What makes a good winter tire? We take an in-depth look at winter tires and what makes some better than others, from rubber compound and tread design to sipes and studs.
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This was a super useful piece of information. Thank you for a great video!
“the worse of driver you are the better tires you need” I like it!
Damn it, man. Great stuff. Thanks.
I don’t think they’re quite in the same class as the tires shown, but is anyone else a fan of the firestone winterforce? I have them on my 08 impreza and I’ve gone through a foot of snow with minimal effort.
I have the iceguard 20. Can confirm in my daily car that it sucks in deep snow, but works great on icy conditions and packed snow.
Wondering about storage. I’ve had my Hakka 8s in a closet till today. Is the 70 degree median temperature better/worse? Thoughts?
The Michelin x-ice3 is good on ice bad are bad in deep snow. Good luck trying to get Nokia.
Great information. Thanks
It seems counterintuitive, but studded winter tires generally have shorter stopping distances on pavement, as well as ice than studless designs. Check the objective reviews done by Autoreview.ru. You’ll need to use Google translator to translate the Russian, but they do a big winter test every year in Ivalo Finland. It’s because the tread blocks are stiffer in a studded tire to provide stiffness needed around each stud. Autoreview has the results to back this up, as they test 6-10 studless and 6-10 studded tires every year in controlled test conditions. Studs are still the best performing hands down, but the studless designs have come a long way and are a good alternative, cheaper, and road friendly.
Blizzak WS80. I was surprised at how good they are even compared to the X-iCE I had.
Loved the Xice Xi3
How do you feel about the General Altimax Arctics?
You are my hero
Great video! Here in Nordic countries everyone changes tires when winter comes but studless winter tires are getting more and more common. But winter rally tires are pretty serious, even in amateur class they often have Michelin or Pirelli with like 400 crazy big spikes.
Hakapelitas are made in Russia, haha
Decided to get winters for my BRZ. Found an almost new set of Cooper WeatherMaster’s mounted and balanced on ’99 Legacy GT wheels for $175 total. Such a steal. Gonna put em on the car soon. Can’t wait for snow!
I do agree that good winter tires are the best option. But there are some modern allseasons that do really perform well in winter. I’ve spent most of the last 27 years living in South Dakota, Colorado, and Minnesota. Goodyear assurance triple treads do really well. Had them on my subaru legacy, and my wife’s Tracker. Worked awesome on ice. Anyone who has ever spent any time on interstate 94, or interstate 90 know how crappy they can get. They just didn’t just get by, they excelled.
Maybe speak to wintertires for rallycross applications?? Like winter ksi slalom and hakkapelitas???
Hey thanks for a great video! I’m moving to Canada bext year, and worried about winter driving just now haha
I preach winter tires to my friends and family. Thanks for the detailed breakdown! I even learned something in regards to your prepared racing tires.
What do you think of the Michelin CrossClimate and CrossClimate+?
I haven’t tried any yet, but for the UK, and especially in the south, they seem like a good solution for a summer focused all season tyre that should handle the cold and the odd snow day.
I used to work at a dealership for 7 years, in the parts department, and after years of selling the xice and blizzaks, I chose Bilzzaks for my 17 wrx for better traction cause I do less kilometres per year. But for my dad and his Honda Crosstour, I got him the Xice3 as I think there almost as good as the Blizzaks, but last longer in terms of kilometres. Just my two cents.
The way I explain it is that the studless ice tires have more, closer blocks to maximise the contact with the ice, so they stick to ice but they can’t grab the snow as well as a more aggressive tire focused on snow that has tread blocks further apart which let it grip and dig in deep snow. So if you run a studded snow tire ( like the Hakkapilita 9) you have a no compromise tire that grips better on snow and ice than a studless tire. ( note to the comment in the video about studs: if your studs are too far out of the tire they were improperly installed). Drive like a Granny for the first tank of gas to let the studs set in and you’ll get better life out of them. This is a great video and if you are looking for even more info about studs or stud vs studless two more sources I have used are this video https://youtu.be/KHbesH6B5QI ( bit of a nokian ad) and this website http://www.skstuds.ca/studs-vs-non-studs/ This opinionated rant is from a Canadian who loves this channel, thanks for another great video guys! Edit: If you have read this far and still think all seasons will be fine, know this, good winter tires have so much more traction in winter that driving on snow and ice almost feels like driving on bare pavement; the difference is that great. 4 tires costs a lot less then a new car so do yourself a favour and upgrade from ” It’ll be fine”.
Excellent Video