Winter tires

Hello,

I've already posted this on 4Runners.com but haven't gotten much response yet. Anyone have any recommendations for dedicated winter tires to look into for a 4Runner? I've heard Blizzaks and I'm intreagued by the Cooper Discoverer Snow Claw, but those are so new that no one has any reviews yet. Are there any others I should look into? Thanks in advance.

 

Goodyear Wrangler Ultra Terrains maybe ?

 

Goodyear UTs are not a dedicated winter tire so don't even bother with that noise.

I've had awesome experiences with Nokia Hakkapeliitta R3s on my Tacoma. Never stuck, minimal tread wear in one season, awesome grip on snow and ice and exceptionally quiet on bare pavement. Was considering going to LT3s unstudded this year to get a larger size but ended up going with General Grabber Arctic LTs. Getting a good slide was always pretty difficult in the R3s even before I set my sand bags and they never disappointed.

For reference I'm in Northern BC Canada. We get slush, ice, snow, ice rain, anything you can imagine during a winter season we get it. They're a champ in 2.5 feet of snow too.

 

Good to know. I'll definitely keep them in mind!

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I think the plan is to get some K02'S on TRD wheels next year, but in the meantime am looking for a dedicated winter tread.

 

These have worked really well for me.

 

Coopers are not directional and won't clear the slush and snow as well as a proper snow tire.

Blizzak, Michelin xice and Toyo observe are reliable non-studded tires ideal for city and highway driving.

If you plan on lots of highway and rural driving, a studded tire is more ideal. Like a Hakka 9 or a lower grade studded tire.

 

Studs are illegal in Michigan so that's out of the question. I do like a good directional tire, but it seems like a lot of places are going away from that technology. Cooper also works on trapping snow in the channels to improve grip, which I can attest works very well when I had my AT3's.

I will take a look at the other ones you've mentioned. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

I have AT3 4S's now and I've noticed the lack of water clearing, but I've been happy with them for my short commutes. I do miss having a dedicated snow tire and may consider it this year.

 

That's interesting. I haven't experienced that in the 2 sets that I've had. They're also my front runners for my Taco. What do you mean?

 

I just ordered a set of Bridgestone Blizzak dm-v2 with a pair of Replica TRD Wheels in black satin. I have run iPikes, Michelin's and everything I have read points my towards the Blizzaks.

 

I ran Michelins in the winter while I had my Civic. Solid tire for the inclement weather we get in northern BC. Didn't get stuck once in 3 years.

 

Were there any reasons you went away from those? Or did you just want to try something new?

 

I've got a set of firestones for the truck. They work nice in a striaght line but lose a little love in corners.

Woman has blizzaks for her cherokee. Barely got to use them last year so i can't really comment a ton.

 

I always ran Hankook iPikes and they were pretty good but I never felt like the stopping power was all that good with them. In 2018 I switched to the Michelin X-Ice's and I found that these tires work fantastic on hard packed/icy roads but in deeper snow they never really performed well and clogged easily. So after a ton of research, talking with other people with the Blizzaks and running them on my wifes SUV the past two years I have decided to put them on the truck. They seem to be a good balance for icy roads, deeper snow and are pretty considered by a lot of Canadian's to be a go to tire for winter. I did switch from a Tacoma to a 4Runner this year so I wont be able to compare them really but I don't think you can go wrong with the Blizzaks.

 

Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the info!

 

well Goodyear seems to think they are a dedicated winter/snow tire

but you seem to know more than them !

https://www.discounttiredirect.com/buy-tires/goodyear-wrangler-ultraterrain-at

 

It's an all terrain, otherwise known as an all season. 3 peak snowflake doesn't mean anything when the rubber hardens below 7`C. Read the article again - it says "any season" about a third way down from the header.

I'd also like to add that the "you seem to know more than them !" jab is a moot point when this is an article from Discount Tire, not Goodyear.

Here's a link to read up on 3PMS symbols. It describes the testing done for a tire to receive the rating. It tests on medium packed snow and it does not include braking or turning on snow or ice traction testing.
https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=125

 

I've run Michelin Xice on both my 2010 and my 2015 4Runners. Great tire for Colorado winters and mountain snow travel.

 

I've run Blizzak's on my Mustang GT and Michelin Xice's on my Q50 and Accord Hybrid and both worked beautifully. I've owned a variety of different wheel drive vehicles (Fwd, Rwd, AWD/4wd) and I live in snowy/cold MN.

If I had to pick dedicated winter tires for the 4runner, I'd probably go Blizzak's. They've been building an excellent tire for a long time. However, i've come to the conclusion i'll just stick to finding great all-season tires for my AWD/4wd vehicles moving forward. I hate dealing with the swaps, and I find all-seasons perfectly sufficient. I live city center where our roads are salted/plowed regularly so dedicated winter tires are a bit overkill.