Let's Talk About Dedicated Winter Tires

[fredygump]

Are you running dedicated winter tires? If so, I'd love to hear what your favorite winter tire is and which tires you have tried.

I'm still shopping. Still haven't made a decision. My top 3 are Nokian LT3, Nokian R5, and Blizzak LT. They each have completely different designs, and not much information about how they actually perform.

I thought the Nokian LT3 (non-studded) were the ones, but then I noticed that they have less siping than the others. So they potentially have less traction on packed snow and ice? I don't know that for sure, but it makes sense. And ice traction is my main reason for getting winter tires. So back to the drawing board.

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[OminousSkitter]

I ran studded LT3s for years on my previous car. They worked great in most conditions. Never worried about driving over a mountain pass in moderate snow, pretty reasonable traction in shoulder season black ice. If ice traction is your main concern and your region allows them, I'd strongly consider studded.

 

[fredygump]

I ran studded LT3s for years on my previous car. They worked great in most conditions. Never worried about driving over a mountain pass in moderate snow, pretty reasonable traction in shoulder season black ice. If ice traction is your main concern and your region allows them, I'd strongly consider studded.

Unfortunately I can't run studs.

 

[IDontWorkForTheWaterCo]

I've run Firestone WinterForce for years. But when I got my '26 and needed to prep for winter, TireRack had Goodyear Winter Commands on clearance. Couldn't pass up the deal. The ratings were good. I guess we'll see.

 

[fredygump]

I've run Firestone WinterForce for years. But when I got my '26 and needed to prep for winter, TireRack had Goodyear Winter Commands on clearance. Couldn't pass up the deal. The ratings were good. I guess we'll see.

We are definitely spoiled for choice! I'm fairly confident that any winter tire will be pretty good. Definitely better than any A/T tire!

 

[IDontWorkForTheWaterCo]

We are definitely spoiled for choice! I'm fairly confident that any winter tire will be pretty good. Definitely better than any A/T tire!

Agreed. In the past, I used some DuraTracs one winter. Outstanding tire in the deep snow, has good as most snow tires. But deep snow isn't typically what we see here. It's usually 3 or 4 inches, maybe with some ice mixed in and often compacted in some areas. Winter tires are vastly superior in those kind of conditions than A/Ts.

Winter tires account for 50%. The other 50% is experience and common sense.

 

[fredygump]

I don't know how everyone else chooses a tire, but I like to base decisions on tangible reasons!

I know every tire is optimized for factors including cost and intended operating conditions. But we are left to guess what each one was optimized for. It'd be so much easier if they just told us!

The tires I listed were chosen because they seem to be 3 distinctly different designs. Below are my guesses on what each tire is about:

Nokian LT3 (no studs)-- "V" tread, and it has sipes constrained to the middle of tread blocks. So tread is aggressive and tread blocks are stable (i.e. not chopped into slivers) compared to other winter tires. So it seems optimized for loose or deep snow and supporting more weight. It would probably work better in a narrower width.

Nokian R5-- a more normal looking winter tire, but the "arctic grip crystals" are interesting. The tread is less aggressive with sipes running all the way across the tread blocks. So less aggressive. Reviews say it is really good in dry condtions. The grit (crystals) in the rubber is meant for ice traction. So it is optimized for both dry roads and packed snow/ ice traction. Deep snow performance doesn't seem very good. A wider size would may work better than narrow.

blizzak LT-- Not very aggressive. It looks like a commercial truck tire or steer tire, and it has a lot of siping that runs all the way through tread blocks. So optimized for packed snow/ ice. Traction comes down to the compound they use.


For the bulk of my actual winter driving, the Nokian R5 would be ideal. I rarely drive on loose snow. It gets packed down and/or plowed almost immediately. And most of the time roads are snow free.

However, sometimes we have a big storm, and I don't want to get caught out. Last year we had a major storm, and I counted 4 state and county snow plows stuck in ditches near my house beause of that storm. I was on-call, people were calling with emergencies, so I took my car (GTI with snow tires) to see if I had any chance in my work truck (A/T tires). I meant to drive down the highway 1 mile and exit, but the exit was blocked by a jack-knifed truck + horse trailer combo. County truck was in the ditch blocking the next ramp. I had to drive another 10 miles in extremely sketchy conditions to just get off the highway. Then I almost couldn't get back on the highway because vehicles were spun out in the roundabout. It was bad enough I wasn't sure I could get going again if I stopped. I Had to go the wrong way around the roundabout, plow through a bank of snow to get through to the entrance ramp.

My conclusion is that while ice traction is what I need most of the time, there is no replacement for deep snow traction when you need it!

So I'm trying to balance the every day ice traction with the occasional need for snow traction. I can drive carefully on ice, even with bad tires, and be ok. But deep snow doesn't care how careful you are!

 

[Dirt]

I run studded tires on our pickups. But if you can't, then we've used Blizzak on the last two passenger cars with good success in all conditions. We try to use an abundance of caution and always carry a good set of chains just in case.

 

[fredygump]

I run studded tires on our pickups. But if you can't, then we've used Blizzak on the last two passenger cars with good success in all conditions. We try to use an abundance of caution and always carry a good set of chains just in case.

Basically nobody in Minnesota uses chains, but that is something to think about!

 

[Dirt]

Basically nobody in Minnesota uses chains, but that is something to think about!

When the weather over runs our ego it's good to have options

 

[MT-Taco]

 

[OminousSkitter]

Unfortunately he doesn't test ice (OP's stated need).

 

[MT-Taco]

Unfortunately he doesn't test ice (OP's stated need).

Yeah.. I can’t believe someone would post something so irrelevant!

 

[OminousSkitter]

Yeah.. I can’t believe someone would post something so irrelevant!

I tend to like Tyre Reviews. This video is mediocre, and he even admits it saying, "this hasn't been my best tire test. I'm sorry." The conditions weren't great. He didn't test some of the popular tires (like Nokian Hakkapeliittas in any variation. The Nokian he did test isn't available in the US). He didn't test ice. And he tested little car tires not truck/SUV tires. It's just not a great review, and it doesn't seem to match much of what OP was asking for.

 

[fredygump]

This guy is the best source of tire reviews, hands down!

But off hand I have no idea if the tires tested in this video are available in sizes that fit a Tacoma.

He does have a review of the Nokian R5, which was helpful. AND he tested ice performance with the R5. His conclusion is that it was biased toward dry/ wet traction, and sacrificed a little ice traction.

I've looked at his website and found no reviews of the Nokian LT3 or Blizzak LT, unfortunately. He has been doing truck/ suv tire reviews, but yeah, he does more european car tires.

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