Looking for new tires for my Snow trip and any helpful hints.

[steelynorm]

I unexpectedly found myself with some free time..
The plan is to leave Houston Texas and End up in Whistler B.C. and make my way back, skiing on the way there and the way back.

Need tire recommendations and other hints people may have..

 

[novamarc]

I would bet 99% of people here will respond with Defender / KO3 / AT4W recommendations for such duties.

 

[LC Lurker]

Do you have experience driving in snow? I only ask so that you set reasonable expectations for any tire you pick. Great tires don’t make you invincible on snow/ice - that’s my main caution. Be an extra careful on bridges & overpasses. Maintain as big of following distances as possible.

I’d recommend a true winter tire of course but I don’t have experience with any. I hear Nokian makes good ones though. If you’re looking for an All Terrain (not as good as a true winter tire), then I recommend Micky Thompson Baja Boss AT. The only all-season tire I’d even think about taking to the Canadian Rockies this time of year is the Michelin Defender LTX M/S2. It’s good in snow in my experience around New England. I can’t speak on the Falken AT4W or BFG KO3s but I’ve hear good things. It seems like the KOs have improved significantly since the old KO2 design (KO2s sucked on compacted snow/ice in my experience).

I drove in the Canadian Rockies a couple winters ago (Alberta). I rented a Tesla that had okay tread all season tires. It was not ideal lol. The quad dual motor setup was the only thing that kept me moving and braking was a prayer. Temps there were -20 deg.F and non-winter tires harden a lot in that kind of extreme cold.

 

[novamarc]

My super scientific method backed personal experiences from having a house on a steepish hill in northern VA that never gets plowed yield the following data points: My LX470 with SL-rated (115T) Falken A/T3Ws made it up and down every version of fresh powder through ice glacier at the house, as did my LX570 with SL-rated (116T) Michelin Defender LTX MS2s. Again, the driveway is pretty steep and s-curves, and neither tire ever showed issue with the varying degrees of compacted snow and ice. Just drive intelligently, and most recommended brands will probably do just fine. If you want to split hairs on the really sick looking tires however, well, you've created your own rabbit hole haha.

 

[mrkdwrds]

Baja Boss tires are heavy. I’m on Falken AT3Ws and they are pretty good in the snow but my old Subaru on Geolanders was better. I’d look at Toyo ATs, apparently they do well in the snow relative to AT4Ws. I wouldn’t run a snow tire for that trip personally given that most of your driving will be on the interstate.

Other tips, bring some traction boards if you have them, can be handy for snow if you end up exploring. Otherwise the usual tire repair kit, compressor, spare ignition coil etc. advice applies.

Edit: maybe give the undercarriage a coat of Boeschield before the trip and wash it soon afterwards if you wind up driving on salty roads to keep your frame looking nice.

 

[Clark W Griswold]

take me with you

 

[OEMGUY0720]

Assuming you now have a 3PMSF set of tires, driving in slippery roads make sure to activate/push that 2ND GEAR button to reduce wheel spin, we don’t want wheel spins on snowy/icy roads. Reducing your tire pressure to increase surface area coverage on your tires also helps. Be safe and good luck on your trip, drive with utmost caution.

 

[Chamba]

I've driven BFG A/Ts on thousands and thousands of miles of Colorado an New Mexico snow. Love them.

But my airport car was a Jetta TDI wagon 5 speed with studded snows all round. I drove that car from Santa Fe to Denver three or four times per month over Raton Pass for many years. It was the best snow car I've ever had. But my Cruiser, Hilux, Dodge Ram, Chevy Silverado and Jeep Liberty CRD all had BFGs and always got me where I was going. Though none could compete with my Jetta in her studded sneakers.

 

[ScotyDosentKnow]

I live in Seattle and have driven thousands and thousands of miles off road with a lot of them in snow on KO2's including snowy trails. Are they the best? Probably not. Do they work just fine? Yup and they work great the rest of the year too. I would imagine the KO3 would be even better. I was in Whistler the weekend before Christmas to go skiing and took my VW Alltrack with pretty worn Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Seasons, no issues.

I guess my point is experience in the snow is going to far outweigh what ever tires you have. You can put the best/top rated snow tire on there and if you suck at driving in the snow its probably not going to help you much. I would just choose what ever all season tire you like that fits your budget.

 

[Gubbtratt1]

My super scientific method backed personal experiences from having a house on a steepish hill in northern VA that never gets plowed yield the following data points: My LX470 with SL-rated (115T) Falken A/T3Ws made it up and down every version of fresh powder through ice glacier at the house, as did my LX570 with SL-rated (116T) Michelin Defender LTX MS2s. Again, the driveway is pretty steep and s-curves, and neither tire ever showed issue with the varying degrees of compacted snow and ice. Just drive intelligently, and most recommended brands will probably do just fine. If you want to split hairs on the really sick looking tires however, well, you've created your own rabbit hole haha.

You'll have enough traction to not get stuck with pretty terrible tyres if you have four wheel drive. Last winter I had a set of six year old almost worn out BFG Urban Terrains on my Land Rover. I never had any wheelspin, and on the mornings with a lot of snow it got to tow the Renault on winter tyres out to the plowed road. Once it got up to speed though they were terrible. When braking the ABS kicked in before you felt any deacceleration at all, and the steering wasn't much better.