Blizzak Winter Tires

Initial Review, 2500 Miles on Tires
January 21, 2012

We finally had snow this winter in New Castle County, Delaware and I just got home from going to the grocery store in the snow. These tires are wonderful in the snow and slush - the car never slipped and I never spun the tires. They are much better in snow and slush than the OEM Continental's that came on the car. They are better than the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50's I had on my last car. The General Altimax Artic's are very impressive while driving in snow and slush - the the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50's were never this good.
The General Altimax Artic's are noisy on dry pavement because they are studded.

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
February 03, 2012

Best snow tires I ever had. Live in Syracuse NY, and these things eat the snow up. The only complaint I have is that there very loud when dry, or wet. I would recommend these to anyone and planning on buying another set when the time is needed. Not the most sporty tires, but defiantly great for the winter season.

Initial Review, 1000 Miles on Tires
February 04, 2012

This is my second set of these tires. I got approximately 20,000 miles of winter duty out of the first set. I put another 5,000 miles over the summer in anticipation of replacing them for the winter of 2011-2012. These don't have the snow traction of a Bridgestone WS-50, which were superb on my Saab 9-3. What the LM-25 gives up in snow traction is more than made up in non-snow driving. They are a great winter run-flat for E-90 series BMWs.

Initial Review, 3000 Miles on Tires
January 19, 2012

(Studs not used)-Driving feels a little "truck-like," but we love this tire. These inspire confidence on dry, wet, and frozen surfaces, in city commutes and interstate road trips. Previously we used Blizzak WS-60 tires, and were extremely happy with them. These are quieter, and perform comparably on winter surfaces. My wife recently found herself having to drive on a narrow, twisty, hilly, ice-covered highway with open water to the sides. She crawled along slowly, but was amazed how well the tires kept her stuck to the road. Her farmer brother was amazed by their performance on our CR-V, and wants some for his pickup!

Initial Review, 6000 Miles on Tires
January 20, 2012

Hello From Bremerton Washington, Where no one knows how to drive in the Snow. this Winter Has been Interesting to Say the Least... I have been Expecting Massive Snow Earlier in the Season, but it has been Dry, Very Dry, Untill about a week ago. 6 inches of snow later and Driving on these all over town in the snow and Ice, Up and Down Hills, arround corners... I have never had so much fun trying to find the limits of these Tires. Traction is Awesome in the snow and Ice. while going around corners on these tires it is comforting to know that YOU WILL NOT SLIDE. Now, as for Normal Highway driving while not in the Snow and Ice, These Tires are a little Noisey and I keep drifting from side to side in my Lane, Ride comfort is OK, they Hydroplane a bit so best to take the wet areas at slow speeds. As Snow tires... I LOVE THEM

Initial Review, 3000 Miles on Tires
January 20, 2012

These WS - 70 Blizzaks are awesome all around tires. The car feels like it is attached to the road. Ice and snow grip is tremendous. My family feels much safer in the winter driving conditions with these tires mounted. I would absolutely buy another set of these tires.They are well worth the investment.

Initial Review, 1000 Miles on Tires
January 11, 2012

I purchased these from Tire Rack about a month ago for Cleveland OH winters. My Lexus RX400h is average to below even though its Partial AWD. With these tires in place, it is a VERY noticeable difference in performance. These tires are outstanding. Seriously, look no further. Absolutely fantastic, such a difference compared to my all seasons that were on there. As a plus Tire Rack is a great company, making it super easy to do all this online.

