Winter Tire Recommendations

That's why I just cannot understand the fascination with 16, 17, or 18 wheels. Not all of us spend our days zooming around a racetrack, we drive in the real world of washboardy gravel roads, potholes, etc

 

Thanks for the info, judgeless. I just bought a used 2010 Prius and also live in the Cleveland area and would like to get snow tires. Glad to hear that I don't necessarily need to get the sensors. Where did u buy yours? I saw yours on tirerack for $90/each.

 

Who tinted your windows? Looks great!

 

I don't know If you can get these in the US, but I found that GoodYear ultra grip ice + studless tires are great for the Prius. I've used them on both the old Gen II and now my new Gen III with great results. My old Gen II couldn't get going moving even on flat surfaces before the VSC kicked in, but after changing to GoodYear the grip was greatly improved. Even for Norwegian winter roads.

 

Just ordered 4 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5! Can't wait for the 1st storm to try them out.

 

There is a big difference in winter tire availability between the EU market - especially the Scandinavian market - and North America

I was very surprised that Nokian was finally offering their factory studded tires here. On my FJ I never have to use four wheel drive on icy roads, the tires work that well



In this photo, yes the earlier road traffic really did make the surface that icy. One could easily have strapped on skates and skated down the road

 

Yep, I've heard alot of praise for the Nokian's here aswell. I have'nt tried them myself, though. I can see from your pic's that studs is the way to go in your area, that looked very icy indeed! Is it like this for the most part during the winter months?

 

Yes, it can be. Depends on how quickly the temperature cools off after a major snow event. Road salt stops working in temps colder than -25 C

The terrain here is prairie which means a lot of open flat areas. When the wind blows one can expect treacherous white out conditions and drifitng snow.

In open areas you can be driving along on bare pavement then hit a patch of ice thanks to the drifitng snow

Another scenario is city driving at intersections. Most appear to remain icy for weeks at a time when it gets cold enough

An aggressive winter tire will have resonance on dry roads. The Nokians on my FJ Cruiser appear to have that at around 60 km/h. The factory studs are cushioned, I only hear them at parking lot speeds

What I like about the factory studded Nokians is that they combine the soft winter tire tread compound of a good studless winter tire with the added ice traction of studs

Whenever they test studded tires here, for some reason they test the Firestone WinterForce, which is an ancient design from the 1970's. Oddly enough they don't test the new factory studded tires

 

fwiw, I've run Michelin Arctic Alpins, Cooper Weathermasters (twice), Firestone Winterforce, Gislaved, and Nokian Haka2's. Each had very minor pros and cons but honestly I didn't find much of a real difference between any of them including the Hakka's which cost twice what the others costs. The more aggressive treaded ones (winterforce and weathermaster) were louder on dry roads but better in deep snow. The smoother treaded ones (Alpins and Hakka's) were quieter on dry roads but spun more in deep snow.

These were on a variety of front wheel drive and rear wheel drive cars.

I had my dealer put snow tires on my new Prius before I took delivery. I chose Hankook iPikes this time. I've read some very good, 1st hand reviews of them.

We get a lot of snow around here and my little neighborhood often doesn't get plowed until late in the day after a storm. I've read some horror stories about how intrusive and momentum-killing the Prius's traction control can be in slippery, uphill situations and I figured this would help mitigate that while still avoiding studs which I hate on dry, cold pavement (which is mostly what you drive in in winter after the roads are cleared.

I'll be sure to post up after our first storm. :thumb:

 

My new Michelin X-Ice snow tires being put on last week:



They did great in the blizzard today that's blowing through the midwest and even went through the MetroDome roof!

 

Big thumbs up for the Hankook iPikes. Did about 60 miles on snow covered roads today, very cold and icy, and they worked GREAT.

 

That is the exact combo I have. Those rims look good on the car.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-winter-tire-recommendations.html#post1177570

 

I got them at tirerack.com and had them shipped to my mechanic. Btw, who did your tinting here in NE Ohio? Looks great. Roughly how much does it cost?

 

Mine came from Tirerack also. I picked them up Oct 09.

I forgot the name of the place. It was in Elyira OH and I paid $99 for the entire car.

 

Where did you buy the rims? What brand?

 

Tirerack.com



The rims are the Elbrus I05 for $72/ea: Elbrus I05 Silver Machined w/Ice Coating

 

Bumped into this thread while looking for something else.

I had Michelin X-Ice XI2's this past winter (just got them off this weekend), and agree they were great. Drove to the states to buy them for 1/2 price (they were on sale on tirerack for $80 each) then mounted them on the OEM 15" rims.

I want to report the MPG hit was less than expected. I got about 0.2L/100km (about 2MPG) reduction with the Michelin's. In return the grip was excellent (the thin OEM tires were dangerous in the snow). I inflated the tires to 35psi. Handling was excellent too (surprising for a winter tire).

 

Looking forward to getting my heavy, chunky, Hankook iPike's off soon. Had the car delivered with them when we bought it in December and they have been nothing short of EXCELLENT during this very snowy winter.

But I'd like to up those MPG and I expect the LLR tires will make a big difference. Giving it another 2 weeks I think.