Winter tires and driving
- Thread starter coleAK
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
Where you guys buying your Nokian tires? Ready to buy, but my local dealer said they can no longer source them. I can't find 285/70-17 with studs anywhere online they all say out of stock.
Does anyone know if they run true to size? Wondering if the 315/70-17 could fit.....pretty large if they are true to size.
Does anyone know if they run true to size? Wondering if the 315/70-17 could fit.....pretty large if they are true to size.
In a town of about 120k, we happen to have one local dealer. I’ve never had to purchase online. Did you try their dealer search?
I do think local support is a good thing when purchasing tires. I like building a rapport with a local business if I can.
I used the (very slow) dealer locator on their website to find an indy shop near me that can get them, which I called to confirm. None of the usual "big tire stores" near me carry them, and apparently neither does Tirerack.
Last winter I put the newer Blizzaks on the original rims, as I have AT's on TRD's. First, the AT I'm running are the Cooper A/TW which has the three peak mountain snowflake symbol designating it as a snow rated tire. Cooper also included generous siping and silica in the compound to enhance tread life and cold weather performance.
As some have commented, an AT can perform well in the snow, it's when the road is pack snow or ice things can get dicey. That was my experience with the Coopers on the 200 despite the rating, so I wanted to go a step better.
To my surprise, seat of the pants feeling, the Blizzaks were not that big of an improvement. We had a very dry winter last year, but in the city the snow gets packed in areas of frequent traffic at intersections, especially in the shade. These areas are very very slick, and the Blizzaks started to slide. Maybe this is unfair as only a studded tire would grip in that situation. Now I did do some mountain driving, and on a particularly cold ice packed road on Loveland Pass the Blizzaks did seems to stick quite well.
The OP stated that the high CG SUV is NOT the best for winter driving. My
's Q5 has the winter shoes on it, and she has no issues with winter driving, and likes driving it better that the 200 in those conditions with the same tires.I'm debating if I should bother switching wheels between seasons on the 200?
I got them from a local tire dealer.
I live up in the utah mountains, east of park city ski resort. I run BFG KO2’s all year long on both my 100 series and 200 series. I have never even felt barely a slip and we routinely get down to 0-20 degrees. Have driven through deep snow, ice through snowy muddy dirt... I’ve never gotten stuck once. So for me I guess I don’t see a need for snows. KO2’s have mountain snowflake on them anyhow
The LT2 LT275/65R20 measured 33 3/8” with a level across the top of the rear tire and I think the spec says 34.1”. I don’t know if that might be considered true to size if it wasn’t mounted on the vehicle or not
Looking like the 285/70-17 are pretty much out of stock everywhere. Found one seller with 3 and won't get another until mid-december. Everyone has the non-studded version in stock of course. Sent an email to nokian hoping they can provide some insight.
Getting ready to order snows for my LC200, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV, 285/60R-18, not cheap but long term tread life is what I want in addition to the better ice gripping. Found them at SimpleTire.com about $50 less per tire than the only local place I found near me would offer, no sales tax, no shipping charges 
MrCWineMan
SILVER Star
I rock the KO2's and have for years on multiple rigs - if they start to slide, I pull out the cables!
- Thread starter
- #33
On another thread someone mentioned can’t put chains on the front due to the UCAs? I’ve had chains on the front of my LX and I’m sure people have used mud chains. Did you have any problems?
MrCWineMan
SILVER Star
So quite honestly I haven't put cables front on the 200 yet - I have test fit them and driven around and I see nothing that looks worrisome (like the UCA, though from this thread it looks like 1/2in is min clearance on springs), and the same thread about chains has demonstrated that cables *should* cause no issue for anyone (yet). 99% of the time I never go to chains anyway, I can make it through on KO2's, but that other 1% cables on the back have been enough.
I will certainly report back if I have to go hardcore terrain in chains, but honestly I doubt I will with my rig as we have a pair of Tuckers, and they tend to be more snow worthy then Land Cruisers.
After talking with nokian I went with 265/70-17 studded happ 9 suv. Haven't got them mounted up yet.
Surprised how many people like k02s in snow. My experiences put them as one of the worst winter tires and not anywhere in the same league as a dedicated winter. They clog up in our wet sticky snow and turn into slicks. On ice they slide around terribly.
Surprised how many people like k02s in snow. My experiences put them as one of the worst winter tires and not anywhere in the same league as a dedicated winter. They clog up in our wet sticky snow and turn into slicks. On ice they slide around terribly.
MrCWineMan
SILVER Star
I have no issue with them in snow - Ice is a whole different deal - they are no bueno on ice. Colorado tends to be snow, packed snow, and not a lot of ice.
By ordering the same size tire as the LC200 rims have today I can reuse my stock RIMs and I am considering getting the TRD Rims in the spring for my stock all seasons and leave the stock rims for the snows. If I was going to invest in new RIMS I wanted them to be same size should I need to use the spare tire in an emergency.
My BFG KO 2’s work great in northern Florida in the winter
I am not happy with the KO2's in the winter. They do great in deep fresh snow, but on plowed roads they are awful. I had a scary ride last Winter, pulled out of the driveway in a ice/sleet/rain storm and the truck did a perfect 360 deg pirouette in the middle of my street.
Having a set of Nokian R3's installed on Friday on the factory rims.
Having a set of Nokian R3's installed on Friday on the factory rims.
Don’t get a lot of snow here in northern Florida
