Firestone Winter Tires

Initial Review, 4,000 Miles on Tires
February 05, 2013

I rely on these reviews for all my tire purchases, so I try to write up my recent experiences. I bought a set of Winterforces 11/12 for our WA mountain winter driving. We have a cabin at the end of a snowy, icy road (dirt in summer). The 'last mile,' our driveway, is a steep nasty hill, 800 feet long with a nice little hairpin in the middle. Lots of snow this year in Winthrop, WA where we are. These tires are doing great. Lock up the VTM-4, turn off the darned VSA, and let the tires go to work. Had to use chains once, but the bottom had fallen out of the driveway with 8" of new wet snow. Great too over the 'compact snow & ice' mountain passes at 65 mph. Totally fine around town too. If you need a good snow tire in the best value category, these are great candidates.. (Mine are not studded.)

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
January 27, 2013

TOYOTA PRIUS TIRES DO NOT SPIN!!! SO TRACTION IS A MUST.....
I LIVE IN MIDDLE OF STEEP HILL DIRT ROAD, AND GOOD WINTER TIRES ARE A MUST , OR
WE ARE TRAPPED.. OUR ROAD GETS VERY ICY,AND, WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY PROBLEMS YET, OR
HAD TO USE SAND/CINDERS TO GET UP HILL (1/4 MILE) I GIVE THEM 10 OUT OF 10

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
January 27, 2013

excellent tire. have had two sets on this car and currently on one other car with 4-5 months of winter driving each and would buy again. all tires purchased have had studs installed, so have to be aware of studs on spirited dry cornering otherwise a very good all condition snow tire.
Had a great recent experience with customer service rep Theresa when one brand new tire developed a slow leak due to stud puncture after less than 500 miles. replaced and shipped to non home location while traveling. Thanks Theresa!

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
January 25, 2013

The tire was very well priced, and tread wear is normal, but they are VERY loud. One tire blowed out on my wife as she drove on the interstate. Good in snow but would not buy any more due to the noise. I have a Jeep Wrangler with large BFG Mud terrain and are much quiter than my wifes cherokee with the winter force.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
January 12, 2013

My Silverado 2500HD Duramax has 210,000 miles on it. I have ran BFGoodrich rugged trail tires for the past 6 years. This is the first time I have purchased Firestone Transforce AT. My first impression was nice ride, but surprised at the lack of tire responsive turning/manuvering at highway speeds. I believe the sidewalls are softer than the old BFGoodrich tires. I will post again after we get through the winter

Initial Review, 9,000 Miles on Tires
January 13, 2013

This tire performs well in wet conditions, no concerns there. I've only managed to break traction on full acceleration in 1st or 2nd gear. I've never broke traction during corning or breaking. As far as cornering and pushing this tire from a street performance standpoint, I can only rate it as average as I don't drive my truck like a performance car. Off road is above average. Dry conditions is excellent and will get thru mild mud and go thru mild rocks without cutting sidewalls and no chunking of threads yet. Better than some of the firestone destination tires I've ran before. Does great in the snow thus far, however I expect the winter performance to degrade significantly as treadwear decreases due to the design of the tire. Rides well (considering I'm riding a ford p/u) and when new the tires were tolerable on noise. But within a few miles the noise has increased quite a bit, so much so that it is compariable with a mud tire. Threadwear has been good and I expect to get 50-60K based on experiences thus far. Overall, this is a good tire for those who need a balanced appilcation that can do highway and mild offroad, with good longivity, and for a fair price. I've had the best luck with BFG but they are very expensive now. The yoko's are a decent alternative if you're trying to save a few dollars.

Initial Review, 1,600 Miles on Tires
December 06, 2012

My 2008 Ford Escape came with Cross Terrains. I liked them and wanted to replace with them, but not at their current price. My dealer suggested these Firestones which matched all-season specs of OE, and at the low promotional price I couldn't pass it up. I've only got 1600 miles on them and no serious rain or any winter driving yet, but I like them. They are quieter than the OE tires - always a good thing (and the OE tires were quiet). They transfer a bit more road feel than I remember in the OE tires, but I'm going to chalk that up to being new so side walls are stiff. If it continues, well...it's an SUV not a sedan - I expect that to an extent. We have yet to get significant snow in the upper midwest so I can't rate that aspect, but I seriously want to. I enjoy driving in snow, yeah maybe weird, but I'm a kid at heart and I like to see what I can do (while being safe about it). However my limitation is the all-wheel drive, which I don't feel allows me to really see what the tires can do. My previous Mazda Tribute with push button 4x4 would have been the perfect test for these, but what can you do?

