Need snow tires or are brand new tires good enough

I had several sets of the original Nokian WR's (2002-2008) covering over 120,000 miles and they were awesome They were great in the snow as well as all year round. Not so much luck with the WR G2 or the WR G2 SUV. Not as good in the snow and the G2 SUV's were bald at 39,000 miles. I hope you have better luck with them.

Welp. I just may have beat the system this one time.

Now I can run my all seasons down to the nub and put nice new ones on next Christmas.

Drove in some heavy chit too man.

Hi,
I drive in snow and ice a lot and have a '01 Subaru Forester. I am planning on getting snow tires this season. Would you mind telling me what brand /model tires you had on your '01 Forester?
Thank you!

I don't have a Forester, but you can't beat General Altimax Arctic for dedicated snow tires. Inexpensive and great reviews on Tire Rack. They fit the Forester S and L and are even studdable.

Thanks for the advice! I'll check them out.

What does anyone think of Bridgestone Duelers?  They have been original equipment on my last three Hondas but unlike the other two pairs the current set has really lasted.  And with the crvs improved awd, traction is not an issue.

What are the best all season tires?

Stay away from Duellers.  From my post last Fall:

Go with the Nokians.  Have them on an AWD and also two FWDs (toyotas and fords).  Using the studless snows year round.  No issues in snow and crap even with the FWDs.   And there is a new version out this year, R2.  A little loud in the Summer but would not do otherwise in the Winter.  Think I am on 5th set b/t 3 vehicles.  Getting 40k to 50k each tires, never a worry including summer storms.

A year later from my original post,  decision remains as they passed the test on the front wheel drives last season also.

Man.. Noah J thinks I'm O-C about certain skis... Wonder what he thinks of you guys and your snow tire obsession...  


TD

For reasons I can't totally explain my tires haven't been rotated. Meaning with two new duelers I'm winter ready.

I assume it's uncool to mix types of tires, but... is that true?

70% of the internet would disappear if all the obsessive stuff was raptured.

Imagine a forum where Noah created all the topics!

Harvey wrote

What does anyone think of Bridgestone Duelers?  They have been original equipment on my last three Hondas but unlike the other two pairs the current set has really lasted.  And with the crvs improved awd, traction is not an issue.

What are the best all season tires?

I'm putting a set of General AltiMAX RT43 on my 3rd gen CR-V this month. There's a rebate and the T-rated version has better reviews than the H-rated for snow performance and tread wear.

Although a set of dedicated snows is better, you'd need an extra set of TPMS sensors and the expense of having them recognized each year. Without TPMS sensors, the Low Tire Pressure Indicator will stay lit and you won't be able to turn off the VSA system, which will prevent you from rocking your car back and forth out of deep snow.

Harvey wrote

For reasons I can't totally explain my tires haven't been rotated. Meaning with two new duelers I'm winter ready.

I assume it's uncool to mix types of tires, but... is that true?

It's generally unwise to mix types of tires, but especially bad for a car with on-demand AWD, like a CR-V. Google it and you'll see.

Use 4 of the same tire, and avoid at all costs putting a new tire and an old tire on the same axle.

Spongeworthy wrote

Google it

This is especially true with the Honda CR-V, whose unique 4WD system isn't going to appreciate such financial prudence.

LOL

Makes sense when you read the description.

Makes you wonder about getting a flat and using a spare that isn't even the same size.

With AWD, you should check the owners manual before using tires that are not the same diameter.  Some cars have a very tight tolerance.

Mixing snows and all seasons is not recommended by the tire manufacturers. This might be self serving but the argument is that the traction difference is significant and that can cause drivability problems.

Using a different size spare I think will simply disable the AWD so there won't be any damage. But you won't have AWD.

tom

Telemark Dave wrote

Man.. Noah J thinks I'm O-C about certain skis... Wonder what he thinks of you guys and your snow tire obsession...  


