2024 Snow Tires

[alembical]

I am in need of a new set of snow tires for our 2015 Toyota Highlander. It has been years since I have looked into new snow tires. I need non-studded, winter specific tires. We live in Portland, OR on a big steep hill and my wife works at 5 am across the river and up a 500 foot hill and she has to be able to get to work. We also will do 3 or 4 trips to Jackson, WY (800 miles of highway driving at over 80mph) and a number of trips up to Mt. Hood.

Any suggestions?

Any feedback on:
Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2
Michelin Xice Snow SUV
Continental 7
Nokian Hakkapeliita 5 Suv

Thanks in advance. I did search, but all seemed old, bike related, or larger truck related.

[J. Barron DeJong]

I am in need of a new set of snow tires for our 2015 Toyota Highlander. It has been years since I have looked into new snow tires. I need non-studded, winter specific tires. We live in Portland, OR on a big steep hill and my wife works at 5 am across the river and up a 500 foot hill and she has to be able to get to work. We also will do 3 or 4 trips to Jackson, WY (800 miles of highway driving at over 80mph) and a number of trips up to Mt. Hood.

Any suggestions?

Any feedback on:
Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2
Michelin Xice Snow SUV
Continental 7
Nokian Hakkapeliita 5 Suv

Thanks in advance. I did search, but all seemed old, bike related, or larger truck related.

Michelin, Conti, or Nokian:

https://www.tire-reviews.com/Article...-Tire-Test.htm

I have the VikingContact 7 on both cars. Would like to see more on the Nokian R5, but I like the Viking better than the previous R3, especially in slush.

[skaredshtles]

Have been running Michelin X-Ice for over a decade on most of our vehicles. Very satisfied with both winter *and* dry road performance.

Had one set of Blizzaks for a few seasons on our van, and while they did seem to be a bit better in snow/ice, they were loud and kind of crappy on dry roads.

Will be getting the X-Ice snows for our Mazda, since the current winters are burned on that car.

Also helps that Costco carries them and offers them at a good price.

[KJA64]

I’ve been using the Michelin X-ice for six years full time on my [emoji638][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]]][emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji640]] highlander with no problems and the tread is still great. About [emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji639]]-[emoji[emoji6[emoji640][emoji638]][emoji640][emoji6[emoji640][emoji637]]] k miles per year, primarily in fall through spring driving.

[PB]

W....T......F.......??????

[Woolly the Mammoth]

https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...re-Time/page67

Tech talk Jong.

[whyturn]

Nokian Hakkapelita there’s no other for suvs


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[Ted Striker]

Echoing skaredshtles, we've run Michelin X-Ice on the Subaru for years, and older Blizzaks before that. The Blizzaks might have been a little better in deep snow, but were pretty annoying at sea level. The X-Ice is just great quiver of one tire.

That said, I run dedicated snow Hakkapeliitta 3 on the 4Runner, and they are fantastic in snow, and not bad at all when it's dry.

You pretty much can't go wrong with those two.

[NBABUCKS1]

Nokian Hakkapelita there’s no other for suvs


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I have the EV variant on my Ioniq 5. Great grip.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5

[gaijin]

I have the Michelin X-Ice on my AWD Honda minivan and have never had a better performing winter vehicle. I've also had Blizzaks, which were rad. Never noticed the noise. But Costco be Costco and all that.

Blizzaks and Michelin are dope and pretty standard around snowy JP where 99% of people have studless winter tires and two sets of wheels.

[XXX-er]

I have been a huge studded Hak fanboi since 2001 cuz lots of ice and snow up narth and they are simpley zee best

so I need to order a set for the soon to arrive Tundra which has 18" tires

they don't make the SUV tire in that size so i gotta buy the 10 ply LT3 and they are 422 @ $

i had been used to paying 1800 for the old Ranger and the Tacoma on rims but they are quoting close to 3 K

as my buddy the MD alwasy sez " a shroud has no pockets "

[BCMtnHound]

I have been a huge studded Hak fanboi since 2001 cuz lots of ice and snow up narth and they are simpley zee best

so I need to order a set for the soon to arrive Tundra which has 18" tires

they don't make the SUV tire in that size so i gotta buy the 10 ply LT3 and they are 422 @ $

i had been used to paying 1800 for the old Ranger and the Tacoma on rims but they are quoting close to 3 K

as my buddy the MD alwasy sez " a shroud has no pockets "

Can’t you get steel 17” rims for the tundra? That’s what I did for the chevy, saved a bit on the tires (and got the rims 2nd hand).

[XXX-er]

I don't think i could find the rims second hand cuz the truck is so fucking new that its a problem finding spare rims and I don't know if I could run 17's,

Kal wants 141$ each for the steelies so I'm gona check with my sales guy at Toyota to see if he has any ideas or connections or wtf

At 566 $ for spare steel rims I could also just forget about spare rims for now and swap tires until something shows up in the future

[El Chupacabra]

I am in need of a new set of snow tires for our 2015 Toyota Highlander. It has been years since I have looked into new snow tires. I need non-studded, winter specific tires. We live in Portland, OR on a big steep hill and my wife works at 5 am across the river and up a 500 foot hill and she has to be able to get to work. We also will do 3 or 4 trips to Jackson, WY (800 miles of highway driving at over 80mph) and a number of trips up to Mt. Hood.

Any suggestions?

Any feedback on:
Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2
Michelin Xice Snow SUV
Continental 7
Nokian Hakkapeliita 5 Suv

Thanks in advance. I did search, but all seemed old, bike related, or larger truck related.

Have you tried any of the 3PMSF rated all season or all terrain tires?

I wouldn't think that Portland Oregon required true soft compound winter tires, but YMMV.

