Arguably: The Best Snow Tire

Depends on conditions, what your priorities are?

Here on the wet coast, the majority of winter is just wet/rainy roads. When it clears up temps drop and you can get black ice. Once in a while the stars align and there's a dump of snow, and after a few days, or weeks, a slushy mess.

For all of that, especially with bare/wet roads being the majority case, I like the Michelin X-Ice. It's tread is a little less aggressive, smoother, and it tracks almost like an all-season.

 

I recently installed General Altimax Arctic 12 tires on our c. I also have the previous version of this tire in service on my Subaru. I think they're quite good relative to the Bridgestones, which I've known and loved on other cars in the past.

We lost 3-4MPG to this tire but it's a welcome exchange, the difference in traction is considerable vs. the factory Goodyears.

 

If you have a conversation about snow tires you need to be talking about Nokian Hakkapelitta R2. These are hands down the best tires. No one buys snow tires because they want to be the 4th safest in bad road conditions. You buy them because you need to get where you are going safely. So get the best.
Winter-Tire Test: Six Top Brands Tested, Compared – Feature – Car and Driver

 

In Richmond, VA you can have any tire you want in the winter, but in New England I like to use Nokian WR all weather tires. These things are amazing in the winter AND the summer and last for at least 40K miles on New England roads.

 

Yeah I'm from NH and that's what everyone recommends. Nokian specializes in winter tires.

 

I have used Nokian WR series (all weather) for many years, at least 10 and I can tell you, they work great all year long. Sometimes actual snow tires are needed, but for normal driving on New England roads WR's work great and do not need to be changed out in the summer. They also have decent thread life, but they do cost around $130 each. But, as I said, you don't need "summer" tires, which makes up for the cost.

 

Epiphany time: there never is, nor will be, a "best" tire. Some might, for example, grip like glue in snow, but wear crazy fast on bare roads, or be mediocre on ice. There's always trade-offs.

You have to weigh it all, and the price. And hey: availability. Also: you win some, lose some, so many variables.

 

The OP sounded like a shameless advertising, especially seeing as how the OP is from southern Virginia, which has little to no winter weather.

 

Having separate wheel/tire assemblies (take-offs) for snow/winter use works best for most of us South of the Northern border...but everyone has to decide "their" own needs/wants.

 

Yeah that's why I linked actual testing data. Price should not even be a consideration in my opinion. If you go cheap you might end up in a ditch. All for saving a few bucks.

Any snow tire that doesn't wear fast on bare roads is not going to do well in the snow/ice. Those are contradicting tread characteristics.

As for availability, online shopping with free shipping is all over the internet. That is a non-factor.
$120.98 - Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 195/65R-15 tires | Buy Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 tires at SimpleTire

 

All the other options, why do they not die on the vine, if there's only one "best" choice?

 

Tire selection is always based on compromise. If I am driving only on snow/ice all winter long, I will go with studded Hakka, but I need snow and ice grip only ~10 days out of 5 months of winter season. I need quiet and comfort on dry pavement rest of the time. I chose Xice for that.

 

I bought a set of X Ice tires for my 2011 Prius II, I used them on my 2015 Prius II and they are now (installed on rims purchased on Ebay as posted elsewhere on this forum) on my 2018 Prime.

I'm noticing that they are showing signs of wear and I regret having them installed on my new Prime, I should have replaced them this winter! I am ordering some new X ice - I found a set of 4 here:

4 New 195/65R15XL 95T Michelin X-Ice Xi3 195 65 15 Winter Snow Tires | eBay

with a rebate it's almost $300.00 for a set of 4. Around these parts (north of Boston MA) the x ice works well, If I was in snow country, I would want a more aggressive studable tire.

 

I swear by my hak r2s as well, but it should be noted that Nokian admitted to submitting special ringer tires for testing that performed better.

Nokian cheated on tire tests with custom-made ringers - Autoblog

 

I have decided on a new set of Michelin X Ice tires from Costco ~$330.00 installed and tire disposal etc. + no tax in NH (about 22 miles from here to Costco's only NH store) Yes, other tire choices may have their pluses, but Michelin tires are reasonable, and they got me around doing insurance inspections in the winter of 2015 (a very heavy snow & icy year with many unplowed/barely plowed tiny roads in the cities). The only time I had a problem was when the car got hung up.

I'm also very impressed with the performance of these - now - 8 year old tires (used on 3 different Prii)- something I haven't seen tested, and probably won't - I know that these tires have at least 40 K on them and they still have great stopping power in ice/ hard packed snow - I tested them safely.

 

Come on man, I thought you raced cars. You never heard the old adage: "if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying hard enough"?