Absolute Best Winter Tire For The 80

[turbocruiser]

Fine folks, please pardon that this is not specifically 80's tech (except that is what I'm wanting to put these on) and if it goes to the chaos of chat nothing good will come of our conversations, so I'm posting this thread here!

I want to know the absolute best winter tire for the 80 series cruisers. Money no object, noise no object, etc. My wife's RAV4 with Bridgestone Blizzak DMZ3's do pretty well but it is still somewhat easy to "induce" a loss of traction on ice and they are not all that terrific in super deep snow, they are however awesome with rain, slush, small snow amounts, etc. These Blizzaks are available for the cruiser as are another Blizzak which is more for light duty and medium duty commercial trucks. BUT, how do dedicated winter tires like these compare to something studded like the WinterMaster tires that tirerack sells? The WinterMaster's seem to have terrificly aggressive tread patterns that look like they would work well in super deep snow and of course the studs will stick to the ice incredibly well. I've never driven with studs and to be totally honest, my REVOS are pretty amazing in all conditions but I'm just wondering whether dedicated winter tires would be better and if so is something studded always going to give the best traction possible? Thanks.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Tall skinnys, studded and chains available.

 

[cruiserdan]

Dunlop Radial Mud Rover, 305/70/16 aired-down to 18PSI.......OR

The same tyre at 32PSI with chains...............



You have enough torque available to power a chained tyre of that size.

 

[Martin White]

Nokian makes phenomenal snow tires, such as the Hakkapeliitta LT. Can be studded as well. Only problem is they aren't available in really large sizes, but that may not be a problem for the use you are intending.

 

[cary]

For driving in snow and ice (I'm not taking 4 wheeling in powder), there is no beating dedicated snow tires, which will give better traction, but more importantly, much more progressiveness in how they break loose and recover than non-snow tires.

As far as studs, skip them. Tire rack does extensive testing and their tests show that the new studless tires perform better than old style studded tires. I would start your checking at tire rack and also keep in mind the Nokian Tires which are great.

 

[landtank]

I'm buying Toyo ATs this fall for dedicated winter service. The problem for me is I need 315/75R16s. Tire size really plays a lot into what's available and which one is the best.

 

[BOZ]

Blizzaks for me

I Have had Blizzaks on my rig for two years. Drove up to Alaska in Jan two years ago. Very good tire.

As with most tires if the snow builds up in the treads and can not be pushed out fast enough so some sliding takes place. JUST SLOW DOWN.

Works well on ice but all tires will slide at some point.

FYI, I had plans to get other tires for the summer. Well, that never happended and have run these for 2 years and down many gravel roads and thought my tires would not last very long. So far so good. I will buy a new set before next winter but will have plenty of summer tread left.

I checked and the largest size they come in is 275/70/16.

I would guess if you swapped them out each season you would get 6 years out of a set.

Boz

 

[jasonmt]

For driving in snow and ice (I'm not taking 4 wheeling in powder), there is no beating dedicated snow tires, which will give better traction, but more importantly, much more progressiveness in how they break loose and recover than non-snow tires.

As far as studs, skip them. Tire rack does extensive testing and their tests show that the new studless tires perform better than old style studded tires. I would start your checking at tire rack and also keep in mind the Nokian Tires which are great.

This immediately led Japanese tire manufacturers to develop "studless" winter tires that use special tread rubber compounds in place of studs to provide enhanced ice traction. However, none of these "studless" tires can totally equal a studded tire's traction on all types of ice.

I would not discount studs as the combination of a studdable "new tech" tyre and studs is unbeatable IE Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT + studs will easily best a studless tyre.

 

[91Cruizer]

I think those green diamond tires look interesting.

 

[Firedog]

I would think that it would depend on the type of winter weather you expect to have. (wet snow, powder, ice, slush....)
I expect some argument from this but.... The best tire I have ever used in winter driving in the type of weather we have in the mountains of Virginia is the BFG All Terrain.
Several years ago we had a 24" snow and I had All Terrains on my '94 Chevy, it went anywhere and everywhere, I even went out and picked up a paramedic from a stuck National Guard HUMVEE to take to a medical call.
I have used them for the past 15 years with no problems.

