Which Snows and Why Poll?

[mswlogo]

I'm curious which snow tires folks are gonna run and if you feel like it tell us why.

I am a huge fan of Nokian snow tires. For the last 5 vehicles I've only had to buy ONE set per car.
And that includes a car that we ran up to 230K miles. Probably had 80K miles on the Nokian's (they were falling apart after 12 years but the tread was STILL good).

I've always been tempted to try Vredestein.

I am really concerned about road noise because the Model 3 is a bit sensitive to that and on our other cars the Nokian's were slightly noisier than summer tires but not bad at all. That might be different with the model 3.

I have never run a "Performance" snow. I have been buying the R2's.

I wish Tesla offered a better snow tire package for 18". The Sottozero 2 isn't the best ratings.
I think if it was a SottoZero 3 on the 18"'s I would just buy it from Tesla because it's quick, easy and cheap.

Any snow tire I listed I think will be perfectly fine. To me it's mostly a matter of how long they last and how quiet they ride.
And possibly how they affect range.

I know even the R2's are oddly enough a low rolling resistance tire.

 

[Snow Drift]

I just ordered Michelin X-Ice XI3 in 235/45-18 from TireRack ($70 rebate). I have them for my STI and they were great last winter.

TR didn’t have Pirelli Sottozero or most others in your poll in the stock size or acceptable narrower size with 98 load rating.

Nokian are overkill for MA. I lived in Boston for 7 years with Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D on my past WRXs, which are performance snow tires.

 

[Shizzrock]

Michelin Pilot Alpin because Michelin always.

 

[mswlogo]

I just ordered Michelin X-Ice XI3 in 235/45-18 from TireRack ($70 rebate). I have them for my STI and they were great last winter.

TR didn’t have Pirelli Sottozero or most others in your poll in the stock size or acceptable narrower size with 98 load rating.

Nokian are overkill for MA. I lived in Boston for 7 years with Dunlop SP Wintersport 3D on my past WRXs, which are performance snow tires.

I like Nokian's because I don't need to replace them every 3-4 seasons like most snow tires.
I just sold the VW CC with 7 seasons on them (92k on the car). They still look like new.

I also travel to NH every weekend.

 

[UtahIsRad]

I’m actually debating getting the Tesla 18” snows w/aeros as the price is reasonable w/wheels, and TPMS. I’ve just never used pirelli snow tires. Any experience here with them? I ran Dunlaps SP’s for a few winter, and they were great winter 1, dropped off quickly after that for me,so then I switched back to Blizzacks. I get a consistent 4 winters out of them in my Subies.

 

[Snow Drift]

Michelin Pilot Alpin because Michelin always.

I loved my old PA4s...the new 5s don't come in the right size for the M3 on TR :-(

I like Nokian's because I don't need to replace them every 3-4 seasons like most snow tires.
I just sold the VW CC with 7 seasons on them (92k on the car). They still look like new.

I also travel to NH every weekend.

That is a long life! My family had a place in Laconia on The Lake, so I'm used to that kind of snow also. You will be happy with Performance snows with high ratings.

I’m actually debating getting the Tesla 18” snows w/aeros as the price is reasonable w/wheels, and TPMS. I’ve just never used pirelli snow tires. Any experience here with them? I ran Dunlaps SP’s for a few winter, and they were great winter 1, dropped off quickly after that for me,so then I switched back to Blizzacks. I get a consistent 4 winters out of them in my Subies.

Subie guy here since 2004 (MY05, MY08, MY11 WRX + MY18 STI). I've run SPs, PA4s, X-ICE on WRX/STI and WS80 on Crosstrek...all great tires. The Winter Sottozero 3 has really good reviews, the Serie II, not as good. Check out TireRack.com for reviews.

 

[mswlogo]

That is a long life! My family had a place in Laconia on The Lake, so I'm used to that kind of snow also. You will be happy with Performance snows with high ratings.

Subie guy here since 2004 (MY05, MY08, MY11 WRX + MY18 STI). I've run SPs, PA4s, X-ICE on WRX/STI and WS80 on Crosstrek...all great tires. The Winter Sottozero 3 has really good reviews, the Serie II, not as good. Check out TireRack.com for reviews.

I agree on your take on Sottozero 2 vs 3.

We have a place on Newfound Lake (not far from Laconia)

BTW, MA Snow has been way worse than NH. It's just the way Nor Easter's hit New England. I must have shoveled 9ft of snow off my roof a couple seasons ago. NH has consistent snow. But the big storms can hit hard in MA. Especially last 5-10 years.

I forgot, I took a photo of my old Nokian R2's to sell the VW CC. Car had 93K miles, so there is roughly 30K miles on these Nokian snows. I think they were good for another 30K. Crazy.

I also goofed on the Poll. I saw Nokian WR G3/G4 being discussed on the forum and thought they were Nokian's version of a "Performance" Snow. Nokian classifies them as "All Seasons".

 

[1deepthink]

I’m actually debating getting the Tesla 18” snows w/aeros as the price is reasonable w/wheels, and TPMS. I’ve just never used pirelli snow tires. Any experience here with them? I ran Dunlaps SP’s for a few winter, and they were great winter 1, dropped off quickly after that for me,so then I switched back to Blizzacks. I get a consistent 4 winters out of them in my Subies.

Even though the Bird just added charging stations, I doubt I’ll be taking my Model 3 up Little Cottonwood. I do usually swap winters living on the bench. Not sure it makes sense for me to buy winter tire set from Tesla. 18” is $2,400. The alternative is probably $1,000 for tires and $200 per year to swap. So the incremental cost is $1,400 to buy wheels. Divide that by $200 and your break even is 7 years. It would be 17 years break even for Tesla’s 19” winters.

