Winter Driving

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

Costco had these tires on sale for a decent price, so I bought them based on this site's reviews. Up here in Manitoba we have snow & ice on the roads 5-6 months of the year & temperatures that can get as low as -40F. I do a lot of highway driving to get to work, but I live in the city. These tires exceeded my expectations for both city & highway driving. No word of a lie, they pretty much handled like an a/s tire in the summer. The only downside was the noise level...when driving on a road with no ice or snow they hummed like a set of mudders on a truck. This is my first set of winter tires, but I was very impressed & will never again sport a/s tires in the winter.

Initial Review, 94,000 Miles on Tires
April 27, 2013

When I got the Michelin Harmony tires in 2003, I was replacing some Goodyears that I thought were OK. The wonderful change in quality was amazing. Man, were the Michelins quiet and quick. I've just turned 94,000 miles on them (two were replaced shortly after I got them when I ran over somebody's bumper after they had a wreck). They have stayed perfectly in balance. I live in the mountains of Colorado and worked as a surgeon so my tires had to grip in winter conditions without fail. Scoobie Doo the Subaru has never been stuck or failed to get me home to 8,000 feet although we did slide a couple of times slowing and turning on glare ice. I'm ordering another set today. They may last longer than I do!

Initial Review, 35,000 Miles on Tires
March 14, 2013

These tires replaced the OEM Bridgestones at 50K. They alternate with snow tires in winter (as we live in the UP of Michigan) so have no real experience with significant snow driving. They performed well the first couple of years, but last year (the 3rd on) the noise level increased significantly. They may make it through one more summer driving season, but will have to be replaced then. I will probably consider other brands when looking next time, although the performance per dollar was probably above average and the tread looks quite attractive/agressive.

Initial Review, 12,500 Miles on Tires
April 10, 2013

This was my second winter with the arctics on my tdi sportwagon. The tires performed flawlessly all winter, for the price you pay you get more for your money than other more expensive tires. If you live in the snowbelt area and do not run seperate winter wheels and tires your only kidding yourself for foul weather performance! I have been running seperate winter/ summer wheel and tire packages from the tire rack since the late 80's! Great people selling great products at reasonable prices!

Initial Review, 5,000 Miles on Tires
April 07, 2013

I have always prefered a Michelin tire, and have had great service from them over the years. The prices are high, and I have wondered if part of that is paying for the name? A few years ago, we purchased a new truck with General tires on it, and the tires performed flawlessly. In fact those 11 year-old Generals were are currently on a farm trailer, and show no signs of dry rot, or other problems. After much thought, I decided to give these Generals a try. These tires are very quiet and smooth. They have great resistance to hydroplaning, which is a feature that I like a lot. The tires are not great in the snow, but than a V-8 powered RWD car is not so great in the snow either. I have a designated AWD winter vehicle, so winter traction does not matter to me. We live in the mountains with lots of winding roads, and tires get punished around here. I have the car set up with a stiff aftermarket suspension, so it rides harsh and corners like a sports car. The car no longer handles like a traditional Crown Victoria. Infact this car has seen an AutoCross track more then once... The OE tires where very soft and the car had a tendency to oversteer with them on it. These tires take the curves very well. So far they have passed the test. I plan to purchase three more sets, one for my wife's Crown Vic, and two sets for our two vintage Pontiac Trans AM show cars. For the price, nothing else compares. General seems to have hit the mark!

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
March 24, 2013

I bought these tires for their price and decent reviews. It is a great tire in the winter and after 20,000 miles the tread has been great for this past snowy winter in Mpls. I think my mpg has reduced a little compared to the OE Goodyear RS-As, but the winter traction has been impressive as well as the amount of tread still left after 20k miles. For a similar vehicle (hatchback, small SUV, etc.) I would purchase again.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 06, 2013

These converted our AWD Montego to a winter half track. Studded these tires on their own wheels and they actually out performed the Blizzaks on our other car, for a lot less cost. They have the usual studded winter tire squirm and noise, but not as bad as others were before. But after getting a 3 foot blizzard and many other snow storms, these have proven themselves. And on ice? You can't beat studded tires in my opinion. Took Tire Rack's advice and went down an inch in wheel and tire size, but the taller sidewall gives us the same effective ground clearance, which is valuable in deeper snow. And that taller sidewall is more forgiving on Maine's frost heaved, potholed roads.

Our new Michelin hydro all seasons were downright dangerous in snow the previous winter, so glad we got them off for winter!

Initial Review, 25,000 Miles on Tires
April 26, 2013

Overall, a pretty solid tire. I put about 25,000 miles on this set, regularly rotated, and they did me proud. I live in Ohio, so snow is an inevitability, but it's not frequent enough to need dedicated winter tires in my opinion. So a good set of winter-capable all-seasons is a must, and I think these meet that requirement. Rain traction is also excellent, even if you hit a huge patch of water, these tires would shed it near instantly. Cornering is a bit mushy, the sidewalls aren't very stiff, but I never noticed terribly due to how nimble my Mazda 3 was.

Overall I would recommend this tire to anybody who has an average driving style, but if you're aggressive, you will hate the mushiness through the corners.

