Thanks for the info! I found the link to the test: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests...y.jsp?ttid=193

Picked up 215/60r16 Haka R2s in the US from Discount Tire by phoning in and getting them to pricematch other retailers on eBay. They sell them for $149 USD a piece vs $170 CAD at Kaltire which alone wasnt a good deal at all. But I managed to get them down to $110 USD each shipped to Blaine. Blows Kaltire's monopoly out of the water.

If you can find the R2 sizing on Discount Tires eBay site, you get $100 off $400 purchase which sweetens it even more. Yes I know you "Potentially" pay taxes but if you head down for a day or two chances are slim.

Got mine on last week after it hailed all over South Surrey/White Rock.

I just went to CT and ordered the WinterContact SI. I booked an appointment to get them mounted and balanced later this week. Cost me $87 for mount/balance, tire disposal fee, and shop supplies fee. I probably could have saved money by just picking up the 4 tires and getting it installed elsewhere, but whatever. Time is money too. Don't want any more hassle.


I'll wait until temps are consistently below 7°C, and I mean as in it's that cold when it's during the day, and closer to freezing at night.
https://i.imgur.com/O87BXpS.jpg

IMO, It's "Too soon, Junior"
But if you don't want to work in the cold (if you DIY) or have even longer line ups, it wouldn't hurt to get it done earlier. Once it gets cold enough like in mid-late Nov, I can imagine lineups for wheel installing will be even worse than now.

This thread gets more views than the snowboarding one, so im going to ask in here.

Yes I'll have winter tires, but how are the roads to any of the interior mountains (big white, silverstar, hemlock, rev, etc) and mt. baker in terms of vertical car clearance? Or irrelevant because all the roads are typically paved. For example, will a stock height sedan run into any issues vs a stock height suv (both having winter tires).

I can only comment on Big White, but I've seen a lowered VW up there. They're usually good about plowing it, the only spot I imagine you might have problems is the parking lots since they're just dirt with plowed snow on top but even those usually aren't bad. I'd suggest avoiding the Black Forest (last) parking lot in a car though.

I just got these installed on my Accord. My initial impressions on the drive home are that they are superior to the Dunlop Wintermaxx on wet weather performance. It took a lot more effort to break them loose and cornering ability was more confidence inspiring rather than treacherous. Mind you the Wintermaxx are 4 winter seasons old and wet weather performance greatly diminished year by year. Another thing to note is that the WinterContact SI are also much quieter on road. I will post an update once we get deeper into winter.

I’d say hemlock is not acceptable for a lowered car. It’s a gravel road similar to an FSR but more beat up due to the snow plows that run on it. And I believe you NEED chains regardless of whether you have winter tires or not. I may be wrong on the last point, haven’t been there in two years *edit* chains in the car, not necesssrily installed

Anyone have experience with Antares tires? Reviews look pretty good online. I just found out my WRG2s have a slash in the side wall (and are 9 years old), so I'm in the market for tires.

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Can only comment on Sun Peaks and Big White, but they are fine with a lowered car (had VW GTI with coil-overs), and generally well-plowed as they want to keep their clientele safe.

I had tons of fun with my GTI at 2AM in the morning, hooning and taking the corners way too fast. Definitely good learning some car control on packed snow.

Been to mt. baker multiple times, no problems in my lowered accord with snow tires.

$110 USD is currently $140 CDN. If Kaltire is charging $170, I dunno if that exactly blows it out of the water. Especially if you could potentially be charged with duty coming back up. And the time to go down and pick them up.

Totally lol. Plus you get warranty thru kal tire. Better to keep your money in Canada anyways.

Nokian's tires are made in the US. Until Trump nixes NAFTA, you won't have to pay duty on them. GST/PST on the other hand yes. I'm not sure where the tires ended up getting sourced from but you might have to pay the local sales tax as well which might even out any savings. Since JordanLee mentioned $110 shipped, I'm assuming this with taxes, shipping, etc included.

Assuming that he's not paying taxes after staying a couple of days, $110 ($140CDN) vs $170+taxes ($190CDN) means he's saving $200. For $200, I think it might be worth it.

If you want them as cheap as possible but still want a warranty I'd order them from PMC and pay the extra couple bucks for the road hazard coverage. For a vehicle I take on road trips I'll stick to Costco as much as possible (Kal Tire as the backup choice) for the warranty and availability. Most places you go you're close to one of those shops.

On sort of a side note I went offroading with a couple buddies yesterday, we weren't expecting to find snow so two of us stayed on newer BFG KM mud tires (M+S rated) and the other had some fairly worn proper winters (25% front, 50% rear). It was good to test out the tires at low speeds and see just how bad they were on snow. The results made it very clear, the Jeep on worn out winters never had a problem and both Jeeps on mud tires got stuck going up different hills that really weren't very steep. At one point my Jeep just started sliding straight backwards and there was nothing I could do to stop it, which was a bit alarming.

This morning the brand new KO2's went on, which I'll be much more comfortable on when it snows.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4443/2...4b2a8237_b.jpg
tirerack special

18x8 Black Painted MOTEGI RACING MR118 +32mm
225/45R18 Continental WinterContact SI

Did you get taxed?

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Forgot to mention I qualified for the $100 off 400 promo after the fact :ahwow:

Dude on the phone hooked it up and let me buy them through eBay. Retail was 110 USD each, 440 total - 100.

Unreal deal. Heading to Portland this month and will bring them back tax free.

I priced out tires on costco.ca, they add Tire Installation ($60) and Tire Levy ($20) and then tax. But is the Order Total the final cost including putting the tires on rims I provide and putting them on the car? Balancing? Or when they call you to make an appointment, they will tell you the additional costs after? Never purchased from Costco before, thanks!

haven't provided them with wheels not already on the hubs but I'm assuming it's the same...your online total is it

That's an awesome deal. I got a set of WS80's for my folks last year for about the same price and had the $100 off too. Also got them mounted and balanced while I was down there since it was cheaper and I didn't have to fight for an installation time.

My old neighbourino! Heh motegis on a c43 :fullofwin:

Speaking of Costco... my tires arrived last week. Costco and I have been playing phone tags. Richmond never pick up their call for an appointment. Should I just "show up"?

I just jumped on this deal too. Picked up a set of Altimax Arctic 12's for $344 USD.

The roads leading up to the mountain resorts typically tend to be clear, or at least kept to a minimum amount of snow on the road. Where you'll come across an issue is the highways leading up to the mountains, especially those where you have to hit the Coquihalla first (Sun Peaks, Revelstoke, Big White, etc.) While the 5 and 97c are regularly plowed and maintained, it's not uncommon for either highway to get large dumps of snow. I almost got my old Nissan Pathfinder high centered late one night near the Coquihalla Summit from the amount of snow that was dumping. 97c around the mine can be a crapshoot at times as well when it comes to ground clearance.

Just an FYI.