winter tires

Hey - I know summer has just started, but I am saving for some winter tires for a Hyundai Santa Fe..

I want to get any feedback on what make/model of snow tire you like..so many manufacturers.lines etc. Why re-invent the wheel (smile)

I am ok with no more than $150/tire (225/70R16)

I would like to get winter tires as opposed to all season... we get quite a bit of the white stuff here ..maybe one of you is a tire pro..

Stupid for a beer forum, I know, but this is the Chit-chat section..

I went with the Firestone Winterforce this last winter on the wifes 300C. The price was good, they were in stock and my friend works at Tire Rack and he recommended them. Tire Rack will occasionally take some vehicles outfitted with winter tires to the ice rink and run some tests. I don't know what the tests consist of but he said these did very well. He was right they did a great job, wore well, and were pretty quiet on the highway.
Firestone Winterforce

I don't need winter tires here where I live, but I don't think I'll buy tires anywhere other than TireRack.com . I bought my set of Firestone Destination ATs for close to $400 less than the local price. [Edit: Lest I be accused of exaggerating, actually it was more like $350 less...just looked up the receipt. ]

I never bought snow tires (we rarely get more than 300 inches a year) because I use front wheel drive (or my 4X4 pickup) and all-season tires. I got stuck once, though. If I were going to buy snow tires, I'd make sure that I checked all of the safety ratings. That's my only advice, sorry!

Hakkapalita and Blizzak are the two that come to mind.

Perusing TireRack I see they have a closeout on 16" Blizzaks of that size for $82 per tire: Linky. You can also pick up a second set of rims so that it turns into a simple "change four tires" which you can do yourself, as opposed to "Put loose tires in the car, drive to the shop, wait four hours for them to remount them, go home".

I did the loose tires thing with my first Celica, and said screw it for the second Celica. For that one, I bought nice rims and summer tires, and put winters on the steel rims. For my current BMW, after buying it with the summer sport package in NOVEMBER, I promptly called TireRack and ordered four tires and rims. This was the most expensive setup, because BMW uses Runflat tires. Yours are "normal tires", and are "normally priced". That $150 a tire is a low end estimate for Runflats.

I did buy Blizzaks, and the BMW XDrive (all wheel drive) and stability control were amazing. I commute from Burlington to Montpelier, and never had a single worry this year. When I borrowed my Dad's car (since he has a 3mile commute, we swap so his car fully warms up once a week), basically the same car, but all seasons, I noticed substantially less grip in snow and cold pavement. Blizzaks are amazing.

Blizzaks on steelies from tirerack! I have a set of four from my previous car that I need to sell gong into this winter & pickup a set for the new car.

Well, I didn't get steel rims for the BMW because of brake clearance, but yeah. Now is the time to buy winter tires, Oct/Nov is the time to sell.

BFgoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO good all around tire not loud on dry road and deep snow has no effect on them with 4 wheel drive . Your size is $138 at Tire Rack . I have the 305/65R/17s on my Dodge CTD . I needed an E rated tire . Have 25k on them now and they are hardly warn at all ,just rotate every 10 k

I did buy Blizzaks, and the BMW XDrive (all wheel drive) and stability control were amazing. I commute from Burlington to Montpelier, and never had a single worry this year.

HA HA = I commute from Windham (2000') to Brattleboro .. sometimes I need to get up steep, winding 5 mile rd in raging snow (and I have always made it, but it is no picnic)..occaisionally if storm hits bef I can get out of work, I stay in Brattleboro..Williston gets a longer winter.

Where can I get those steelies you mention.

Welcome, VT Brewer.

I second the BFG ATs

Winter tires are un-needed with these.

TireRack and/or other tire places should sell extra rims, alloy or steel.

French Hill in Richmond is really the only tricky part other than my driveway, but they tend to do a thorough job on 89 in that area.

I don't use specific winter tires, but +1 for Tirerack. At the very least, once you have your selection narrowed down hit up the site and read the reviews. Should give you some pretty solid feedback for making your final selection.

kappclark said:

Where can I get those steelies you mention.

Welcome, VT Brewer.

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Going into to winter (and prb year round) tire rack has package deals w/ tires, wheels, mounting and balancing....when they hit your house, they are ready to go right on the car. If you already have the tires, there may be plenty of sources for compatible steel wheels to mount them on, depending on the hub size, pattern, ect....I've gone to yards and picked them up in the past for 10 bucks a piece. You can call a dealer or aftermarket place for suggestions on where to get cheap winter wheels or hit up the web.

Are the steelies shinier than the alloy wheels ? Is this a coolness factor I am getting ? (Pardon the ignorance)

Steel wheels tend to be cheaper, and unless you buy wheel covers, much uglier. Alloy wheels are lighter, a bit more expensive and look better. It was not possible to buy steel rims for my BMW, but hey, that's part of the associated cost. I definitely used steelies on my Celica.

