Do I need to get winter/snow tires ?

[Benworks]

My 2019 has the Hankook AT-M and I had no issues at all this past winter in Southwestern Ontario. I had to use 4x4 at times but otherwise driving according to conditions I felt I did not miss the snow tires on my previous SUV. I was expecting when trying to have a little fun (when safe to do so of course) that it would be scary but even with as much driving aids disabled as possible it would end up staying in perfect control.

Sponsored

 

[Deleted member 1634]

We had a good smattering of conditions last winter, so I'll add some thoughts. I grew up in the UP of Michigan (where they get 30-33 feet of snow a year), so I'm very well versed in any type of winter driving conditions, from black ice, to freezing rain, to hardpack, to 18" of unplowed snow on the freeway.

The stock FX4 Hankooks are good at: Fresh snow. We've had storms anywhere from a couple inches to 24" at a time, and these tires do really well when it comes to that. 2H is good for most things less than 6-8" if you know what you're doing. 4H is plenty for anything above that. Haven't tried 4L, locking the diff, or snow mode. Haven't needed to.

What they're NOT good at: Ice, slush, loose/well trodden snow. Ice is a real balancing act to get around most times, even breaks loose trying to maintain speed sometimes. 4H helps with that a bit, but I don't want to drive in 4H all the time on patchy ice-hardpack-clear roads. As far as slush and well trodden snow, the tires just can't clear themselves well enough to maintain grip. I'm not sure if the tread isn't deep enough, or wide enough, or it's just the specific pattern design.

If all anyone got was snow all the time and the roads were covered in hardpack for 8 months (like it was back in the UP), or if all I had to do was drive back and forth to work, then the stock tires would be plenty fine. But we take a handful of trips in the winter and don't get much snow here in Northern Minnesota (only 80-100" a year), and it gets darn cold, so most of the winter is spent driving on icy patched roads for weeks on end between snows, which is one of the downfalls of this tire, or any non-winter dedicated tire.

In the end, for me, I rode out last winter with the stock tires, but I'll likely get a dedicated set of snow tires for future winters. That's been my experience.

If you're comfortable doing it, I would almost recommend riding out one winter, or at least part of it, with the stock tires just to see how it does. Then make a decision based on your own first hand experience. We can all tell you what to do, but in the end the best experience and advice is your own.

 

[7600]

Dedicated snow tires are awesome. Once you use them, you will never go back.

 

[Leftcoast]

The Hanooks are crap tires and if you stay on this board, buy the end of the week you'll be shopping for a leveling kit and asking if 285/70/17s fit without removint the crash bars anyway.

I'm not a slave to fashion.
I don't plan on changing them out until I put a lot more miles on them. I'm not in the Sierras in the winter for days on end. I'll be putting more miles on the stocks unless I blow a sidewall off road.
To each his own.

 

[BCRanger]

Heh. Just settled on a Ranger and this is me. ?

I've always put Winters on every car I've owned. As other posters have indicated, I'd feel far safer in a front wheel drive econbox with snows than a massive 4WD rig without.

That said.... I've also been thinking maybe I could find a bit of a middle ground. I really don't want to have to get another big and expensive set of wheels and tires as I don't plan to put that many miles on the truck. And I want to be able to justify replacing the awful stock Hankook's with something better. And for shoulder season I really need a tire that can handle rough trails and mixed conditions better than a pure snow tire could.

The most important thing that differentiates a winter tire from all season is not tread design but rubber compund. Winter tires are way softer which is why they burn up in summer. All seasons get hard in cold which is main reason they become hockey pucks. So... I hunted down this tire:

cooper discoverer A/TW

https://www.outsideonline.com/2365296/outdoor-enthusiasts-these-are-your-winter-tires

Which is an A/T with a Winter compund. Cool, huh? I could throw the Hankooks for the couple of months when it got really hot. Sadly, they seem to have discontinued these.

But... Cooper does make the AT3 4S which has a Silica compound which should make it softer in winter and Canadian Tire just happens to have them on sale right now. Anyone run these?

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tires/pdp/cooper-discoverer-at3-4s-light-truck-tire-4084005p.html

 

[Sashimi_Moto]

cooper discoverer A/TW

https://www.outsideonline.com/2365296/outdoor-enthusiasts-these-are-your-winter-tires

Which is an A/T with a Winter compund. Cool, huh? I could throw the Hankooks for the couple of months when it got really hot. Sadly, they seem to have discontinued these.

Thanks for that link.

I love this part in the article: (emphasis mine)

Many drivers fail to understand that, largely due to the confusing three-peak mountain snowflake symbol displayed prominently on the sidewall of many all-terrains. That symbol is awarded by the U.S. Tire Manufacturer’s Association to any tire that demonstrates acceleration on snow that’s 10 percent greater than a reference all-season tire.

