Any opinion on winter tires?

[MtnVan]

I'm running the Bridgestone Blizzak W965 studless snow tires 265/75/16 (Yes, these are smaller than my usual BFG 295/75/16). These are E load rated tires. The snow/ice traction is fantastic! The difference between the Blizzaks and regular M/S tires in night and day. The bonus of studless is being able to drive on long stretches of dry road. I only use the snow tires in the winter (separate wheels/tires). I highly recommend the Blizzaks - best snow/ice rubber out there.

-Marc
2000 Q4x4 EB50 PSD
MTN VAN

[Silver350]

So MntVan, do you run those tires on all corners or just in the rear?

How about VW Teleman, did you run your winter tires all the way around or just in the rear?

Thanks

[vwteleman]

Mine are all the way around. Steering and braking are just as important as gettin' goin'!

Here's what they look like - Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT, 245/75/R16, E rated, siped and studded.





Reports of fresh snow on the mountains up here in BC the past few days. Bring it on!

Cheers,
Brent

[Ketcham]

Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT 265/70R17 121/118Q E seems ideal and is only .5" less radius and 1" width from the 285/70/17. I am strongly considering these, however does anyone have thought on the look of such a small tire relative to a van with a 4" lift? I also considered an after market sipped M55 toyo LT275/70R18. I used the Hakkapeliitta 5 on my 4runner and Audi A4 quattro. Love them on my ski trips. What all do you run for your summer tire too? Brent, I appreciate you uploading your photos. Could you upload one of your whole van?

-john.

[vwteleman]

John,

Here ya go:


This is with the stock "summer" tires (Hankooks, I think), but they are the same size as the Nokians.

More photos of my van are in this thread.

Cheers,
Brent

[Nomadcat]

This is an old thread, but I figured I'd post here first and see if I got any opinions. I'm on a set of Duratracs now and I like them. Good for another 10 to 15K miles.

I'm planning on a winter road trip and had thought about going with Blizzak W965 - I usually don't run dedicated snows on the van - but I'm worried that the few thousand miles I log in Louisiana, Texas, AZ and SoCal will just chew them up.

I'm leaning towards just going with the Duratracs, keeping an eye on the weather, and getting a new set once I get back.

Part of me wants to try the Blizzaks, but that's a lot of money and I don't think I can justify it.

Any thoughts from you all?

Thanks.

Paul

[dhally]

We swap out tires for the ski season and use the Blizzaks. They are great snow tires and do fine on the pavement as well.

However, a couple years ago when we went to Arizona in February, I put the street tires back on. I didn't want to grind down the Blizzaks. I figured we wouldn't actually be driving on packed snow or ice much, and I was right. There was plenty of snow but it was plowed, sanded, salted, etc. since we were mostly on freeways. We did have to chain up at a ski area in Utah but avoided a couple thousand miles of wear.
We might have needed to chain up even with the Blizzaks on ...

[dhally]

I have found that all season tires work better on snow when they are new. As they get worn out, snow and ice traction suffers a lot. Another idea would be to buy new all season tires for the trip and then use up the old tires in the summer.

[BrianW]

Blizzaks are amazing for ice and snow (especially ice here in the NE), but do wear pretty quickly. And once a certain percentage of the top layer is worn off, they lose their "magical" qualities and just turn into normal tires. We run them on our Honda minivan and it does as well - or better - in the snow than my AWD Subaru.

That being said, I wouldn't run out and buy a set for a road trip, unless you are reasonably sure you are going to need them and don't mind basically burning through a set for your trip.

Is your van 2x4 or 4x4? If 4x4, I'd 100% say skip them. If 2WD, I'd probably just use a good pair of M/S tires and pack some cable chains as cheap insurance in case of a blizzard or whatever. A good set of chains will get you through a lot.

(My old Isuzu Trooper was basically unstoppable in snow with chains front and rear and 4wd :-)

[Nomadcat]

Thanks, all. I carry chains and there's still a decent amount of meat on the Duratracs, which are a pretty good all-around tire, to begin with.

I'm just going to wear them out on this trip and get new ones for the summer, I think.