Should I stud my new winter tires?

[auvgeek]

for some reason I shouldn't get studs

Reasons:
1. they have very nonlinear wear because the studs wear down and/or fall off
2. they suck on dry and wet roads, which, like I said before, is 90-95% of the driving you'll do in Denver, even with your short commute
3. they wear out the roads much faster than studless or even factory studded tires

Yes, the ipike rw11 will likely be better than an old duratrac.

edit: we all posted basically the same thing at the same time

[bodywhomper]

Personally, I'd get a studless snow and call it good. The Blizzak tires always scared me away because some (or all?) have a variable density compound that is great in the snow until the soft rubber wears out.

That’s when they become summer tires.

[Jong Lafitte]

Couple thoughts:

- If you decide to go studded, factory studded is the only way to go. Certainly don't have them do it at the shop.

- If you decide to go all-weather, consider whether you'll replace them when winter performance starts to get dangerous but there's plenty of tire left for summer use.

Personally, I'd get a studless snow and call it good. The Blizzak tires always scared me away because some (or all?) have a variable density compound that is great in the snow until the soft rubber wears out.

I should have looked into this a bit more before I got the Blizzaks. I've had certain all seasons where it was like at a certain tread depth, you hit a switch, they immediately went from 'like new' to 'piss poor' in the winter. Id rather have them wear a little faster and have the same compound down to the wear indicators or very close to it. maybe they can't do that, i dunno. I've yet to experience this BUT I probably have 80% on mine after two seasons so we'll see. I wound up with them because the all seasons I had had about 40% left but were no longer acceptable for winter driving so they became the 3 season tires.

[LiveLarger]

I should have looked into this a bit more before I got the Blizzaks. I've had certain all seasons where it was like at a certain tread depth, you hit a switch, they immediately went from 'like new' to 'piss poor' in the winter. Id rather have them wear a little faster and have the same compound down to the wear indicators or very close to it. maybe they can't do that, i dunno. I've yet to experience this BUT I probably have 80% on mine after two seasons so we'll see. I wound up with them because the all seasons I had had about 40% left but were no longer acceptable for winter driving so they became the 3 season tires.

I recommend having to sets of tires. I use Michelin pilot sport 4 during the summer and Nokian Hakkas for winter. This is what everybody is doing in Scandinavia. It takes ten minutes to swap them.

[XXX-er]

I recommend having to sets of tires. I use Michelin pilot sport 4 during the summer and Nokian Hakkas for winter. This is what everybody is doing in Scandinavia. It takes ten minutes to swap them.

yeah its a big initial investment to buy haks & the spare steel wheels to mount them but between the 2 sets of rubber I get twice as much time before buying tires, the tire dealer who sold me the Haks will swap them for free and retork the nuts if the tires are mounted on rims so there are no tire swapping costs and the traction is simpley zee best

if you change cars just sell or trade the tires and wheels

[plugboots]

if you change cars just sell or trade the tires and wheels

Or keep the winters if the new vehicle has the same bolt pattern. I've now used the same rims on 3 cars. It seems that at least for me the extra set didn't add anything to the resale/trade-in.

[Banh Mi]

I should have looked into this a bit more before I got the Blizzaks. I've had certain all seasons where it was like at a certain tread depth, you hit a switch, they immediately went from 'like new' to 'piss poor' in the winter. Id rather have them wear a little faster and have the same compound down to the wear indicators or very close to it. maybe they can't do that, i dunno. I've yet to experience this BUT I probably have 80% on mine after two seasons so we'll see. I wound up with them because the all seasons I had had about 40% left but were no longer acceptable for winter driving so they became the 3 season tires.

I prefer the Blizzaks over Nokians. I have the hakka on my subaru, blizzaks are on my moms suby currently, and I had Blizzaks before. Im gonna change to Blizzaks next winter again. The nokians are alright, but I think the Blizzaks handle dry, and ice/snow better. My nokians are louder and blockier feeling on dry, and they slide easier in the winter conditions. I lived on a much nastier road when I last had blizzaks too.. couldnt get them to slide unless I wanted to. Nokians slide on me sometimes. Its not super dramatic, but its there and I dont like it.

