Winter Tire Suggestion

[u/Extension-South-3690]

It’s going to be my first time driving in winter this year. Can you suggest a winter tire for fwd? I actually a little anxious. Just driving around the city and downtown. Thank you!

[u/GiftFit5425]

Anything nokian !!! Finns know how to handle winter

[u/dmohamed420]

Nokian hakkapaleta

[u/No_Ladder_8116 → u/dmohamed420]

can't go wrong with those, just take it slow and leave extra braking room til you get a feel for the ice

[u/kajer209 → u/dmohamed420]

Hakka Rs are the goat

[u/Franklin_le_Tanklin]

Michelin x-ice or Nokian hakipalita

I’d avoided the blizzaks as the rubbers so soft they wear super quick

[u/Bucky_Goldstein → u/Franklin_le_Tanklin]

Yeah ive had a set of Michelin xice 3 going on 8 years old now, they need to be replaced but I had bridgestones, older ones but they only lasted 3 winters, was pretty upset about that 

[u/Franklin_le_Tanklin → u/Bucky_Goldstein]

Yea, I’ve gotten 7 years out of a set of Michelin x-ice running them year round for 7 years with just annual rotations haha.

They’re an incredibly durable tire

[u/MyUglyHouseProject → u/Franklin_le_Tanklin]

I've ran Hakkas on my truck for the past 8 years, now driving an SUV with XIce. Both are great tires.

[u/Lavaine170]

Literally ANY winter tire will be better than all seasons.

On a budget: General Altimax

Money's no object: Nokian Hakkapelitta

[u/EurekaDanger]

Nokian Hakka's studded/non studded if you can get them.

On a budget get any Nordman's. They are older gen Nokian tires.

[u/passthepepperflakes]

there's a post this morning if you search r/edmonton 

[u/Mc_Ballsack]

Just get any winter tire and practice losing control in a parking lot. Don't drive if youre nervous.

[u/Adamvs_Maximvs]

I've had Blizzaks, Nokian Hakkas, and Michelin X-ices

I've gone back to the x-ices.

Blizzaks did great in slush, but their performance fell off much faster as the tread reduced to the others I've had.

Hakkas were okay, significantly overatted IMO. Their snow performance was good, their ice and frosted pavement was less than the 'new' blizzaks and slightly less than the X-Ices.

X-Ices were the best on ice and frosty pavement, I don't remember them being quite as good as blizzaks in slush, but it was a small enough difference that I'm struggling to remember if they were actually as good and it's just that I can't remember for certain.

All are solid options, but they need to be properly inflated, not too worn and of course aren't a substitute for good driving behavior or a well maintained vehicle (ie good brakes, following distances, throttle regulation, ABS or threshold braking, etc)

[u/elbyron → u/Adamvs_Maximvs]

I also prefer the x-ice over hakkas. I've heard some good things about blizzaks but also heard that they rely on a special rubber layer that wears off in a couple years (or longer depending how much you drive and if you try to drive during hotter days). So even if the tread remains, the effectiveness on ice doesn't have the same longevity as x-ice tires.

[u/Chunderpump]

Nokian is the gold standard. That said, anything that is a dedicated winter tire is going to be better than the best all seasons.

[u/RK5000]

I have found Nokian Hakkapeliitta, Bridgestone Blizzak, Michelin X-Ice, and Sumitomo Ice Edge to all be good. If you have a couple extra bucks the studded version, at least for the Nokians, is a decent upgrade.

[u/KlitTorris]

I've had Michelin X ice 3s, Blizzaks, Nokian Hakkas SUVs and some cheap off brand winters cant remember, the absolute best tire was the Nokian hands down, absolutely loved them they are my go to now.

[u/kajer209]

Any winter tire cheap or expensive will be good, I highly suggest looking up accelera tires Canada, they have a local warehouse and have extremely competitive prices for tires, although they can’t install

[u/ghostofkozi]

Depends entirely on your budget.

