Studded tire recommendations ?

[tfitzgex]

I'm in the PNW, and the winter is supposed to be wild this year. I have to take my elderly mother places quite often and being in Portland the ice is usually pretty gnarly.

I'm looking for studded tires. Would you go for the 19" or go down to a 18" wheel for winter tires?

Also is there a brand people prefer?

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[21st Century Pony]

I chose to get (and by now, use) German RUD EasyTop V snow chains.

Easy to put on (less than a minute with practice), very easy to take off. Grip on snow and ice is very good. Just don't go over 35 mph while wearing them.

See pics.

 

[tfitzgex]

BTW, I love the debadged side trim look you've got going.

 

[heisnuts]

Are you sure you want to go with studded tires? I live in the same area you do, and for the few times a year we get snow/ice, I have a set of Bridgestone Blizzaks Studless Snow Tires for our Subi and they work really well in the snow/ice.

As you may know the huge disadvantage with studded tires is the noise, wear, and much less traction once you are back on wet or dry pavement. The studless tires have come so far in terms of traction that it makes little sense to get studded when the studless have almost the same performance in snow and don't have all the negatives that come with the studded.

The next choice to make is if you want to order a complete set of tires and rims already mounted and balanced, or if you are just ordering the tires and will have them mounted on your existing rims. That will require paying for a mount and balance 2 at least 2 times a year as you can't legally run studs in the Summer and if you run the studless in the Summer they will wear out about as fast as I go through tires on my Tesla in the back roads (my OEM tires from Tesla lasted a little over 6K ?).

If you check out Tire Rack online, they will give you lots of options. For the Subi, I ordered a set of the Blizzaks mounted and balanced on rims so I can just swap them out in my garage for the days they are needed and then swap back to the all seasons when they are not.

 

[Colorider]

I just ordered a set of Nokian Hakapaliita 10s and will have them installed next week. Prior to that, I rode the last two winters on some Blizzaks which were fine in the snow but left a lot to be desired on ice. I have also tried the Michelin X-Ice on my last car and was unimpressed with ice there too.

I live near Colorado Springs and have a steep driveway that is very difficult when slippery so I decided to try studs again and am hoping the Hackupaluggis will work better than the studless but not be as loud as prior studs I had long ago. They were $$$ though…

 

[Slowmotion]

I'm in the PNW, and the winter is supposed to be wild this year. I have to take my elderly mother places quite often and being in Portland the ice is usually pretty gnarly.

I'm looking for studded tires. Would you go for the 19" or go down to a 18" wheel for winter tires?

Also is there a brand people prefer?

I'm north of you, north of SeattIe. I bought a set of 18" route one wheels with aero covers to serve as winter wheels for my premium. I use the OEM michelin tires on these wheels once it starts to freeze at night and put General Altimax studded tires on when the snow and ice begins to stick around. The studded tires were only on about six weeks last winter.
I lose a little range with the studded tires but they're very good on ice even up hills and at freeway speeds which is important to me. The route one wheels are more efficient in the cold weather no matter the tires, particularly at freeway speeds.
The 19" wheels and tires go back on once the temps get over the mid 40's so they're on for at least six months of the year.
I change the wheels myself and take the car to a tire shop just to switch tires. This has been working well for me. The aero covers on the route one wheels really seem to be more efficient in the colder weather.

 

[Moxiemoney]

I'm with 21 pony, I live in PDX area, too, and have had to rarely use traction devices. I would definitely go with chains out this way. That being said, people in the PNW simply don't know how to drive on snow and ice and the biggest threat is being hit by another car ?

 

[tuminatr]

To stud or not to stud, many don't know there are different types of winter tires designed for different winter environments. Studded tires are designed to work in icy conditions and unplowed roads. Most of us don't live in an environment like that so they are not a great choice they take away the advantage of winter in some weather conditions. Studded tires will enhance traction on ice and unplowed roads at the cost of traction in dry, wet, or plowed roads.

I don't think Portland Oregon gets that much snow but maybe you live in a rural area that is not plowed regularly.

Most of the states like where I live in Minnesota are best for a euro winter or even an all-weather tire. Some quality examples would be Michelin X-Ice, Vredestein Wintrac Pro (what I have), Conti Viking Contact, and in all weather Michelin Cross climate or Vredestine Quatrac Pro

 

[tfitzgex]

I’m more concerned about ice than anything. Certain spots in metro get down right dangerous. When I have to go up hills or out in the country. The roads get bad. Last year there was an ice storm. I couldn’t go more than 5 miles an hour or I was all over the road. Btw. They were brand new primacy as tires.

 

[Papapoil]

I've installed these (Select RWD) and I live in a region with a lot of snow and ice on the roads. I'm very satisfied, I've never been stuck anywhere and the traction is excellent. The downside is that these tires are noisy and not very good on dry roads. https://www.nokiantires.com/snow-winter-tires/nokian-tyres-nordman-7/

 

[tuminatr]

Nokian fits the description I made earlier. If you wanted studded ice tires those would fit the bill. Keep in mind they will actually have less traction than you factory Michelin tires in the dry and wet.

I would do a regular set of non studded winters something like the Michelin X-ice, Veredestein Wintrac Pro, Blizzak Lm-001, conti viking contact. The traction difference between a winter and the factory tires is huge.

Ultimately your choice.

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