Snow tires | GTAMotorcycle.com

Snow tires

Baggsy

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So which are the better snow tires for soccer mom vans?

I bought some weird new Finnish winter tires that my former tire place recommended,
and they were garbage in the Quebec snow, with the fronts wearing out in six months.
He'd told me they'd last a year, so I was on slicks the last couple of months, which I wouldn't recommend.

Also, soccer ball vs hockey sticks decal on the back.
which instills the most fear, or should I just put both?
 
I made my own

cyuIqRq.jpg
 
Little goody two shoes.
 
Altimax are best bang for buck, MMA club stickers would keep tailgaters at bay.
 
I've heard great things about the Nokians and thinking about trying them out this year.
I've also read rave reviews about Green Diamond tires but I don't think they're available in Canada. I really want to try them. They're re-treads which bothers some people but not the traditional type of re-treading that word brings to mind.
My last SUV had Dunlop Grandtrek SJ5 winter tires and they were great. Excellent deep snow traction and pretty good ice traction (studless). Performance started to degrade fairly steeply after 2 - 3 seasons worth of use though.
I put Hankook iPikes on my mother's Altima last winter and they were decent. Not amazing but definitely felt better knowing she was driving on them.
 
Might as welI ask this here. BMW drivers; run flat winter tires
Aye or nay? The car doesn't come with a spare so I can see an issue if I ever get a puncture on non-runflats with no spare handy.
Prepare to pay a premium
 
Is it cheaper to buy 5 non-run flat and a spare wheel than 4 run-flat? Can you afford to give up some truck space for the winter? How far away do you travel? How far out from civilization do you travel? If you spend most of your driving time around the Montreal-Windsor corridor, only drive daytime/evening and have CAA, no spare probably isn't much of a hassle.

I like having a full size spare and when I was doing construction, I was getting flats almost monthly, but I think I have gone at least 5 years since the last time I had to use the spare.
 
If you are considering non-run flats for a car without space for a real spare, either choose a tire brand and model that are super popular (go by number of owner-reviewed-miles on tirerack), or throw in a space-saver spare.

I love my Michelin xice3's. I've had the xice2's on previous cars, and they are the goldilocks for studless winter tires. Supposedly lower rolling resistance (lol @ hippies), the best or next to the best in class for wet/snow/ice traction, and compliant over rough pavement. $70 rebate before (some date) makes it easier to stomach as well. They'll definitely last more than a season.. not sure what they guarantee but it's close to 60/70,000km's for certain.
 
I'm aware of that, hence the question is; is it worth it? I'm leaning towards no unless I can score a decent used set
Runflats have harsher ride quality & less selection
 
I ordered today a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS80, for 17" rims.
This is the new Blizzak generation, hopefully it will be as good as they say.

Tire Rack Introductory Test Report WS80
February, 2014
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=191

"...the car equipped with Blizzak WS80s stopped 9.5-feet or 22.1% sooner than the vehicle with the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 tires."


Preview: Bridgestone Blizzak WS80
http://www.wheels.ca/car-reviews/preview-bridgestone-blizzak-ws80/

"...But I stopped in markedly shorter distances — 31 feet average over two runs, versus 37.5 feet for the Michelins." (Approx 20% shorter distance)
 
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I ordered today a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS80, for 17" rims.
This is the new Blizzak generation, hopefully it will be as good as they say.

Tire Rack Introductory Test Report WS80
February, 2014
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=191

"...the car equipped with Blizzak WS80s stopped 9.5-feet or 22.1% sooner than the vehicle with the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 tires."


Preview: Bridgestone Blizzak WS80
http://www.wheels.ca/car-reviews/preview-bridgestone-blizzak-ws80/

"...But I stopped in markedly shorter distances — 31 feet average over two runs, versus 37.5 feet for the Michelins." (Approx 20% shorter distance)

I love my Blizzak WS70's, I'm sure the new generation is even better. Beware though, they wear like pencil erasers on warm asphalt but I think that's why their ice grip is phenomenal.
 

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