reyoasian

iTrader: (2)

Gislaved Nordfrost 5 - are these good?
So I'm still deciding on what winter tires to get for my 09 IS250 AWD (Canadian model)
Size is 205/55R16

I was pretty decided on the General Altimax Arctic until I found out about these: Gislaved Nordfrost 5

Anyone have experienced or heard about them?

How are they in light snow, deep snow, ice, slush, dry ??!

How is the traction, handling, tread light, etc.?

BTW, I'm getting it unstudded because studding is illegal in Canada.
Also, I do mainly local driving just to class and home in Waterloo
But on weekends, I do some long distance hwy driving to Toronto and back
and during winter break I'll be in Toronto and will probably be taking the hwy anywhere I go.

Thanks a lot!

LexIS250

I've read good reviews on them. I was shopping for winter tires a few weeks ago and almost bought these. I ended up getting Hankook Ipikes instead since they seem to be fairly comparable performance-wise and I saved over $100.

reyoasian

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, the W409 are about 100$ cheaper, but I did read some bad things about it whereas the Gislaved NF5 I read no bad things so far.

I heard the W409 and the Altimax Arctic are both a copy of the NF3 so I'm assuming the NF5 is worth the extra 100$.....

I was going to get the Altimax, but SimplyTire from Toronto doesn't offer it..

LexIS250

I've had the iPikes for a few weeks and have no complaints. Seems relatively quiet (by snow tire standards) and not overly slushy feel.

Haven't had the chance to test them since there's no snow yet but good initial impressions so far.

A co-worker has had these for the past few winters and he swears by them

Be that as it may, if you feel the Gislaved's are worth the extra $$$ then go for it. I dont think you can go wrong with either one.

reyoasian

iTrader: (2)

Now I'm thinking going for the W409 and save that extra $110! I heard the GNF5 aren't as great on dry road...

I would get the Toyos but they are hella expensive..

Nilism

Studding is not illegal in Canada. To the best of my knowledge western provinces range from seasonal allowances for studs to full time allowances.

You'd have to be stupid to drive on studs in the summer unless you lived close to a mountain pass though, so that's pretty much a non issue.

As for the nordfrost 5 with studs, I drove on these all winter long in northern Alberta and BC, including a bunch of ice climbing trips into the mountains.

I put about 10, 000 km of everything from ice/snow to dry pavement. I haven't experience with other studded tires but these things were monsters in slush, snow and ice. They just ate it up. Particularly good on ice.

They are super noisy until the stud round a bit then I would describe them as normal for an aggressive tire.

I did lose one to a pot hole this spring. I'm lucky I didn't lose the rim too, Edmonton holes are absolutely out of control. The sidewall bulged out, so it wasn't a complete snake bite flat, but you could see where the pot hole folded the tire over the rim. A very significant hit anyway.

I threw maybe 5% of my studs. I'd attribute this to power sliding on ice patches and then hitting dry spots. A little less aggressive driving would probably go a long way. (o:

Tread ware seems acceptable and even. I don't have any exacting measurements for you guys here but there is plenty of sipping left in the tread depth. I'd expect to get four seasons out of these with my aggressive driving. At that point I don't expect much of the studs.

Overall these tires continued to amaze me all winter long and I had a really great time driving in town, on the highways, and in the mountains in the worst winter we've seen in a long time in the west. In SK I think this was 125 year record snow fall this year.

makecopies

I had these on a Saab once and they were great. Pulled me threw the wost blizzard. I would buy them again.