[Mikkow]

I translated the latest, yearly mega-comparision of winter tires from Swedish into English. I take it you don't get all that many good reviews over in USA and Canada. You can see some graphs in the review that compare the tires, braking distance, time around a track, driving in circle, all sorts of surfaces. Blue is studded, and red is studless. You better be able to read Swedish for that though.

http://www.aftonbladet.se/bil/0310/18/dacktest.pdf



Nokian "Hakkapeliitta 4" (studded)
5/5 Stars

The new Hakka-tire has a stable foundation, excellent thread pattern for all surfaces, and the new unique, squared studs give a superior bite on ice. On the winter road the tire is secure. It is also excellent in slush and stable on pavement.

+ Innovative and best on all winter roads.
- Nothing



Michelin "Ivalo" (studded)
3/5 Stars

Good reputation, high reliability and long lasting lets Michelin stay in the top sales. The tires grip has a long way to go to reach up with the best tires. When it starts skidding it is hard to regain the grip. Fortunately, the tires tell you before it happens and sometimes smoothes over the drivers mistakes.

+ Snowgrip
- Easily loses grip on slush



Continental "Winter Viking 1" (studded)
4/5 Stars

The Swedish tire-monger Allan Ostrowskis Winter Viking tops the tire tests year after year. It is a well balanced tire for both winter roads and bare-pavement. Perhaps the grip on snow could be a bit better, but the basic-security is still large.

+ Ice-grip and stability on pavement.
- Nothing



Kumho "KW 11 Izen Stud" (studded)
Disqualified

A lousy tire in which the grip suddenly disappears, and not even the most skilled test drivers managed to stop the skids before the cars hit the snow barriers. This judgement unfortunately applies to both ice, snow and pavement! Disqualified from the test.

+ Noise levels
- Grip and performance on all surfaces



Goodyear "UG500" (studded)
4/5 Stars

Very optimized for winter driving at the cost of stability on direct pavement. The extreme ability on slippery surfaces makes it a bit nervous on tracked pavement (you know, where there are two depressions in the ground from so many cars driving in the same place).

Best used on snow and ice.

+ Grip when slippery
- Nervous and somewhat unstable on pavement



Pirelli "Winter Carving" (Studded)
4/5

A completely fresh tire from Pirelli. But does anyone recognize the thread pattern? Right! It's an exact copy of Gislaved Nord Frost 3. Brilliant on snow, excellent on ice. A safe choice on any surface.

+ Top tire in most situations
- Somewhat slow reacting



Uniroyal "MS Plus Nordic" (studded)
4/5 Stars

Another "Allan-Ostrowskis-Tire", the design being a couple of years old, but still in the top. Safe but slightly too long, yet easily controlled, skids on winter roads. Quiet and very stable on pavement.

+ No weaknesses, low noise.
- Nothing



Gislaved "Nord Frost 3" (studded)
4/5 Stars

Has no particular weakness, the ability to find grip in snow-slush is, for example, still top-rated, but on snow the skids can become a bit long. The tire is no longer manufactured by Gislaved which causes its popularity to drop.

+ Grip on ice and slush
- Nothing



Bridgestone "Noranza" (studded)
3/5 Stars

Bridgestone creates a brand-image through F1 tires, but nordic winter roads demand more than image. The winter tire is a clear disappointment. It is vague and in certain situations dangerously oversteering (the rear end comes sliding) on ice. On bare-pavement it is uncomfortably unstable.

+ Grip on ice (despite the occational oversteering)
- Snowgrip



Michelin "260" (7 years old but unused - studded)
Disqualified

Many only drive a little in the winter and hardly wear down their tires at all. They drive on year after year and think they have a good grip. Our brand new 7-year old Michelin 260 prove the opposite. It skidded wildly and fell behind in almost all tests.

+ Grip in slush
- Ice and snow grip



Michelin "Maxi Ice" (non-studded)
1/5 Stars

The dense thread is an exciting attempt to make a good stud-less tire while not sacrificing stability on pavement. It almost succeeds. The pavement performance is brilliant. On snow and ice it barely keeps up.

+ Pavement
- Mobility and braking on ice (very crappy), and poor grip on slush



Bridgestone "Blizzak WS-50" (non-studded)
Disqualified

Dangerous! Blizzak is so dangerous on pavement that it is disqualified from the test. The skids during an avoidance manuever are so difficult to stop that it is an outright traffic danger. Blizzak has been one of the big sellers for many years. The winter-abilities (snow, ice and slush) are mediocre at best.

+ Grip on Snow and Ice (for a studless tire)
- Pavement



Bridgestone "Blizzak MZ-01" (7 years old but unused. non-studded)
Disqualified

Blizzak had a very good grip on ice when it was introduced at the end of the 1980's and became an instant big seller. Since then the tire has been developed in cycles. Our seven year old tire is hard to drive on winter-roads. The skids on ice are hopeless, and snow grip is nervous.

+ Nothing
- Poor grip on all surfaces



Pirelli "Icesport" (non-studded)
1/5 Stars

Maybe it is time to copy the northern tire-makers to get a reasonable stud-less tire? Icesport is engineered for middle Europe and is a tire you don't want to have on our winter roads. Ice grip is non-existant, and on pavement you can get treacherous skids.

