kaizmauka

Hey everyone, so I am looking to get Winters put on my 2001 LS430 soon. There are so many options, but I have narrowed the options down to 3 or 4 major brands (although I am open to suggestions).
Basically for me price is not so much an issue as tires are so essential so what is a few hundred dollars more if it means a much better SAFER tire? Of course safety comes first.

Anyhow...I am running the 7 spoke stock chrome 17's...tire size is 225/55/R17.

I am in Canada and this is what I have been quoted for a few popular brands.

1. Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 - $194 CAD each
2. Michelin X-ice - $183 CAD each
3. Nokian Nordman 7 (studdable) $170 CAD each
4. Nokian Haka series......................$200 CAD and up.

Many many more....including Pirelli, Dunlop, Goodyear etc. etc.

From what I hear everyone recommends the Blizzaks...but maybe that is overhyped? I have read on this forum that the X-iCE 3 makes a lot of noise on the LS430?

Also, note that I live in Vancouver BC and we do not get very much snow....given that the roads will typically be between 40 and 50 degrees F in the winter and WET...will the snow tires perform better than all seasons in these conditions?

Cheers

RushNatU

kaizmauka

Thanks for the reply, yes X-ICE was certainly my first choice....simply because I have always ran Michelins on my car (it's on Primacy MkV4s right now).
The guy at the tire store here told me that Michelin no longer makes good tires (but he might be full of it, not sure) But apparently they aren't as good as they used to be according to this guy.
But hey, I am totally a Michelin fan...might just have to go with the X-ice. But how loud are they, i mean compared to other winter tires? You only have compared them to all-season.

caddylover

we run blizzaks on the wife's Toyota Sequoia SR5 RWD and they are incredible. Night and day different from the General Grabbers she has on during the spring, fall and winter. And the Generals are a great tire on this SUV

warminwisc

X ice 3 are h rated. Not sure anyone else makes an h rated snow

kaizmauka

Blizzak WS80 are also H rated....I don't think that it is so uncommon.

StanVanDam

My X-Ice Xi2 are fantastic, been using them for the past 9 winters in Ottawa. I am sure the Xi3 are even better. Since you are in BC, I would consider the Michelin CrossClimate Plus (not the original CrossClimate), so you would only need 1 set of tires for both winter and summer.

Stu

Firestone Winterforce are the best winter tires I used on my LS. Better than Michelins XIce and better than the Hancook IPikes. They are kinda noisy on dry pavement but the grip in the snow was really amazing

caddylover

do you guys find that when you use snow tires that there is more "float" when you drive?

kaizmauka

Was not aware of the Crossclimate Plus, my only question would be how well they perform in alpine conditions. It does not snow much in Vancouver, but when it does snow or when I drive up to Whistler I will want to have tires that can get me there safely.
These would be all weather tires, not true winters...but perhaps that is all i need...not really sure? Have you used these tires?

StanVanDam

No "float" or anything different from my summer tires (Primacy MXV4 H-rated)

Never used Crossclimate Plus, and still have several seasons left on both sets of tires, but when I am due for new tires, I will definitely consider them. More info at http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article...imate-Plus.htm

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Mi...imate-Plus.htm links to several reviews.

2018 AZ Summer AND All Season Tyre Test - 1st of 9 tyres

• Overall - As the most "summer tyre like" of the all season tyres, the CrossClimate+ wins its category. It is however the most expensive tyre on test.

2018 Auto Bild All Season Tyre Test - 4th of 12 tyres

• Positive - Safe handling in the wet and dry, best wear on test, very good price to performance ratio.
• Negative - Average curved aquaplaning, average snow cornering.

2018 Auto Express Winter Tyre Test - 2nd of 10 tyres

• Positive - Better than all the winter tyres in the dry, strong in the wet and best snow braking result on test.
• Negative - None mentioned.

kaizmauka

There's no doubt that these crossclimate + tires are popular in the UK...just watched a few videos on Youtube, looks like this tire is great for places that get mild winters, but will also do well in alpine climates (but nothing super extreme).

My big question is how do Winter tires perform compared to All seasons in dry and wet braking with temperatures under 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees F)?
Given that most of my driving will be in the range of 32- 50 degrees F, but mainly rain...less snow....maybe dedicated winter tires are going to take away performance when roads are dry or wet...as they are essentially designed for snow in mind. So how do they behave when it is not snowing?

Let us consider a situation.... Road temp: 45°FCondition: Wet ....Bridgestone Blizzak WS80, Xice3, or an "all weather" like the CrossClimate +?

Given that we are dealing with the temperature at which winter tires shine (below 45 F or 7C),,,,will the winter tires still provide better braking on wet cold roads than All weather tires that are not so much designed for snow in mind?

Johnhav430

Actually the opposite, the snows are taller and skinnier. I got caught yesterday without my snows, and my car drove ok on treated roads, but once I got to my neighborhood, it reminded me of the days when I drove a Porsche with summer tires in snow. Back end simply goes sideways. It's quite an interesting problem, nobody has it anymore because people don't generally have RWD cars, it's AWD and some FWD. I was thinking in the AM, I saw a couple of X5's with the 315's in the rear, and an X6. Those cars would be terrible despite AWD with those tires.

If I could do it again I would try Blizzaks. I get with tires we somehow want to find "the" tire that does it all. I have X-ice Xi3's, and they are so loud, I thought I had a problem with my rear diff. Because I slapped them on within 3 wks, of getting the LS. I used to run Hakkapeliitta 1's, studded on my Volvo. Then 10's, with eco studs on the Volvo. The 1's with studs were great, but in this day and age, imho it costs more to buy the less mainstream tires. If I'm not mistaken, even Vredestein is still around, my parents used to use them when I was a kid.

2KHarrier

Yes, especially on the 2001 I had. The snows were the same size (255/55/17) and I definitely felt the car driving differently with the snows.

The 2005 has Nokian something-or-others and it doesn't feel too different from summer tires.

Johnhav430

Is 255 a typo....stock 18's are 245's, and when doing -1 to 17:, we drop to 225's...vehicle in general drives terribly on dry pavement, of course. All season does better there. That's why I prefer to leave the snows on for as short a duration as possible, and got caught yesterday without...