Winter Tires for SF - Tahoe Weekend Warrior

[murphysf]

Hello

This topic started to get discussed in a different thread and thought I would break it out into its own thread.

Next season I plan to do about 11 weekend trips from San Mateo to Incline Village (80 - 267) between mid December and mid March.

I will be transporting precious cargo (my 7 & 9 year old children).

I was thinking of getting another set of rims and winter tires and leaving them on for 3 months Dec-March.

So the questions is tires. Am thinking of getting a winter tire that is studdable but I do not have plans to ever put studs in them.

The vehicle is a 2000 Lexus RX300 AWD with tire size 225/70-R16.

I am leaning towards the following two tires:

General ALTIMAX ARCTIC 12 STUDDABLE (I heard these are made in Germany by Continental)
https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/general-altimax-arctic-12-studdable/p/35936


and

Cooper Evolution Winter Studdable
https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/cooper-evolution-winter-studdable/p/36797

I understand that General and Cooper are two excellent tire manufactures that are under the radar compared to the big popular brands.

Not sure it is worth paying the extra $$ for the Bridgestone Blizzak DMV2 or Michelin tires.

Looking to confirm I am going in the right direction for the type of tire and also looking for specific tire recommendations. I plan to buy in late November.

 

[François Pugh]

Out of your list, I would go with the Michelins.

 

[Doug Briggs]

I've been very happy with the winter and dry road performance of these: https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/hankook-i-pike-rw11-studdable/p/10762. I'm driving a Tacoma Double Cab.

 

[Ogg]

My wife has the older version of the Generals on her Subaru and has been quite happy with them. She even likes them better on wet and dry roads than her Pirelli Summer tires.

 

[EricG]

@murphysf - Are you planning on studding those tires you listed? If not, I’d suggest going with a snow tires designed as a studless (vs a studable tire and not getting studs installed) Bridgestone DMV2 (you mentioned), the Michelin Xi3, Nokian Hakka R3 or something similar. .

 

[François Pugh]

You might be tempted to buy some 2nd hand Blizzaks. Don't; the 2nd half of the tread is different from the first half and does not provide the good winter traction Blizzack is known for. That's why a lot of folk sell them off after a season or two.

Better than Perilli in the wet? That's what you call damning by faint praise. (maybe like Kia, they've gotten better with time)

Hakka R2, R3 > Michelin X-ice III > General>I. Pike in terms of winter traction. Michelin X-ice is probably the best compromise between winter and dry pavement traction and price, especially considering wear.

Yeah, don't get unstudded studdable tires.

 

[PinnacleJim]

I had the previous version of the General Altimax on my previous car (WRX). Very good winter tire, but I could fell the soft sidewall and poorer handling compared to my summer tires. It is made in Germany and a bargain for a quality winter tire.

 

[Wilhelmson]

Artimax are great on our imprezza. It's not a wrx so the performance is not as important. I had the intention of buying new summer tires for the other set of wheels but might run the snows all year.

 

[murphysf]

@murphysf - Are you planning on studding those tires you listed? If not, I’d suggest going with a snow tires designed as a studless (vs a studable tire and not getting studs installed) Bridgestone DMV2 (you mentioned), the Michelin Xi3, Nokian Hakka R3 or something similar. .

Thanks for the reply.

No I am not planning to stud the listed tires. From what I understand they have excellent winter snow properties without the studs. They have the sipes and z pattern to help the snow stick in the tires. I called both Cooper and General (actually it was Continental) support today and discussed this topic with them. They said that the studable tires still have the snow / winter properties without the studs.

However I would like to hear what people have to say who have actual experience.

Thanks!

 

[dbostedo]

^^^
Why not just buy snow tires not meant to be studded? Are the ones that can be studded better? Cheaper? You might stud them after all?

 

[murphysf]

You might be tempted to buy some 2nd hand Blizzaks. Don't; the 2nd half of the tread is different from the first half and does not provide the good winter traction Blizzack is known for. That's why a lot of folk sell them off after a season or two.

Better than Perilli in the wet? That's what you call damning by faint praise. (maybe like Kia, they've gotten better with time)

Hakka R2, R3 > Michelin X-ice III > General>I. Pike in terms of winter traction. Michelin X-ice is probably the best compromise between winter and dry pavement traction and price, especially considering wear.

Yeah, don't get unstudded studdable tires.

So the sipes on the Blizzak DMV2 are not throughout the entire tread?

When I spoke to Cooper today they said that the sipes are through the entire thread.

 

[murphysf]

So the sipes on the Blizzak DMV2 are not throughout the entire tread?

