BieberNutz

So for the upcoming Winter season I'm considering purchasing a set of winter tires. I've done a lot of reading both on here and TireRack and one of the posts here mentioned a good consideration factor is what the actual snow and overall weather conditions are in your area. Obviously for heavy snow conditions a true Winter tire, possibly studded, are what you should consider whereas light/moderate snow conditions may only warrant a performance all season tire. I live in MD and the amount of snow we see can vary from little-to-none to 5-7 inches (which understandably may still be little for some) so I'm kind of on the fence as to which would be a better fit.

With all that said I'm trying to decide between two tires; Bridgestone's Blizzak LM-32 and Michelin's Pilot Sport A/S 3. The Bridgestone's are labeled as a Performance Winter tire and naturally have great ratings for snow and ice while still having considerably good ratings for other important areas like comfort, treadwear and even dry traction. The Michelin's on the other hand have "good" ratings for snow and ice handling and the other key areas are to be expected for both a Michelin and tire in the All Season category. Price wise they're pretty comparable with the Bridgestone's coming in at about $1090 for a set of 4 in OEM sizes and the Michelin's coming in at about $960.

I guess what I'm asking is for any thoughts, suggestions or recommendations my fellow F-drivers might have when considering a Winter tire selection for our cars (OEM sizes) in a an area where the amount of snow to be expected is pretty much 'unknown' but can expect things like sleet/freezing rain and even just rain mixed with cold temperatures to be a given. Last year we saw temps in the teens and low 20's for several weeks and my concern with the compound of an all season tire in those cold/freezing conditions is that they won't perform as hoped or expected. On the flip-side, is going with a "Winter tire" going to be overkill and potentially provide an undesirable ride (from a general comfort and road noise perspective)? Thanks in advance.

Sylvan

iTrader: (6)

I live in a long cold winter climate and winter tires are the answer, it dosent sound like you need a dedicated winter tire but it is a personal preference thing and what makes you comfortable in your situation I would have an all season.

j3ff

All seasons generally don't perform well in winter conditions. They're basically more of a dry and wet tire. If you're looking for a serious all rounder I'd look at an "All-Weather" tire. Nokian makes a few and have heard only good things.

That being said I live on the west coast and have very mild winters. I used to run winter tires on my is350 but found they were overkill. By mild I mean temperatures at or around freezing and usually no snow. This time round I've actually gone with the Michelin a/s 3's you mentioned. We'll have to wait and see how they perform on the F.

v8sedan

Well, I think that if you're purchasing a second set of tires anyway go for real winter tires, over here in Quebec winter are mandatory from Dec 15 and there is really a difference between all season and winter, as for studded tires it's really noisy and I wouldn't put that on any of my cars, my advice would be buy any real brand directional winters and your good to go, nokian hakkapellita being the best, a little narrower digs better in snow.

BieberNutz

Sylvan, thank you. I definitely see what you mean (that it doesn't sound/seem like I need a dedicated winter tire) and appreciate the reply. One thing that I failed to mention, that is rather important I suppose, is that I just ordered a new set of wheels that will be here in January-February and will serve as my dedicated "Summer wheels" so that in part is what prompted my decision. I will have the flexibility to switch back and forth with ease once those arrive so perhaps with that I may lean towards a dedicated winter tire.

Thanks J3ff. I appreciate the info and recommendation; I'll have to look into those. I did see that brand mentioned in a few of the related searches/posts on here but had never heard of them before. I hope your experience with the Michelin's goes as expected; I'd tend to agree with them as a good choice for you given the climate as you described.

Thanks v8sedan, that's kind of where my head was at and part of what led to my split-decision (with the whole going for a second set). I haven't had any experience with the difference between all seasons and dedicated winters so that's good to know that you saw/experienced an actual difference. Naturally one would assume that would be the case but it's reassuring to hear from those with experience so thanks. Also appreciate the recommendations. Sounds like at least two votes for Nokian brand tires

Thanks everyone!

mikersoft

iTrader: (1)

I live in the same area (NoVA). If you're going to use a dedicated set for the winter season, I'd recommend a performance winter tire (like the Blizzak). I used to run Blizzak (LM-25, I think) on my IS350.

