| MaD-X |
I just got my first set of snow tires and thought that I would write a short review on it.
Hankook Icebar W300 (235/65/17 108V - that's right, they are V rated): got it from America's Tire Co (same company as Discount Tire Direct) for ~$460 installed. Tires are $72 each from Discount tires. Installed on stock wheels, replacing Michelin Cross Terrains.
At first, I was bit hesitant to get these, just because they were much cheaper than other brands - like Michelin Pilot Alpins, (quote I got was >$600 with install). You get what you pay for, right? But after talking with a service rep at the tire store, I thought I give them a try.
I ski quite a bit here in NW, mostly at Mt Hood Meadows. Road conditions are not too bad, most of the time, usually plowed snow, hard-packed snow, slush, and sometimes ice on roads with 6% slope. First of all, Cross Terrains are great on snow, considering that they are all-season tires. I've never "really had to" put chains on them, except for one time when there was black ice (we came to a complete halt on a banked road, where many cars and trucks were stuck, and my mdx started sliding side ways for few feet - tires were fairly new too). I put chains on, and things were fine. Crossterrains work good for acceleration and braking, but they're bit weak on cornering on icy stuff (you can get the rear end to come around if you corner too fast). Hankooks are my first snow tires, but I can say now after 2 ski trips this weekend, that they are much superior to crossterrains in all aspects on snow. They accelerate great, brake awesome (ABS kicks in much later, if at all, and only during hard braking), and most importantly, corning is much much better. Wet traction is also much better than crossterrains - they don't hydroplane like cross terrains. It rains a lot here in NW, and I've noticed that cross terrains have tendency to hydroplane when going over pools of water, especially at high speeds, and it just got worse as tires wore out. Dry traction is little less than cross-terrains, but they are so much more quite compared to cross terrains. Seems like these snow tires need longer braking distance with less grip during cornering on dry, but they aren't supposed to be all that good on dry anyway.
Again, I don't have any experience with any other brands of snow tires, so I would be interested in hearing some opinions from those that have experiences with other snow tires, but I would highly recommend these tires to people who drive frequently on snow. If you drive through snow only few times a year, all-season tires may be enough, but with around 20 ski trips a seaon, I'm really glad I got em. Finally, all of this is my own opinion, so don't hold anything against me for anything I've said above. Drive safely! |
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| cmjcrj700pilot |
I still have the factory Michelins here in CVG. We just got 12" of show covered with 4" of freezing sleet. My X was one of the few vehicles moving on Dec 22 at 5:00am. Ford Explorers and Dodge Durangos were stuck on these Kentucky hills.
Factory tires were fabulous |
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| hondacuraworld |
| My only beef with Hankook tires is longevity. Hankook was OEM on the Daewoo Nubira, and for the most part they'd last 15K. |
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| boston |
| Nokian snow tires are the only way to go. Better than the Blizzak by far. |
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| Echo2625 |
The all weather Goodyear Fortera tires are awesome!
We just went through 2 weeks of 12 inches + of snow, ice storms and rain and these tires handled flawlessly!! My wife drove through anything mother nature threw at us with no problerms at all.
Good luck!! |
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| Frumious |
| I had very capable sure-footed service from Hankooks on a previous 4x4. But unlike the Icebar W300's, mine were traditional snow tires with an outrageous number of carbide steel studs (now illegal here). I'm curious how these new studless snow tires perform. In Alaska we get every kind of winter road condition imaginable: deep sticky or powder snow, black ice, rain-topped glare ice (the most dangerous). Like most folks here, I've relied upon studs. But I have been reading some interesting test results that claim that under some conditions they outperform (stopping and cornering) studded tires. Anyone able to comment from experience with both? |
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