Who's using what for winter tires for the PNW?

[Quinn Duffy]

Hey Folks,

We're getting to that time of year again - gotta consider winter tires for my MY LR. I'm interested in hearing what people have been using in the PNW - our snow tends to be heavy and wet and turns to ice quickly, there's lots of rain to deal with the rest of the time, and we have high mountain passes and ski-hills to get to! Snow on the prairies can be much dryer and colder, snow out east can be very deep - I'm sure certain tires are better in certain regions.

I had Michelin X-Ice tires on my previous car and really liked them, although slush performance was marginal. I was considering the Conti Viking Contact 7s - they seem really well reviewed and Nokian has some new EV specific snow tires (R5 and R10), although they might be too new for any experience to have accumulated.

What are y'all running this winter?

 

[Adirondack_D]

Here in upstate NY we get a mix of everything from wet slush, to cold dry snow, and ice covered. I ran Michelin X-ice on mine last year, and have no complaints. My Y was 6th different vehicle I've owned that had X-ice's on them. They were hard to come by, and some state they were not made for the load (although they are marked XL). For a short period of time, Tesla was selling pre-mounted '19 rims with X-ices on them. Right now its just the Pirelli. Good luck with your search. Hopefully you find some before with weather hits. If you look after the winter begins, you'll likely have limited choices.

Oh, and remember to put the car in off-road mode when driving through the snow; helps with traction big time! I learned the hard way by not using that mode and having the rear spin out a few times while decelerating with regen breaking.

 

[Quinn Duffy]

I'm opting for the Viking Contact 7. Comparable Nokians, Michelins, and Pirellis are as much as $150 more per tire and reviews either aren't any better or there aren't any really relevant reviews at all yet. I think this article clinched it. (It's in Norwegian, but you can either learn Norwegian or let Google translate it)

Vinterdekktest 2021: Fjorårsvinneren forsvarer seieren! | NAF

Mange nyheter blant piggdekkene i Motors store vinterdekktest. Blant de piggfrie er fjorårsvinneren på topp igjen.

nye.naf.no

 

[rickybobbee]

​

Michelin - Pilot Alpin PA4​

Item # 1273690
Tire Size: 255/45R19/XL
Warranty: 50k km
Season: Winter
Run Flat: No
Load Index: 104
Speed Rating: V
Receive $130 off a set of 4 Valid 09/26/22 - 10/23/22

Temporarily Out of Stock​

Availability is updated several times a day based on manufacturer's inventory. Please check back at a later time or visit your local Costco Tire Centre for availability.

 

[Quinn Duffy]

I was quoted on that one at Costco, but it's $499 per tire vs $330 per tire for the Contis. That's pretty substantial.

 

[rickybobbee]

I was quoted on that one at Costco, but it's $499 per tire vs $330 per tire for the Contis. That's pretty substantial.

$489 , but yes more money for sure. Best tire on the market but who knows how much better? I had the pirelli PZERO and don't think they handle nearly as well as the michelin i have had on other vehicles in the past so going to give the michelin a try this winter on the model Y. I really don't care what the tires cost if they work better but understand it's not worth it for everyone

 

[Ray_R]

I bought a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded tires and had them mounted on a set of aftermarket 19” DRAG wheels. I didn’t include TPM sensors since I’ll only use them when there’s snow and/or ice on the roads.

 

[Mtns]

Don’t have my MY yet, but already bought Michelin X-Ice Snow for it due to great experience with them on my current car. Highly recommend Discount Tire. Got them for $187 each with price match, Michelin instant rebate and store credit card discount for winter tires. Stock 19” size.

 

[jesse_le]

I’m in the PNW and I’m running Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 on my 21” Uberturbines. Did really well in the snow last year.

 

[GlennG]

I have been a customer of www.tirerack.com for 20 years, I just ordered a set of Michelin X-Ice on wheels with Tesla TPMS sensors. They ship them to you mounted and balanced. They also have some other offerings. X-Ice were about $350 in 19s.

 

[She’s S3XY]

Hey Folks,

We're getting to that time of year again - gotta consider winter tires for my MY LR. I'm interested in hearing what people have been using in the PNW - our snow tends to be heavy and wet and turns to ice quickly, there's lots of rain to deal with the rest of the time, and we have high mountain passes and ski-hills to get to! Snow on the prairies can be much dryer and colder, snow out east can be very deep - I'm sure certain tires are better in certain regions.

I had Michelin X-Ice tires on my previous car and really liked them, although slush performance was marginal. I was considering the Conti Viking Contact 7s - they seem really well reviewed and Nokian has some new EV specific snow tires (R5 and R10), although they might be too new for any experience to have accumulated.

What are y'all running this winter?

