All weather tires with the 3 peaks symbol

This is worth repeating in all winter/three-peak discussions.

Depending on where you live and what kind of snow and temperatures you get can affect what kind of tires you should be using.

I use Blizzaks on my wife's 4Runner which mostly goes on the highway and into town in the winter where the streets are packed snow and polished ice and the temperature hangs around -20 to -40 for months. I'll put General Grabbers ATXs on my Tacoma which mostly runs the rural gravel roads. If we only had one vehicle though I would 100% use a winter and summer combo like on the 4Runner.

 

I don't consider those all-weather. All-season or all-terrain; sure.
All-weathers are more of cross between all-season and winter tires; like a Nokian WRG3.

 

I've got 2 sets of dedicated snow and ice tires for my 2 ride's and would not go back to all seasons ever not here in North Dakota. Once we put the ice tires on my wife's awd Kona it was like night and day .

 

Meh I live in ND and while they're nice they're not necessary. The snow here is so dry that it's like sand. I think the only time one gets good use out of them is the start of winter and the end of winter

 

Most 3 peak tires only have silica for the first 5/32nd, I tried the cooper at3 4s and was impressed the first year, but now at 8/32nd I had to buy winters. No all terrain is a great winter tire, but I can attest that the cooper perform well unless you drive a lot.

 

Thanks everyone! I think the best option for me is to rely mainly on my Subaru with Blizzaks in the winter.

 

That's exactly what I do, except with Hakka's. Driving through anything while 1/2 ton+ pickups struggle to start and stop is oddly satisfying.

 

Ok...it's Monday morning, no coffee yet, but these two statements are really messing up my OODA loop. "Dry" snow, and tires that "perform well if you don't drive on them a lot". This of you that are skiers/ snow drivers - educate me: When is frozen water "dry"? I ask because it seems important to know - moving to a snowy climate soon enough. @Bishop84 - What do you mean by drive a lot? What I read there is this particular 40K mile tire is only good for the first 20K miles.

 

The snow in ND has very little moisture content. It's nothing like snow in the PNW. To average person that's not in the know snow is just snow, but it's not.

 

* deep breath * Blizzaks are trash. Oh sure.. they will work well for the first 8-10k mi, but once the micro cellular grip is worn off you are left with a marginal performing tire. Why do you think ice racers sells their Blizzak take offs?

If you want to be efficient with your time, any of the "3 peak" tires coupled with 4 wheel drive and a smidge of common driving sense will get you through anything.

 

Running in MI winters with KO2 (three peak & snowflake rated). Most of the time I am in 2WD just fine. Our road is not plowed so it starts deep, then packs hard, and has a really fun wall of snow from the plows on the main road - and I have no issues.

 

So Blizzaks work, but they do wear out fast. In reality they will not go more than 6k miles if you don't remove them after winter.

The tire I buy for my kids cars is the Michelin X-ice 3,4, and Snow. These tires work as well as the blizzaks but last 3 seasons(20k-30k miles) without switching them out in summer.

As for all terrain tires in the winter, one of my favorites is the nitto terra grappler G2. Excellent thread blocks for snow and ice and tons of sipping.

 

2nd that for nokians if your budget allows

 

I've had revo's on my tundra...nothing great. After a year they were horrible in winter conditions. The general at2 tires on the same truck were very good, especially in deep snow. They have the snowflake symbol.
If you want a good tire on mainly ice...hard to beat a set of bilzzaks.

 

I went through 15 inches of snow last year in my Wildpeaks without much issue. That was on my 2nd gen though.

 

I have Goodyear duratracs. They are great in snow. Very close to a real studless snow tire, but dont forget that if you're running them year round and depending on how much traveling you do in the summer you will wear down the tread within year or two then lose snow traction. I pulled them off in the spring for that exact reason, plus the slightly lower MPGs and more road noise compared to a standard HT tire.