Snow/Ice rated all-season tire recommendation

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slowmachine

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Did you also record MPG over that test period as well? That's also one of the things I'm interested/concerned with by switching to more aggressive tires.
I have not done the math with gas receipts and odometer, but the onboard MPG display has been 26-27 for the first 1700 miles, nearly all on 93 octane top-tier fuel. I’ll know soon if there is a significant decrease. We are not far from winter-formulated fuel, and that always reduces MPG.
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My truck has BFG K02’s LT265/65r18

I have had no problems in the sand, dirt, gravel, mud and pavement. Once snow is in the mountains I’ll try them there. I drive 42 miles round trip Monday thru Friday. These tires weigh 51.6 lbs so they are heavier than stock. I’m averaging 21.1 mpg and run 91 octane fuel with a Livernois Tuner. BFG KO2’s also come in the stock Ranger Lariat size of 265/60r18 I read you didn’t want to change tire size. I’m sure someone else on this thread has tried these in the snow. They are snow rated tires.

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I have not done the math with gas receipts and odometer, but the onboard MPG display has been 26-27 for the first 1700 miles, nearly all on 93 octane top-tier fuel. I’ll know soon if there is a significant decrease. We are not far from winter-formulated fuel, and that always reduces MPG.
Yeah, you'd almost have to do back-to-back tanks with the different tires or something to get a real good answer. Or half tank with one set, reset the trip meter, and second half with the other set. No need to do it for my benefit, just wondering if you had is all.
 
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slowmachine

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Yeah, you'd almost have to do back-to-back tanks with the different tires or something to get a real good answer. Or half tank with one set, reset the trip meter, and second half with the other set. No need to do it for my benefit, just wondering if you had is all.
With some miles on the new tires, there seems to be about 1.0-1.5 MPG reduction compared to the stock tires. I was seeing around 27.5 on the dash display, and now it looks to be 26.0-26.5. Not enough to make me consider reversing course.
 

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With some miles on the new tires, there seems to be about 1.0-1.5 MPG reduction compared to the stock tires. I was seeing around 27.5 on the dash display, and now it looks to be 26.0-26.5. Not enough to make me consider reversing course.
Thanks for the data!
 


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Trying to make exactly the same decision for exactly the same reasons. For complicated reasons I will probably only keep Ranger for a few years and I just basically gave away my winters on rims on previous car with very little wear on them. At same time I have never not had dedicated winter tires on my vehicles and I'm super leery of driving in our mixed conditions up here without them. It's pretty clear these Coopers are the best compromise, but sure wish I had benefit of your experience on ice and snow to draw from here!

Curious also why you didn't mount them to the factory 18"s if you're going to run them all year? (I am getting a White Platinum Lariat w/ FX4.)

A month into this process, I got the Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S tires mounted and balanced today. Before installing them on the Ranger, I took a ride on the factory-installed Hankook Dynapro AT-M around a local loop with a sound level meter app on my iPhone. I did the same after mounting the Coopers. I understand that this is not an apples-to-apples comparison, with two different size tires on different wheels, and in a Lariat with Active Noise Cancellation. With both sets of tires, the sound level was 67-69 dB at 55 MPH, in tenth gear, on cruise control. Whether it is the tires or the ANC is anyone's guess, but I half-expected an increase in cabin noise from the more aggressive tread. Subjectively, I think that the Coopers are quieter over the numerous hot-tar-injected cracks in the asphalt than the Dynapros, probably because of the softer rubber compound.

So far, so good. I'm going to break them in over the next 500 miles, and then switch back to the Dynapros until they start salting the roads. Then we will see how they do in the snow. I like the look of the 17" alloy wheels, and may try to source a set of the PVD chrome ones to match my Chrome Package trim.

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slowmachine

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Trying to make exactly the same decision for exactly the same reasons. For complicated reasons I will probably only keep Ranger for a few years and I just basically gave away my winters on rims on previous car with very little wear on them. At same time I have never not had dedicated winter tires on my vehicles and I'm super leery of driving in our mixed conditions up here without them. It's pretty clear these Coopers are the best compromise, but sure wish I had benefit of your experience on ice and snow to draw from here!

Curious also why you didn't mount them to the factory 18"s if you're going to run them all year? (I am getting a White Platinum Lariat w/ FX4.)
it was suggested to me that the expensive 18” chrome wheels might not survive the road salt. My regular wheel refinishing company didn‘t have an answer, so I decided not to risk it. Right now, good used 18” chrome wheels are around $400 USA dollars each, and are in short supply. The painted 17” alloys are about $110 retail and $75 on Craigslist, so that’s what I’m using this winter.

This is not my first set of snow-rated all-season tires. I had a 2010 Tacoma with Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires that did just fine for my needs. I have two AWD SUVs (BMW X3 and Honda CR-V) with real snow tires, and they are probably better than the the Ranger in just about every way for high-speed winter highway driving. I live in a rural area, though, with speed limits mostly 35-50 MPH. According to my BMW trip computer, I’ve averaged 35 MPH over the past 30,000-ish miles of use. I think that the Ranger, even with less-than-optimal winter tires, will do the job. When the family hits the highway to visit family about 250 miles away, we’ll almost certainly be in the X3.
 

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it was suggested to me that the expensive 18” chrome wheels might not survive the road salt. My regular wheel refinishing company didn‘t have an answer, so I decided not to risk it. Right now, good used 18” chrome wheels are around $400 USA dollars each, and are in short supply. The painted 17” alloys are about $110 retail and $75 on Craigslist, so that’s what I’m using this winter.
Wow, maybe I should think about selling mine before I put any wear on them. I'd been thinking people were just dumping them based on postings here. Funny coming from car world never thought I'd see people wanting to trade down but I'd have preferred the 17s too. Not sure I'd be able to sell the 18s that easily in Canada right before winter hits. Hmm..