 

[KliersLC]

I think those green diamond tires look interesting.

Ridgerunner had those on his pig and raved about their performance in the snow.

 

[MTNRAT]

If you want 315s, Yokohama Geolander I/T+ I believe are still the only dedicated ice radial in that size. If you are looking for a tire for the winter on road and packed snow less that 2 feet deep, the only tires that are of any real value are dedicated ice radial. Ya some of the ATs work but in reality are poooor choice. If the Blizzaks you have are not performing well, I would check to make sure they are not worn through the soft rubber. I cannot remember but I think the older blizzaks had a layer of soft compound over a normal harder compound, and when the soft layer is gone the tires still look like they have life. They could also be over inflated as the Rav 4 is a pretty light vehicle. Also they usually last about 4 or 5 winters max. And far less if driven on alot of pavement. One summer can toast em.

 

[IdahoDoug]

Best winter tire price no object is the Michelin Latitude X-ice IMO.

DougM

 

[turbocruiser]

Fellas thanks for the suggestions. To clarify one confusion I'm very very happy having the Bridgestone Blizzaks on my wife's RAV. I did not mean to suggest that there was a performance problem with those tires; I was just wondering if a studded tire could corner better, brake better, etc than those Blizzaks " as a standard". Also to clarify the REVOS I have on the cruiser now are absolutely awesome especially compared to the BFG AT's , BFG AT KO's, and the Good Year ATsomethings I have had prior to these tires. Its just that the REVOS are a little less than inspiring on slick street ice and that's where I was going with this though. I was just wondering what winter dedicated tire is the absolute best. I do not have the luxury of letting the storms here pass; as soon as anything from slick street ice to a big blizzard comes to town I am immediately in action picking up nurses, nurse aides, doctors, etc and getting them to the hospitals and care centers. THEN I also enjoy high mountain snow runs and take those throughout the winter. It is not uncommon to be blasting through twelve to fourteen inches of powder on top of many more inches of hardpack. Of course I have my chains for when things get really crazy but I dont want to chain the thing and leave them on all around town. Doug it is interesting about the X-Ice; I took that as primary a passenger car tire? Is it good in super deep stuff too and can I ask if you have ever experienced Blizzaks or Haks or others? Thanks fellas, I really appreciate the advice, keep it coming if'n ya don't mind.

 

[MARLIN375]

I would not discount studs as the combination of a studdable "new tech" tyre and studs is unbeatable IE Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT + studs will easily best a studless tyre.

X2........I am still not convinced that the cons of a studded tire are greater than the pros, particularly with the new ultra siped soft compounds available for studable tires.

98% of the time these new studless tires will perform as required.

But it is the 2% of the time that you have lost traction on some glare ice and are doing 360s helplessly out of control that I am worried about.

I have not yet put studs on my 80, but I put studded new age tires on my work truck (2wd silverado) and one thing that I can tell you is they are awsome. The part I like the most is they are predictable, when you get to know where your traction limits are (like everyone, hit the brakes on ice) and those limits are suprisingly high. You will never again hit the brakes on ice and have your tires lock (ABS pedal drop) and your vehicle cary on down the road with no one at the helm.

Just my observifications..............

 

[motoloco]

gumbo monster mudders, bias ply with 8-10% tread remaining. they are GREAT in ice. 80's do great in the slick stuff with the stock mich's, Im sure they would be amazing with ANY dedicated snow and ice rubbers, WITH A DECENT DRIVER!

 

[Nay]

Your problem is that the tire designed for ice is never going to be a great tire for deeper offroad snow. I know that Tirerack does ice rink testing on studless snows, but I've run a couple sets and they really aren't all that IMO when you get to more typical road ice and these tires simply lack the lug spacing for really deep snow.

I agree with Cary on Nokians in that they aren't the best pure traction tire, but they are very progressive in taking you to the limits, and in winter driving driver feedback is the absolute biggest safety feature - hence Nokkian's following among the winter racing crowd. They also have the multicell compound through the entire tread, whereas Blizzaks and many others only have multicell through half the tread and then you have an all season, so expect a lesser useful treadlife.