 

[mswlogo]

Even though the Bird just added charging stations, I doubt I’ll be taking my Model 3 up Little Cottonwood. I do usually swap winters living on the bench. Not sure it makes sense for me to buy winter tire set from Tesla. 18” is $2,400. The alternative is probably $1,000 for tires and $200 per year to swap. So the incremental cost is $1,400 to buy wheels. Divide that by $200 and your break even is 7 years. It would be 17 years break even for Tesla’s 19” winters.

And cost of not putting snows on?

Add say $800 every 5 years for added wear on your All Seasons. You do need some rubber in winter don’t you?
Add say $5000 for life of car for that one fender bender the snows would have prevented. Oh and add $2000 to for insurance points because it was your fault.
Add say $250 for curb rash on your nice summer rims running in winter.
Add say $250 for replacing bent rim running 19” rims in winter pot holes
Add say $500 loss in resale value with tired wheels and rubber with no snows.
Add say $5000 for losing that bonus of making it to work one winter day (and picking up your boss) when everyone else stayed home on their all seasons to afraid to drive in.

 

[Goosby]

I ended up ordering a set of Nokian R3s. At first I really wanted PA4s, but I ultimately decided the Nokians will probably do better in deep snow and in dicey winter driving situations.

 

[mswlogo]

Has anyone actually run the Nokian R3’s yet?

How is tire noise compared to any of the OEM tires.

 

[Snow Drift]

I ended up ordering a set of Nokian R3s. At first I really wanted PA4s, but I ultimately decided the Nokians will probably do better in deep snow and in dicey winter driving situations.

Where did you order Nokians? TireRack doesn't sell them.

 

[Guest]

If anyone finds a good price on R3s or knows a dealer that would like to do a group buy, there is probably a pretty big contingent of Model 3 owners that would be interested, myself, one.

 

[UtahIsRad]

Even though the Bird just added charging stations, I doubt I’ll be taking my Model 3 up Little Cottonwood. I do usually swap winters living on the bench. Not sure it makes sense for me to buy winter tire set from Tesla. 18” is $2,400. The alternative is probably $1,000 for tires and $200 per year to swap. So the incremental cost is $1,400 to buy wheels. Divide that by $200 and your break even is 7 years. It would be 17 years break even for Tesla’s 19” winters.

I do hope to drive up the cottonwoods all winter in my 3 but needs a roof rack first. The 18” set was originally $1500 all in from Tesla, but it looks like they raised it to $2000. Still competitive for the weight of the wheels and the ability to gain 5% range with aeros. I do find that swapping tires on rims is hard on tires and rims so I factor that in as well. When I price out 18” sub 22lb rims and winter tires plus TPMS I usually end up in the $2200-$2400 range. That said, sub par winters tires make no sense to me and the serie II tires Tesla sells sound like they fall in that category.

 

[mswlogo]

Where did you order Nokians? TireRack doesn't sell them.

This is where I have ordered them before.

Tires For Sale Online | Buy Wheels Online at TiresByWeb.com

One time I managed to get a local tire shop to match that would order the tires.

 

[Snow Drift]

This is where I have ordered them before.

Tires For Sale Online | Buy Wheels Online at TiresByWeb.com

One time I managed to get a local tire shop to match that would order the tires.

Thanks.

 

[mswlogo]

This is kind of interesting info on tire noise

External rolling noise / Nokian Tyres

 

[mswlogo]

I tried to grab the EU Label for the major contenders. I really like this standard.
Note that the dB Rating is EXTERNAL.
And regarding Wet Traction lower letter is better.

After doing this the Continental and Blizzak might be a better compromise because the Nokian R3 has fairly poor Wet Rating.
Nokian has a note regarding that.

This is for the Vredestein Wintrac Pro

This is for the SottoZero 3

This is Nokian R3

This is Continental WinterContact TS 860

Blizzak LM001

Michelin X-ICE Xi3

 

[Snow Drift]

These beauties just arrived yesterday.

235/45-18 XL 98H Michelin X-ICE Xi3. I also have X-ICE on my STI in winter.

Wider than I prefer, but 225/45 didn’t offer high enough load rating (95 vs. 98), and 225/50 wouldn’t fit 8.5” wide stockers.

 

[mswlogo]

I think after reading this really thorough review I'm gonna go with the Continental Winter Contact TS 860

Best winter tyres 2018: tyre brands reviewed and UK prices compared

They tested EVERYTHING (every criteria, not every snow tire).

The problem with R3 (not tested in this review but other tests have confirmed it) and X-Ice is poor wet performance.

Well, I probably drive more on Wet than I do on snow and ice in the Winter.

It seems the more efficient the tire the worse the wet performance is.

Blizzak LM001 was high on my list but after seeing this review I had to remove it.

The Continental was #1 in many categories and pretty good in most others.

Now if I was running a RWD Model 3 I might choose differently (more weight on snow/ice which we know R3 and X-Ice are good at).
Like I said any snow tire will probably be way better than all season in the snow.

But I want everything, I don't want to give up on Wet, Dry, Efficientcy, Cabin Noise to get good the ultimate snow performance.

I'd like top efficiency but I don't want to give up wet performance (e.g. R3, X-Ice) for it.

With an AWD I think I can easily get away without being a top Snow/Ice and not lose on other important criteria.