Topic: Winter tires

[sszoomzoom]

This subject has been extensively discussed here, and I read all reviews.
Winter tire season starts in a month and I need new winters for my car.
I have narrow it down to
Xice 3
Blizzak ws 80
Continti winter si
My previous tires are Xice 3 and I like them but not as good as I expected so might be time to try others. I'm putting about 10000 km on them per season and I do mostly Hwy driving here in the Okanagan.
Which would be best for me to get?
Should I also consider a different brand different from what I consider?
Important
Good traction snow and slush
Good traction on some ice
Good traction on wet and dry
Please vote

[bridgecity]

Winter tire season starts in a month?  Do you live in Nunavut?  I thought you said Okanagan 

I don't have any of those three tires, but you can't go wrong with xice or blizzacks.  If you have the xice and are looking for something different then go ws80.

[sszoomzoom]

Winter tire season starts in a month?  Do you live in Nunavut?  I thought you said Okanagan 

I don't have any of those three tires, but you can't go wrong with xice or blizzacks.  If you have the xice and are looking for something different then go ws80.

BC winter tire season starts October 1st, so a month and a bit. I always like to comply and have my tires on on the date.

[Jaeger]

I can't offer a comparison, but I can tell you that my car is an unstoppable tank in winter with the Michelins.

[sszoomzoom]

I can't offer a comparison, but I can tell you that my car is an unstoppable tank in winter with the Michelins.

I do like the Michelin, my wife has the Xice 2 on her car since 2011 and they now at 7/32. However I did not find my Xice3's as good as my wife's and that's why I would like to try others. If the differences are unnoticed between blizzak and xice3 then I'll just get the xice' as through my wife's work I get 15% off at kaltire and here they don't carry Bridgestone.

[G.Bombay]

I think you'd be happy with any of those choices as they are all high-end winter tires. We have ws-80's on our Jetta and I'm truly amazed at the winter traction, and quiet. Snow tires have come a long way.

[Jaeger]

I think you'd be happy with any of those choices as they are all high-end winter tires. We have ws-80's on our Jetta and I'm truly amazed at the winter traction, and quiet. Snow tires have come a long way.

Funny how the biggest advantage of premium winter tires is how well they perform in the dry.  I had a fairly cheap set on my Sonata and they were really good in the snow and slush.  But in the dry?  Loud and mushy.  I was really glad to get them the hell off my car in the spring.  But the Michelins just roll like a premium all season tire with massively superior grip on ice and snow.  Softer than my Michelin all-seasons, but not marshmallows.  And no drive-me-nuts tire roar on dry pavement.

[rrocket]

I think you'd be happy with any of those choices as they are all high-end winter tires. We have ws-80's on our Jetta and I'm truly amazed at the winter traction, and quiet. Snow tires have come a long way.

Funny how the biggest advantage of premium winter tires is how well they perform in the dry.  I had a fairly cheap set on my Sonata and they were really good in the snow and slush.  But in the dry?  Loud and mushy.  I was really glad to get them the hell off my car in the spring.  But the Michelins just roll like a premium all season tire with massively superior grip on ice and snow.  Softer than my Michelin all-seasons, but not marshmallows.  And no drive-me-nuts tire roar on dry pavement.

Winter tires...on a dry race track!

Interesting read IMO  http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/videos/a5604/winter-tires-track-tested/

[tpl]

I can't offer a comparison, but I can tell you that my car is an unstoppable tank in winter with the Michelins.

I do like the Michelin, my wife has the Xice 2 on her car since 2011 and they now at 7/32. However I did not find my Xice3's as good as my wife's and that's why I would like to try others. If the differences are unnoticed between blizzak and xice3 then I'll just get the xice' as through my wife's work I get 15% off at kaltire and here they don't carry Bridgestone.

If you get a discount at KalTire why not get Hakka-Pellitta.     Real winter tires!

[tpl]

I have the Xice II on the Q5, no Xice III in the correct size.    They work well.  The Fit has Xice III and they are very good.

[dkaz]

Starting to look at winter tires again too for my Mazda 3, although note that mud & snow is acceptable on BC highways for some odd reason. Unless I need to take the Coq/Connector, I'll stick with all seasons until we face frost on the morning commute.

I'll probably go through Costco. My choices for 195/65R15 are:

Michelin X-Ice 3, $134.99 each + $80 install and tire levy - $70 instant rebate (when the time comes) + tax = $615.96
Bridgestone Blizzak, $109.99 each + $80 install and tire levy - $70 instant rebate (when the time comes) + tax = $503.96

I was also considering going studded due to constant thaw-freeze conditions in Kelowna.

Pirelli Winter Ice Zero Studded, $133.99 + $80 install and tire levy - $50 minimum instant rebate (when the time comes) + tax = $633.88

Kal Tire also has the brilliant new Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 but I'm looking at $887.76 after tax before my company discount which I think is 5%. 15% is amazing, see if it can be combined with the mail in rebate then you're saving huge bucks with the X-Ice 3 at Kal Tire compared to Costco.