[duffski]

I really liked the Hakks on snow and ice but they don't last very long, I think i got maybe 25k out of them but drove on them during summer which will have worn them out much faster. If you can switch out tires after winter those would be a great choice, otherwise try to find something a bit more harder compound, which would probably be Michilin. I think Blizzacks are soft so won't last long either. I just got Falken Wildpeak AT4W's on my rig and they are way more burly than any tires I've used before. Haven't drove them on snow yet but they are 3PMSF so should be good.

[skaredshtles]

I really liked the Hakks on snow and ice but they don't last very long, I think i got maybe 25k out of them but drove on them during summer which will have worn them out much faster. If you can switch out tires after winter those would be a great choice, otherwise try to find something a bit more harder compound, which would probably be Michilin. I think Blizzacks are soft so won't last long either.

Michelin even has a mileage warranty (40K miles) for their X-Ice, which, AFAIK, is unheard of for actual winter tires.

[skaredshtles]

Have you tried any of the 3PMSF rated all season or all terrain tires?

I wouldn't think that Portland Oregon required true soft compound winter tires, but YMMV.

I'd like to see some real-world testing of 3PMSF all season vs. dedicated winter tires.

[Harry]

I am a big believer in running dedicated winter tires on a separate set of rims. I crashed several years on a powder day up in Whitefish trying to run BFG KO2’s year round. Ever since I always run either Blizzaks or X-ice. This last winter with my new Bronco I tried to find Hakkapelita’s in my size, 285/70-17, and could find them studded, but not unstudded. Wisconsin does not allow studs and my local cops are assholes about enforcing it. I did find some Cooper Snow Claws in my size, E-rated though, more than I need but bought them anyway since I had a trip to Big Sky and Jackson planned.

I had never run Coopers before, and I admit I was a little hesitant. I shouldn’t have been concerned, these Cooper SNOW CLAWS are awesome. It looks like they took the tread pattern from their Discoverer A/T tire, made it out of softer rubber and put a bunch of sipes in them. So kind of a hybrid tire between an A/T tire and a true winter tire.

It’s only 3-4 hours between Big Sky and Jackson depending on weather, but I got pinned down in West Yellowstone by closed roads. Tires performed great. That storm moved on and I spent a week in Jackson skiing with Djongo. I left town on another powder day and when I got to Wilson Teton Pass was closed while they cleared avy debris. It opened and I went over Teton Pass, Targhee Pass, and Bozeman Pass in one day and dumping on each pass. These tires had great traction. I am impressed and would buy Cooper Snow Claws again.

West Yellowstone




Teton Pass



Tread pattern




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[J. Barron DeJong]

I'd like to see some real-world testing of 3PMSF all season vs. dedicated winter tires.

ok. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nCiORPE-U0I

[XXX-er]

I am a big believer in running dedicated winter tires on a separate set of rims. I crashed several years on a powder day up in Whitefish trying to run BFG KO2’s year round.

this ^^ is why everyone up here runs real studded snow tires , you might see a pile of shit car in the mall with a set of tires that are worth more than the car

the second set of rims pay for themselves in tire changes in < 3 years and you will recoup some $ is when you sell the car and don't need them

Haks wear out faster because they are soft which is why they work better so one does not run them all year

at some point pull whatever studs are left to wear the snow tire off completely before buying new studded snows in the fall

[El Chupacabra]

I'd like to see some real-world testing of 3PMSF all season vs. dedicated winter tires.

They aren't as good as true winter tires in true winter conditions. And they are much better (and longer lasting) in non winter conditions. But you could guess that without seeing any data.

YMMV, a lot, on winter tires.

Mrs C and I generally use 3PMSF tires on a second set of wheels for each vehicle, and the deepest tread set goes on in winter. There's lots of dry road and warmer temp driving during the winter months, where a true winter tire wears down very fast. We live near Tahoe, road trip to SLC and Jackson during winter, and find the 3PMSF tires on AWD vehicles work well.

[old goat]

Michelin even has a mileage warranty (40K miles) for their X-Ice, which, AFAIK, is unheard of for actual winter tires.

I've had 3 sets of the Michelins over the years, happy with them, haven't used any other winter tires.
I do have to ask--what good is a mileage guarantee on a tire you only use half the year or less? My tires outlast my cars. And they get driven a lot on dry pavement down in the valley.

[schuss]

I'd like to see some real-world testing of 3PMSF all season vs. dedicated winter tires.

I have run them instead of snows last 2 years or so in New Hampshire. I have not noticed any meaningful difference from dedicated snows across a variety of snow/ice mixtures. If pressed, I'd say they're maybe 5% less capable? that's about it though. Running CrossClimate 2's on a number of vehicles (Honda Odyssey and Subaru BRZ, mounting up my Outback and likely my wife's 535 this year).

[skaredshtles]

ok. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nCiORPE-U0I

A lot of jibber-jabber in there, but it sounds like what you might expect - the all-weather (3PMSF) tire was definitely better than the all-season but *definitely* worse than the snow tire. So perhaps might be a decent option for a lot of folks.

I'm still going to stick with my dedicated snows.

One note - that test didn't deal with any ice scenarios, but the author did say about the dedicated winter tire, "If I'd had the chance to test ice, it would have obliterated all of these, I'm sure."

[skaredshtles]

I've had 3 sets of the Michelins over the years, happy with them, haven't used any other winter tires.
I do have to ask--what good is a mileage guarantee on a tire you only use half the year or less? My tires outlast my cars. And they get driven a lot on dry pavement down in the valley.

I haven't ever used a mileage guarantee on *any* tire - but it seems to be a bit of a differentiator if a manufacturer is willing to even throw that out there on a winter tire. Because like I said - I don't think *any* winter tire has offered a tread-life warranty before. But maybe they're just trying to sucker us.