My family and I just moved from South Florida to Tennessee and having never experienced "winter" before we're excited to to find some snow to play in when the time comes. I've got a spare set of 15" wheels (205/70/15 stock tire size) for my wife's awd CRV that I'm planning to mount some winter tires on. I'd like to find some tires can throw on, drive a couple hours, play in some snow, and drive back without dying, getting stuck, ruining tires, or otherwise having a bad time. (Not trying to explore the artic tundra in January or anything, I just want to smash my 5 year old with a snowball.)

I've looked a few times at winter tires and I'm pretty much lost as to what I need. I'm assuming just a basic entry level winter tire would be more than sufficient, but I was hoping you guys could provide some insight into what may be the best option. Does something like this sound like it'd do the job? Or are their other better options?

 

It's been a while since I've had to deal with "real" snow, so my input might be out of date.

Back in the day, Bridgestone Blizzak's were the schiznit. Slap those puppies on and you can get through just about anything up to (and sometimes including) bottoming out in snow. I had several pairs that got me through any number of Michigan and north Indiana snows. Second were Michelin X-Ice's, they worked almost as good as the Blizzaks, but lacked a little on road ice. I have no idea if other companies have caught up in the 7 years since I needed serious snow tires, but I'm sure someone else will chime in.

 

General AltiMAX Arctic 12's are what I bought two years ago. They came highly recommended and have served me just fine.

 

I rolled on the previous generation of these, the altimax arctic (not the 12, dunno if the difference as they look the same). I also briefly used firestone winterforce tires and preferred the generals. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the altimax's and plan on picking some up for this winter too. It's laughable what you can drive through with a good set of winter tires.

Another thing to keep in mind which seems counter intuitive but consider going narrower in tire selection then you usually would. A thinner tire will help it cut down into the snow/ice while a wider tire will want to float more on top of the snow.

 

This ^! For winter tires, narrow is good.

I used to drive 50 miles one way to work when I was in Michigan. People would say to me, "You went IN TO WORK!" on some days. I only got stuck once, and that was on I-94 outside of Ypsilanti in a driving snowstorm. I high-sided following some tire ruts and got stuck. 15 minutes with a folding shovel (that I always kept in the trunk in winter) and I was back on the road again.

 

Michelin x-ice is my go-to for sure. I've been trying different ones for years and I like these the most. Blizzacks are second best but their "warm and sunny day" handling sucks. Something you'll probably see in Tennessee.

I think I'm going studded this time. It will be my first and I'm excited to see how it goes. And perhaps what the ticket will be like.

 

I forgot about that! The Blizzak's are AWFUL on dry, warm roads. They are squirmy, and the handling characteristics are "adventurous" to say the least. They are also noisy and squirmy under side loads - you won't post FTD at an autocross on them, no matter how good your suspension is.

 

I thought the Hakkipileeltakliaaa were generally regarded as the best winter/snow tires.

But I don't every have to use them and have driven 200TW tires in snow and slush out of necessity.

 

Altimax Artics are the best budget one and have OK dry road handling.

Firestone winterforce are similar, but get noisy as they age.

Blazzaks are if you never want to have issues in the snow/ice ever. These are the only ones that really work on ice. They feel like baloons in the dry and evaporate any time it is above 50F though.

We had the x-ice on my sister's car and they were ok in thin snow. Deep snow they were worse than the artics.

 

Thank you guys for the help, I really appreciate all the advise and suggestions.

 

I use these on my Subaru Outback and it's pretty much unstoppable . I like them better than the Blizzacks