What did you not like about the X-Ice 3? I loved the X-Ice 2, I though they were superb on slick wet ice.

[johngenx]

I need new winter tires for the Highlander this year and I can't believe the DVM-2 is one of the least expensive tires in the class.  I wish I could get WS-80s for it.

[rrocket]

I need new winter tires for the Highlander this year and I can't believe the DVM-2 is one of the least expensive tires in the class.  I wish I could get WS-80s for it.

Do the Altimax fit?  Worked very well on the Forester. 

[johngenx]

^^^ I have them now, and really liked them, but they're $100/set more than the Blizzaks.  And when Costco gets the $70/rebate soon, the price gap will be more.

[sszoomzoom]

Starting to look at winter tires again too for my Mazda 3, although note that mud & snow is acceptable on BC highways for some odd reason. Unless I need to take the Coq/Connector, I'll stick with all seasons until we face frost on the morning commute.

I'll probably go through Costco. My choices for 195/65R15 are:

Michelin X-Ice 3, $134.99 each + $80 install and tire levy - $70 instant rebate (when the time comes) + tax = $615.96
Bridgestone Blizzak, $109.99 each + $80 install and tire levy - $70 instant rebate (when the time comes) + tax = $503.96

I was also considering going studded due to constant thaw-freeze conditions in Kelowna.

Pirelli Winter Ice Zero Studded, $133.99 + $80 install and tire levy - $50 minimum instant rebate (when the time comes) + tax = $633.88

Kal Tire also has the brilliant new Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 but I'm looking at $887.76 after tax before my company discount which I think is 5%. 15% is amazing, see if it can be combined with the mail in rebate then you're saving huge bucks with the X-Ice 3 at Kal Tire compared to Costco.

What did you not like about the X-Ice 3? I loved the X-Ice 2, I though they were superb on slick wet ice.

I live in Vernon but work in Kelowna so for me a real winter tire is a must.
I did not find the Xice3 as good as the 2, for some reason I did not feel as safe with them versus the xice2, not as much grip in snow and ice but that might just be my perception. When driving my wife's Mazda 5 with the xice 2 through the Rockies and coquihala I just felt like driving a tank compare to my 3 with the xice 3. That's the reason I'm looking at other brands. The dry and wet handling is a must as most of the time the Hwy is clean.

You run 15 inch tires in the winter?

[dkaz]

I meant I try to delay switching to winter tires until there's frost on the morning commute, which is certainly not the case on October 1 on Hwy 97 between Kamloops and the USA border. I'd say sometime in November.

Good to know. And I had tires that were supposedly not good on dry pavement and I say as long as you're not trying to do more than 120 km/h or drive spirited in the winter, they're fine. I'd like to hear local reviews on the Blizzak WS80, I did not like the WS70 in Vancouver. Thought they were meh on snow and ice. Kelowna's snow and ice is pretty similar to Vancouver although made worse with the constant thaw-freeze-snow cycles and of course there's more of it. Plus the hills.

Actually I had decent luck with Pirelli Winter Carving last year, looks like General Altimax Arctic. Good in snow, not great on ice but it was a studdable winter tire. It wore out prematurely because I have tire alignment issues.

[johngenx]

We have WS-80s on the Corolla in the 195/65-15 size, and they're frickin' amazing.  When you factor in the price, they're almost unreal.

[dkaz]

And yea I got a used set of 15" winter tire/rims for my Mazda a couple of years ago. They fit on 2.0L engine Mazda 3s.

I might ask on Castanet Forums later to see which winter tires work in the Okanagan with all our hills and mild-ish winters. Yokohama noted on their iceGuard iG20 tire marketing material years ago that stuck with me -- ice at 0C to -6C is very slick because it has a thin film of water on it and you either need to evacuate that water through microchannels which tires like X-Ice, Blizzak WS, and iceGuards have, or you have studded winter tires that bite into the ice. Getting advice from people who mostly deal with -20C ice and powder snow is just not useful. No offence to anyone here.

But the price on the WS80 is very tempting I'll admit.

[sszoomzoom]

So my wife gets with kaltire price match and then 15% off. This is now an easy decision in the favour of the Xice3. I'll have kaltire match Costco and then 15% off. As of today price for the xice is 126 per tire at kaltire versus 129 per tire for blizzak at Costco.
Unless blizzak price is going down by October I think Michelin will be my choice.

[dkaz]

So my wife gets with kaltire price match and then 15% off. This is now an easy decision in the favour of the Xice3. I'll have kaltire match Costco and then 15% off. As of today price for the xice is 126 per tire at kaltire versus 129 per tire for blizzak at Costco.
Unless blizzak price is going down by October I think Michelin will be my choice.

Is that $126 after 15% off?