davidj

I'm looking to buy a set of snow tires for this winter, for my FWD car. I'll be buying tires and wheels. Where I live typically sees 2-3 ice storms and not much snow in the winter. I'll be using these tires specifically to drive to CO on boarding trips, so tires with some dry road durability would be good.

Any tips on when and where to look for good deals? I'm leaning towards Bridgestone Blizzaks, but am open to other makes.

budderbear

I'm partial to Goodyear Wrangler Radials because of there price. Walmart made a deal with Goodyear on them so they have thousands in stock. I got all 4 installed in about an hour in the middle of December for $360. Not bad for $90 a tire considering the amount of tread they have(beefy), plus I've put them through the wringer this past winter and summer and there still holding up like champs.

There's no great time of year to buy tires as there is with electronics (black friday, back to school, christmas) but in general beefy snow tires cost a little more in the winter and road tires cost a little more in the summer in comparison to their normal prices. Of course though beefier, more ply tires will always cost more regardless of season.

If I where you I would either wait until its about to snow, you don't have much tread left, or your going to Colorado till you buy new tires. Also shop around depending on what tire you choose to go with. Just because a store has low prices on most their tires doesn't mean they'll have the lowest price or best deal on your tire.



p.s. fwd "car" is pretty vague so I'm not sure the "suv/truck" tires I'm talking about are even relevant. The Bridgestone Blizzaks you're talking about seem great for a car though

bseracka

I just picked up some new wheels and tires for the winter. I'm not sure if it will work for you, but my car came with 17s stock so I was able to downsize my new wheels and tires. Downsizing will improve traction and ride for me, it also put me in the same price for wheels and tires as just tires in my stock size. I picked up some factory subaru 16s for my car for 70 each including shipping, which is about $12 more than steelies and half the weight. I went with General Altimax Arctic after considering the Blizzacks. With the Blizzacks only about half the tread is for winter use and they're almost double the price of the Generals.

linvillegorge

What kind of vehicle are we talking about here and will you be using these tires year round or seasonally?

For trucks/SUVs the best year round snow tire I've found is the Goodyear Wrangler SilentArmor. They wear great, perform great, they're just great. For cars, I have no idea. I've never owned one.



If you're going to just use them seasonally, it's hard to beat Blizzaks, but just realize that when they're 50% worn, they're shot and pavement wears them like pencil erasers. I'd only get them if I lived somewhere that the roads were snow and ice packed for at least 3-4 months out of the year.

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davidj

The tires are for a Hyundai Sonata. I will have a set of all seasons for general driving. I plan on switching these out for snow tires when I drive to CO resorts to ride. When I get back home, I'll switch back to my regular tires. Since my drive to CO (one way) is 800-900 miles chances are that a good portion of these miles will be on regular pavement.

davidj

Great deal . Did you order them online? If so, where?

snowklinger

I happen to have gotten the Dunlops in the same class as the Blizzaks and Generals, but the G's had the best price and performance (reviews) by far when I was shopping...they were just sold out from like January on.....Its commonly agreed that the Blizzaks are grossly overpriced and everything else in the range is better tire for money. Although I think its a bunch of BS they are all like splitting hairs, you pay for names.

TIRERACK.COM is awesome. Is there any other? doubt it.

I got smaller steel wheels mounted with snow tires for my civic, I just have 2 going on 3 sets swap em out myself..

also snowtires fucking own.

Waiting to buy them midwinter right before you make a trip is bad advice imo, alot of tires were out of stock by that time, sales for summer tires were on full force. (not the same for brick and mortar shops, but I really like tirerack, it comes to about the same money but they get delivered to my door mounted and balanced and I get to choose and nitpick and do it on the interwebs without some dipshit pushing whatever winter tire he has in stock on me - and you could lose a good half day or more in some shitty shop). Check it out there is an entire guide on tirerack to winter tire shopping.

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bseracka

I found the rims on good old ebay. They were in perfect condition and included the dust caps. I also found a similar set on craigslist but they were a little beat up and I was going to need to get the old tires removed and disposed of. I did the generals from tirerack.com and hadthem shipped straight to the installed (pepboys) install and balance was 12 a wheel. I skipped the tpms sensor so I'll have the light on all winter, I just didn't feel like spending the 145.

Edit: for that much road driving I'd skip the blizzaks. You wont get much winter traction out of them before you hit the all weather section. Firestone also makes a decent snowtire.

davidj

Appreciate the tips. Yeah, I've been checking into Tire Rack too.

DrnknZag

Try Craigslist in the middle of summer, best deals you'll find if you're ok with moderately used tires.

^^This is the truth though. Blizzaks wear on pavement pretty quick, especially if the temp is above 50 degrees. I run Blizzaks from December to the end of March usually in the Seattle metro area. The temp stays cold enough to keep the wear down, and I end up in the mountains pretty much every weekend. If you're in an area where you'll only need them periodically, swapping on an off is a good idea.

As far as snow traction goes, they're hard to beat for passenger cars without going to a studded tire. I've had the (older) LM-22 and currently run the WS-60. I've been able to snowplow in my Subaru with these tires, even when 4wd trucks have had trouble.