Help with Winter Tires

[quagmire]

Im looking for some Winter Tires for an 00 Protege. Can anyone give me any information on some good brands and prices. Going to be getting a set soon and would like as much info as possible. Thanks.

 

[Tom03es]

I did a test drive at the Pepsi Center in Denver during one of the Denver Gran Prix (CART) weekends. They had 2 identical vehicles (Toyota RAV4s I believe)- one with standard all seasons and one with Bridgestone Blizzaks. You get to drive both. You start at the goal line (hockey rink) on one side, accelerate as fast as you can up to center ice and then stand on the brakes to let the ABS do all the stopping. The Blizzak vehicle out accelerated and stopped sooner than the all season tire every time. I'm convinced. Plus I have a friend who has a set of Blizzaks as his winter tires. He says they are great. They wear great and he has never gotten stuck with them- even in a lowered Saturn coupe.

And remember, narrow winter tires are better than wider winter tires.

 

[Donny]

I use Michlein Ice-X on my car and have to say they're fantastic. I ran them all last winter - commuted to and from school (about 40min) and they did fine in all sorts of weather (light snow/heavy snow/ice/sleet/etc.) I ran a set that was 195/55/15.

 

[DiS]

all i gotta say is that michelin is waaaaaaaaaaay overpriced and doesn't perform as good as bridgstone blizzaks on snow/ice. Michelin doesn't even come close to compare. (its pos in my opinion). All you're paying is for the name brand of michelin, which is 60-80 bucks more than for any other tire out there. RIP OFF!

But yea I have bridgestone blizzaks and they are amazing in snow. I thought I'd get stuck in few deep snow spots (considering that my car is lowered) and NO PROBLEM whatsoever. Mind you, blizzaks wear out very very VERY fast on dry surface (trust me I still drive on them since last winter.....long story dont ask)

 

[quagmire]

I'll look into blizzaks. How many seasons you think they will last?

 

[Donny]

all i gotta say is that michelin is waaaaaaaaaaay overpriced and doesn't perform as good as bridgstone blizzaks on snow/ice. Michelin doesn't even come close to compare. (its pos in my opinion). All you're paying is for the name brand of michelin, which is 60-80 bucks more than for any other tire out there. RIP OFF!

But yea I have bridgestone blizzaks and they are amazing in snow. I thought I'd get stuck in few deep snow spots (considering that my car is lowered) and NO PROBLEM whatsoever. Mind you, blizzaks wear out very very VERY fast on dry surface (trust me I still drive on them since last winter.....long story dont ask)

I looked on Tirerack, the Blizzaks and X-ice are priced pretty similiar (88 Mich/89Bliz for stock tire). Only reason I went with them was because GoodYear had a faily new set in exactly my size for half price, so 2 @ regular price and 2 @ half price.

But never the less, Blizzaks are pretty popular.

 

[dnale]

I used hankook 404's last year and they were great. decent mileage on them. I'd give them great props. I think I paid like $50 or $60 each out the door.

 

[maskedSONY]

For those of you who got snows, did you get them for all fours or just on the front?

 

[rickrock]

Toyo!

For those of you who got snows, did you get them for all fours or just on the front?

Only front will keep the grip in straight line, but the rear won't follow when you turn... My opinion is that you need all four tires... Since you need to turn sometimes...

Toyo Observe KX is my pick for this winter... It's a new model so I don't know how they are going to be. They are pricy, too...

 

[wannabe]

all i gotta say is that michelin is waaaaaaaaaaay overpriced and doesn't perform as good as bridgstone blizzaks on snow/ice. Michelin doesn't even come close to compare. (its pos in my opinion). All you're paying is for the name brand of michelin, which is 60-80 bucks more than for any other tire out there. RIP OFF!

But yea I have bridgestone blizzaks and they are amazing in snow. I thought I'd get stuck in few deep snow spots (considering that my car is lowered) and NO PROBLEM whatsoever. Mind you, blizzaks wear out very very VERY fast on dry surface (trust me I still drive on them since last winter.....long story dont ask)

+1

I have blizzak. they are on there 4th winter this year, but they wont make it to next year. i'm very happy with them overall.

 

[wannabe]

For those of you who got snows, did you get them for all fours or just on the front?

always get all four. whenever purchasing tires you want all of them to be the same.

 

[maskedSONY]

Ok, snow tires for the stock tire size sell for stupid prices.

Does anybody know what the lug nut pattern size is for a 2001 ES 2.0? I want to get some steel wheels for my protege, and give her some heavy duty snows.

 

[rickrock]

Ok, snow tires for the stock tire size sell for stupid prices.

Does anybody know what the lug nut pattern size is for a 2001 ES 2.0? I want to get some steel wheels for my protege, and give her some heavy duty snows.

I think it's the same as my 02 4lugs: 4x100

 

[matt'sP5]

I've run both Blizzak Ws-50's and Michelin Ice-X's and the Ice X's performed better in my opinion and they are ultra quiet. You can't go wrong with either. I got the Ice-X's because they scored higher on the annual Sweedish tests. Prices are comprable from Tire rack