Hey all, new member here. Hi, I'm Cashmo

The winters in my area can get pretty harsh, but bad driving doesnt slow down my ski season. Last year I spent hours driving to places that were under an hour away (had to borrow my mom's volvo for that, too). This is my first winter with my X and I'm wondering if I should get studded snows?

I always end up driving through inches of unplowed snow, I've read here that snow tires are only good for hard-pack. Would studs help out in the fluffy stuff?

My brother tells me the difference is night and day between his old snows and his new studs, but his car absolutely sucked in the snow to begin with (98 bmw 528, notorious for bad winter driving).

Also, if anyone knows the laws on studs in NY let me know. In vermont theyre seasonal (where my brother lives) but I'm not sure about here.

Welcome!



The snow tires typically have deep lugs and siping.

The lugs are for the snow that can be compressed into ridges, which provide bite for the lugs...so, for deep snow, deep lugs work best.

For wet roads/rocks and ice, siping (Little slits/holes in the tread blocks) helps grip. (Studded tires skid on wet roads more easily...)

Rubber compounds that stay soft and pliable when cold help a lot too...regular tire rubber can get too stiff to conform to the shape of the road irregularities, and lose traction, etc.

So - with that in mind, the only thing studs have a real advantage on is ice, and they suck on everything else....but on ice, they really help.

Snow tires are therefore not only good on hard pack (The harder the pack, the worse they will do, because the harder the pack, the more ice-like it becomes...), they are better in powder.

You might want a set of Bridgestone AT Revo's...great in snow and the wet, better handling than the stock tires too.

If you go off road a lot (Or plan to), the BFG AT ko's are great in snow too, but are more durable in rocky terrain (The Revos seem durable as well, but the BFG's are more durable).

Overall, the Revo's are better on road, and good off road....and the BFG's are good on road, and better off road.

If you want to go full on snow tire, the Blizzak's were tested as as good as a studded tire on ice...but they are a Winter tire only, if you leave them on, they could wear out before the next season.

You could click the Tirerack banner above this thread...the site has a huge database of tire reviews and rankings by category you could look at.

Hope that helps!

New York State law states that you can run studs from Oct. 15th to the end of April.

"It shall be unlawful to operate a motor vehicle or trailer equipped with tires having metal objects protruding from the tire tread upon any public highway. The prohibition contained in this section shall not apply to pneumatic tires containing metal type studs, the diameter of which studs inclusive of the stud casing does not exceed three-eighths of an inch and which do not protrude beyond the tread surface of such tires more than three thirty-seconds of an inch and the contact area of which does not exceed three-fourths of one per cent of the total nominal contact area of said tires determined by multiplying the circumference of the outer most edge of tread times the tread width, except that no vehicle equipped with such tires, other than school buses and state or municipally-owned vehicles, may operate on a public highway during the period from the first day of May to the fifteenth day of October, inclusive."

Quoted from:
http://www.nysgtsc.state.ny.us/equi-vt.htm

Thanks for the input.

I definitely want snow tires, not AT's. If I get them I'll probably go with Nokians, used them in past years on small, older BMW's and they worked well. My brother also had Nokians on his old explorer, without them the car just thrashed about uselessly.

I may end up getting a new set of wheels, one for summer one for winter. Still need to think about this one... any suggestions if I go this route?

Hey Cashmo. I live in Upstate NY and I do not think that studded tires are necessary. We do not get that much ice on the roads around here because they use so much friggin salt on the roads. I think a good way to go if you have the cash is two sets of rims, summer and winter tires.

I personally am due for a new set of tires (finally getting rid of the crappers) and will either go with the BFG AT KO or the Revos. Good winter or summer, on or off road, and less money than dedicated snow tires.

Cashmo, I too live upstate. I have never had studded tires so I can't compare them to anything but right after I got my X, I bought a second set of stock rims on ebay and mounted up some Bridgestone Winter Duelers. They have been excellent snow and ice tires. I have about 20,000 miles on them now and this will probably be their last season. The tread is down to around 60% of the original, I think, so the special ice compound rubber is pretty much going, going, gone.

I haven't decided whether I will replace them next year or just get some Bridgestone Dueler Revo ATs and see how they work year round.

I think that if you can afford it and have the space to store them, a second set of rims is the way to go. That way, you can swap your own tires at your convenience. I have invariably had rim or tire damage when I've had a shop regularly mount and dismount tires onto a single set of rims twice a year.