During the "Carmageddon" snowstorm of January 26, 2011, I was one of the unfortunates that left the office too late in the day and the got caught up in the gridlock with heavy snow falling at a rate of an inch or more per hour. It took me over 7 hours to get 28 miles, but the Blizzaks were able to keep me going.. The snow was so deep as I got close to my house that I almost didn't make it.. I was running red lights to keep my momentum

I never want to have my IS F in a situation like that. Last winter, I kept the summer tires on, but left my office early or simply worked from home when there was any chance of snow. I bought an old 4x4 pick-up for this year, so I'll just leave the F in the garage whenever the roads are nasty.

-Mike

lexicon72

I have done it both ways and highly recommend winter tires. Did Blizzak LM 25s with separate wheels on my IS300 for 12 Ohio winters and they worked great. Now have Michelin A/S 3s on both the IS300 and the ISF starting last winter. They did pretty good but it was a mild winter. Have 15,000 miles and 1 HPDE on them for the ISF and the wet traction has significantly dropped enough where I am worried about this upcoming winter. Go with winter tires like the Blizzaks...you won't regret it. They will feel a little spongy/soft but worth it when it snows.

BieberNutz

Thanks Mike! I started looking into the Nokian's referenced above and I have to say, what they're doing/selling as far as Winter tires sounds REALLY impressive! That said, it seems like you either have to go to or deal with specific dealers to get them and it's not all that easy to find both our OEM sizes in stock this time of year. I think as a result I may end up going with the Blizzak's for a couple reasons: price, readily available, quick shipping to my area from TireRack, Road Hazzard protection is included in their price and it sounds like they've been pretty well tested for what I'm expecting to use them for Thanks again!

BieberNutz

Thanks Lexion, also good to know. I was seeing in a lot of the reviews on the Michelin A/S 3's that if you had to run a staggered setup and were therefore unable to rotate them that you could easily expect to get half the life out of the tires, which is I guess to be expected, but seemed like the average was 15k from the reviews on TireRack. Sounds like that may be about in line with what you're seeing/experiencing.?.?. Again, I appreciate the info and recommendation on the Blizzak's. The more I think about it the more I think I'm leaning that direction. Though like I said in my last review, those Nokian's seem to be no joke! Perhaps overkill for what I'd need or at least am expecting to but would sure be nice having that kind of peace of mind wrapped around my wheels Maybe the next set haha

Sylvan

iTrader: (6)

I meant to ask that, if you are going to run summer and winter set ups you might as well get winter tires vs all seasons. I run nokian studded tires but like I said we have long cold winters and most people can't believe I even drive an ISF in the winter at all. So you would be fine on a non-studded nokian or Blizzaks are usually the most common. I went square set up with 235mm all around and they seem to do the trick.

4everkidd

iTrader: (2)

Sylvan and I live in the same city, and i'm running a similar setup on my RCF. Nokian Hakkapoliitta 8 studded on a set of staggered Volk Progressive ME's (235/245).

This will be my first year with a studded winter tire, but for both of my ISF's I ran blizzaks performance winters (lm25 which are terrible tires, and lm32)

If you've got mostly dry winter roads the blizzaks are hard to beat; if you have substantial snow or slush they don't hook up worth ****

Jowett

Look into the Nokian WRG3 series. Full on snow tires lag well behind everything else in wet weather, testing shows this.. wet conditions are a huge part of winter driving.

Zelfiris

I ran LM-60 last winter (could not afford a new set of LM-32) on my ISF and it performed really well. Granted it was not a lot of snow last winter and I did stayed home on the snow storm days. I plan on going through winter again this year with the same set up. My tire sizes are 225/45/19 and 245/45/19

The year before (2013), I owned an IS250 and I used Bridgestone WS70 and drove through a snow storm. It was not a pleasant experience but the tires gripped really well on deep snow.

BieberNutz

Thanks again everyone! These personal experiences and feedback are extremely helpful and exactly what I was hoping to get! A lot of times the feedback you see/read on the manufacturer or TireRack sites are tough to gauge for a number of reasons. I wanted to get personal experiences from those with the same car and who've been through it all so to speak in regards to light and heavy snow storms. Again, extremely helpful so thank you. I think I've settled on going with the Blizzak LM-32's for now. If I remember I'll report back on my experience with them once I've had a chance to put em to use.

akshunj

Go with the Conti over the AS3. I had a bad experience with the AS3 and got the Contis after, much better.