What do they know about snow in Finland Also, make sure the load rating is correct. I've heard/read nothing but good things about Nokians for snow/ice, but there aren't many tires E load rated.

 

It depends on the storm, we can get dry fluffy snow, wet heavy snow and freezing rain all in the same storm so driving here is an adventure, especially the hills.

 

I've been very happy with the Cooper M&S's, although I have no idea if they have the flake on a mountain logo. For the trucks that I can get them on, I bought a second set of wheels and run them from Nov through March. They do wear fast in year round use because of the softer compound, but that's what makes them work great in snow and ice.

 

I can vouch for the Nokian's. I have the Hak Q's on my wifes car and had them on the rear of my ranger years back and I didn't like them on my ranger cause I could no longer do donuts and fishtail. but on my wife's car I spend the first three week trying to make the tires spin and I just plain couldn't. They stuck to the snow like nobodies business. they would just push the front end all over (not nokain tires) Also ran the Nokian Vativa's on my 95. not as good as the Hakk's but still good. The cooper ATR is the Vativa's twin brother but they are both made by Cooper.

 

Ace, I couldn't say about the Finnish ? thing. I am no exspert and type even worse. But , In my years of use here in Alaska I found them to stick like, Real Good Glue. With a R&D team set up in a very inhospitable place thou I suppose any corp could come up with a well intended try, and possibly hit the head of the nail every now and then Eh?

 

[ I have a set of 265.75R.16 duler revos and live in west michigan and plowed snow (A LOT OF SNOW) and I love them I had 2 sets of them T/As and they worked great but these dulers look better and are quiter?

 

Last winter here in the NW we had quite a bit of snow for a week and I had on a pretty new set of Yokohama AT+2's, they were killer for grip. We live at the top of a very steep hill, I think some of the maximum grades they will allow, and I was the only set of tracks going up it at the end of the day.
There is another way around that doesn't have nearly the climb, but it's about an extra 20 mins in the snow. There were some unhappy kids sledding on the hil that thought that road was all theirs.

 

I am running 315/75/R16 General AT-II's with all tires fully studded.In Northern Alberta the fun is just starting when the snow flies(usually late OCT-March). The road conditions are as you would expect, lots of low areas and shadowed stretches of road that hide black ice, and if you go off the road the snow piles by mid winter can be substantial. I tow about every week in these conditions and have had no incidents to date. The reason I went extreme on the winter skins is while towing a 28' travel trailer up a grade on a dirt road I tried to stop to shoot a Grouse and as I stopped I began to slided due to the grade all 4 wheels could not bite. Good thing my partner was close behind towing the quads with his radio on, he guided me on to an area with exposed gravel.
This is what works for me you may not need this in your area. I have been running them for 3 years in the winter only, still lots of wear left.

 

Greetings,

I've used-up three sets of Hakkapelliita 10's/LT's on three different vehicles since 1990, last was a Jeep Grand Cherokee in 2003. They are Fantastic but so rare I had to at first order them from a small dealer in Wisconson. FYI, these are PURE Winter Traction Tires and MUST BE swapped come Spring unless you decide to burn them off once being worn-out. Besides, they feel "Mushy" in the warm due to the soft rubber, aggressive/siped. Noisy too until the studs wear out... if studded.

I decided to put a set of dedicated high tech snow tires on the stock wheels on my '05 6.0 PSD 4x4 Excursion EB but I needed an E-Range tire. I was not interested in an AT, siped AT or siped and studded MT tire etc as I've tried them as well as 4-Season tires and they all are a compromise in my opinion. Only a REAL Winter-only Top-Line Snow Tire in E-Load Range in 265-75-16 on the stock 7x16 wheel. The only E-Range tires I could find was a Bridgestone W965 (not studdable) commercial truck/van tire as Hakkapelliita LT (studdable) is only in D-Range in that size. Cooper Discoverer, M+S was also suggested.

I had the same issue with a '08 F250 6.4 PSD King Ranch, truck with stock 20" wheels. The only E-Range tires that will fit the new bigger brakes are a 265-70-17. Hakkapelliita LT, Bridgestone W965 and Cooper Discoverer M+S all are the correct size and E-load range.

The studdable Cooper Discoverer M+S was suggested by another FTE member but I have no experience with these tires. While I am sure they are great tires, I do not personally consider Cooper to be a "specialist" snow tire manufacturer like Nokian (Hakkapelliita), Semperit (Grip) , Gislaved (Frost) or Bridgestone (Blizzak). Other than Bridgestone, these other companies are all North European where snow tires are Required By Law during the Winter for all cars and trucks... everyone. They have lots of practice and a captive audience!

I chose the Bridgestone W965 for the Excursion and the '08 F250 will most likely get the Hakkapelliita LT once it gets colder.

Just my $.02

 

Hi, I have a comment about the Bridgestone Blizzak. My wife drives a 2005 Acura TL, when I ordered the car for her I had the dealer supply factory wheels with Blizzak tires installed. She drove on those tires for 3 months the next winter thay were fine until the temperatures dipped to -30 degrees Celcius (Canada) and the drivers front tire failed and was replaced by new. The same senario again 5 weeks later.....Tire dealers and bridgstone reps all baffled??? The Blizzak is an excelent tire and I intend on running them this winter again BUT I will have them filled with nitrogen this time.

 

I've got a friend that runs studs in the winter on her Grand Cherokee, and the noise wasn't TOO bad, but then again, their tires are a bit smaller than what I'd be running.

Colorado winters are... interesting. I'll go from 5,000' to 11,000' in elevation, and from 45* temps during the day to 0* at the slopes, with 130mi one way to where I snowboard.

I want a tire that's got good grip... actually GREAT grip... b/c one you pass through Eisenhower tunnel on the way out to snowboard, all bets are off - people come flying out of a dry-pavement tunnel to a long downhill that can have 4" of snow on the road... slip, slide, BANG!! I think we saw 20 cars either mashed or on their side last year... people are dumb, so I want to be able to avoid them

Plus, my g/f lives out in the country... pretty far out... so my winter drive to see her will be pretty much 4-wheeling the last 30miles...

Man, why don't tires shops have test vehicles!!! HAHA

 

Well, I have a set of Copper Discoverer M+S (studded) that replaced Blizzak W965 and they are absolutely superior to the W965's, especially on packed snow or ice. They are also considered "winter only" and must be taken off in spring because of the soft tread compound, (not to mention the studs).