Keith's 2016-2017 Winter Tire Guide
When shopping for winter tires, it's best to find a tire that fits your specific needs. Much like when shopping for summer tires, some people are most concerned with getting the highest performance possible and nothing else matters. While others realize they do not need the "race" performance and would rather have a touring tire that will provide better ride quality and tread life.
This same logic applies to winter tires. There is not one single tire that will fit everyone's needs.
-If you live in an area where you do not see much snow, but still need a winter tire for the bad days, it would be best to look at the
performance winter/snow category. These tires will handle very well on dry roads, but will still provide adequate traction in the ice and snow. These performance winter tires typically have higher speed ratings.
-If you live in an area where you wake up to fresh snow covered roads often or maybe are new to driving in the winter, you are going to want the absolute best winter traction. The
studless ice & snow category is going to provide the best winter traction, but will give up some dry road responsiveness. When the going gets tough, these tires will give you the most confidence in bad weather.
In the performance winter category, here are some of the top performers this season. Click on each and it will take you to the details:
Pirelli Winter Sottozero 3
Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4
Bridgestone Blizzak LM001
The Pirelli and Michelin have proven themselves and are currently the highest rated in this category. The Blizzak LM001 is brand new this season and while we expect it to be a class leader, we have not yet been able to test it.
Next up, for the people looking for the most winter traction and do not mind giving up some dry road handling, the studless ice & snow category is going to work best. Here are some of the top performers in this category:
Bridgestone Blizzak WS80
Michelin X-Ice Xi3
Continental WinterContact SI
I personally use the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 on my vehicle because I feel this tire provides the best balance between winter traction, ride quailty, dry road performance and treadlife. If you are solely concerned with the best ice/snow traction, the Blizzak WS80 does have a slight advantage. The WinterContact SI is still a very good competitor, but is slightly behind the two leaders.
*All these are not available in every size. The size you are using may dictate which tires you can use. Many of the performance winter tires are available in the larger 18"-20" sizes, while the studless ice & snow tires are typically more popular in the 16"-18" sizes.*
Most people will not be installing their winter tires on until later in November or even December. Please know, certain sizes and models have limited availability and will sell out before the snow actually gets here so please try to plan in advance and order earlier rather than later.
Feel free to email me directly if you would like to go over your options or if you have any questions.
Keith@tirerack.com will be the fastest way to get to me.
If you do order online, when checking out please be sure to reference "Keith/E90Post" as your previous contact. This is the only way the forum receives credit.