goodyear ultra grip on all my cars. This is my fourth year on the SVX and they still have pleanty of thread on them.

[SVX_MY_BABY]

Don't know what type of winter driving is in PA. If you get lots of freezing rain and black ice I'd go for one of the new design "ICE" tires like Michelin Ice-X. They have 2 one is better in snow, the other better in heavy rain as it clears more water from the sipes. (Ice-Xi3) My dad just put a set on his car. Reviews say the are better on ice than studs until you get to ultra cold high arctic type weather. I have studded Nokian Hakapolita which I am thoroughly satisfied with. Great in deep snow.

[ddmd]

Icy, slushy roads, fairly frequent 2-4 inch snowfall, with the occasional large storm is typical of Southcentral PA. I hadn't read about these so I'll check them out

Originally Posted by Blacky

If you drive on a lot of cold dry roads or in icy conditions, Yokohama W Drive is a nice high performance winter tire. In heavy snow they don't have very big lugs for grip.
I did make it down a 1/2 mile long unplowed driveway with about 6-8 inches of snow yesterday. The belly pan was dragging all the way.

[ddmd]

My daughter has the Michelin X-ice on her 97 Honda Accord. It was almost undriveable in winter weather until we put those on. Always wanted to try the Nokia's but nobody sells them around here. Probably don't have enough deep snow around here to warrant buying them anyway

Originally Posted by SVX_MY_BABY

Don't know what type of winter driving is in PA. If you get lots of freezing rain and black ice I'd go for one of the new design "ICE" tires like Michelin Ice-X. They have 2 one is better in snow, the other better in heavy rain as it clears more water from the sipes. (Ice-Xi3) My dad just put a set on his car. Reviews say the are better on ice than studs until you get to ultra cold high arctic type weather. I have studded Nokian Hakapolita which I am thoroughly satisfied with. Great in deep snow.

[ddmd]

Anyone driving with the Continental ExtremeWinterContact's? Good reviews , in general. Really like to have opinions on the same car that I'm looking to put them on, though

[Crazy_pilot]

Originally Posted by dannmarr

During the snow storm in Febuary, I drove about 5 miles through unplowed roads as high as the bumpers with no problem. Was it the tires or was it the all wheel drive? or both

AWD+snows. There's actually a video recently that shows a Forester on all-seasons vs an M3 on snows and the M just walks away up an icy hill.

With the SVX on Blizzaks I was able to push through snow deeper than the headlights. Pulled itself out of this mess just fine:

[ddmd]

That's a crazy amount of snow. Which Blizzaks do you have? How is the handling/ride/noise on drier roads?

[wdb]

I've always opted for "high performance winter tires", H-rated rubber. My conditions are very much like Harrisburg PA since I live towards Allentown PA

Blizzak LM-22's were my go-to tire but they don't make them anymore, so whatever they replaced it with. I currently have a set of Pirelli Winter Sottozeros on the STi and they're also doing quite well. I'd like to try winter Michelins some time because I really like their summer rubber, but I need to wear out some tires first!

I find that the H-rated winter tires give me very good control in cold + dry and cold + wet/slushy conditions, which is where I find myself far more often than on true snow covered roads. When I do encounter snow the tires + AWD get me anywhere I need to go, and keep me out trouble too. When the tires get down to the first wear bars I run them year round to get my money's worth.

[ddmd]

I think the Bridgestone replacement for this tire is the Blizzak LM-32, which is a V-rated tire. These high performance tires with the stiffer sidewalls (contributes to better steering response?) do make sense with the type of winters that we have. I'm sure that you give up a little traction, as compared to some of the "deep snow" tires but, I'm biased toward retaining as much steering response and other handling characteristics as possible. Having the AWD + LSD should make up the remaining difference in snow traction. These and the Michelin X-ice are certainly expensive though.
I'm exploring some less expensive options before I pull the trigger (Continental, Goodyear Ultragrips, etc).

Originally Posted by wdb

I've always opted for "high performance winter tires", H-rated rubber. My conditions are very much like Harrisburg PA since I live towards Allentown PA

Blizzak LM-22's were my go-to tire but they don't make them anymore, so whatever they replaced it with. I currently have a set of Pirelli Winter Sottozeros on the STi and they're also doing quite well. I'd like to try winter Michelins some time because I really like their summer rubber, but I need to wear out some tires first!

I find that the H-rated winter tires give me very good control in cold + dry and cold + wet/slushy conditions, which is where I find myself far more often than on true snow covered roads. When I do encounter snow the tires + AWD get me anywhere I need to go, and keep me out trouble too. When the tires get down to the first wear bars I run them year round to get my money's worth.