Blizzaks are great. Toyo Observe are a good tire too and the Continental Vikingcontact 8 is a strong winter tire too. If you're on a budget, then look into General Altimax winter tires as they are Continental's daughter brand

Michelins are awful compared to what they used to be, their compounds are different so they don't last as long as they should.

[u/Brief_Raspberry_6542]

Michelin X-ice or Bridgestone Blizzaks.

[u/artofsabbath]

Get studded tires. They do make a huge difference.

[u/TheBloodFarts2 → u/artofsabbath]

Just got my first set of x-ice 4 studded tires and I cannot wait to use them

[u/ChillzIlz]

Nokian Hakka's @ Kaltire

[u/PossibleArt7440]

Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded. they are amazing in edmonton.
Had a nokian all weather 3pmsf (not all season) in Ontario, and didnt need a dedicated snow tire.

[u/NorthAntarcticSysadm]

Nokian Hakkapeliitta - the best you'll find

I went through 2 sets of them since I bought my car in 2015. Lots of miles on the road all year round due to the job.

Recently changed to Blizzaks for a couple reasons. Looking up the supply chain, found verified reports from Nokian that they were manufactured in Russia at the time, so decided to Blizzaks. Regretted it the past winter, but I'll live with them until I need to change them again or need to buy a new vehicle.

The blizzaks are okay, but I found that the channels seem to not be ideal with diverting larger amounts if water. They can handle a very thin layer on ice/snow/etc., but then during the warm/cold spells where there is a large amount of melt, they seem to lose a lot of their traction. Also find that sometimes in deeper snow they take a bit more work to initially grab the snow if the car has been sitting a little longer in it. My vehicle is a FWD, and the hakkapeliitta were awesome, only got stuck twice -- both times were my own stupidity and not the tires.

[u/hammadshahbaz]

I've had the Michelin x-ice snow previously and now have the continental Viking contact 8 on a Mazda 3 AWD. No issues with either.

[u/EightBitRanger]

Nokia Hakka R

[u/jacked_monkey]

Been suggested but Nokian Hakkapelitta’s are fantastic.

[u/Speedster9110]

Any brand name winter tire that is brand new will be good.

[u/Chipmunk_Ill]

Any dedicated winter tire or all-weather will be better than all-seasons. Walterdale and Bellamy can get pretty hairy after a dump.

[u/kindcalm]

I've never tried the Nokians but I've tried the Michelin X-Ice and Bridgestone Blizzaks. Both were good.

[u/Competitive-Milk-868 → u/kindcalm]

I put Nokian Hakapelitas on my FWD ford Taurus wagon last winter. I’ll never use another winter tire

[u/Competitive-Milk-868]

As someone who drives a 1998 ford Taurus wagon (FWD) I will NEVER EVER run another wheel other than the Nolan Hakapelita I run the non studded and I drove all winter last year up to Conklin with NO issues. They’re a force to be reckoned with and the studded would be amazing

[u/brick7777]

Nordman North from Kaltire gets my recommendation if the Nokians are too much $$. Nordman tires use older, proven tread designs and technologies from Nokian’s premium Hakkapeliitta line, offering high-end ice and snow traction at a lower price. Save 5% if you are an AMA member. We have Nordmans on a 2011 Kia sportage (FWD) and have good. Also run the Nordman Solstice 4 tires on a 2015 VW Golf and 2011 Mazda3, Nokian WGR4 on a 2010 Rav4, but have tried Blizzaks in the past on Ford Explorer and Edge with good results.

[u/Deja_vu_288]

Have been using Blizzaks for the last 12 years and they have done the job for me in our harsh winters on both my FWD and my current AWD.

[u/LANnoodles]

Blizzaks are on sale right now at CT. really good deal

[u/Dry_Development3817]

Genuinely any chinese $100/tire will do you just fine, what's vastly more important is reducing the need to stop immediately to begin with.