So far so good and if they continue to perform as they have I would most likely purchase again.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
January 14, 2013

I purchased these tires last winter and was astounded on their snow traction compared to the OEM Firestones. They are a good quiet (compared to OEM) ride but if you plan on pushing these cornering, find something else. They also suffer in rainy conditions. I have also put these on my daughters Subaru Legacy and they work well for this car also. They show minimal wear. For an all around commuter tire I am completely happy.

Initial Review, 800 Miles on Tires
September 26, 2010

I wouldn't normally post a review until I had put more miles on a set of tires, but thought I would in case there's anyone else out there like me not wanting to spend a fortune on tires but still wanting good handling. Frankly, Firestone would have been the last brand I would normally have bought due to my perception that the company has had too many quality problems, but I honestly don't know if that's accurate or not. At any rate, being in a low budget mode right now I went for these due to the incredible price, the outstanding reviews by owners on this site, and with winter coming up. The reviews are what convinced me. Living in middle Tennessee we don't get the serious snows like in other parts of the country, but last year we got several that were pretty heavy for our area and with some serious ice a couple of times. Nice to know reviewers rank these very high for that type driving in case we get some this year. The tread on these is very deep and aggressive, and look great on the truck in the blackwall. A little squirm when cornering but to be expected on a new tire with deep tread. Rain handling is awesome. They do have a little highway hum, to be expected with a winter tire, but I have a louder than stock exhaust so who cares? The ride quality is pretty good, and this truck has a pretty stiff suspension. They make them in an LT (light truck) 10-ply model, but I got the passenger rated ones since I don't haul much or tow anything. And if anyone is considering going one size wider than the stock 255-70/17's on a 2007 F-150, the 265-70/17's I bought fit fine and with plenty of clearance at the rear shocks and the front suspension arms, and a very minor amount taller. I'll come back and do a follow-up after more miles and more weather. (If you're going to order from these guys, check out Spencer at extension 690, a really professional guy . Got the order right and to me in two days.)

Initial Review, 50,000 Miles on Tires
January 13, 2013

I initially purchaced 2 tires for the rear after the wife made an unepected trip into the ditch with only a dusting of snow. The discount tires I had replaced the oem ones with were sub-par when it came to snow and wet traction. With just the 2 tires on the rear, the traction and handling of my Trailblazer improved dramtically. Needless to say I was impressed. Before the next winter I purchased 2 more. The handling and ride improved 10 fold. My SUV rode and drove better than it did new. I have about about 50-60K on these tires now and my Car has 162000 miles and I'm still impressed with these tires. I've lost a little bit of wet traction, but it's insignificant compared to my previous tires. The front tires have worn a little choppy, but I haven't rotated like I should. Plus, I've never done any drivetrain and suspension repairs either. I'm expecting I'll get another 15-20,000 on this set.

These are the best tires I've ever owned. Not a good job, Firestone, but a great job!

Initial Review, 30,000 Miles on Tires
December 06, 2012

I've had these tires on my car for 3 winters, I live in Canada so their REAL WINTERS! I am buying these tires again after this season because for the price they are great! only complaint is they are very noisy, but I'll take noisy/grippy tires over quiet/slippery ones any day.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
December 25, 2012

I've had these on my truck for about 8k now and couldn't be happier with them. Not going to lie, they are loud on the highway, specifically between 50 and 65, they seem to get a little quieter at higher speeds. These are about 4" larger than the factory tire size on my truck and they fit well. Just had our first snow (which I was waiting to write this review for) and they are great. Aside from studding them, or going with a true winter/ice tire, ice and light snow traction doesn't really get much better... On our farm, we had small drifts of about a foot in places sitting on top of loose grass - couldn't have asked for more traction with any tire...

