Hello, newb here...Which WINTER Tires are you running?

[Vancouver]

Hello,
Winter is just about to unleash it's fury where I live. Wondering which winter tires you recommend and what size? I want to hear some real-life opinions, as in tires you have actually owned and used. Where I live, we don't get 'that' much snow, but we do get freezing temperatures and lots of wet weather.
Thanks in advance.

[jumboplay]

I'm using the Motomaster Nordic Icetrac tires. Great for the price, tried them out a few times, dramatic difference between those and all season. It's no miracle, but damn close!

[Zim_Zim]

winter has aleady unleashed its fury here..i just use my all seasons..i dunno she drives great.

[mxmaz]

bridgestone blizzak, well worth the money

[Taras]

You don't need real winter tires in Vancouver, unless you live on a big hill where temps could drop below freezing dramatically and more often. Real winter tires are great for ice and snow, but are fairly mediocre in the rain and dry. Plus they wear out fast if you druve on a hard surface all the time. What you may wish to consider is a set of good all-season tires that perform well in the rain. Just have to be careful on ice, which even with snow tires you have to be anyway. Can't fool physics. Michelin offers tires that are ice specific. In the winter/rainy season I sun Continental ContiExteremeContact in stock size and am very happy with how they are in the rain. Been in snow with them and had no problems. Of course snow capability not compared to a real snow tire, I used to run Toyo W-10, and they were great in the snow, but poor in the rain. Of course my comparison at the time was Toyo T1-S.
You could also check here:
TireRack On the top select either Survey Results or Test Results. Gives you some quantitative data and owners' opinions.

[jordan69]

I just put on Goodyear Eagle GPS tires, i think they are all-season performance tires and really handle well in the snow i find. 205/55/15

[G-C]

i just picked up a set of Pirelli P3000's. theyve got the best grip in dry + wet weather that ive ever used. theyre also amazing in light snow and slush weather. havent had major snowfall yet, but by the reviews ive read on them, theyre great at that as well. check out 1010tires.com and read some of the reviews.

and btw, the narrower the tires, the better for winter. hence im using 185/65 14.

<small>[ December 10, 2004, 09:42 AM: Message edited by: G-C ]</small>

[synap]

Was using all season but after I spun out and hit the curb I got winters. Nokian - Hakkapeliitta @ 185/65R14. Great grip and not noisy on dry roads.

[mazdubber]

Khumo KW11's. I had blizzaks on my old rabbit but couldn't afford them when the time came for snows last year. They're actually better than the blizzaks IMO at half the price. I found that the blizzaks were down right dangerous under dry road conditions.

[Chiggles]

Winter has already made its first appearance where I'm from, and luckily for me I had my tires changed before it came. I'm running a newer type of tire that's not even listed on 1010tires yet; they're all-season Goodyear Assurance TripleTreds and they've been great for me so far. Have had none to very little spins or slips , very quiet when it comes to noise, and was pretty good on handling when the roads where still dry just before the snow came. Spent about $150 each, running at P195/60R15.

Now, if only someone could help me out with my power door lock problem, winter wouldn't be such a pain in the *** for me (see other thread in this forum). :p

<small>[ December 12, 2004, 08:44 PM: Message edited by: Chiggles ]</small>

[Flashpoint2]

Wal-mart specials, about $40 bucks a (winter) tire. Handle well, seriously cheap. 195/60/14s. Not sure if it was a special or not.

[Macen]

Dunlop SP Winter Sport M2 185/60R15. Very silent and grip is nice.

[Yoda]

Winter tire in Vancouver???? Probably one of the best tires for Canadian Winter driving conditions are the TOYO G-02 Plus. The reason for this is TOYO does all there R&D and beta testing of rubber compounds and tread design in Ontario, Quebec and in the B.C interior every year. Unlike all other winter tires they are a hard wearing tire. I drive an average of 600-800km a week and in the 10 years I have only had to buy my 3rd set of G-02's at the end of last winter after blowing out 2 tires. I still had enough tread that I could have made a road hazard claim for the remaining tread but didn't bother and just bought a full set of new tires. The difference in traction and handling on the day I took off the old tires and put on the new ones was none at all. The biggest problem I find with these tire is it difficult to get a pendulum going or doing the Swedish forest flick because I can't get the rear end to break loose enough. It ended up that to show someone how to do this maneuver I had to borrow a car with Blizzaks to get rear end to slip and slide.

[DJ]

Last year I had Bridgestone Blizzaks ws-50 (or some number like that) on. They were amazing, didn't have to baby the car at all to get it to go without spinning, pretty much drove the car like I do in the summer. But I ruined the two front ones and had to find new ones this year. But I couldnt find ANY blizzaks in my size (205/55/15) unless I wanted to get ugly a-- winter rims. So I went with the Goodyear Eagle UG GW2 (http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?tireb ... gle+UG+GW2) to replace the front bald ones and have the old blizzaks in the back. Well, the Goodyear SUCKS!!! You have to baby the car to be able to get through an intersection with any kind of snow or wetness and forget about taking corners fast, you will eat the curb. This weekend i'm going to switch around my tires so my worn down blizzaks are in the front and my new goodyears are on the rear, and I bet they will still grip 1000x better than the goodyear.
So if you can get blizzaks for your size, GET THEM! The goodyear eagle are still better than any all season tire, but nothing compared to the blizzak.