Trying to decide between the Nokian Hakka R3, new Blizzak WS90s, or new VikingContact7s. Prices are descending in that order. Any thoughts? Had Blizzaks one year and they were amazing but they wear out pretty fast.

 

Norwegian magazine Autofil tests:
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3
Bridgestone Blizzak WS80 (new WS90 leverages an updated silica-enhanced rubber compound and advancements in computer modeling for stronger overall performance.)
Continental VikingContact 7
Hankook Winter i*cept iZ2 W616
Yokohama iceGUARD iG60
Michelin X-ice Xi3
Pirelli Ice Zero FR
Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2

 

VikingContact7s killed it in that test. Kind of hesitant on Continental because I had Blizzaks on my rwd RX-8 and they made it into a tank, but the next time around I got Conti WinterContact based on reviews and they were not in the same class at all. R3s are an extra hundred bucks over WS90s but will probably last longer.

 

I'm going with the blizzak80s, I've never owned a car before so I'll see how it goes with these. Never had to have a winter tire before due to always using a 4x4 but these seem like good options and are cheap enough to be discarded each year.

 

Never owned them and always wanted to try Blizzaks, so that's my choice. Have had Nokia, Michelin, Vredstein, and Goodyear German Ultragrips. I got the crappy Xice Xi3's for the LS430, based on a online report, so don't go by those.

 

WS80s are on clearance at tirerack and other places so they are definitely a good option. Saves about 100 over the new WS90, but the WS90 is supposed to last an extra season. Blizzaks, when new, are just incredible in the snow.

Should have been clearer, all of my choices are for new tires but the WS90 and Viking7s are new for 2019 and thus have no real user reviews. Hakka R3 is a proven tire but big bucks.

I'm looking for something more aggressive than X-ice to get me to the slopes on a snow day.

 

I mounted the WS70 and WS80 Blizzaks on their winter wheels on our vehicles on Saturday and did the TPMS reprogramming myself - extremely early in the year but it's snowing right now.

It's hard to imagine the WS90 being any better than the WS80. It would be nice they lasted longer but I've never cared - all the many Blizzak sets I've bought since the 1990's have been incredible and all have lasted at least 15,000 miles when they got down to 5/32 inch and lost their ice gripping layer.

As wonderful as Blizzaks are, any winter tires with the mountain/snowflake certification symbol on the sidewalls would be far better on snow and ice than all season tires.

 

I installed WS90 Blizzaks on Friday evening. It snowed about 8" over the weekend....and I drove perfectly fine going uphill and highway speeds around Denver.

I wish I could attach a video..

STRONGLY RECOMMEND BLIZZAK WS90

 

I recommend summer tires...

*Full disclosure: I live in Florida.

 

Nothing is good on ice except a studded tire.

I run the X ice on 16” wheels and they will be on their third season this winter. I drive a lot and they seem to be lasting. They are also fairly quiet compared to other snow tires. I don't have any complaints about traction, but its flat where I live.

 

I also have WS80's. Excellent snow tire as everyone knows.

 

Had X Ice tires and they were just fine.

The best snows for grip in snow I ever had were Firestones that came on my the car when I bought it. They were cheap tires and just amazing in snow .... but they were a bit noisy.

Have Hancook winters now. Drive great, very quiet, but my LS does run into issues in deeper snow at slow speeds .... like getting out of parking spots !

 

This is great news. Definitely leaning this way. Thanks everyone.

 

I have owned RWD cars and I've had pirelli winter tires, don't remember what they were but they were good.
X-ice are good tires but don't last too long and are noisy.
Blizzak are very good.
Nokian Hakka are the best winter tires I've ever owned I will buy nothing except these.
Fantastic treadlife, insane grip while turning, quiet and comfortable tire.
I cannot say enough good about those tires. I run 225/55r17. HIGHLY recommend.

 

the other thing I would mention and it's a flame war thread on my other forum, true there's no substitute for winter tires, but a 4WD with winter tires is the best. AWD second. RWD third. FWD last. For skiing, it's likely even a CR-V or RAV4 is gonna do way better than a LS430, when all have winter tires. The reason we love RWD cars is for the 90%+ of the time the weather is clear.

As mentioned I put the snows on very late last year and got caught in a 2" snow squall with the LS430 and all seasons. Car was having a hard time on unplowed side roads, and yes I feathered the gas and even pushed snow. Sometimes, I feel people are making this car out to be something it isn't. It does not excel in snow lol With CR-Vs and RAV4s let's face it the vast majority do not use winter tires and get by