snow tires and rims

instead of spending all that money on Blizzaks... (they are expensive) try these Kelly Snowtrackers

Aren't the Generals (at least some model) made by the same company that makes OEM snowtires for Saab? Gislaved, maybe? Or maybe I'm making that up.

Anyway, I have Generals on my 2WD full size pickup and it was really quite impressive last season. I think I had better grip in the snow on the Generals than I had in the wet with my all seasons. They weren't great for glare ice, but nothing short of studs is, really.

The Generals aren't even hakka 5 ripoffs; they ARE hakka 5's. General bought the old molds and rubber compound recipe off Nokian since they retired it and are selling the (I think they are up to) 7's now.

Had my Blizzaks installed today, they are sweet

General is owned by Continental, which also owns Gislaved. The Altimax Arctic is the Gislaved Nordfrost 3 -- same tire, not a look-alike, and not Nokian-based. The Nordfrost 3 was Gislaved's top-of-the-line tire several years ago.

When my buddy's Nokian Hakka 2s wore out on his Saab TSD rally car that sees a lot of winter events, we replaced them with Altimax Arctics: they are equivalent in every way...except they're not expensive. I've got a set, too.

I put the General Altimax Arctic's on both my Mom's 325xiT and my quasi-mother-in-law's Mazda5. Both are very pleased with the performance, sound, and cost. I've driven the cars, too and I am impressed.

I have had 3 winters on altimax arctic tires on my wifes van and she considers it her "snow tank". nothing will stop it. She believes in it so much that I bought a new set of them for my winter beater this year. They are GREAT winter tires. no compromises for snow in these tires. Be glad to have them.

I just put those Generals on my wife's car. Can't wait to see how they do.

On my car I run the older studded version of those Kelly tires. Nothing has stopped me yet, and I have been running those for 8 years now, and 9 years on my mother's cars. My current set is on season 3. LOVE THEM. Kelly is a Goodyear company, IIRC, that is an old Goodyear mold.

Put a set of generals on my wifes Volvo last year and we were very pleased. Performance per dollar spent is excellent.

Blizzaks rock my world. I haven't had the money to try the Michelin ice tires but Tire Rack has them for not much more than the Blizzaks this year so I might splurge.

Anything I've ever had with the General name on it have been very sub-standard for my driving styles so I've been hesitant to try their snow tires.

Studs are great for 1930's technology. IMO they have absolutely no place on any tire that is on the road, ever.

UPDATE: Boy am I glad i got the package from Discount tire 4 MB rims with 4 Altimax tires. Winter finally is here with slop crap and ice and WOW theses are working great. Wifes Forester is dead and she's not sure what she wants so she's been driving the F350 to work (12miles each way) and I the Cobalt (26 miles each way). There more squirmy in the wind but theres a sidewall to them and a nice big tread depth something my cobalts never seen. I'm riding on 215/70/16 not the 225/45/18 that were worn out to the wear bars.

So far so good a wise investment.

Thanks 44

Glad to hear

My e30 currently has some low tread snowcontrols (which are just OK as far as I can tell) and it still does very well at speed in 1" of frozen slush (the worst kind). They don't really help me going up icy hills. I think awd/4x4 and/or studs would be the only thing to save me there.

I'd take old snows over "all season" any day

I think "all seasons" means "all seasons south of the mason dixon line"

I got to try out the set of Falken Espia EPZs I bought last month today... for about $60 (14") a tire, they work excellently.

I have General Arctic's. Just put them on a few week's ago. We haven't got much snow, but due to the wind, I managed to get a 1' snow drift on my driveway. I drove my '04 Civic through it.........and then did it again because it was awesome. I had snow flying everywhere. It was soft and powdery so it probably made it easier. It was still awesome.

this is the first year ever that both my daily driver and my wifes car each have a full set of snow tires.

we've hardly had a flake so far.

Same here my tire have been on since around thanksgiving. If this keeps up i'll be sure to buy them every year! I'm fine with no snow...

I'm on Dunlop snow tires now, but when they wear out, I'm going for those Generals. A guy at work has them on his car, he raves about them. And if they're the same as Gislaveds, well, that's all I needed to hear!

And don't use alloys in the winter. I did, and it was ok, but every so often lots of snow would get packed into them and the car was borderline undriveable. I'd have to get out of the car in the middle of a blizzard to knock the snow out of the holes.

I love the Continental ExtremeWinterContacts I got for my Miata. Very quiet, reasonable handling and (so far) good in ice and snow.

I'll be giving them a thorough workout this weekend at a WinterX event.

The General altimax's are basically the same tire as the gislavid. Once the michelins on my wife's car and the blizzaks on mine are worn out I plan to replace them with the general's.

I just picked up a set of used General Altimax Arctics (studded) for my wife's Golf. Only one season on them. She is quite happy with how they are in the snow.

We have had over 3 ft of snow since Christmas day.

I have a set of 215/65R15 Continental ExtremeWinterContacts being mounted today. The Continental DWSes weren't really cutting it now that the snow is here. The 185/65R14 Michelin X-Ices on my Saturn were always pretty poor on snow or ice, but ride and handle well on dry winter roads. I am guessing the EWCs are going to be more floaty ride with better snow grip. I also like that they aren't directional.

I might soon have a pair 245/40R17 Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D mounted to the front of my Saturn because racecar.

In reply to HStockSolo:

i heart my wintersport3D's. favorite winter tire for passenger car use so far. interesting that you don't like the X-Ice, as they work great on our minivan in the OE size of 225/60-16.

X-Ice's SUCK in the snow!

Good ice tire - but snow - no thanks.

AngryCorvair wrote: i heart my wintersport3D's. favorite winter tire for passenger car use so far. interesting that you don't like the X-Ice, as they work great on our minivan in the OE size of 225/60-16.

Mine are the original X-Ices. It may be that the 2s are better. I like them as all-season, and they even work okay as winter autocross tires--though I certainly needed more tire on the front. The WinterSports should fix that, though maybe there will actually be snow at the next event.

(A short, wide winter tire?)

The used ones I've seen including these seem to have a lot of wear in the middle of the tread. These seem to be mostly used on Mercedes so maybe they are getting pinched onto some stock narrow rims.

Many people say they have never used snow tires with no problems. Last winter I drove my 2011 Fiesta on the stock Kumhos. The car did quite well. Now I have my Blizzaks mounted on Contour rims on the car. I was out yesterday on some icey back roads. Piece of cake. I always say, for the unbelivers, wait until you tried them.