In most cars there's no real functional difference. Also, if you have a small suv with exposed steel wheels, well, that's the Vermont look! (I've lived here all but two years of my life, and that's one "fashion" statement that's remained unchanged.) So, yeah, the alloy wheels are the image/coolness factor.

One of the reasons why a lot of people recommend TireRack is that if you buy a package through them they will mount and balance the tires. That way, with a bit of time, a jack and a tire iron, you can change your own tires. If you do it for several vehicles, a hydraulic jack and a small air compressor for an air wrench are great timesavers. Even then, if you have them mounted an go to a garage/dealer to have them put on the car, it's cheaper than having the tires changed on the wheels.

springer said:

BFgoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO good all around tire not loud on dry road and deep snow has no effect on them with 4 wheel drive . Your size is $138 at Tire Rack . I have the 305/65R/17s on my Dodge CTD . I needed an E rated tire . Have 25k on them now and they are hardly warn at all ,just rotate every 10 k

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I have these on both my Jeep Cherokee and my Dodge Durango. I can highly recommend them. Although, TBH, even if they are not bad for noise and vibration, I'd prefer to run passenger tires in summer, and use these for winter use. IF I were to keep a second set of wheels handy.

As it is, they are still very good for noise and vibration and can handle mud and snow very well. I got mine after riding in a friend's Jeep with them.

I went with some fairly new all weather Kuhmos last winter. I have an Audi A4 quattro, so didnt have any problems getting going, it was stopping that was VERY hard. I think I'm going to get Blizzaks this year.

+1 for TireRack
+1 for Blizzaks
IMHO all-season tires are poor in all conditions.
The MINI wears Blizzaks all winter and Ecstas in the summer.

kappclark said:

Are the steelies shinier than the alloy wheels ? Is this a coolness factor I am getting ? (Pardon the ignorance)

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Cheap is the primary motivation...they are just the plain old cheap black factory style wheels that people typically toss hubcaps on (yeah, they can be painted silver and other colors whatever).

I've got a nice set of wheels on my car and when it's time for winter tires, I don't want to have to go out and get a wide set of winter tires (kinda defeats the purpose) and have them mounted on my good wheels then subject them to the winter muck & salt....so I just get the snows already mounted on the cheapest wheels possible, plain old steel, and swap 'em & go.

Ben25 said:

I went with some fairly new all weather Kuhmos last winter. I have an Audi A4 quattro, so didnt have any problems getting going, it was stopping that was VERY hard. I think I'm going to get Blizzaks this year.

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I had a set of all season Kumhos at the start of winter two years ago and they were nothing like riding a set of dedicated snows...night and day.

Well also, I've had these Kuhmos for a year and a half and the side walls are dry rotted like crazy. Never had a tire do that after such a short time. I don't think I will be using Kuhmos again.

Homercidal said:

I have these on both my Jeep Cherokee and my Dodge Durango. I can highly recommend them. Although, TBH, even if they are not bad for noise and vibration, I'd prefer to run passenger tires in summer, and use these for winter use. IF I were to keep a second set of wheels handy.

As it is, they are still very good for noise and vibration and can handle mud and snow very well. I got mine after riding in a friend's Jeep with them.

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blasphemer .... Jeep with passenger car tires like tits on a bull , useless .Bwahhaa!

my truck came with E rated Michelin street tires couldn't even hit the fuel without spinning the rear tires in the rain, guess thats what happens with 325 hp and 600lbs of torque without the smarty on .

springer said:

blasphemer .... Jeep with passenger car tires like tits on a bull , useless .Bwahhaa!

my truck came with E rated Michelin street tires couldn't even hit the fuel without spinning the rear tires in the rain, guess thats what happens with 325 hp and 600lbs of torque without the smarty on .

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Not my play toy. It's the car I drive everywhere in. If I could see the point of having a vehicle to mud around in, then I'd likely have an old Wrangler. But, I just don't get into that kind of stuff.

You have a 600lb torque Jeep??

Homercidal said:

Not my play toy. It's the car I drive everywhere in. If I could see the point of having a vehicle to mud around in, then I'd likely have an old Wrangler. But, I just don't get into that kind of stuff.

You have a 600lb torque Jeep??

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No its a Cummins turbo diesel Dodge.

Ah, should have known. I was thinking last night what kind of crazy stroker do you have in that thing! Sometimes when I'm pulling my camper with the Durango I wish I had a diesel truck...

I used to pull the camper with a GMC with the 5.7 liter vortec . Towed very well but you knew the trailer was back there. Now I have to remind mysef its there I'll be 70-75 mph with no problem .

I live in Montana at the end of steep 2.5 mile long private road. It can get very icy at times. I bought a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta R's for my front wheel drive Hyundai Sonata. They performed great on both ice and snow and had better grip than the studded tires on my son's car. I was amazed at how quiet they were and the fuel mileage was every bit as good as my summer tires. You would need a different model for your SUV but I highly recommend Nokian.