The Nokians have lasted significantly longer though. But I would rather have better grip for a shorter period though.

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[muted]

I mean all I really want to know is if the low end tires I am looking at (hankook ipike rw11) are better than my old duratracs. It is only $20 more to have them studded so I wasn't sure if it was worth it for a ski car or not. I am getting more confused the bigger this thread gets but from the sound of it for purely snow performance that tire should be the same as higher end ones but will be shittier on ice without studs, but for some reason I shouldn't get studs

edit: Plus I am asking you guys since you all know what actual snow driving is unlike half the shit I read online.

I've had the ipikes before, they are not exactly low end or high end, they are in the middle and decent snow tires. A step down from hakkas but with the money you save....not bad tires. Hard to know about brand new duratrac comparison, but the new ipikes will crush a worn out pair of Duratracs, that's for sure. The reason not to get studs, even though they are better, is because they can be annoying to drive unless you have snow-packed roads all/most the time. I had them in MT and they were worth it, I now live in UT and it seems like overkill as it's much warmer here, so no studs anymore. But if you want to be ultra-safe on snow or drive faster than normal on snowy roads, it may be worth it to you.

[auvgeek]

I prefer the Blizzaks over Nokians. I have the hakka on my subaru, blizzaks are on my moms suby currently, and I had Blizzaks before. The nokians are alright, but I think the Blizzaks handle dry, wet, and snow better. My nokians are louder and blockier feeling on dry, and they slide easier in the winter conditions.

FWIW, Nokian released an updated studless tire (R3) to alleviate some of the issues you described, especially wet performance.

[Banh Mi]

I have the R3, I’m not impressed with them other than durability.

I edited my above post to add that the Nokians do last longer though.


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[Danno]

When I lived at elevation, studded tires were helpful. But no way would I get studded snow tires living on the front range.

[auvgeek]

I have the R3, I’m not impressed with them other than durability.

I edited my above post to add that the Nokians do last longer though.

Oh, I thought you had the R2. My bad. The tests generally say the R2 does better than the Blizzak's in almost all conditions except wet braking, though, so that's interesting:

https://translate.googleusercontent....t-i6CiwTKJ6emA

Personally, I'd probably go Michelin X-ice or maybe Goodyear if I were to get a studless.

[Norseman]

X-ice 3 on my old turbo Leggy... thumbs up for good winter studless

[plugboots]

When I was talking about new stud tech, this is what I was talking about:
"With a press of a button, the driver can bring out the studs to improve the grip of the tire. When the studs are not needed, they can be retracted back into the tire."

There are also studs that bend into the rubber of the tire when on pavement, and then stay down on snow and ice. Cool stuff.
https://www.nokiantires.com/innovati...actable-studs/

[Cruiser]

I loved studded snows on a couple cars in Denver. That said, I had them on separate rims and I only ran them on snowy days so they rarely got used on dry pavement. If I only had 1 set of rims them I would definitely not run studs all winter in Denver. Those snows (even without studs) will be way better than a set of worn duratraks in the snow and they won't be terribly annoying to drive when it's dry like they would be if you had them studded.

[toastybroski]

You are all awesome. Luckily since my current tires are worn out I wont have to get another set of rims until spring but they're cheap on craigslist anyways.

[jackattack]

I loved studded snows on a couple cars in Denver. That said, I had them on separate rims and I only ran them on snowy days so they rarely got used on dry pavement. If I only had 1 set of rims them I would definitely not run studs all winter in Denver. Those snows (even without studs) will be way better than a set of worn duratraks in the snow and they won't be terribly annoying to drive when it's dry like they would be if you had them studded.

That’s serious tire quiver dedication.

Did you run inserts or just multiple vehicles?

