On-Road Snow Tires?

[SUMMIT CRUISERS]

Just got a set of Duratrac's for the 100 series. Drove out this morning in about 4" of snow and packed snow. These tires are grippy and also come with a $60.00 rebate until Dec. 31. The other thing I noticed is that they are incredibly smooth on the highway, more so than the Nitto Terra Grapplers that I replaced. Balancing weights on the Duratracs are very small if any. The Nittos had double 3 or 4" long weights on each for balancing.
Another vote for the Duratrac's.

 

[Corbet]

Leaving them on year round - Duratrac
Just winter use - Nokian or other dedicated snow tire option.

In a 315 my choices were slim for dedicated winter tires so I studded up a set of Duratracs They work well but not like a real snow tire. Starting winter #4 so I have been happy with tread life.

 

[Tancruiser]

For a dedicated snow tire only I run Blizzacks I live in snow country and these are the best.....

 

[John E Davies]

For new deep snow and fresh packed snow you can get away with a well siped All Terrain, but you are deluding yourself if you think that type of tire will perform well on ice. I ran Geolander 285/75R16 I/T+ for ten years and finally retired them due to their age and the hardened rubber compound. I now have a set of Cooper AT3s for year round use, and they are fine tires. But they don't grip like a real winter tire. No way!

I decided to stop using snows on my 80 since I have other vehicles in the family with winter tires, and I want to eliminate the hassle of buying and storing two sets for this truck, which only sees 3000+ miles annually. If I have to take my 80 out in ice, I'll just chain it up.

Buy a set of Nokians or any brand of pure winter truck tire and be safe. Look for this type of tread:

John Davies
Spokane WA USA

 

[Infidel]

I love my BFG AT KOs. Fantastic in snow and pavement, and surprisingly good off road.

 

[ericbirk]

For a fulltime tire, Duratracs for sure. I believe they are the only AT that has the little snowflake rating on them. That's the only tire you see up in the oil patch up here and there isn't much worse winter driving than that. I have 70-80,000 km on them on my work truck. I figure that's pretty good for a decently aggressive tire that sees a ton of gravel on a truck that weighs around 4500kg.

I had BFG ATKO's on my truck and didn't really like them at all except on hardpack dirt.

 

[Corbet]

These are as affordable as anything in a 285 dedicated snow tire: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...75R6WFLT&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes

I personally don't pay much attention to the "snow flake" rating as many AT's have that, Duratac, BFG AT, and others. Seems to have become more of a marketing thing now. AT's are not snow tires. And the BFG is horrible in the snow and ice once you've compared it to the real thing.

My first choice is still a Nokian for dedicated winter use. They just don't make 315's anymore. Been running them on our Subaru since 05.

 

[Young Bull]

I have run BFG All Terrain TKO's on my past 3 rigs YET I would NOT recommend them on this rig again. I think they do not do well in the snow and ice with this rig. I have never run the Goodyear Duratracs but a lot of guys I know run them and like them better, one being a sheriff that is picky about the tires.
With all of that being said, if you are looking for snow tires specifically, you should look into Hankook tires they are definitely winter tires.

 

[Tbkw01]

Is there any sort of real testing that has been done for this topic. I hear many, "I like this tire and used to own this tire...", comments but is there any real data? I am tagging along on the discussion but I am also relocating from Texas to Connecticut so I would like to know which all season tire has the best grip in snow.

 

[Tbkw01]

Deleted

 

[Riley]

I bought a pair of soft Blizzacks last year and wow.. they are unreal.
A real ice/snow tire.

 

[Erwin]

An opinion from Norway, where we have quite some experience on this matter: Forget anything that is marked with M+S or all year use etc. Forget AT even if they are studded and siped. The only thing that is good for snow and ice are dedicated nordic type tires. Like Nokian or Blizzak. Myself I run on studless Blizzak DM-V1. They are very good. They only come in 265/70, but for winter use it is a better to have a slimmer wheel as these do not float on top of the snow. On a 80 this dimension is perfect. I used the same dimension (Blizzak DMZ) on a LC 90 previously, but they were to wide for that lighter car. So forget about show-off and get slimmer wheels for winter use.

 

[Stevesnj]

Is there any sort of real testing that has been done for this topic. I hear many, "I like this tire and used to own this tire...", comments but is there any real data? I am tagging along on the discussion but I am also relocating from Texas to Connecticut so I would like to know which all season tire has the best grip in snow.

What data do you need besides user experience?

 

[Corbet]

Is there any sort of real testing that has been done for this topic. I hear many, "I like this tire and used to own this tire...", comments but is there any real data? I am tagging along on the discussion but I am also relocating from Texas to Connecticut so I would like to know which all season tire has the best grip in snow.

Are you going to find any real data comparing tires on an 80 series…. Probably not.

Quick google search, test of a all season vs snow tire showing measured data. http://www.popularmechanics.com/car...testing-showdown-winter-vs-all-season#slide-1

Personally after working in the car business for 6 years in CO and driving 100's of different vehicle/tire combos in the worst conditions possible I can guarantee you that there is a big difference between an all season or AT verse a real snow tire. And studs just makes them that much better if your state allows.

 

[Tbkw01]

Are you going to find any real data comparing tires on an 80 series…. Probably not. Quick google search, test of a all season vs snow tire showing measured data. http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/products/tire-testing-showdown-winter-vs-all-season#slide-1 Personally after working in the car business for 6 years in CO and driving 100's of different vehicle/tire combos in the worst conditions possible I can guarantee you that there is a big difference between an all season or AT verse a real snow tire. And studs just makes them that much better if your state allows.

Thanks. This is the type of data that I was talking about. I just wish it compared many different brands.

 

[RKFZJ80]

Now I am intrigued, I live in the Sierra Nevada's in CA and we get a decent amount of snow at times, however it usually doesn't stick around all winter, I'll have weeks or a month with no snow and the wife drives down to the city a lot on dry pavement. Would a dedicated snow tire get trashed under these conditions? I like the sound of them, just not sure if half snow/rain driving and half dry weather is bad for a dedicated snow tire. Anyone with experience under these conditions?
Sorry, not trying to hijack here

 

[Erwin]

An unstudded winter tire wears out a bit faster than all seasons tire, and handling is not as good when raining. But on snow and ice they are far better. In the part of Norway I do my daily driving the winters can sometimes be pretty snow free, and I can not say there are any differences between the Blizzaks and my summer tires, BFG AT.

 

[Marcus1983]

I consulted Consumer Reports Winter Truck Snow Tire ratings and came to the conclusion that most of the (non-budget) snow tires are pretty similar. Pick your poison and move on with life. They come right out and say that any snow tire will perform better than an AT or MS.

 

[RKFZJ80]

An unstudded winter tire wears out a bit faster than all seasons tire, and handling is not as good when raining. But on snow and ice they are far better. In the part of Norway I do my daily driving the winters can sometimes be pretty snow free, and I can not say there are any differences between the Blizzaks and my summer tires, BFG AT.

Good info, I'm sure in Norway you have loads of experience with driving on snow & ice. I just found some videos on tirerack.com that compare all seasons against winter tires, the results are leaning me towards picking up a set of winters to keep the family safer.

 

[Corbet]

Winters will wear out faster than all seasons but not that fast. When we lived in Summit County, CO we left winters on the Subaru year round. With the possibility of snow any day of the year it was not worth taking them off. If you corner hard they will probably wear noticeably faster. If an 80 could accelerate that would be an issue but well you know, they can't.