+1 for WRG3

Find a big enough parking lot and practice your winter maneuver skills (not hooning).

Oh yeah time to max out those tire psi.

In Vancouver, the parking lot at Rupert and 1st should be relatively snow laden. It also have a gentle slope so you can practice both up hill and down hill.. (just watch out for stumps left behind by the city). It would be helpful to do a walk around first to see where the curbs / stumps are. For people really worried, go as a pair of cars properly equipped with tow cable. It is not rocket science, you just need the experience.

Try the car with ESC off first, then ESC on to see the car's dynamic envelope.

You should get a feel on sliding, sudden and steady braking. Throttle modulation needed to get the car in motion. Practice makes perfect.

The key to good winter driving is to have just enough momentum and plenty of space so you can move without braking or extra gas. Also how to react when the car's momentum suddenly swings. That takes practice and the limit is different for each model (like it or not automatics are easier). Winter tires, make that sweet spot, more consistent and easier to find.

I run studded Hakkapeliitta's

Great tires for winter

So this past weekend I found the on-road winter limits for the KO2, there were some very hairy moments driving from Pemberton to Squamish on semi-plowed, slick packed snow with black ice mixed in. In 4WD/Auto 4WD mode it was fine, as the power was split between both front and rear axles, but in 2WD with a LSD the truck liked to change lanes on its own with too much power applied. If I wasn't so lazy and on my Blizzak DM-V2s I am sure that the drive would have been less stressful.

I also need to add more sandbags to the rear...

Has anyone run General Grabbers through a proper winter before? I just sold my Cherokee :( and my new Jeep has a set of those with ok tread left.

7 or 8?

I'm starting to discover the limitations of my studded Hakka 8's. Fantastic on compact snow but slush is definitely one of it's weaknesses.

I've had them on since the 2013/2014 winter... I think 7's? I run them at least 6 months of the year, so they have around 25K on them.... still 70~80% tread left. Pretty good considering the majority of it is on dry roads.

They have a lot of road noise, and sound like you are popping bubble wrap in parkades... but aside from that, they have been nothing short of amazing tires for winter.

I was running Michellen Ice-X on my last DD, and they were really good... but the Hakka's are just on a whole other level.

They will be good in deep snow or even slush, but most MT's and aggressive AT's are basically garbage on ice. As soon as stuff freezes up, you are better off with a tamer AT or all-season

PSA

DuraTrac's are 25% off at CT starting Friday, plus $40 mail in rebate on a set.

Update on the Nokian WRG3 All Weather Tires:

I've used them for just under a week now in about a foot of snow, ice, slush, compacted snow and zero issues with these tires. No slippage or braking issues. Happy so far with these tires especially in winter conditions.

picked up some hankook i pikes in 175/70/13 for the winter beater. skinny chicken leg tires, but ran them for over a week now and have yet to run into any issues. admittedly the roads have been half decent on my commutes thus far, but I'm gonna take her up to cypress this weekend, which will be the real test. only part I'm a little iffy about is the fact that the car has no TCS or ABS - just gonna have to be a bit more controlled with the throttle and the brake

People have survived without TCS or ABS for decades, just don't drive like a looney and you'll be fine. It'll give you a chance to improve your driving skills.

I usually turn my ASC off in the snow. The way it cuts throttle is more of a hinderence than a help when slipping.

I didn't have either for the first 15 years of my driving life. Practice your threshold braking.

I've just started driving the my first vehicle with ABS and traction control, the ABS isn't too bad but the traction control is really annoying in the snow. I'd much rather handle things smoothly than have it cutting in and making things all jerky.

Picked up a used set of Bridgestone Blizzaks LM60 for the Mustang.

World of a difference from summers to winter tires.

But still managed to kick the end a little if I apply too much boost :lol

Will places still have snow tires left over?
I'm wondering if they are any deals on them later so I can use them next year.

I've yet to own a vehicle with either, and I feel like I'm a better driver because of it.

Go have some fun!

Do you find the KO2s aren't that great in POOLED water either? I had a couple sketchy moments on the I-5 months ago during heavy rain.

So far in pooled water I've not had any stability issues, but I did notice that the KO2s slowed down noticeably - i.e. feels like I suddenly had drag/engine braking as the tires tried to clear the water. Depends on how deep it is I guess as I haven't hit anything that's super deep at speed. I've forded a few small creeks etc. but those are all done at walking speed.

There are usually end of the season sale. It really depends on the tire size you use... you have a better chance of getting them from the States as they have larger warehouses etc.

Yeah that's well described as to what they do.

Yes I was taking the pooled water at around 110-130 km/h. It got pretty hairy at some points haha. I basically had to use the far right lane and drop my speed down to 100ish km/h. Even changing lanes through the pooled water became a bit difficult.

Hi, can you shed some light on your vehicle, is it a FWD or AWD. Trying to give some insight to a friend. On a Lexus IS250 AWD, thinking of putting all weather tires like the Nokian WRG3 on instead of dedicated snows.

Canadian Tire is having 20x Canadian Tire money + $70 Michelin rebate (everywhere) for X Ice 2.. Any winter tire is better than no winter tire at this stage.

So basically you get 8% back in CT money.

Costco has $70 off on Michelin too - all Michelins, and the installation is cheaper at $15/tire flat. I'd take Costco tire technicians over Cambodian Tire's techs any day.