+ Nothing
- Grip on snow and ice



Continental "Conti Viking Contact 3" (non-studded)
2/5 Stars

Allan Ostrowskis had time to construct two studless winners for Continential before he resigned. On snow the tire goes as if on rails, on ice it is reasonable and the skids, that can come quite unexpectedly, are after all something one can handle.

+ Snowgrip and noise
- Nothing



Gislaved "Soft Frost 2" (non-studded)
2/5 Stars

Better than Viking Contact on snow and ice. Risk of getting treacherous skids on pavement. On snow the skids are easy to control. On ice, the tire can oversteer but is still easy to control. The best studless tire for those who drive mostly on pavement.

+ Grip and performance on snow and ice.
- Easy skidding on pavement



Nokian "Hakkapeliitta Q" (non-studded)
2/5 Stars

The ice grip is excellent for a studless tire. On snow the grip is calm and nice, and the skids almost correct themselves. It is very slippery on wet pavement and skids wildly on dry pavement.

+ Grip on winter surfaces, performance on snow and ice.
- Grip and performance on pavement.

[MKIVSupra]

Thanks for the info. Yeah I did not find too many good reviews last fall when I was in the market.

[Snax]

I think something was lost in the translation or we just don't get the Hakkapeliitta 4 here. US distributors only get the WR and the 2's according to the Nokian site.

Regardless, the 2's with studs are about the closest thing you can get to a ice and snow rally tire that is road legal here. They are excellent on snow and ice, and while braking and acceleration traction is understandably compromised somewhat from all of the siping, they corner surprisingly well on wet or dry surfaces. They also bite better in the wet than the stock Potenzas. 8)

[bab33face]

Sounds like there isn't any dual purpose tires? Nothing decent in both conditions?

I want a winter tire thats good on the regular roads, and decent on snow and ice.

Any suggestions?

[Mikkow]

I think something was lost in the translation or we just don't get the Hakkapeliitta 4 here. US distributors only get the WR and the 2's according to the Nokian site.

I heard of that before - they simply don't sell the 4's there yet. My parents have Hakka 4's on their Skoda Octavia, that I drive ever so often (and toy around with). The Hakka 2 is several years old, me thinks.

Regardless, the 2's with studs are about the closest thing you can get to a ice and snow rally tire that is road legal here. They are excellent on snow and ice, and while braking and acceleration traction is understandably compromised somewhat from all of the siping, they corner surprisingly well on wet or dry surfaces. They also bite better in the wet than the stock Potenzas.

I don't think they differ that much (Between the 2 and 4's). Probably quite similar.

What does 'siping' mean? I looked in the dictionary but no luck.

Sounds like there isn't any dual purpose tires?

For safety reasons, all-season tires are illegal to use in Sweden. Must have summer and winter tires in the respective seasons. Either way, it was a winter-tire only comparision. All-season tires are very nasty on winter roads.

Nothing decent in both conditions? I want a winter tire thats good on the regular roads, and decent on snow and ice. Any suggestions?

Depends what you consider to be 'decent'.

Tires can only be made to be reasonably good at so many things. For example, winter tires without studs must rely on the rubber to offer (even then, quite crap) ice grip. This rubber compound is very soft and that is why the winter tires without studs are the worst performers on pavement.

Summer tires are made from a rubber compound that is grippy and good in warmer temperatures, down to a bit above freezing. The rubber turns harder and less grippy the colder it gets, and overall on winter roads, it is nasty, even on dry pavement. The thread is meant only for dry and wet summer roads.

All-season tires (I like to call them no-seasons) seem to be summer tires with a rubber compound that won't harden as easily in the cold. Snow grip is on the poor side at best and ice grip is not even to speak of. They are like this because say, in USA; most people use all-seasons around the year, in mainly above-freezing conditions on pavement, so of course they optimize them to perform to 80-90% on that surface.

Winter tires with studs are the only thing that offer some realistic grip on real ice. Even with the Hakka 4's, ice grip is truly ****. Supposedly, surfaces offer this kind of traction with reasonable tires:

100% (index) Dry pavement
60% Gravel
20% Packed Snow
1% Smooth Ice

Even with the best legal ice tire on sale, I think that ice grip is absolutely terrible and around 1%. And that's the best one can get! The pavement grip feels a little bit vague and not as grippy as our summer tires at all.

If I had a Impreza, I would without a doubt get Hakka 4's for winter and some rain-optimized summer tire. I like driving in diverse conditions. And for winter, safety during those nasty icey roads (as well as fun when toying) comes first.

Just like in motorsports/rallying, there are no "do it all" tires. If one races the hakka 4's on pavement the tires would probably soon wear out. Tires can only be made to be good at a few single things.

[ToddL]

I am very happy with my dunlop wintersport M2's on the slippery stuff as well as dry pavement.

[sakura-iro]

I'm running Nokian WRs and i've been nothing but happy with them. they're not a dedicated snow tire, but they aren't too bad in dry conditions either.