Prius Winter Tires - Atlantic NE

oops. tread depth is in 32nd, not 16ths.

 

Hmm...well the Defender is generally considered a cost-effective tire where the sacrifice in MPG is paid off in lengthy tire life. I think the Goodyear Assurance Confortred is in the same League. The Conti ProContact with EcoPlus is popular with users but shorter life. The new Conti TrueContact looks good but is new.

 

My philosophy regarding winter tires mirrors that for shoes: Sure, I can get around in the snow wearing sneakers, but I'll be much safer & more comfortable wearing boots when it's cold & snowy. Same thing applies for the car.

I ran Continental WinterContacts for three seasons and am going into my second season of Yokohama IG20s. Been happy with both and will probably give the Hakkapeliitta R2s a go next time.

 

Agree 100%. I also was positive I could get along just fine for many years until I actually put snow tires on a car and saw what a remarkable difference it made.

 

Agreed, but you left out the part that we have to share the road with a brand new crop of 17yo drivers every winter who have never experienced snow/ice/slush yet and do things that we seasoned drivers wouldn't. Keeping that in mind... I'll take every advantage real winter tires offer over all season tires.


From The Tire Rack... Tire Test Results- All Season vs. Winter:

"The braking comparison measured the tires' ability to provide traction during an ABS-assisted panic stop in a straight line. We drove the two cars side-by-side at a speed of 30 mph, gave both drivers a braking signal at the prescribed mark and compared the distances it took them to come to a complete stop.
The winter tire equipped car stopped in a distance of about 59 feet, while the all-season tire equipped car took an additional two car lengths, or about 30 more feet. A 30-foot difference in stopping distance during a panic stop at 30 mph on a snow-packed road is more than enough to determine whether it's a near miss or an accident!

The cornering comparison measured the tires' ability to provide traction during a 90-degree left-hand corner. We drove the two cars nose-to-tail beginning at 15 mph and increased the speeds on successive runs.
When we attempted to drive through the corner at 25 mph, only the winter tire equipped car was able to complete it, while the all-season tire equipped car slid off the road. Even though the all-season equipped car was equipped with Dynamic Stability Control, the DSC could not overcome the laws of physics when the tires' traction limit was exceeded."

 

Brand new all seasons can be decent in snow. When they're half worn traction can deteriorate fast. Depends on the tread pattern, but in my experience the all seasons had shallow cross sipes that wore off, and there was nothing left to grab. Couple that with the rubber formulation, not so good.

 

So true...apparently the new Continental TrueContacts have wear bars to say when the snow grip is gone.

 

My brother swears that the X-Ice 3 is all he will buy for winter after buying one for his Prius C. He will not look at anything else. He likes the snow performance and the performance one the road when it's -10F here. We had alot of those days here last year in Milwaukee.

 

Why wait? It's not like buying them next year vs. this year is going to save you much of anything in the long run - you'll just wear out your current set of tires that much faster, and in fact it may end up costing you more in the long run if you have one less season to amortize the cost of the wheels.

 

...especially considering Poor Richard Almanac's snowy winter forecast...but I am wondering where the snow version of the "Mason Dixon Line" runs. I do recall putting studs on my FORD's snow tires when I was a young man in the Philly region. But since then the advent of front wheel drive and warmer climate has I think made snow tires less popular south of NY...do not know.

 

One thing to keep in mind with the Prius in particular is it's traction control which can be intrusive (less so on the Gen3 than the Gen2). The Prius will NOT let you spin tires much at all, it will just cut power. So if you are trying to make due with a set of low-tread depth, low rolling resistance "all seasons" then be prepared to meet that TC interference.

With good grip from good winter tires, I barely see the TC light, even in the worst of storms. Tire spin is this car's enemy apparently, so do what you need to to maximize grip between the tire and the road surface to minimize that.

 

Seems like the Nokian WG3 might be a good choice for Philly/South Jersey....answering my own question, the Mason Dixon line for winter tires seems to be, well, the acutal Mason Dixon lines. I see no Nokian dealers south of PA/NJ but plenty in Philly/South Jersey area.

 

The Nokians are made in Finland, which is maybe a tip-off to their mindset. In my experience with WRG2 (which seems to me to be the very similar precursor) is somewhere between a snow tire and an all-season. I can't think of a better way to describe it. It'll give decent snow traction, but that starts to suffer when tread depth decreases. It's got a bit of a "song" at highway speeds, and a truck-like feel. It's rolling resistance is not in the same league as a LRR all season, and I suspect (haven't done it) if you run them through hot summers the tread is going to wear faster than an all-season.

I've got a set of WRG2 in the garage, with around 6/32" remaining tread depth. My son drove them in the BC interior last winter, and when they got back was not impressed, we're swapping them out for X-Ice3 in a few weeks.

 

I agree.

 

Actually the Nokian tires are a Finland owned company and the tires are made in Russia. H

 

...oops maybe Nokian is politically incorrect choice now

 

If you put politics aside Nokian R2 is one of the best (in top 3 maybe?) winter tyres you can buy. It does well in tyre tests and usually it has the lowest rolling resistance too. Some are made in their finnish factory in a city named Nokia

 

Could I ask where you got that price quote as I need the same deal. Thanks.