Dedicated winter tires

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asutherland

asutherland

VA7 HDT
Joined
Apr 23, 2010
Threads
282
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3,214
Location
Kamloops, BC
Website
www.forgottenbc.ca
Now that the Duracraps are gone (phewf) and I have my wheeling tires (Discoverer STT's on separate steel rims) I'm looking at getting some dedicated snow tires for compact snow + ice on the highway. Especially now that I'm off the island and living in Igloo land.

Strongly thinking about Cooper Discoverer M+S, link: http://www.1010tires.com/Tires/Cooper/DISCOVERER+M+Plus+S/50426C

cooper-discovererMS_lg.jpg


They are severe winter rated, (Snowflake rating), are studdable, and a dedicated WINTER tire... not an all season. I was thinking size 285/75/R16, which should be a big enough tire but hopefully have a significantly narrower footprint so I don't end up skiiing down the highway.

Thoughts?
 
Good choice; never heard anything bad about Coopers. I run a dedicated winter tire for my DD here which is my Subi.

I've always preferred Michelin's X-Ice's (or whatever they are called these days) but have no real data to support that preference. I got 6 winters out of my last set Oct - April on steel wheels.
 
I have heard good things about those tires.
Do you drive in lots of slush or anything. If you do I recommend ipikes or halkkapalitas that expel water
 
My DD is a half ton Chevy and last year I bought some Bridgstone Blizzaks DM-V1's last year. They are unbeeavably good in the ice and snow!! I've never run a dedicated winter tire before last year and I don't have experience with any other brands but Holy F these tires are way better than all seasons!! http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Blizzak+DM-V1

Coopers might not be too bad though, my buddy owns a tire shop in Vernon and he swears by them. :steer:
 
I have the studded Coopers 265 75 16 on my Safari. They are a decent winter tire. That said, they are no where near the quality and performance of the factory or Kal tire studded Nokians. I just could not afford a new set of the studded Nokians or I would have bought them again.

The Coopers break traction a lot soon and it is fairly quick. The Nokians continue to feel like you have decent traction even when you have all 4 wheels drifting. All it takes to stop the drift is to take your foot off the skinny pedal.

In terms of stud quality, my 6 year old Nokians (now on the wife's Safari) have not yet lost a stud. The Coopers have lost a few in two winters of use.

Both tires are good on dry or wet roads. Studded tires can be down right scary on wet Lower Mainland roads. I have skidded through a number of interesections in our minivan some years ago on studded tires which made me switch to an ice radial. New tread designs, stud placement and stud quality on the Nokians and Coopers make it much less of a concern.

Tread wear seems to be very good on the Coopers. This may be the Nokian's last year if that. Last year two tires just would not hold air well. Neither had any signs of a puncture so they were just dismounted and remounted. One still will lose 10 psi in a week. They have put on a lot of kms much more than anywhere near what i got out of a set of ice radials. On the mini-van, I was replacing the Micheline ice radials every year.
 
It your pariniod I'd be springing for the nooks from kal, I've found if you run the Mich.hard they geteatin up pretty quick. I'm running yok ITs for my ice tire, not as good as studded nooks ,but I got a steal on these . But i figure any real snow tire with studs is a good winter tire .
 
I am planning 4 Bridgstone Blizzaks DM-V1 for my DD and steel rims - Tirerack.
 
I ran Nokian halkkapalitas on one of my cars and my god they where the best snow tire I have owned. I have owned Blizzaks. The Nokians provided a shocking amount of grip every time I was in snow, ice or that slippery compact snow we get around here whenever it snows. The Blizzaks where good till they got down to about 60% tread then they where no better than a all season, they also wore down to that 60% very fast.

I just got some Nokian's for my wifes car and am planing on getting them studded before they get mounted. Would not normally stud them but we are taking it back to Manitoba over the holidays.
 
Studded Hakkas wear much better than non-studded. If you can get factory studded Hakkas, it is well worth it. They use Nokian's special square stud design. I had non-studded Hakkas on the Camary and they have worn very quickly compared to the old studded Hakkas for the Safari.

Blizzacks are pretty good for a non-studded tire if you can afford to replace them every year. I haven't tried them for over 10 years so perhaps they might be better now. I found they also had a lot of sidewall roll.

I definitely do not agree that any studded winter tire is good. Some really suck at everything except ice - and some really suck on ice too. Best all condition winter tire on the market still is a factory studded Hakka. You have to order the factory studded ones and order them soon. I was too late and had to have Kal Tire stud them for me. The first set I bought the guy who studded them didn't know what he was doing. Saturday afternoon they were installed and Sunday morning walk out to the van and find a band new tire completely flat. Called their road service line and they refused to fix it until Monday. Was pretty ticked because it put me a day and a half behind. The guy installing the studs had shot a stud right through the tire.
 
