Tires BRIDGESTONE or Nokia
Canadian here, winter tires are good enough for most driving on ice and snow. I've got a set of Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires on my Ford Edge FWD and it goes through all conditions just fine.
Nokian Nordman. They’re last generation Hakka which imo, a ten generation old Hakka is great.
I run Hakka r3. My wife runs General Winter Contact and they are about equal, very quiet good studless winter.
+1 for the Bridgestone Weatherpeaks. They are also symmetrical / non - directional so you can have a full size spare and do 5 tire rotation. I run them on my 09 STI in the northeast.
Got Nokians last year. They work much better than the cheap chinese ones i had before.
Very, very much a happy camper. Ride is suprisingly supple, I went up in size from 215/65 R16 to 215/70 R16 which I knew would give it a bit of a cushier ride but I didn’t expect it to feel better than the All Seasons, which it does. A little added road noise, slight roar over the All-Seasons but not noticeable unless you look for it. Ride height went from the stock 8.2in to about 9.4in which easily cleared the wheel well with no rubbing.
Most surprisingly though, it feels like it handles better. Comparing it to the high-mile Continentals I had (90k warranty) they’re more confidence inspiring
in turns, not much added lean at all, might be due to other mods on the wagon but
it definitely didn’t make it worse. Tested today at 90F from a winter-rated “AT-lite” tire, I was caught off guard how well it takes the turns. It’s no Michelin Pilot Sport, but it’s better than I thought it’d be. It also took a gravel road I threw at it like nobody’s business. I drove it pretty aggressively through some twisty, dusty gravel and it was planted pretty much the whole time.
The compound in a decent snow tire like a Nokian, Michelin, Blizzak, etc… stays less form in cold weather and will stop better in the winter.
I use Bridgestone RE71Rs for both track/street and they are great!
Running Nokian Hakka R2 on the CX-5 and Vredestein Wintrac on the Focus same as last year. Usually don't swap until Thanksgiving though. On a related note, I think these are the last dedicated winter tires I'm going to buy. I've been running two sets for 10 years now and even in the snowier years, I don't feel like it's been worth it in this part of Ohio. The new All Weather tires seem like they've done a good job with snow/ice, yet still keeping dry/wet traction to decent levels. I've got my eye on the Michelin CrossClimates going forward.
It took me till the day after the first snow when I slid through a red light. They are literal slicks. Get snow tires! Blizzaks make winter magical
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