Initial Review, 2000 Miles on Tires
January 21, 2012

Living in Cleveland, and driving a rear wheel drive vehicle (BMW 750Li), I wanted a tire that would be quite on the highway when dry, comfortably cruise at 80 mph, but handle the ice and sudden lake effect snow that the area can dish out. I have had several sets winter tires over the pst 15 years (original Blizzak's, Michelin Ice and Dunlop SP3 Winter Sport) and all I can say is they all keep getting better. Dunlop 3D's have to date met my expectations/needs perfectly. No way I could run my 19's here in the winter without being in a ditch, but with 17's for winter I have the confidence to go anywhere anytime, no matter the weather and they provide a bit of extra sidewall to handle everpresent and multiplying Cleveland potholes, so ride/handling is well balanced. No regrets on Tire Rack's tire/wheel combo (easy on/off for spring/winter). This is my 8th set of tires/wheels from TR. They continue to deliver. And if you are in Cleveland and need tires mounted the team at Whhite Wheel on Lorain Ave. is the best. They have been doing my tire work for 10 years on various luxry/sport cars and their attention to detail and service is tops. Hunter Road Force balancing on any tires is a must these days an they do it right.

Initial Review, 35000 Miles on Tires
January 26, 2012

I use these tires mostly for work duty with my F150. Sales guy convinced me to get the heavier ply due to all the trailer pulling I do (~40% of the miles). I drive everything from highway to back roads and plenty of offroad as well. (Seismic lines, farm fields, frozen ATV trails, etc). Tires have been quite impressive up until for the first 25 thousand miles or so. After that, the really soft grippy compound is worn and the tire is more like and all season with more ice snipes. Tires have been very tough, no flats even though I regularly pull sticks and branches out of my frame, bumpers, grill, etc. They are definitely a heavier tire and take a little more steering and power to move but well worth the trade off for heavy duty use. I will likely get at least 50k miles out of the set but if extreme winter performance is required I would have replaced around 30k miles.

So in summary, great HD tire, good wear, bit heavy. Worth the money IMO.

Initial Review, 10000 Miles on Tires
January 20, 2012

Another hellish winter storm here in Seattle area. We got snow on top of freezing rain on top of 6 inches of snow. These Blizzaks are amazing. I've been up and down numerous steep hills with barely any slippage and rarely the ABS would kick in. I was going up and down streets that only the bravest (or the most foolhardy) souls would venture without problems. I just went for a "survey" drive to check out the carnage... saw many cars, including many SUV, abandoned on the side of the road. These tires really prove the fact that tires are the only thing that makes any difference in this mess. AWD vehicles with all-seasons got nothing over my FWD minivan with Blizzaks.

Initial Review, 1350 Miles on Tires
December 24, 2008

I had originally wanted Blizzak WS50. Finding that model unavailable, and the replacement WS60 was rated similar to the Winterforce, I thought I'd save a few bucks and go with the Firestones. After a few months of use, including rain, snow and dry, I'd buy them all over again. I haven't had to use them in ice conditions, but we don't see a whole lot of that here-mostly just snow. I expected more road noise due to the tread design, but it's completely tolerable and I don't see how they could be quieter considering the intended purpose. It's just a light hum, honestly I've had more road noise with Michelin Symetry (an all season tire). The tread depth is impressive, we should get years of winter use from these.



The dry traction is fine, almost as good as the Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus that we use in summer, but the snow traction has really transformed the car. With these tires and ESC, we're totally confident in any weather. The deep (over 6") snow traction is really pretty good. I've conducted 6 panic stops tests from over 50 MPH in 5-7" of snow, each test ended without excitement, and in distances much shorter than I had expected. Stability Control has something to do with the directional control, and the ABS helps, but the stopping distance was probably 60-70% of what I would have expected with an all season tire.



Living in the country, we had considered buying an all-wheel drive car, but these tires have eliminated that thought. Winterforce inspire confidence and are well worth having, even using just 4 months of the year. I've never used a dedicated snow tire on any car before, but I'm sold on the idea now. If you think you need a new set of all season tires just to make it through the winter, seriously consider a second set for winter, it's apples and oranges.



Tirerack made it easy, tires/wheels/covers were delivered mounted, balanced and aired to correct pressure. I've ordered from Tirerack before, and will continue to do so in the future

Initial Review, 12000 Miles on Tires
January 26, 2012

This is my 3rd winter season with these tires -- about 12K miles on them now. I can drive my G8 GT (6.0L V8 RWD sedan) almost as spiritedly in the snow/ice with these tires as I like to drive with my summer tires in pleasant weather. These tires incredibly reduce my SE Michigan winter driving anxieties. Highly recommended!