Initial Review, 35,000 Miles on Tires
March 24, 2013

have a 2000 F150 7700(same as light duty F250) It's lifted 11" with cut out fenders and sees it's fair share of off-roading. We have hot dry desert climate in summer w/ cold icey n snowy winters here. I travel 264 miles each way every other week to go home from work. Over there its a mountain pass usually snow covered 4-5 months and heavy rains at home. I truely get the best/worst of all driving. These tires aren't pretty but siped they are great! 35,000 miles and still holding strong for probably a third year and totaling 60-75K miles. Now if they would just make larger tires!! hint hint ;)

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 16, 2013

Used All Season tires that came with the car for two winters. All season are good but using them after my third winter didn't give me much traction so purchased 4 of the LM-25 RFT. Made a big difference. Dealing with Tire Rack was great! Very professional and the Rep named tanner was very helpful in every detail. Tires were delivered in less than 2 days.
Expectional tire and company to do business with!

Initial Review, 2,500 Miles on Tires
April 23, 2013

as somone who drives in the snow a lot, i can not say that these tires work well in the winter. they are good in dry and wet conditions, but when it gets cold the tires have to warm up before they grip, so the first few turns in the morning are like riding on plastic. do yourself a favor, and get separate summer and winter tires if it snows at least a foot a year in your area.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
April 11, 2013

These tires replaced the OE Dunlop run-flats that were on the '08 TT Roadster when we bought it. What a difference, the ride is much less harsh, traction is much better, and spirited driving is fun again. The control at highway speeds in heavy rain is exceptional due to the directional tread pattern. Due to the fact that I change to my other wheel/snow tires for the winter I can not comment on driving on snow and ice. Tread ware is very good after 15,000+ miles. When I bought these tires I had them sent to KO Tire in Elk Grove Village, IL for installation. They did an exceptional job and were very friendly and informative when I asked questions. These were both a winning experience.
Thanks Tire Rack & KO Tire !!

Initial Review, 130 Miles on Tires
April 22, 2013

I used these April 21, 2013 at a Vancouver, British Columbia autocross event. The weather ranged from sunny to cloudy, damp to rain, and the tires stuck like glue in all of it. I was expecting them to not do great in wet conditions, but as long there is no standing water/puddles, the tires are great. They do hydroplane above 90 km/h in standing water, but I've had slightly worn all seasons that performed worse. There is a lot of tire noise at speeds below 50 km/h, but it gets less noticeable at higher speeds. The ride quality is also not great, but high noise and low ride quality is expected in a tire with capabilities as high as this one. The tread wear from autocross appears to be better than the Kumho Ecsta 4x all-seasons I used in very wet winter autocross events. I highly recommend these tires for anyone looking for a new autocross tire.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
March 17, 2013

I put these winter tires on the car 2 winters ago, they have about 15,000 miles on them and barely show any treadwear.. they are quieter than the Kumo summer tires that are on the summer rims.. I have been using winter tires on 6 different vehicles over the last 20 years, and these are the best I have ever used. Great traction on Snow, packed snow, and ice. they just seem to grip everything. I put a set on our other car this winter as well, and the Toyata Echo has never been so stable in the winter driving.. And we live on a road that sometimes doesn't get plowed for 24-36 hrs after a storm. WE've had to drive through 6-10 inches of snow to get out several time this winter. AWSOME...Tim

Initial Review, 31 Miles on Tires
December 14, 2012

Just bought a set of MD10 (17” alloy wheels) and Bridgestone WS70 tyres (balance & mounted with sensors) from www.tirerack.com and saved over $1300.00 Canadian Dollars compared to buying them directly from the Dealership. I got the alloy wheels and tyres in 4 days from the United States. Great service, as well as fast and efficient. I got Lexus of Calgary to mount them onto my Lexus CT200H 2012. These tyres are like Velcro to ice and snow. I live in the South West of Calgary, which is very hilly, like Bow and Sarcee Trail. These Bridgestone WS70’s perform very well indeed and I have great confidence in their hill start, accelerating, cornering and most importantly stopping. I have over 24 years of driving experience from Europe, as well as here in Canada and I must say that these Bridgestone WS70 tyres, perform very well indeed. I would never dream of driving in winter without them.

Initial Review, 6,200 Miles on Tires
April 11, 2013

The Firestone Winter Force tires replaced the factory original Michelin LTS AT2 tires which were very good hiway tires but were terrible snow tires.

The Winter Forces were easy to balance, give almost no road noise, and drive down the hiway with no squirme with or w/o pulling a trler. Excellant traction in hiway snow or when pulling through deep snow on non-plowed gravel roads.

Two downsides with the Wimter Forces: lost of about 1 MPG, and they p/u hold sall rocks like crazy till about 55 MPH when they start poping into the wheel wells.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
April 25, 2013

We had a very dry winter in Denver until April. I was quite pleased with this tire on dry pavement. It has very good traction for a winter tire and is amazingly quiet. I finally got to see it perform on the snow, and it met all expections. Easily the best snow tire i have ever driven. And the price is excellent, too.