I appreciate your question as I’m in Upstate NY and travel extensively through NY, NJ, PA for work (almost 25,000 miles in less than 6 months) on my LRMY

 

[She’s S3XY]

Here in upstate NY we get a mix of everything from wet slush, to cold dry snow, and ice covered. I ran Michelin X-ice on mine last year, and have no complaints. My Y was 6th different vehicle I've owned that had X-ice's on them. They were hard to come by, and some state they were not made for the load (although they are marked XL). For a short period of time, Tesla was selling pre-mounted '19 rims with X-ices on them. Right now its just the Pirelli. Good luck with your search. Hopefully you find some before with weather hits. If you look after the winter begins, you'll likely have limited choices.

Oh, and remember to put the car in off-road mode when driving through the snow; helps with traction big time! I learned the hard way by not using that mode and having the rear spin out a few times while decelerating with regen breaking.

I appreciate you sharing… so much info out there for us heading into our first winter (also upstate NY though that means something different to everyone in NY, lol)
I had a WRX before with studded snows. Now because of “load” it seems limited. My work son who sold me on the Y is all about the research - he has had his LRMY for 2 yrs and over 100,000 miles. I’m scared and excited to see how the next 6 months goes - didn’t hear great reviews on the winter pirrelli’s (especially since I would only get one winter out of them). Woohoo!
Winter is coming!

 

[Adirondack_D]

I appreciate you sharing… so much info out there for us heading into our first winter (also upstate NY though that means something different to everyone in NY, lol)

Upstate for me = Saratoga Springs.

 

[Mtns]

Don’t have my MY yet, but already bought Michelin X-Ice Snow for it due to great experience with them on my current car. Highly recommend Discount Tire. Got them for $187 each with price match, Michelin instant rebate and store credit card discount for winter tires. Stock 19” size.

I’ve driven a few times in the mountain snow with these on my MYLR and have been happy so far. Grip feels good. Not related to the tires but I’m still getting used to the slight rear wiggle when regen comes on hard on slick surfaces, mostly ice. Not as bad as I expected though.

 

[Sage Brush]

Nokian Hakka R5 EV - 1 pound lighter than the non EV version of the same tire.

Been great so far. Very quiet!

 

[singlestack]

Don’t have my MY yet, but already bought Michelin X-Ice Snow for it due to great experience with them on my current car. Highly recommend Discount Tire. Got them for $187 each with price match, Michelin instant rebate and store credit card discount for winter tires. Stock 19” size.

Whose price did they match? The regular price for those looks to be $322 at Discount (ouch!).

 

[singlestack]

I'm thinking about going -1 in tire/wheel size for my winter tires. I've read that going a bit narrower than stock is a good idea for winter... anyone know if this is true or a good idea for Teslas?

Thinking about going to 245 /50 R18.

 

[Mtns]

Whose price did they match? The regular price for those looks to be $322 at Discount (ouch!).

It was from here, Wheels, Tires and Rims | BB Wheels, but don’t know if the lower price is still available. Discount Tire lets you stack discounts, so I also got a rebate from Michelin and 10% off for using my store credit card. All together, it brought the price to $187 per tire. I think the price match was for $245

 

[arbitrage000]

Victoria, BC here...close enough to the PNW (USA)...I can see you out my living room window....LOL

I had a hard time deciding what to do about winter tires (if any). But I do live at a higher elevation and drive down to sea level each day. For the past 2 weeks I've been just above the snow line and the temps have been hovering around freezing and black ice territory.

Therefore I decided to order the Michelin X-Ice tires and just have them put on my OEM Gemini wheels for now. I will plan to buy a new set of wheels in the spring to put the stock Conti tires on for the summer. Or I may put the stock Conti back on the Gemini and wait till next winter to buy new wheels for the X-Ice. But I do want to have them on their own wheels...just didn't want to spend for new wheels and TPMS sensors right now.

I also had considered the Nokian Hakka 5s as I've always owned Nokian tires in the past but those were when I lived in full winter climates. However, most of the winter the PNW is rain and the X-Ice have better wet ratings than the Hakka 5s.

My other option was to go with CrossClimate 2 and maybe even run them all year as I did on my previous CX-5. But that would basically waste the brand new Conti tires. So I thought if I'm going to swap tires anyways I might as well go for full winter even though we don't experience full winter very much. If I lived closer to sea level I'd probably have gone for CC2 or just stayed on Conti all year round.

I ordered the X-Ice from Costco and just waiting for them to arrive. Should have them on in a week or so. Then to see how they are. With my luck we probably won't get any more snow this winter....LOL

 

[Ray_R]

I bought a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded tires and had them mounted on a set of aftermarket 19” DRAG wheels. I didn’t include TPM sensors since I’ll only use them when there’s snow and/or ice on the roads.

I had a chance to try these out in the snow and ice this weekend. They performed AMAZING!!! And they rode better than the OEM 19” setup. I was more than pleasantly surprised.