Winter tire recommendations

[Barry]

I believe I have made many anecdotes of the Nokian WRG4 in this thread already, but 80% rain 20% winter is what the all-weather tire was made for. Handles fantastic on dry roads too, excellent rolling resistance, and a wear out warranty. I am just not positive they are available where you are at.

This is my current tire, as well. Very pleased with them. Previous tires include MXM4 and A/S 3+. The Nokians are superior in all conditions.

 

[KalJoMoS]

I have selected Yokohama BlueEarth Winter V905 for 19” rim size

 

[cityhpper]

Thanks for the input. The WRG4 seems not to be available here, but the Nokian WR A4 might be. Will check with the dealer.

 

[shellderp]

This is my current tire, as well. Very pleased with them. Previous tires include MXM4 and A/S 3+. The Nokians are superior in all conditions.

considering these, how's the steering response / handling? my X-ICE are so squishy I hate driving on them and only benefit from snow traction sometimes

 

[Barry]

considering these, how's the steering response / handling? my X-ICE are so squishy I hate driving on them and only benefit from snow traction sometimes

I haven't run them on a slalom course, but I have no complaints about response/handling with normal daily driving

 

[cityhpper]

After some back and forth, I opted for winter tires from an "unknown" brand this time. The tires are named Frigus EV Ice 3 and descriptions are available here:

FRIGUS EV ICE 3 - UPGRADED WINTER TIRE FOR TESLA | Megahjul

So far I have driven them on wet and dry asphalt, as well as some ice slush. They are quiet, have good handling and felt secure even in 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) of slush. It remains to see how they cope with ice and proper snow; I plan a trip to the mountains during Christmas holidays so then we will see...

Last winter I used both Michelin X-Ice North 3 (studded) as well as Michelin X-Ice 3 (non-studded) on my 2019 Long Range. The studded ones were great in the middle of the winter when going to the mountains, but for highway commute - not so much.

Second on my list was Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 (the Nokian WR A4 turned out difficult to source in my area). The Frigus are about half the price of the UG2 so I got a bit tempted to try them out. Should they fail on ice and proper winter roads, they can be delegated to early spring/early winter usage.

 

[tezcatcatl]

I just received my car and decided to go with:
4x Hankook Winter I*cept EVO3 X 245/45 R19 102V

I made the decision after checking this test results:
Hankook Winter i*Cept evo3 W330 Test, Review & Ratings of the Hankook W330 | AllTyreTests.com

These were the most economic of the known brands that was on the list of tires on that test / comparison.

On my BMW 320i I use Fulda Kristall Montero 205/55/R16 and I was very happy with them. Travelled the Alps, driven on thick snow, rain, all conditions with a rear wheel drive car and I was impressed. Ofcourse I drove responsibly. Don't know what it would do on a stress situation. But never once I slipped. Unfortunately I couldn't find size 245/45/19 of them here.

 

[jussisolja]

After some back and forth, I opted for winter tires from an "unknown" brand this time. The tires are named Frigus EV Ice 3 and descriptions are available here:

FRIGUS EV ICE 3 - UPGRADED WINTER TIRE FOR TESLA | Megahjul

So far I have driven them on wet and dry asphalt, as well as some ice slush. They are quiet, have good handling and felt secure even in 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) of slush. It remains to see how they cope with ice and proper snow; I plan a trip to the mountains during Christmas holidays so then we will see...

Last winter I used both Michelin X-Ice North 3 (studded) as well as Michelin X-Ice 3 (non-studded) on my 2019 Long Range. The studded ones were great in the middle of the winter when going to the mountains, but for highway commute - not so much.

Second on my list was Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 (the Nokian WR A4 turned out difficult to source in my area). The Frigus are about half the price of the UG2 so I got a bit tempted to try them out. Should they fail on ice and proper winter roads, they can be delegated to early spring/early winter usage.

Any updates on the performance in tougher conditions?

 

[cityhpper]

Any updates on the performance in tougher conditions?

So far, they have performed very well and above expectations. They track well in slush and deep(er) snow and the car sits firm on the road also when changing lanes on the highway. My impression is that they climb a bit better than they break, specially on icy surface. But nothing alarming as long as you keep it in mind when gowing down hills.

A friend of mine with a Polestar 2 also use the Frigus tires now, and he's very happy as well. So they seem to work well for heavy, electric cars.

 

[CWhite]

Finally had ice/snow here in Portland OR. I got a set of the new Michelin X-Ice Snow. Previously had X-Ice Xi3 and Bridgestone Blizzak. The new Michelin’s are excellent, great grip on ice and did good in snow but it was not deep at all. Probably the best winter tires I have had.

 

[bhzmark]

Fwiw, sottozero 3s have the lowest rolling resistance and still very good snow and ice performance according to consumer reports and autobild recent testing.

 

[cityhpper]

Finally had ice/snow here in Portland OR. I got a set of the new Michelin X-Ice Snow. Previously had X-Ice Xi3 and Bridgestone Blizzak. The new Michelin’s are excellent, great grip on ice and did good in snow but it was not deep at all. Probably the best winter tires I have had.

How do they handle on dry roads, have you had the chance to test them? I used X-Ice Xi3 last winter and found them a bit soft and wiggly at higway speeds. Courious whether Snow has been improved?

