Winter tires acquired

[inlinev]

I just cleared 19 inches of snow off my driveway. I should have made the first pass with my snow thrower sooner as the opening is only 18 inches tall...It's still snowing heavily.

Anyway, after the driveway was cleared I took the car out for a quick spin. The roads had about 4-5 inches of snow on them. Had no issues getting around in the test drive I took. I was able to force the car into ABS braking but the vehicle felt in control and kept moving in a straight line. I made it up my road which I'd say is on a 7% incline with no issues.

Going up a very brief 15% incline with 5 inches of snow, the front wheels were spinning the entire time with the traction control kicking in. I kept my foot on the gas and it climbed at about 10 mph. That was the most surprising part, I thought for sure that was it. One thing I can say, the traction control did a very good job. On my Honda Accord, the traction control is very aggressive, cutting too much power and making climbing difficult.

 

[kdaug]

That is what I was going to get until I spoke with a friend of a friend that works at a tire center that sells all the major brands. While the WS80 scores just about the best ratings brand new, he said that after a year or two of wear, they perform way inferior to the other top competitors. It's difficult to find reviews from people online that can directly compare one brand vs another after the 2nd year of use.

I have run Michelin X-ice on previous vehicles but went with the Blizzak WS-80's when I bought my CX-5. I have just been through my second winter on them and they still work perfectly.