Before Winter arrives, I'd like to hear your recommandations for winter tires.

I bought My 4X4 Xterra this summer. I live in Quebec and drive out to the country every weekend, more than often in less than acceptable raod conditions (lots of snow).

Therefore my priority is to buy an excellent tire in snow at normal speeds for small roads or the hyghway.

Since this is my first SUV, or 4X$, I am applying my car experience which has taught me to buy snow tires in winter. maybe the tires that came with the xterra when I bought it are good enough.
you'll tell me... I hope.

Thanks..

Ter.

The best winter tires you can get for the Xterra are the Bridgestone Winter Duelers 31x10.50x15. They cost about $175.00Cdn each and they are worth every penny. I have them and I love them, great on ice and snow.

Dido, Used the Long trails for the first winter ( maybe a month ) not bad, but not the greatest, tried my BFG A/T's for a month this winter.. no good for our conditions ( they did have a few miles on them though ), moved to duelers and they were great... perfect match for our winters and combination. Can give you the name of the place I got them from.. Nice to have another Montrealer here.. ( you aren't the one I bumped into at the dealer ?? R U)

I use Pirelli Scorpions... Excellent off-road tires that perform well on the road as well. I routinely drive out on frozen lakes to ice fish and its never a problem.

even better from bridgestone...
the "blizzaks", run circles around the winter duelers in the snow!

umm.. aren't duelers = truck version of blizzaks.. ?!

as far as i know...
they're different. the tread alone makes the difference!
check out their website & compare the 2.

Duelers are for light truck and suv's and they use the same technology as Blizzak tires. Here is a like to Bridgestone

[ 08-24-2001: Message edited by: XXXTERRA ]

Definitely Winter Duelers. Much better on snow and ice than the stock Long Trails.

Duelers and/or Blizzaks are only good for a year or so. The special porous compound wears off after about 10k miles and you're left with a basic "all season radial" after its gone.

You're better off (IMO) with a tire that makes a compromise between the sticky tread compound and some wearability... unless you can afford to buy new blizzaks every year. The Bridgestone tire rep eventually admitted this to our roadster club after bringing a blizzak that had been sliced in half to show us the "Remarkable winter tread compound."

Don't get me wrong, its awesome on ice while it lasts, but its not the greatest for traction in wet snow and it certainly isn't any better than a run-of-the-mill Sears all season radial when only 3/4 of the tread is left on the tire.

You want a softer tire for winter use, the blizzaks are like nerf balls. The Pirelli Scorpion (and several other tires) have a lesser degree of porous compound, and they're a degree "firmer" or "harder" than the blizzaks, but A) you don't have to swap them out come spring time and B) you get much more protection for your money in the long run.

YMMV, FWIW, etc...

First thanks to all who responded so far.

I am still not sure that the original debate being all/season vs winter was settled.
Though I must agree that a "soft" winter tire that uses "blizzak like" technology is the best choice providing that you replace them often.
Then again I would like to hear from others who could share with us how their winter duelers or blizzaks handled after a winter or two.

Secondly, and I may be wrong, but the only other suggestions I read was the Pirelli scorpions. Are these true "winter tires" or is "off road" considered like winter in the SUV tire world.

Basicaly i am looking for excellent traction on snowy highway and road at an affordable price.
Winter dueler seem to offer the best performance at the highest price.
What would be the number two choice?

Thanks for shating your thoughts with a first time SUV owner.

Ter

Pirelli makes a tire called the "Winter Asymetrico" that is basically a mixture of the blizzak type compound and soft rubber. Traction is incredible and consistent and they were the best tires I ever drove through a MN winter on my Miata. If you're looking strictly for a winter tire that you will absolutely replace in the spring, I would recommend these. They are MUCH better on dry pavement than the blizzaks and we all know that most winter days DO have dry pavement.

If you want a tire that performs well in the snow AND performs well in the heat (all terrain tire) that won't "humm" or "buzz" on dry pavement, choose the BFG ATs or the Pirelli Scorpions. The Pirellis have a higher snow rating which is why I chose them, the BFGs are a 3 ply tire and are vastly superior in rocky terrain.

The stock tires are "OK" for most situations but definately not spectacular for any one in particular. Where do you drive? How many miles per day? How do you drive? Do you drive in lots of traffic or on open country roads, etc... these are the questions you have to consider before you buy tires.

If you go to the trouble to spend the $$ for tires that are "Specifically designed for winter" then you compromise your ride comfort and safety during those sunny, dry winter days. Its my opinion that if you're gonna spend $$ for tires, get one that will perform better on any surface than the stock Grabbers. FWIW, Blizzaks, duelers, and other "pure snow" tires are rated better than good all-terain tires on "pure glare ice" and "pure packed snow" conditions only. How often do you drive in those conditions?

If you drive your kids across a frozen lake to school everyday, get the blizzaks. If you live in the country and they don't plow the roads very often, get the asymetricos. If you want to get around much better than stock in the rain, snow, mud, or pavement, get the Scorpions or the BFG ATs. If you want to learn more about tires, tread compound, rating, testing, etc, go to www.Tirerack.com.

It is true that you can clearly feel the difference in the way the Winter Duelers handle on dry pavement compared to the stockers or any non-snow tire. They are much softer and I was uncomfortable until I slowed down a bit, particularly cornering. I can also see that they won't last that long.

My solution was to buy a second set of rims on ebay to mount the snows. I'll use them for the worst three months or so. When my stock tires die, I'll probably replace them with the Pirellis.