Snow Tires???

ObiHann · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:18 am

I live in atlantic canada, and though we don't historically get the worst weather around, we get it pretty bad. I am about to go and order the all-terrain tires by bf-goodrich, which seem to have the general status of a very good all around tire. This being said, I want some first hand opinions on how good they actually are for the winter. If I don't get these tires, I will end up getting the x-ice tires. These will be of course a snow tire only, but I know these will be a great tire. I know that the at's are not going to compare to the x-ice as far as stopping on black ice, but how bad are they? Also, if I get the x-ice, am I going to be forced to stay on the highway, and never go out and play in the snow? What if I wanted to turn in a trail that is lets say, partly snow covered, partly dirt/gravel, and some mud/water? Would I be completly screwed with the x-ice? Same question, if I'm on the highway and a transport truck hits black ice, and starts to loose control, if I have at tires on, and I need to stop NOW... what are my chances?

daspes · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2008 2:05 pm

Moved to the correct forum.

toknight · **Joined:** Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:20 pm **Posts:** 12

Although I havent used BFG AT's on the libby I did use them on my F350. They are unstopable in the snow, found they worked great, and as long as you are getting the KO version of the tire they are okay on ice, stay away from non KO's. I believe that in the US theses tires have the sever winter designation, but not in Canada, the last I looked the only AT with that designation in Canada that fits the Libby is the Goodyear.

We have hankooks winter tires on the Libby and they are good in the snow you find on the street and great on ice, they dont have that unstopable feeling in snow (yes I have been stuck in situations where my AT equiped 4x4 van was able to pull it out) So it depends on where you find yourself the most, stuck in deep snow or sliding on ice. Hope this helps.

Trevor

WolverineFW · **Posted:** Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:45 pm

Our company truck, Chevy 2500HD, had BFG AT KO's put on it last fall. I drove it through one nasty snowstorm up in Northern BC and my co-worker drove it through a blizzard in Manning Park.

They handle really well in the snow in my opinion. Don't recall hitting ice, but the winter tires will probably take them in that respect anyway. I am pretty sure they are severe snow rated in Canada as the one my company purchased have the symbol on the sidewall. I'd be surprised if they would be allowed to sell them up here like that if it wasn't true.

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

I've never used the BFG AT's but I have a set of x-ice on my Liberty and my g/f honda civic. Neither of us are impressed with the on ice performance. 4x4 helps alot, but these tires just don't compare to studded winters of almost any make. I had the Canadian tire blizzak knock-offs on my samuria and my brother has them on his cherokee. The knock-offs were cheaper and perform considerably better on ice. Although living in Atlantic Canada you may not see the same amount of snow and ice we have here in northern BC.

On a positive note the x-ice has a 160K km tread wear warranty and was fantastic in the snow. I did some late season deer hunting last year and had pushed the liberty through 16-18" of soft pack snow with no problem at all. Every time I thought I would get stuck, they dug in and pushed me through so I have mixed feelings about them. But because we tend to get a lot of snow and ice, I'm going to go back to studs on my next set.

Liberator · **Joined:** Sun Jul 24, 2005 3:42 am **Posts:** 397

Studded snows will outperform winter tires x2 which will outperform all season x2 on icey and snowy conditions: Check out the CBC snow tire test comparison. At least some of your tax money goes to good news and consumer reporting

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/file ... tests.html

http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/file ... index.html

I think Quebec just legislated mandatory winter tires even for rental cars.

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/get_a_grip/

The econo studded tire will outperform the top of the line snow tire ie. Mich Lattitude X Ice which still outdo the best all season tire.

Topan · **Posted:** Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:05 am

we got plenty of bad weather here in the Alpes. And i need winter tires that perform well on: dry highway, curvey mountain roads, wet snow and ice as well.
I had last year 4 WinterContact from Intercontinental, they ranked best snow tires for SUV from the Swiss Touring Club. I found them good on wet and cold road, but wih real lack of grip in deep snow, forgot about it in the mud.
I will put Pirelli Ice&Snow this winter. I had them shortly too (factory deffect and the dealer gave me the WinterContact) and i found them amazing. Very silent, stable on highways, and strong grip in deep snow. Plus they look great !
Am ordering 4 of them in a few weeks for my new CRD !!
A good site to compare tires (and order them to the US) is tirerack.com
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=W&VT=LT

bobcat7 · **Posted:** Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:24 pm

Just picked up a set of Nokian Hakkappelitta 5 SUV studded for my '06 Liberty. This is my first winter with her. From my reading these are some of the best for our conditions here in Saskatoon. Previously had a '89 Cherokee with studded Goodyear Nordics and she went through a lot og snow and ice. Hope the Liberty performs as well with the Nokians. Have them mounted on rims but will not put them on the vehicle until November 1 or earlier if the snow flies.

InCommando · **Posted:** Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:31 pm

The Nokian Vatiiva A/T may be the best choice for severe weather duty with off-road ability. The Hakkappelitta is pretty much a street tire, IIRC.

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

Nope, the Hakks are winter tires with a fairly aggressive tread. I've used studded Hakks for two winters and they are fantabulous. I also advocate two sets of tires for winter-dwellers, one of which should be the best winter tire you can afford. Just no comparison, especially on ice.

Nailed2cross · **Posted:** Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:54 pm

check these tires out I know Hood has got these on his KJ
http://www.offroaders.com/tech/AT-MT-Ti ... der-MT.htm

Threeweight · **Joined:** Mon May 14, 2007 5:57 pm **Posts:** 679

No AT will ever match the snow traction of dedicated winter tires. If you want to get by with just one tire, BFG is a good choice, so are the Nokians.

I disagree with the comment on studded tires being better winter traction than non-studded. On ice, maybe. On snow, tires like Blizzaks or X-Ice do very well, and they don't hurt your traction on wet pavement like studs do. It's all a trade-off.

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

Threeweight wrote:

No AT will ever match the snow traction of dedicated winter tires.

Definitely agree with this.

Threeweight wrote:

I disagree with the comment on studded tires being better winter traction than non-studded. On ice, maybe. On snow, tires like Blizzaks or X-Ice do very well, and they don't hurt your traction on wet pavement like studs do. It's all a trade-off.

This depends on which tires you've studded. The Hakks I've been riding are great on wet roads and dry. They sound a bit scratchy on dry pavement but they handle well. They've also proven themselves in deep snow and on glare ice.

mikekj_cda · **Posted:** Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:39 pm

From what I could tell when I picked out my tires, was that the Wrangler Silent Armours where one of the few A/Ts that were actually snow rated w/ the "snowflake inside the mountain" symbol.

Khaki-KJ · **Posted:** Thu Nov 13, 2008 7:01 am

From the Tire Rack website;

NOTE: While most BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO tires meet the industry's severe snow service requirements (and are branded with the mountain/snowflake symbol), selected tires do not. Tires not meeting the industry's severe snow service requirements are identified on the Sizes & Pricing page, as well as the Specs page with a "Not Rated For Severe Snow" notation to the immediate right of each applicable tire size.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... n+T%2FA+KO

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/Spec.jsp? ... ageLocQty=

Snow Tires???

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