I ran my DM-V1's all winter last year and they still look brand new. Just like all winter tires you need to take them off when the snow stops falling. Mind you I live out in the boonies and a lot of my winter driving is on compact snow and ice. Glen I recomend them they are a beauty tire.

I see a lot of you are from the lower mainland with the amount of snow you guys get in a year I could imagine a soft winter tire would wear fast. Probably 90% of your winter driving is on wet/pavment.

I can't comment on the studded vs non-studded tires as I've never run studded.
 
i have a set of almost new snow tires on alloys in the 265 size. forgot the brand. will put them up for sale this weekend in case anyone is interested.
 
JHeffner said:
I see a lot of you are from the lower mainland with the amount of snow you guys get in a year I could imagine a soft winter tire would wear fast. Probably 90% of your winter driving is on wet/pavment.

I can't comment on the studded vs non-studded tires as I've never run studded.
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Most of mine is winter highways with the winter tires but the Fraser Valley does tend to get a bit of black ice. I like running the best tire I can afford because if visibility is decent I can not afford to drive at 50-60 kph when I got 800 kms to go.

JHeffner said:
PS- That sucks!!
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Yes, it did and was the beginning of me going elsewhere for tires. The last studded Hakkas I got were via a friend who worked for them in their fleet sales, so I got a good price and good service. I use to only buy tires from Kal Tire because there was one in almost every BC town and city. Service was great as were tire warranties. Since then I know others who have tried to get off-road marketed tires warrantied for defects and were told no since they were used off road. :confused:
 
I had Toyo Open Country studless and Blizzaks over the 6 years I had my Prado. Both were great in the big snow and ice we get here in Japan. Blizzaks are the #1 tire for Hokkaido with all the snow they get up there but since moving south I think the Toyo's wear better on the predominantly dry roads and weekly trips to Nagano snow country.
I'll probably go Toyo again for the 80.
 
canucksafari said:
Since then I know others who have tried to get off-road marketed tires warrantied for defects and were told no since they were used off road. :confused:
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Thats funny, this is not tire related but... I had a buddy that had a jeep and blew a rear end when he was wheeling. The Jeep was only a few months old and under warranty. When he took it to the Jeep dealership for warranty work they said they wouldn't do it. They said it was obviously "Offroaded". He turned to them and pointed at the "Trail Rated" badge on the jeep and said "Well what the F does this mean then???" I never laughed so hard in my life!! My buddy wasn't laughing....:eek:
 
JHeffner said:
I ran my DM-V1's all winter last year and they still look brand new. Just like all winter tires you need to take them off when the snow stops falling. Mind you I live out in the boonies and a lot of my winter driving is on compact snow and ice. Glen I recomend them they are a beauty tire.

I see a lot of you are from the lower mainland with the amount of snow you guys get in a year I could imagine a soft winter tire would wear fast. Probably 90% of your winter driving is on wet/pavment.

I can't comment on the studded vs non-studded tires as I've never run studded.
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I was going to say that the reported 'poor' performance of winter tires wearing out too fast might be due to the soft rubber compound and the fact running them above 7C or 45 F shortens their life considerably. This would be a bigger factor on the Coast. The Blizzacks (bit cheaper) and Michelin Ice X3 are highly rated from independent testing on ice, which is my main concern.
http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-tires
 
I personally highly recommend X-Ice, like Glenn stated about wear, you need to get them off the road before it warms up. I have them mounted on their own rims, as soon as the snow starts flying (or I need to cross the Coke) I mount them
 
I can not be bothered to mount and dismount once a week at bthis time of the year. I've got the Nokian WRs on the Camry now but really do not trust them for real bad ocnditions. The Connector got a good dump of snow last night. Today on the Roger's pass the snow was about 500' above the Summit roadway. I would not be suprsied to run into snow on my return trip. Once I do the knuckle job on the 5spd, the studded tires will go on and stay on until March. The studded tires will go on the wife's Safari at the first hint of snow and black ice. The way I see it, I pay a $500 deductible. I think dealing with the extra tire wear is worth the risk reduction. If you live in an area that doesn't get ice or much snow, then you can leave them off until it looks like it is a high probability. If your driving is occasional snow or the occasional trip into the interior mountians, than an ice radial is fine. In my case, the bulk of my driving is winter trips Sept-Nov and Jan-Mar into the interior. Snow is not the thing that scares me. It is ice. In my experience, the best remedy for getting through the ice and back home to the family is carbon steel.
 
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