Initial Review, 2000 Miles on Tires
October 18, 2010

I went with a dedicated winter tire since the stock Cross-Terrains, or basically anything in the OE size, just don't make it as a great winter tire. I bought these just in time for the big "Snowmageddon" in the Wash D.C. area in 2010, very glad I did.



These tires are simply incredible.



I have driven many, many miles in the snow, more than I care to think about. I have used chains, cables, whatever..these tires will put the biggest grin on your grill...promise.



Believe what others say, you will do in 2WD what others can't in 4WD..NO JOKE. I deliberatly went up a good 25-30 deg hill, in at least 12" of snow, stopped half way up, put back in 2WD, and it chugged up the hill no problem, barely any wheelspin. I went into a hard-packed neighborhood where the surface was glazed over..nearly ice to test the brakes. At about 20 MPH, I slammed the brakes and my coffee cup flipped forward out of the cup holder, it was in there pretty good, almost like summer tires on a wet road...unbelievable stopping power which is the biggest trait of a winter tire IMO...that alone will save you, others, and property damage.



I only have about 2K on them, tread looks very good, almost new. Here's the thing about this type of tire...the tread blocks are very soft, don't expect them to pull 1g of lateral force on an off-ramp, be realistic.



They will have more noise, this is normal.

They will have much higher treadwear, this is perfectly normal.

You must rotate them sooner to avoid rounding off the shoulders, don't fault the tire.



For a winter tire, they are very quiet, can hear them around 70 but again..it's a winter tire, this is normal.



Slightly squirmish on quick lane changes but this is normal, definately feel the difference.

With about 16" of snow, I was the only one out of my neighborhood aside from a neighbors very large silverado..and this is with about 9" of ground clearance on mine. I didn't need a running star

Initial Review, 3000 Miles on Tires
January 26, 2012

I've only had these tires on my car for about a month but I've had a chance to experience them in most all driving conditions already and I am very impressed. In the dry, after about the first 500 miles, I felt them to be about as responsive as a regular all-season tire. They aren't sloppy like Blizzaks in the twisties, and they were great in the snow storm we just had last week. I have just driven them from New York to Florida and they were silent and smooth at 90mph. I am not counting the days until I can put my summer tires back on like I used to when I had Blizzaks. I will say, however, that the Blizzaks did have the traction edge in deep snow while going up hill but these Pirellis are more well-rounded for the driving I do.

Initial Review, 1000 Miles on Tires
January 24, 2012

Winters are long and tough in most of Alaska. This year we have consistently had snow or ice on the roads and I have never felt safer, more sure footed or relaxed during winter driveing. Easy acceleration on ice, uphill climbs and deep snow. No sliding, skidding or noise from metal studs is a plus. Can't wait for the freeze/thaw cycle of spring.

Initial Review, 38000 Miles on Tires
January 20, 2012

These are the best tires I have ever owned, have tried Pirelli, Blizzak, and others, but for the Acura RL, these have been the best. Online to purchase a new set of Dunlop Winter Sport 3D...will never change for this car...Dunlop wins for this family!

Initial Review, 300 Miles on Tires
March 25, 2011

I had the Winterforce tire from Firestone on a dedicated set of rims. I had Blizzaks in the past, but couldn't pass the price up on the Winterforce tires. After 25k of use, I pulled them and replaced them with the Blizzak WS70's. Wow! Much, MUCH quieter and smoother. Traction on dry and wet roads is better. I haven't tested them in the snow; however, if they are like the ones I had in the past, they will be great.



The winterforce tires wore evenly and I believe I had another 15k left in them. They were just terribly loud and not smooth. Further wet and dry traction was not good.



Spring is about here, so the summer tires/rims go back on soon. I'll be anxious to try these out again next winter.