When I spoke to Cooper today they said that the sipes are through the entire thread.

just read this:

My only issue with the Blizzak DM-V2 is the same issue that I’ve repeated over and over across the entire Blizzak line. The Multicell Compound that gives Blizzak tires their amazing grip on ice is created by essentially spraying the compound onto the tire as a type of foam, creating millions of microscopic bubbles in the rubber which sucks up that last little bit of water on the ice surface. The problem here is that the compound only takes up about 50-60% of the actual tire tread. Once that 50-60% is worn off, the rest of the tread is a standard all-season compound that doesn’t perform nearly as well in winter conditions.

Someday it may come about that Bridgestone can create a Blizzak with 100% Multicell compound, and on that day the Blizzak will immediately become a strong contender for Best Winter Tire in the World. But until then, in my book the Blizzak line holds onto third place, just behind the Nokian Hakka R2 and R2 SUV and Michelin’s X-Ice and Latitude X-Ice lines, both in the passenger car and SUV/CUV categories. That’s certainly no mean feat, and it’s because the tires are just so darned good.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

I loved my Blizzak WS80 Studless Ice and Snow this past winter. In the past I had Goodyear wrangler duratracs on my wrangler but these Blizzaks were mind blowing. Worth every penny.

 

[Ken_R]

Hello

This topic started to get discussed in a different thread and thought I would break it out into its own thread.

Next season I plan to do about 11 weekend trips from San Mateo to Incline Village (80 - 267) between mid December and mid March.

I will be transporting precious cargo (my 7 & 9 year old children).

I was thinking of getting another set of rims and winter tires and leaving them on for 3 months Dec-March.

So the questions is tires. Am thinking of getting a winter tire that is studdable but I do not have plans to ever put studs in them.

The vehicle is a 2000 Lexus RX300 AWD with tire size 225/70-R16.

I am leaning towards the following two tires:

General ALTIMAX ARCTIC 12 STUDDABLE (I heard these are made in Germany by Continental)
https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/general-altimax-arctic-12-studdable/p/35936


and

Cooper Evolution Winter Studdable
https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/cooper-evolution-winter-studdable/p/36797

I understand that General and Cooper are two excellent tire manufactures that are under the radar compared to the big popular brands.

Not sure it is worth paying the extra $$ for the Bridgestone Blizzak DMV2 or Michelin tires.

Looking to confirm I am going in the right direction for the type of tire and also looking for specific tire recommendations. I plan to buy in late November.

I wouldnt overthink it. Those two tire options look VERY good.

 

[EricG]

.

Thanks for the reply.

No I am not planning to stud the listed tires. From what I understand they have excellent winter snow properties without the studs. They have the sipes and z pattern to help the snow stick in the tires. I called both Cooper and General (actually it was Continental) support today and discussed this topic with them. They said that the studable tires still have the snow / winter properties without the studs.

However I would like to hear what people have to say who have actual experience.

Thanks!

I tried this several years back, I purchased the Altimax and intended to run it without studs. My thought was that we didn’t use that vehicle much and when we did in the snow it would be fine. I was trying to find that balancing point of no stud noise, good traction but still a reasonable price. I used them for that winter and sold them in the spring. I installed the Nokian Hakka R2 at that point.

For a point of reference these were used for our vehicle we kept at DIA and was used on I70, in Frisco, Breck & Vail. I have not driven the roads you will use. So maybe someone else can maybe make a comparison to the conditions.

 

[pais alto]

Check out the Michelin Crossclimate. I’ve been running them since fall - very, very good on snow and dry pavement, 50k tread warranty. There are a lot of good reviews in places like Tire Rack and Consumer Reports.

 

[Ken_R]

Check out the Michelin Crossclimate. I’ve been running them since fall - very, very good on snow and dry pavement, 50k tread warranty. There are a lot of good reviews in places like Tire Rack and Consumer Reports.

Did not know about this tire. Looks awesome!

 

[ScotsSkier]

I ran the general Altimax on my truck for one season.... very unimpressed with them so got rid of them and went back to Yokohamas which are exponentially better. It may be that the generals work better on a smaller vehicle but I would not use them again. Take a look also at the Yokohama IG51/52

 

[tball]

Am thinking of getting a winter tire that is studdable but I do not have plans to ever put studs in them.

Tires can't be studded after they have been driven, so I don't see the point of focusing on studdable tires. You are limiting yourself from considering the best studless winter tires with that criteria.

 

[François Pugh]

https://www.consumersearch.com/snow-tires This seems like good research (i.e. they mostly agree with me ).
Funny how they forget to mention that the Blizzak price should be doubled as it's only good for half as long before you get into the other rubber compound.