[gretch6364]

The problem with the Duratrac is that what makes it great in mud, doesn't make it great in snow. Could always have it sipped I guess, which would help.

For me, a dedicated snow tire seems over kill in Denver, even if you are driving to the mountains every single weekend. There will be actual snow on the ground, what 30% of time? Just get a better A/T tire that isn't as aggressive in the mud as the duratrac. I still think the KOs are the best middle of the road everyday tire for a truck/suv that sees snow as often as it sees mud.

[dcpnz]

Thise i-pikes will be good and much better than duratracs, worn or not. Don’t bother with studs.

I pretty sure think blizzaks don’t have dual compound anymore - recall reading that when i last shopped for them 3 yrs ago.

If i were a front range resident which means driving on warmer dry roads most of the time i’d be looking at goodyears or michelins or dunlops or those i-pikes that wont squirm as much as a blizzak

[Banh Mi]

Oh, I thought you had the R2. My bad. The tests generally say the R2 does better than the Blizzak's in almost all conditions except wet braking, though, so that's interesting:

https://translate.googleusercontent....t-i6CiwTKJ6emA

Personally, I'd probably go Michelin X-ice or maybe Goodyear if I were to get a studless.

It’s really weird. It goes against all the reviews. Like how you and Galibier reviewed the Protests. Sometimes skis and other products just feel off for one way or another.. or maybe I just dont like the tires, Idk.

I looked at all the reviews, and I did a shit ton of research, and everyone told me the Nokians were better. Thats why I switched from blizzaks to the hakka r3. The small shop in Big Sky where I bought them last year, told me that the Montana State Police even switched from blizzaks to hakka r3, and a lot of the shops were switching to em too. So I figured they were gonna amaze me like Blizzaks did.. They let me down immediately.

I’m wondering if I got a dud or something, but idk how that would even work with a tire.. like they didnt put the grippy ass rubber in it that Blizzaks have. They accidently poured a different compound into the mold, on the last production run of the day, or when they were switching between rubber compounds, or something craAzy. I can overthink this to the moon if I try hard enough.


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[TAFKALVS]

I've owned both Duratracs and I-Pikes on various Toyota Land Bruisers. I-pikes are great on packed snow/ice. They are terrible in deep loose wet snow, they just dig and don't clear. Duratracs shine in deep, loose and wet snow/slush.

That's a Washington centric world view, with lots of wet snow on marginally plowed steep roads. Colorado's famed Champagne Powder would probably lend itself toward I-Pikes.

That's my experience on 5 - 6000lb trucky things. If I had a Subaru I'd run I-pikes or Hakkas for sure.

[XXX-er]

Or keep the winters if the new vehicle has the same bolt pattern. I've now used the same rims on 3 cars. It seems that at least for me the extra set didn't add anything to the resale/trade-in.

I agree throwing in the snow tires and rims doesn't do anything for selling a used vehical so its better to flog them separately

[GPP33]

The problem with the Duratrac is that what makes it great in mud, doesn't make it great in snow. Could always have it sipped I guess, which would help.

For me, a dedicated snow tire seems over kill in Denver, even if you are driving to the mountains every single weekend. There will be actual snow on the ground, what 30% of time? Just get a better A/T tire that isn't as aggressive in the mud as the duratrac. I still think the KOs are the best middle of the road everyday tire for a truck/suv that sees snow as often as it sees mud.

I like to think I catch fresh snow better than once a month. If you are driving to the mountains every weekend dedicated snows make a world of difference. It’s a no brainer, especially in the OPs situation where replacement rims are a dime a dozen. In the long run you aren’t out any more money since your tires now last twice as long (time wise), just swap em out at the end of October/March, you were probably over due to rotate your tires anyway.

Ironically I run snows on my wife’s car but not on my truck which is the one that more often gets driven to the mountains.

[Dee Hubbs]

I just came here for the pegging thread. Guess I misread the title.

[tuco]

I just came here for the pegging thread. Guess I misread the title.

Maybe try Instagramming it