You can probably spot the trouble there: A 10-percent improvement isn’t great. Plus, that reference tire is now decades old and wasn’t exactly a good snow tire to begin with. That makes the three-peak mountain snowflake essentially meaningless.

 

[slowmachine]

Heh. Just settled on a Ranger and this is me. ?

I've always put Winters on every car I've owned. As other posters have indicated, I'd feel far safer in a front wheel drive econbox with snows than a massive 4WD rig without.

That said.... I've also been thinking maybe I could find a bit of a middle ground. I really don't want to have to get another big and expensive set of wheels and tires as I don't plan to put that many miles on the truck. And I want to be able to justify replacing the awful stock Hankook's with something better. And for shoulder season I really need a tire that can handle rough trails and mixed conditions better than a pure snow tire could.

The most important thing that differentiates a winter tire from all season is not tread design but rubber compund. Winter tires are way softer which is why they burn up in summer. All seasons get hard in cold which is main reason they become hockey pucks. So... I hunted down this tire:

cooper discoverer A/TW

https://www.outsideonline.com/2365296/outdoor-enthusiasts-these-are-your-winter-tires

Which is an A/T with a Winter compund. Cool, huh? I could throw the Hankooks for the couple of months when it got really hot. Sadly, they seem to have discontinued these.

But... Cooper does make the AT3 4S which has a Silica compound which should make it softer in winter and Canadian Tire just happens to have them on sale right now. Anyone run these?

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tires/pdp/cooper-discoverer-at3-4s-light-truck-tire-4084005p.html

i have purchased and installed the Cooper AT3 4S, and intend to run them through the coming winter. If the La Niña weather pattern is really happening, they’ll get a good test.

 

[Johnv1991]

I plan on getting Michelin x ice. I’ve always wanted a set of winter tires also to preserve the wheels from the salt and just non conducive nature the winter tends to be for me being able to wash the car. So for that aspect it’s worth it for me.

Also I find the hankooks are ok but I will eventually replacethose with some Michelin’s.

 

[BCRanger]

i have purchased and installed the Cooper AT3 4S, and intend to run them through the coming winter. If the La Niña weather pattern is really happening, they’ll get a good test.

Yep just bought a pair myself, went up 1" to 265/65/R18s. We will see!

 

[slowmachine]

To put it mildly, there’s a lot of crap posted nearly everywhere about tires. I buy nearly all of mine from Tirerack.com. They have categorized performance ratings for nearly every tire that they sell. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but the data in those charts comes from consumer surveys, and is nothing like the equivalent of objective data from systematic testing under controlled conditions. You have to work a little harder to get meaningful performance data, which is available only for the small subset of the tires that they actually test. Another obstacle is that Tirerack separates tires into categories, making it a chore to compare the performance of an On/Off Road AT tire to a dedicated Winter tire. if you dig into the actual measured data for various tire models, you can directly compare aspects like acceleration and braking capability. In controlled testing, the Cooper Discover AT3 4S compares very well against dedicated winter tires, as does the BFG AT KO2.

 

[weasel1]

Good afternoon I just joined this Forum!

I am planning on getting a 2020 Ranger Lariat with the FX4 off road package.
Woudl I need to put Winter/snow tires for our canadian winter ? I live in Ottawa and we get a LOT of snow .


Any feedback would be appreciated !

Thanks !

Cheers
PL

I'm two hours West of you. Snow tires/rims should be here shortly. I also typically get up before the plows do.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Good afternoon I just joined this Forum!

I am planning on getting a 2020 Ranger Lariat with the FX4 off road package.
Woudl I need to put Winter/snow tires for our canadian winter ? I live in Ottawa and we get a LOT of snow .


Any feedback would be appreciated !

Thanks !

Cheers
PL

Dude - YES!

3 Peak Snowflake stamp on sidewall. I’m in Toronto and spend time in Barrie and on Lake Huron in the winter. Definitely Winter Tires, especially in Ottawa and if you head to Tremblant or the Gatineaus, it’s totally a must.

 

[Ajbaxter]

I'm two hours West of you. Snow tires/rims should be here shortly. I also typically get up before the plows do.

Just ordered dedicated wheels and HAKKAPELIITTA R3 winter tires for my winter mountain driving in the Rockies.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

The Hanooks are crap tires and if you stay on this board, buy the end of the week you'll be shopping for a leveling kit and asking if 285/70/17s fit without removint the crash bars anyway.

Truer words were never spoken! ?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I'm two hours West of you. Snow tires/rims should be here shortly. I also typically get up before the plows do.

Two hours? That’s a 36-hour Drive.

Do you measure by time zones or do you have a crazy performance tune you should be telling us about?

Sponsored