TD

I'm embarrassed to say how long I spent last week investigating new snow tires (so I won't). I finally decided on the continental ExtremeWinterContact. I have a 2002 bmw AWD wagon. The tires it came with were the Dunlop 3d winter tires which were great but I left them on all summer and they are toast. I meant to get summers but never got around to it and I knew dunlops wouldn't get through another winter anyway. I almost went with the Dunlop 4Ds or the nokian R2's but I couldn't justify the extra cost. The conti seems like a good mix of tire as its designed for cold dry/wet roads and snow. The R2's seem more appropriate for someone who is driving a high percentage of the time on snow/ice (ie someone who lives inside the blue line or in the hinterlands). The dunlops 4d are listed as "winter performance" tire and don't seem to do as well in snow over 3-4 inches. The general altimax were also on my list, but the contis were only $9 more a tire more ($95 per tire). I'll let you guys know how they turn out.

Here is one of many top ten snow's lists. Curiously they don't list nokians.

http://gearpatrol.com/2013/12/02/winter-wheels-10-best-snow-tires/

Once you run snow tires for a season you will never go back to running all seasons IMO. The difference is huge.

Amen. When we got snow tires for one car, it made the other car felt like the deathmobile in snow. Now each car has a set.

I'll second that GSM. Switching them back and forth each season can be expensive though. But if you don't put a lot of miles on maybe not switch or get extra rims....

OR buy extra cars ! Winter ones and summer ones. That's what we have. Not why we got them, but still, it works.

I actually went the other way.  We bought dedicated (steel) rims from a junkyard for our 2006 CRV.  It was over $1000 and the tires only lasted 2 or three seasons. Those tires were actually reasonable highway tires, but when it got warm you had to take them off quick.

When we got our '12 in January 2012, I decided the first season I'd see how the all seasons did.  The old snows were smaller and warn and the new tires just looked better.  I sold my old rims to Adk Keith and Judy for $200 bucks with tires on them.  (How'd they work Keith?)

The new CRV has a much improved AWD and in that first season it was no problem. So I pushed it in the second season, and again it wasn't an issue.  Early in this thread I wondered about a third season, and maybe foolishly went for it. But no issues.

We never rotated so at Christmas I'll put either put new crappy bridgestones up front or maybe replace all four with Nokians or whatever you guys think. Those fronts may be showing wear bars by then, with close to 40k on them.

What I really need is good dry highway performance with SOME improvement in snow over all seasons.  I got 275 miles on highways and then 275 feet where I need a snow tire.

Do you guys do separate rims? When do you put them on and take them off?

Hi Noah!

Harvey wrote

I actually went the other way.  We bought dedicated (steel) rims from a junkyard for our 2006 CRV.  It was over $1000 and the tires only lasted 2 or three seasons. Those tires were actually reasonable highway tires, but when it got warm you had to take them off quick.

When we got our '12 in January 2012, I decided the first season I'd see how the all seasons did.  The old snows were smaller and warn and the new tires just looked better.  I sold my old rims to Adk Keith and Judy for $200 bucks with tires on them.  (How'd they work Keith?)

The new CRV has a much improved AWD and in that first season it was no problem. So I pushed it in the second season, and again it wasn't an issue.  Early in this thread I wondered about a third season, and maybe foolishly went for it. But no issues.

We never rotated so at Christmas I'll put either put new crappy bridgestones up front or maybe replace all four with Nokians or whatever you guys think. Those fronts may be showing wear bars by then, with close to 40k on them.

What I really need is good dry highway performance with SOME improvement in snow over all seasons.  I got 275 miles on highways and then 275 feet where I need a snow tire.

Do you guys do separate rims? When do you put them on and take them off?

Hi Noah!

Snows certainly wear down faster than regular tires because the rubber is softer. If I'm on my game I put my snows on around mid/end of November and take them off mid/end of April. I drive 60 miles round trip every day from Saratoga to Albany and also want to be able to confidently storm chase so snows are a no brainer. I had a rear wheel drive car for the first winter we lived here. It had snows too but was not up to the task.

Nokian makes an "all weather" (vs all season) tire that might just be the ticket for you harv. It is good enough to get the snowflake on the side.

http://tires.about.com/od/Tire_Reviews/fr/Nokian-Wr-G2-All-Season-Tires.htm

Danzilla wrote

 60 miles round trip

That's the difference vs 550.

I'm putting mine on at Christmas.  Thanksgiving - don't really need them, and then all trips in December before the Holiday I'm solo.  So I put them on for the xmas trip and take them off around the end of March.  Those April ski trips are just a waste of rubber.

I'll check out the Nokians, but may go with the crappy duelers because I'd only need 2.