Who's buying new snow tires this winter? (which means "snow tyres" for those who know what a toast cooling rack is)
I did my research! I've got the scoop! Like, what do you need to know about buying a new set of snows, eh? 🇨🇦
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Sevendays · M
Okay. Which are the best?
swirlie · F
@Sevendays
Best for what? I don't know which part of the USA you live in from a weather perspective, but winter and life combined has always come in about 9 different flavors.
Just because you have snow tires on your car doesn't mean you're safe if the tires you have weren't designed for your particular flavor of winter driving.
Best for what? I don't know which part of the USA you live in from a weather perspective, but winter and life combined has always come in about 9 different flavors.
Just because you have snow tires on your car doesn't mean you're safe if the tires you have weren't designed for your particular flavor of winter driving.
swirlie · F
@Sevendays
Okay, that's very good to know. From my research I've done, what you need to avoid is a snow tire that's good for 'high mileage' that's very quiet on the highway, which is how a snow tire is marketed.
A tire that's good for high mileage and is very quiet on the highway isn't worth it's weight in snow when it's being used in deep snow on roads which are not typically plowed clean, right down to the hard road surface.
The reason this tire is no good where you live is because the rubber compound is too hard, which is otherwise great for extending the mileage of a tire throughout it's lifetime, but is extremely poor for gripping in deep snow or any snow at all for that matter.
What kind of tires do you own now?
Okay, that's very good to know. From my research I've done, what you need to avoid is a snow tire that's good for 'high mileage' that's very quiet on the highway, which is how a snow tire is marketed.
A tire that's good for high mileage and is very quiet on the highway isn't worth it's weight in snow when it's being used in deep snow on roads which are not typically plowed clean, right down to the hard road surface.
The reason this tire is no good where you live is because the rubber compound is too hard, which is otherwise great for extending the mileage of a tire throughout it's lifetime, but is extremely poor for gripping in deep snow or any snow at all for that matter.
What kind of tires do you own now?
swirlie · F
@Sevendays
I just bought a set of Bridgestone Blizzak DM V2 snow tires a few days ago with installation date next week.
As it turns out, the Blizzak is actually marketed as an 'ice tire', followed by a 'snow tire'. This means it's designed to grip on clear ice surfaces better than a standard deep snow tire and in particular, it uses special rubber compounds which absorb water from the tire footprint and then releases it as you drive, which creates an artificial 'dry surface' on water-covered ice for example.
The Blizzak is also excellent in deep snow because the rubber compounds are very soft compared to most snow tires, which equates to superior winter gripping at the cost of lower lifetime mileage for the tire. Those tires only have a life expectancy of 37,000 miles, which means from brand new down to the wear bars on the tires.
What Bridgestone actually say about the Blizzak is that it is an 'ice tire' for the first 55% of the top tread depth which means 45% of tread would be remaining.
If you wear the tire down below 55% however, it is no longer certified as an 'ice tire' but will remain as a low-functioning 'snow tire' down to 2/32nds (two-thirty seconds) of an inch which is basically at the wear bars and barely legal.
This technically means that your Blizzaks will only function as excellent ice tires and snow tires for the first 20,000 miles out of a guaranteed 37,000 life span, before they revert to low-functioning status as snow tires only.
I just bought a set of Bridgestone Blizzak DM V2 snow tires a few days ago with installation date next week.
As it turns out, the Blizzak is actually marketed as an 'ice tire', followed by a 'snow tire'. This means it's designed to grip on clear ice surfaces better than a standard deep snow tire and in particular, it uses special rubber compounds which absorb water from the tire footprint and then releases it as you drive, which creates an artificial 'dry surface' on water-covered ice for example.
The Blizzak is also excellent in deep snow because the rubber compounds are very soft compared to most snow tires, which equates to superior winter gripping at the cost of lower lifetime mileage for the tire. Those tires only have a life expectancy of 37,000 miles, which means from brand new down to the wear bars on the tires.
What Bridgestone actually say about the Blizzak is that it is an 'ice tire' for the first 55% of the top tread depth which means 45% of tread would be remaining.
If you wear the tire down below 55% however, it is no longer certified as an 'ice tire' but will remain as a low-functioning 'snow tire' down to 2/32nds (two-thirty seconds) of an inch which is basically at the wear bars and barely legal.
This technically means that your Blizzaks will only function as excellent ice tires and snow tires for the first 20,000 miles out of a guaranteed 37,000 life span, before they revert to low-functioning status as snow tires only.