 

[CWhite]

How do they handle on dry roads, have you had the chance to test them? I used X-Ice Xi3 last winter and found them a bit soft and wiggly at higway speeds. Courious whether Snow has been improved?

I have not done any freeway driving of more than a few miles this winter. They seem fine, tracks well and no wandering that I have noticed. Unfortunately I had no issues with my previous Xi3’s, they were on an SUV so it was wobbly by nature so I can not draw a direct comparison. We are taking a bit of a drive this weekend to the other side of Portland, I will try and pay attention .

 

[CWhite]

I have not done any freeway driving of more than a few miles this winter. They seem fine, tracks well and no wandering that I have noticed. Unfortunately I had no issues with my previous Xi3’s, they were on an SUV so it was wobbly by nature so I can not draw a direct comparison. We are taking a bit of a drive this weekend to the other side of Portland, I will try and pay attention .

Took a 15 drive on the dry freeway and everything was fine with the X-Ice Snow’s. Tracked well, didn’t wander. Given how much softer the compound is I can imagine that some folks could feel that is not as planted but I don’t really notice. Given how good they are in the snow and ice I am very happy. Now that you have me thinking about it I will probably go for a drive just before I swap back to the stock wheels/tires and then take the same drive again.

 

[cityhpper]

Took a 15 drive on the dry freeway and everything was fine with the X-Ice Snow’s. Tracked well, didn’t wander. Given how much softer the compound is I can imagine that some folks could feel that is not as planted but I don’t really notice. Given how good they are in the snow and ice I am very happy. Now that you have me thinking about it I will probably go for a drive just before I swap back to the stock wheels/tires and then take the same drive again.

Thanks for coming back on this. Seems like the Snow's would be a good fit for the Model S as well.

You talk about swapping back to the stock wheels, do you then mean going to summer tires already? Are there no more risks of winter conditions in the Portland area, even if the calendar still say February? In Norway, even in the mild climate at the southern coast, we normally run with winter tires until at least April - just to be on the safe side...

 

[Doanster1]

Thanks for coming back on this. Seems like the Snow's would be a good fit for the Model S as well.

You talk about swapping back to the stock wheels, do you then mean going to summer tires already? Are there no more risks of winter conditions in the Portland area, even if the calendar still say February? In Norway, even in the mild climate at the southern coast, we normally run with winter tires until at least April - just to be on the safe side...

We have only one to two snow events per year here in Portland. I swapped my summers back on yesterday, in fact. If I didn’t have a dedicated set and the ability to swap in my garage, I would leave the winters on longer since I wouldn’t have the patience to wait at the tire stores. Having a P85D that chews through rears tires is more motivation to get them off ASAP as well.
Doing this means the winter set lasts me years. I’ve said this in other threads, but in general, any true/dedicated snow tire (with the snowflake on mountain symbol), is fine, at least here in the northwest, including mountain treks. I have Blizzaks for our other car and they work great as well. Have even used Firestone Winterforce tires on a Volvo XC90 and had zero issues through one of the harsher storms (12”) a few years ago.
Nuances between the tires is def more from a dry road perspective. The Hakkas, although squishy still, feel much better to me than the Blizzaks.

 

[CWhite]

Thanks for coming back on this. Seems like the Snow's would be a good fit for the Model S as well.

You talk about swapping back to the stock wheels, do you then mean going to summer tires already? Are there no more risks of winter conditions in the Portland area, even if the calendar still say February? In Norway, even in the mild climate at the southern coast, we normally run with winter tires until at least April - just to be on the safe side...

Since I have the winter tires on their own wheels it only takes me 30 minutes to swap them in my garage. Even then I usually only swap them once in the fall(usually late November) and again in Spring(early March). We normally don’t get snow past February.

 

[dark cloud]

Here is another good reason to get Nokian WRG4's: no hassle wearout warranty. I got 45,000 km out of my set, they have a 70,000 km warranty, so I just bought another set for next winter at 35% off. They currently have a rebate of $15 off per tire on top of that.

Kal Tire didn't care that the inside edges were a little more worn due to the negative camber aspects of the model S.

I told them I'll do this again in another 3 years. (only run them from October to March annually)

 

[Barry]

Here is another good reason to get Nokian WRG4's: no hassle wearout warranty. I got 45,000 km out of my set, they have a 70,000 km warranty, so I just bought another set for next winter at 35% off. They currently have a rebate of $15 off per tire on top of that.

Kal Tire didn't care that the inside edges were a little more worn due to the negative camber aspects of the model S.

I told them I'll do this again in another 3 years. (only run them from October to March annually)

I was told by my installer to make sure I rotate per schedule, as Nokian is picky about the wear warranty, so that's what I'm doing.

 

[Learnincurve]

So far, they have performed very well and above expectations. They track well in slush and deep(er) snow and the car sits firm on the road also when changing lanes on the highway. My impression is that they climb a bit better than they break, specially on icy surface. But nothing alarming as long as you keep it in mind when gowing down hills.

A friend of mine with a Polestar 2 also use the Frigus tires now, and he's very happy as well. So they seem to work well for heavy, electric cars.

Season approaching for ordering next winter's tires. All-in-all would you recommend the FRIGUS over more established brands like Continental or Michelin?