On the road, they are civilized in the dry and wet specifically - never once had any of those "butt pucker" moments with these, whereas a set of the older BFG M/T's I have had several, different vehicles, but driven the same...

In the mud, they are amazing. A friends truck got stuck in a mud pit (with a m/t tire), pulled him out, I was able to pull into the mud, stop, back up, and continue... Sure, different truck, but these are so good at self cleaning that never did they feel bogged down...

I don't think its possible, but the only improvement possible, IMO, with these would be reduced noise. Relative to other M/T Tires, though, they are similar. I would recommend rotating these tires more often than most, I've been doing every 3-4k...

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles on Tires
December 07, 2012

I love these tires. This is my 2nd set. The first set I did not have the $ to buy summer tires so I ran them. I purchased a second set last fall because these tires are the only ones I found to make my car safe in winter. I'm a Montana gal and these tires are a life saver. It doesn't let you rate these tires for off hwy but they are very good out on the back roads too. I am amazed at the traction these tires get on wet ice. I was able to drive right up a winding dirt road that was a sheet of ice while every other rig was in the ditch right down the other side too! A little spinning out but just slight didn't lose speed. Yes those guys were looking at us like we were crazy from their stuck 4x4's! With regular hwy tires I was getting stuck in my flat paved driveway. The 1st set I ran this summer and they still have enough tread for a 3rd summer so far 40000 miles and that's off on dirt, gravel, rock and hwy driving. These tires make my car a tank! There is a little noise with these tires but not bad. Much quieter than the previous all seasons. Seems to do well in deep snow but as this is a car if you get in more than 8 inches you are really pushing snow. I am going to put these on my escape this year.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
December 07, 2012

With only 1000 miles so far, I haven't been able to try them in snow yet, but so far I think these are good, solid tires. Much more stable feeling than the uniroyal cross terrains I had before. They drive straight and with NO vibration what so ever even up to 80MPH (so far). Believe it or not, I had 100,000 miles on them when I replaced them and still would pass inspection but I wanted a more aggresive tread for this coming winter. I'm confident that these Destinations will really deliver in the snow. Yes, they are noticably louder that the Uniroyals. Hey, it's a Tacoma.....not a Mercedes. Turn the radio up a bit louder. The noise is NOT a LOT louder. VERY easy to get used to. I'm sure these will be awesome tires that will last a long, long time. You wont be dissapointed.

Initial Review, 14,000 Miles on Tires
December 11, 2012

I have 14k miles on these tires and there is plenty of tread left. These are dedicated snow tires so I wasn't expecting them to be anything special but I was actually surprised. I bought them because they were cheap and I needed a dedicated snow tire. Like most snow tires, I find the tires perform amazing when driving in below 40 degrees. They absorb bumps amazingly well, corner stability is solid, and snow traction is perfect. I even drove in a lake effect snow fall on a snow covered interstate going about 50 mph with no concern. The great tread life, solid performance and price make this tire an amazing bargain in my opinion. Probably would buy again in 2-3 years because that's how long I expect the tread to last (until the tirerack recommended 6/32 tread for winter tires).

Initial Review, 70,000 Miles on Tires
November 24, 2012

I had Michelin tires on my Elemet for 4 years, loved them but they stopped making that style. SO, I went looking 3 years ago for new winter type tires that I could keep on my Element all year round -I came to Tire Rack and we decided on the WINTERFORCE tires since they came so highly recommended. I live in Upstate NY, we get SNOW, ICE, SLEET and Seriously Slushy conditions. I have driven these tires for three years without changing them. They STILL have tread, just not enough for OUR winters..... But I LOVE these tires !!!!! I drive 35-40 miles each way to work on back country roads, many hilly areas. These tires hold the road, keep my Element steady and I feel safe. Yes, they are a bit noisy, but my Element isn't a vehicle for that kind of comfort!! It's a truck to me!!! I haul my horses feed and kids around for the farm, and we drive on dirt roads often. These tires I will recommend to anyone, and I have purchased a 4 tire set for my mothers minivan as a gift, she loves them as well. :) buy them!!! Thy are great!!!!