On the subject of DuraTrecs and other snowflake-rated AT tires versus dedicated winter tires, I really wish someone (magazine/website/etc) would do an up-to-date comparison of a bunch of them, specifically in the LT range. I've got off-brand AT tires (Radar Renegade AT5s) that are snowflake-rated and terrifying on packed snow and ice, but they work pretty well in deeper and softer snow. I don't find it hard to believe that other AT tires could be better in winter conditions, but I'm happy enough with the Nokian LT2s as a dedicated winter tire.
You answered your question with the “off-brand” part. I think one criteria for tire selection at this point is how new the tire is from a major rubber company (not just a tire company). Advances in compounds are occurring so rapidly that tires that seemed line death traps not that long ago test really well across all conditions. The snowflake rating is only 10% better traction than a reference all season, so just about any offroad tire could wear it.
I point out all the time that Canadian tire hired a third party to do winter testing in Sweden a few years ago, and they put ATs on the SUV (Ford Expedition) for that component of the test.
The BFG ko2 scored a perfect 100% on ice, which was tested on a frozen lake, beating out tires such as the Cooper ATW that are heavily siped for winter performance - that tire won for snow performance.
So that’s compound, unquestionably derived from the x-Ice technology (Michelin owns BFG), because the ko2 isn’t really even siped from a modern perspective, and is something most off brands don’t have unless they are specialty companies like Nokian.
Here is my set of 37’s removed with 7/32” tread (15/32 new) remaining at 43K miles including four winters from glare ice to wind packed blizzard depths. They were still performing pretty much like new.
The only reason I would run a dedicated winter tire would be to stud it, and even then I’d stud something like the Duratrac to keep the superior deep snow performance.
I drive in carmageddon all the time because my neighborhood is steep and tends to get really icy in the shoulder seasons.
This pic is my wife driving the ‘04 Sequoia with Falken AT3W. She hates winter driving, so perfect opportunity to go get a beer and gain confidence.
I went out later in the Cruiser to see in part which tire would do better. I think the ko2 had the slight edge, which always suprises me.
I’d have vastly preferred studs on this kind of ice, but the only real issue I had was a car almost sliding into me as I stopped on a hill due to the the pileup accruing at the bottom.
The driver did a nice job slow speed sliding around me and somehow missing everybody at the bottom.
I went and tested traction on this ice on a 14% grade hill (there’s a sign) by stopping at the steepest point heading uphill. I did have to lock all three diffs, but the tires had enough traction to pull a 3 ton truck from a dead stop on glare ice on that grade.
Cooper has been out front in 4x4 tire compounds for awhile. Their AT3 won a bunch of tire tests and gets consistently good snow reports. You’d never believe by looking at it.
That’s why I’m running the STT Pro now. Most of the people here will look at that tire in horror and then I’ll post up a bunch of stuff about actually using it in extreme conditions.
We’ll see how it goes
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