Winter Tire Suggestions

[delicaguy]

Mardy: What do you like about the General's?

docsavage: What is your concern about studded tires?

[docsavage]

I don't feel there is any performance gain. On my work truck I run Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT's with studs. This is a similar tire tread on the same roads in vehicles with light back ends. On hard ice (we get lots of this here) the studded tires tend to slip more in braking as the studs lift the tire surface slightly reducing the effectiveness of the fancy rubber compounds from assisting in stopping. With the Nokian's I run on the van, unstudded, the braking on the same roads feels much more secure. The van stops with less sliding than the work truck, the work truck does have ABS, but it doesn't work below minus 20. This is just my personal opinion and everyone's preferences are different. I also sometimes don't put on/remove my winter tires until before/after the stud bans, we often get little snow storms later in spring.

[MardyDelica]

the general grabber 2 tire for me has a nice tread pattern when it comes to snow , sand , small stone. it can also be fitted with studded if you want to put a studded one.
it has a thick sidewall like bf goodrich.
cheers;

[jwfchase]

I live in the interior too (Kamloops), I put the Nokian Hakkepallitta's (studdable, but I went with no studs) on last winter, I thought they were pretty incredible on icy surfaces. I didn't get to try them out in deep untracked fresh snow, but they performed great in everything else. These are my winter-only tires, I get them off in the spring before they really start wearing out on warm roads! Sure, there's a cost to having a seconds set of tires, but I look at it as increasing the life of the tires I use the rest of the year. A few of the recommendations you will get from drivers on the coast are probably more suited to wet/ slushy winter conditions and not necessarily driving everyday on packed ice snowy roads or loose snow... but that's just me!

[after oil]

Haven't run the gambit of offroad tires like Jesse; but did have two Delica L300s for several winters, hers running Nokian Vatiiva AT and mine running BFG AT. So 'ill through in my two Satangs worth.

I've run many tires.

Best and worst for an all-terrain in the rain (slick road) + snow (slushy and deep powdery snow)

1. Nokian Vatiiva AT's - best on rain/slush/icy roads. Soft sidewall flex. Not as good on hard rock/deep powdery snow. Packs easily.

Quieter on the pavement, vans side by side on a iced over bridge the Nokains were far better than the BFGs, withstands use of V-barred chain chains with less 'chipping' of tread than the BFGs, easily the better year round tire of the two for normal use.

2. BFG AT's - good on deep slush/dry roads/logging roads. Medium sidewall flex. Worst on ice/rain and light powder dusting. Packs just as easily as the Vatiiva's.

Better in mud and hard rock, bit better in deeper packed snow, throws plenty of small rocks inside your fender when new, rocks like to stick in the tread and let there presence be known on the highway, may not be the best AT tire but looks good, better tire of the two for high speed (Delica high speeds that is) on gravel roads IMO.

hey kev your gold delica just got a brand new pair of the nokians!


i ran the nokians on my tracker before i got the deli. they seemed fine on snowy highways. in the mountains i lost traction in deep snow and slid into a ditch. i couldnt get out until 9 snow-mobilers came along and pushed me out.

the bfg a/t's i run now were great on my mostly hwy trip to mexico. they performed very well in blizzard conditions on the I-5

[delicaguy]

What are other members thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages of running studs?

Those Nokian Hakapellita SUV 5's are sounding very good.

[jessef]

I don't use studs. The only time I can see using them if you are driving in 100% ice/hard packed snow.

Pavement eats them up and they eat up pavement over time.

[Green1]

Before using studded tires check your local laws, I believe they are illegal in some municipalities... The studs also wear out extremely quickly if you are on pavement, great off-road or on lots of ice, but in the city they'll wear off before you ever need them.