I think there is no question that studs will help, but if you have mostly dry pavement you have to live with metal contact and that will worsen your dry pavement handling substantially.

If you want a tire that does very well in every type of snow, including slick hardpack as well as deep offroad, look no further than the trxus MT. They are simply amazing. I got through 3'-4' drifts with a 2.5' base level last winter, used them offroad in the mountains, and handled 3 months of perpetual icy hardpack that resulted from our back to back blizzards last Dec and 210" of total seasonal snow.

Never broke traction in braking or lateral the entire season (although I broke total traction on one stupid run uphill at a huge drift that set the entire truck on the frame - as with all things traction, too much can lead to dumb decisions followed by shoveling ), performed a ton of extractions, and relied on them for about every type of winter usage you can imagine. We had one case of pure ice, which is very rare in Colorado, and that was a slow, slow ride home over lots of hills and sharp corners. I would want chains if I was dealing with these conditions.

My minivan on Nokian Hakka Q studless on the other hand went sailing through a busy neighborhood intersection this spring with a total loss of braking traction - it generally liked a few inches of snow more than slick/bumpy hardpack. This is why I don't like Tirerack's ice rink testing - it does not mimick any condition except for black ice on a totally smooth surface, which is something we just don't see in my neck of the woods.

Multicell compounds work by sucking water off of ice that is created by tread contact, therefore taking the slick surface off of the ice. Ice rink testing IMO overstates the value of this design by testing in an environment that maximizes this "sponging" performance without introducing any additional variables that are virtually always found on the road (irregular surface, variable snow depths, shifting conditions of ice to snow to slush, etc). Hence my ABS pumping minivan sled that just missed a pickup truck on a hill intersection and in conditions that I drove my trxus shod 80 in all winter long.

The reason I first bought Nokkians on a Sube wagon was because I put trxus on my old AWD XJ with a rear Detroit locker and front TruTrac and the XJ absolutely dominated the Sube in all winter conditions with its Bridgestone all seasons. I put the Nokkian WR's on the Sube, and they were fun, but the XJ was still the overall better winter performer by a long shot and my family used it as such.

Bottom line: Unless you want to run an MT year round, I would stay with the Revos and get two sets of chains, one for ice and the other for deeper snow. Pure ice you just need metal contact for bite, and studs are going to suck on dry pavement. I think you will be disappointed going to a studless snow for your Revos, because you will be trading performance benefits in a number of categories without covering all the types of snow you encounter.

Now if you want to be able to extract your neighbors with Revos without running chains (I have a neighbor with an 80 on Revos) when the snow gets really deep, then a) get enough lift and b) get trxus MT's.

 

[motoloco]

Nay, sounds like your from colorado too, from your last winters snow!

 

[IdahoDoug]

For winter, I've used:

Studded and siped Dunlop Radial Rovers (big lugs, traditional)
Studded and siped Kelly Safaris (ditto)
Nonstudded siped Kelly Safaris)
Michelin Alpins (sucked - passenger car)
Michelin Alpin 4X4s (very good)
Studded Hakkapillittas (passenger car)
Michelin Latitude X ice for SUVs (excellent)

The Latitudes rule. They also do well on deep snow on the road. I'd guess that their ability to float on snow would also make them do well offroad where lugs will tear into the snow and drop you on your frame. These are designed to fill with snow and snow grips better to snow than any rubber can. On ice they're uncanny and I'd take them over a studded solution any day. The only thing I have not tried is the dedicated winter tire with studs, which sounds like a very good call. Bridgestone Blizzaks, all models still use only 50% tread depth with their special rubber, so I consider them highly expensive since you're essentially buying half a winter specialty tire.

DougM

 

[jasonmt]

I think there is no question that studs will help, but if you have mostly dry pavement you have to live with metal contact and that will worsen your dry pavement handling substantially.

I have the studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT in the 235/85/16 variety for my 3/4 ton work truck and the handling on dry pavement is not a consideration, the traction on winter/ice roads is. This is just about the time of year that the Toyo M55's come off and the Hak's go on as I am travelling in areas that are best described as "remote", or at least remote enough that I carry 300-400 litres of diesel with me: