Winter Tire Suggestions?

[scugpg]

Nevwr had issues with the CT goodyear nordics but don't do a ton of driving

[icedude]

If he's switching over his all seasons for winters.....isn't he going to have 4 tires in the back to tip off the border guys? :-)

 

I ordered a set of tires through tirerack to be couriered to my door. Even with import fees they were hundreds less than I would have paid here for the same tires.

What border guys/gals?

 

jk

 

Ontario and Quebec --built a new border?

 

Smart Move on your Part Cram

 

Take Care ALL

 

 

Paul

 

 

 

Good Move on your part

[Gerritt]

Been calling around and there seems to be a run on the Goodyear ultragrips WRT's no one has them and suppliers are out of stock...

 

Looking at Bridgestone WS80's and Toyo gsi5's anyone have any experience with these?

 

Crappy tire also has the Goodyear Nordics on [email protected] before rebate. I have never known anyone with these tires... Are they any good? Snow and ice? I drive the 401 back and forth to work... About 35 km one way, the stretch between Brighton to Kingston is BRUTAL in the winter with several closures last year.. Anyone have anything good to say about these Nordics?

 

I currently have 235/65/17 on the car now... Any benefit to dropping to a 235/70/16(other then price?)

 

Thanks for answering my questions.

 

G

[BillM]

Nordics are good tires. I'd even consider going a bit smaller on the tire, maybe a 225 or 215 series with a taller sidewall. The bonus of this is if you have to you can air it out a bit more without worrying about running on the rims in really bad weather.

 

Thinner tires tend to cut through the crap a lot better then the wider ones do. I run 225 in the summer, 195's in the winter.

Edited November 10, 2014 by BillM

[moxie]

Dont drive yourself too crazy trying to figure out which brand. Although not all winter tires are not created equal its always better than not having a set. I have a set of first gen Hankook i-pike. Bought them years ago before winter tires became popular and only paid $104.00/tire incl tax. They still have at least 2 more seasons left in them. As mentioned a narrower tire performs better.Good luck

Edited November 10, 2014 by moxie

[lew]

I use BFG Winter Slaloms on my F150 and their an excellent tire. Going into my 5th winter with them and the tread is still in great shape.

 

Excellent traction and nice & quiet on the road.

[James77]

Update:

 

Well I've had a bit of an issue.

 

Whenever I found a good deal, by the time I would get to arranging pickup there was someone else driving out there to get it and I was too late.

 

I ended up buying new General Altimax Arctics from Crappy Tire. They have a great sale on them right now and a $35 rebate.

 

They're the highest rated tire on tirerack.com and in Canadian Tires testing they were top 3 performers.

 

I'm excited to get these on, just tracking down a set of rims.

 

James

[Gerritt]

Update:

 

Well I've had a bit of an issue.

 

Whenever I found a good deal, by the time I would get to arranging pickup there was someone else driving out there to get it and I was too late.

 

I ended up buying new General Altimax Arctics from Crappy Tire. They have a great sale on them right now and a $35 rebate.

 

They're the highest rated tire on tirerack.com and in Canadian Tires testing they were top 3 performers.

 

I'm excited to get these on, just tracking down a set of rims.

 

James

I also saw those on tire rack.... Mind if I ask what size your getting? And at what price? I was quoted 160.00 per tire and 49.99 per rim this at 235/70/16

 

G

[James77]

I also saw those on tire rack.... Mind if I ask what size your getting? And at what price? I was quoted 160.00 per tire and 49.99 per rim this at 235/70/16

 

G

Check out Canadian Tire's website. They have all the sale pricing online.

I paid $120 a tire and that is for 215/65/16. Canadian Tire beat all the US pricing once shipped, and any independents I had asked.

 

James

[Gerritt]

Check out Canadian Tire's website. They have all the sale pricing online.

I paid $120 a tire and that is for 215/65/16. Canadian Tire beat all the US pricing once shipped, and any independents I had asked.

 

James

Thanks James, I did call crappy tire in Trenton and they wanted 171.00 per tire for my size before rebates and 59.99 for the rims.. More expensive then my local independent.

 

Thanks for the comparison.

 

G

Edited November 10, 2014 by Gerritt

[ssminnow]

"Looking at Bridgestone WS80's and Toyo gsi5's anyone have any experience with these?"

 

 

 

My wife got the Toyo gsi5's last winter and has been very happy with them. Really good all around such as wear, snow and road noise. Where they really excel is icy conditions.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2014 by ssminnow

[motv8tr]

I'm planning on going with Hankooks this year, I found the one year I had Michelins they wore down fast....keep in mind I drive a min 300km per day.

 

Maureen

[Basschaser77]

Had Michelin x-ice2s and they worked well on ice and okay in deep snow. Just got the Yokohama IG52Cs on my Civic. Been told they are as good as the x-ice but about $100 cheaper (for 4) than the michelins.

[FrankTheRabbit]

I've been looking around for a set of new winters. We had the Blizzaks WS70s on our previous vehicle that lasted three winters. Always felt confident with them driving along the 401, Georgian Bay area, and in Quebec. I narrowed it down to the new Blizzaks, the WS80s, Toyo Observes GSi5s, and the Michelin Xi3s. From what I was able to gather, the Xi3s were always a top performer, until the WS80s were released this year. Preliminary testing has the WS80s nudging ahead of the Xi3s. Unfortunately, the WS80s were sold out and opted for the Xi3s.

 

There won't be one set of winter tires that will perform the best in every winter situation (icy roads, heavy slush, deep snow, etc), so you'll need to see what type of driving you will be doing and go from there. Also, little nuances, like road noise, dry/wet pavement handling, or fuel consumption, might be a factor in determining which set of winters will suit your preference.

[Mister G]

Just stay away from Bridgestone tires if you want to get some decent mileage out of them. Wearing out in 40k is way too fast after spending around $1000+ on tires.

 

Other then that I love them.

[James77]

Well everything is installed. I got the General Altimax Arctic from Crappy tire for a good deal.

 

Bit of a nightmare getting everything installed. Waited about 3 and a half hours yesterday. Drove it away and noticed a lot of vibration. Drove it on the highway and it felt like the whole car was shaking.

 

Brought it back in this morning and they rebalanced the tires in about a half hour. Im not too sure how but the guy said that all four tires were off a bit. Im curious if because the rims had some weights on them already they didn't bother.

 

Anyways driving super smooth now, hopefully I'll get to use them sometime soon

I was lucky enough to get a bunch of snow at the cottage on the weekend so I could try the car without snow tires, now I'll have a good baseline to see what they're like.

 

I was really leaning towards blizzaks but the wear just isn't there for the marginal better ice performance.

 

I guess we will see how they hold up!

 

Thanks for all the advice guys, this community really put me off of Blizzaks lol.

[bigbuck]

For those that drive a lot and are budget conscious take a look at Sailun tires. I bought a set for my buick this past summer on the recommendation of my tire guy in Oakville. He guarranteed me that I would be more than happy with them and even went as far as saying he would change them out for another name brand at no extra charge if I was not happy. Well, great tires, handle great, nice ride, great in the rain and are supposed to be pretty good in the winter. They mKe some nice looking winter tires as well. This is coming from a guy who never bought an off brand tire in 27 years of driving.

[DRIFTER_016]

For those that drive a lot and are budget conscious take a look at Sailun tires. I bought a set for my buick this past summer on the recommendation of my tire guy in Oakville. He guarranteed me that I would be more than happy with them and even went as far as saying he would change them out for another name brand at no extra charge if I was not happy. Well, great tires, handle great, nice ride, great in the rain and are supposed to be pretty good in the winter. They mKe some nice looking winter tires as well. This is coming from a guy who never bought an off brand tire in 27 years of driving.

 

 

When I was driving from Grand Valley into the city every day for work I ended up putting a set of Cooper snows on my cars.

I was driving Honda Civics @ the time and the Cooper tires were inexpensive and worked great in the winter.

At the time they were about $280/set installed so I just left them on year round and changed them every second year as I was driving 70,000=KMS per year.

They even worked great up here in Yellowknife when I moved here.

[Gerritt]

Well I bit the bullet, and ordered my new snows... After the suggestion from James and reading the reviews from tirerack.com I have ordered a set of General altimax arctics. Figured why not give em a try...

 

It's funny when I first called my local tire shop he suggested general's I told him I would rather stick to a name brand like Goodyear etc.. I always considered General an "off" brand, if that makes sense.. (Seems I may have been bitten by marketing...)

 

I will be sure to post how these tires do this winter..

 

G

[irishfield]

My '03 F150 had Ameritrac Generals on it G... regular all seasons. Best tire I've had so far for winter traction, so can only imagine how good their Arctics are. Local garage thought I was nuts when I wanted a second set of the same tire after the first 80K

[Gerritt]

Wayne that's good to know thanks. They were priced about the same as the Goodyear WRT's and blizzacks and lower then the gsi's and ws80's...

 

A middle of the road tire that has great reviews and well recommended by most shops I talked too... I called around and spoke with 9 dealers.

 

Hope to get 2 or 3 winters out of them with proper rotation. We'll see.

 

G

[danc]

I put my studded Goodyears on last weekend. Still no snow, but damn, what a terrible noise they make on asphalt. It sounds like I'm driving through broken glass.

[fishindevil]

For those that drive a lot and are budget conscious take a look at Sailun tires. I bought a set for my buick this past summer on the recommendation of my tire guy in Oakville. He guarranteed me that I would be more than happy with them and even went as far as saying he would change them out for another name brand at no extra charge if I was not happy. Well, great tires, handle great, nice ride, great in the rain and are supposed to be pretty good in the winter. They mKe some nice looking winter tires as well. This is coming from a guy who never bought an off brand tire in 27 years of driving.

those sailun tires are awesome !!!!! and i would get a set of them again in a second !!!!!!

[Old Ironmaker]

A few things I have come to learn re: winter radials,

 

A crappy winter tire is better than the best all season tire.

 

The best winter tire is only as good as the driver. I know people that could get stuck in a D9.

 

Blizzaks don't last 3 seasons.

[BillM]

Pretty much spot on.. Crappy winters are better then the best AS out there. It still baffles me people will lease a 50k truck or car but not drop $600 for a decent set of winter tires, lol.