Had a warm weekend and the snow melted:thumb:. Cold again now though. We had a big blizzard at the end of December and got to test out all of the new snow tires. Most performed well.
I never knew about modern snow/ice tires until I started working at a tire shop a few years back when still in high school. November rolled around and we started working 7-7 doing 200+ tires a day swapping snow tires on cars or putting new snows on in addition to those just getting new all seasons. I couldn't believe the amount of people who did use them. I thought it was a luxury and a bit of a "belief". Kind of like the 3,000 mile oil change, I figured people just thought they needed them. While I am sure that is true to some extent still, once I broke down and tried a set a couple years later I was sold.
The first set I put on our 06 TDI Jetta. They were Firestone Winterforces. They were impressive at the time so a couple years later I got a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS60s for my TDI Jetta. That year (2011/12) we got barely any snow up here in WI. We also bought a new Blizzard plow for the pickup that year and my cousin bought a new snow plow. Hoping to get lucky again, I put snow tires on a lot of other vehicles this year. Aside from the Blizzard we still havent gotten much snow so it must be working. Being a dairy farmer, we have to plow, but don't plow for profit so the less snow to deal with, the better although this year we needed the moisture.
The tire dealer I worked at was B/F Stone exclusive so I ended up with a bias towards them and against goodyear. I've now turned into a Michelin fan primarily as they offer some of the best tires for Ag, Construction and Commercial Trucks. I now have us set up with a fleet account through them as well which allows you to buy tires direct at lower pricing with many other nicer features. Their car tires are very nice as well, however their pickup tires lack in traction. They wear like Iron, but we needed traction. Our 2011 had their LTX AT2s and they went for 50,000 pulling trailers and such.
I ended up putting a set of Bridgestone Blizzak W965's on our 03 Dmax which has the Blizzard plow on it. Those tires have been very impressive. They don't look like much, but they bite hard. They just keep going. Instead of digging a hole like an MT they just pack the snow down and drive on top in a way. They don't make the Blizzaks for 18" rims yet so we had to put Firestone Winterforce LT's on the 2011. They also have great traction, but are very noisy and throw rocks like no other. Now with 7,000 miles on them they are showing their poor wear charecteristics which was expected though being that they are Firestones which are known for poorer performance when compared to Michelin and Bridgestone. However the pricing also reflects that as well.
The Winterforces on the Jetta are holding up well on their 3rd year(skipped putting them on last year) and the Blizzaks on my Jetta are also working good. In addition to those I put a set of Michelin X-Ice Xi3's on my Fiance's Mustang. She doesn't let me play with them much (the tires) but the little bit I have, they bite the ice like no other considering its a lightweight RWD car.
The worst part about the winter tires is confidence. While I haven't pushed any of them to the point of getting stuck or crashing due to "thinking I can make it", I am sure the day will come.
Pics are always fun. So I'll post some. Sorry for being a Tire Geek.
Firestone Winterforce's on 06 Jetta TDI
Bridgestone Blizzak WS60's on 00 Jetta TDI
Michelin X-Ice Xi3's on 06 Mustang
Bridgestone Blizzak W965's on 03 Dmax
Firestone Winterforce LT's on 11 Dmax
Michelin XDN2's on 07 Kenworth T600. Snow rated tire, performs fairly well for a semi tire.
Michelin X-Works XDY's on 01 Freightliner. Put these on just before the snow. They don't do very good on ice but deep snow they do alright. Bought them mainly for mud in the fields and such.
And just a picture of the tractor I spent all night in during the Blizzard pulling cars/trucks/semis etc out. Moved about 30 vehicles with it, pulled out the county grader and even took it down the interstate that night to avoid the deep drifts on the backroads. Tires are Michelin Agribibs on the rear and Michelin Omnibibs on the Front.
Picture this summer when it was brand new.
Well its been fun. Thats all for now.
I never knew about modern snow/ice tires until I started working at a tire shop a few years back when still in high school. November rolled around and we started working 7-7 doing 200+ tires a day swapping snow tires on cars or putting new snows on in addition to those just getting new all seasons. I couldn't believe the amount of people who did use them. I thought it was a luxury and a bit of a "belief". Kind of like the 3,000 mile oil change, I figured people just thought they needed them. While I am sure that is true to some extent still, once I broke down and tried a set a couple years later I was sold.
The first set I put on our 06 TDI Jetta. They were Firestone Winterforces. They were impressive at the time so a couple years later I got a set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS60s for my TDI Jetta. That year (2011/12) we got barely any snow up here in WI. We also bought a new Blizzard plow for the pickup that year and my cousin bought a new snow plow. Hoping to get lucky again, I put snow tires on a lot of other vehicles this year. Aside from the Blizzard we still havent gotten much snow so it must be working. Being a dairy farmer, we have to plow, but don't plow for profit so the less snow to deal with, the better although this year we needed the moisture.
The tire dealer I worked at was B/F Stone exclusive so I ended up with a bias towards them and against goodyear. I've now turned into a Michelin fan primarily as they offer some of the best tires for Ag, Construction and Commercial Trucks. I now have us set up with a fleet account through them as well which allows you to buy tires direct at lower pricing with many other nicer features. Their car tires are very nice as well, however their pickup tires lack in traction. They wear like Iron, but we needed traction. Our 2011 had their LTX AT2s and they went for 50,000 pulling trailers and such.
I ended up putting a set of Bridgestone Blizzak W965's on our 03 Dmax which has the Blizzard plow on it. Those tires have been very impressive. They don't look like much, but they bite hard. They just keep going. Instead of digging a hole like an MT they just pack the snow down and drive on top in a way. They don't make the Blizzaks for 18" rims yet so we had to put Firestone Winterforce LT's on the 2011. They also have great traction, but are very noisy and throw rocks like no other. Now with 7,000 miles on them they are showing their poor wear charecteristics which was expected though being that they are Firestones which are known for poorer performance when compared to Michelin and Bridgestone. However the pricing also reflects that as well.
The Winterforces on the Jetta are holding up well on their 3rd year(skipped putting them on last year) and the Blizzaks on my Jetta are also working good. In addition to those I put a set of Michelin X-Ice Xi3's on my Fiance's Mustang. She doesn't let me play with them much (the tires) but the little bit I have, they bite the ice like no other considering its a lightweight RWD car.
The worst part about the winter tires is confidence. While I haven't pushed any of them to the point of getting stuck or crashing due to "thinking I can make it", I am sure the day will come.
Pics are always fun. So I'll post some. Sorry for being a Tire Geek.
Firestone Winterforce's on 06 Jetta TDI
Bridgestone Blizzak WS60's on 00 Jetta TDI
Michelin X-Ice Xi3's on 06 Mustang
Bridgestone Blizzak W965's on 03 Dmax
Firestone Winterforce LT's on 11 Dmax
Michelin XDN2's on 07 Kenworth T600. Snow rated tire, performs fairly well for a semi tire.
Michelin X-Works XDY's on 01 Freightliner. Put these on just before the snow. They don't do very good on ice but deep snow they do alright. Bought them mainly for mud in the fields and such.
And just a picture of the tractor I spent all night in during the Blizzard pulling cars/trucks/semis etc out. Moved about 30 vehicles with it, pulled out the county grader and even took it down the interstate that night to avoid the deep drifts on the backroads. Tires are Michelin Agribibs on the rear and Michelin Omnibibs on the Front.
Picture this summer when it was brand new.
Well its been fun. Thats all for now.