This is not my first set of snow-rated all-season tires. I had a 2010 Tacoma with Goodyear Wrangler Silent Armor tires that did just fine for my needs. I have two AWD SUVs (BMW X3 and Honda CR-V) with real snow tires, and they are probably better than the the Ranger in just about every way for high-speed winter highway driving. I live in a rural area, though, with speed limits mostly 35-50 MPH. According to my BMW trip computer, I’ve averaged 35 MPH over the past 30,000-ish miles of use. I think that the Ranger, even with less-than-optimal winter tires, will do the job. When the family hits the highway to visit family about 250 miles away, we’ll almost certainly be in the X3.
Agreed 100% that AWD w/ snows is best for highway. We just traded in our Flex for the Ranger... a really great winter car though of course hopeless the moment ground clearance becomes an issue. That leaves the Ranger for winter road trips (not that there will be many this year) so I'm a bit leery of not doing all I can to protect family in mixed driving. The tires don't have to have absolutly best ice traction but what they can't have is sketchy unpredictable break away behavior.
 
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Wow, maybe I should think about selling mine before I put any wear on them. I'd been thinking people were just dumping them based on postings here. Funny coming from car world never thought I'd see people wanting to trade down but I'd have preferred the 17s too. Not sure I'd be able to sell the 18s that easily in Canada right before winter hits. Hmm..



Agreed 100% that AWD w/ snows is best for highway. We just traded in our Flex for the Ranger... a really great winter car though of course hopeless the moment ground clearance becomes an issue. That leaves the Ranger for winter road trips (not that there will be many this year) so I'm a bit leery of not doing all I can to protect family in mixed driving. The tires don't have to have absolutly best ice traction but what they can't have is sketchy unpredictable break away behavior.
I’ve had at least 5 sets of Blizzaks, and 3 sets of Michelin X-Ice. I think the Blizzaks have better absolute performance in icy weather, but the Michelins are very close in performance and quieter, especially as they wear. At highway speeds, I’m happy with either one.
 

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I’ve had at least 5 sets of Blizzaks, and 3 sets of Michelin X-Ice. I think the Blizzaks have better absolute performance in icy weather, but the Michelins are very close in performance and quieter, especially as they wear. At highway speeds, I’m happy with either one.
Yep, never gone wrong with Blizzaks. OTOH made the mistake of buying two sets of Conti WinterContacts year before last because they were on sale and had excellent ratings. Super dissapointed by them or spoiled by the Blizzaks. Funny thing is I put General Altimax Arctics on our beater before that and they were way better than the Contis and nearly as confidence inspiring as the Blizes.
Only downside of Blizzaks is wear but that's only a problem if you run them too late in spring. They are SOFT.
 

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Yep, never gone wrong with Blizzaks. OTOH made the mistake of buying two sets of Conti WinterContacts year before last because they were on sale and had excellent ratings. Super dissapointed by them or spoiled by the Blizzaks. Funny thing is I put General Altimax Arctics on our beater before that and they were way better than the Contis and nearly as confidence inspiring as the Blizes.
Only downside of Blizzaks is wear but that's only a problem if you run them too late in spring. They are SOFT.
Agreed on the Bridgestones and Michelins being awesome, but nothing comes close to Nokian Hakkapalitas. Had problems with too much traction sometimes-would hookup too well in corners I thought I was drifting in......
My problem living in Sacramento and driving up to Tahoe most weekends means I’m either changing wheels and tires 20+ times a year, or running winters in warm weather. I’m not compromising life, or my vehicle when winter tires are a couple hundred more than my deductible.
 
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in the middle of our first significant snow of the season, I went out to shovel the sidewalk and front porch before it gets too deep. It was a perfect opportunity to test-drive the Ranger with the AT3 4S in some deep snow. I’m satisfied with forward and braking traction in 14-inch deep snow. In 2H, the traction control indicator was very busy. In 4H, though, with so much weight on the front wheels, there was more than enough forward traction, and very good steering control.

I took an uneventful 10-mile drive, and the only annoyance was ice buildup on the windshield. By the A-pillar, it seemed like it would tear the rubber off of the wiper blade. The rear glass/mirror heat turns off on its own, and full defrost still allows ice to form in the upper few inches of the windshield. Outside temp was 13F, and inside temp set to 65F. This storm is abnormally heavy (more than one inch per hour) so maybe I’m expecting too much.

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even though it's seriously gloomy weather there is no mistaking a Ranger equipped with the illustrious chrome package , Santa Claus take note !
 

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So ... after a few months on them and now having driven them in every condition; deep snow, glare ice, mixed goop I can 100% recommend the Cooper AT3 4S as the first tire I've used that is actually fully four season capable. Total win for me.
 

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I like and plan to get a set of Pirelli Scorpion AT Plus tires when the time comes. Sorry, no first hand experience with them yet. I find it a good looking tire with great specs. I have run Pirelli's on cars before and been happy with them. This is their venture into the truck tire market. They come in the size you are looking for and have the M+S 3 peak mountain snowflake rating. You mention already looking on TireRack, have you come across these yet?

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...idewall=Blackwall&partnum=67TR7SATP&tab=Sizes
I am seriously leaning towards the pirelli, and new rims. Height is same however I need to speak with my tire guy and see if I can get either a wider tire for stance and appearance or have him point out a safe offset rim in the one model we like.
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