Looking for the Best Tires for Winter?

I have some experience with three models of Bridgestone Blizzak tires:

LM-25 (Winter Performance)
WS-50 (Studless Snow & Ice – out of production)
WS-60 (Studless Snow & Ice – replaced WS-50 & REVO1).

TireRack’s testing shows the LM-25 to be a little better in snow than the best all season tires, which given its classification, makes sense. I have LM-25s on my ‘06 Honda Civic Si, and they strike a good balance between dry/wet/snow conditions, while not dramatically degrading the sporty feel of the car. I do experience wheel spin on snow, but the LSD helps, and the tires do bite more than the Michelin all season tires I had on my ‘04 Honda Accord (similar to the OE Civic AS tire). I know a better tire size would improve the LM-25’s snow abilities (I have mine on OE 17″ wheels, but a narrower, 16″ size is recommended), but I have no complaints. Wear has been acceptable, and I’ve seen many other vehicles lose control while I’ve motored by without difficulty.

I had the retired WS-50 tires on an Accord, and while they bit ice/snow hard, they were a little louder than the OE all season tires. Dry and wet performance were acceptable, and I don’t remember any problems, with the exception of a little tramlining while on an extremely rough stretch of interstate in Colorado. I drove through a mountain blizzard at night without difficulty. Overall, a very good tire, and IIRC, the WS-50 was TireRack’s highest rated Studless Ice & Snow tire for several years. Since they’ve been discontinued, you might find a great deal on WS-50 and REVO1 tires. BTW, I’m sure they’ll work well in northern states, such as Michigan.

I’m extremely impressed with the new WS-60 on our ‘07 Honda Fit, to the point where I’ll likely put them on my Si when the Blizzak LM-25s are gone. The WS-60 builds on the excellent performance of the defunct WS-50 and REVO1 tires. On dry/wet roads, they feel fine, taking nothing from the sporty feel of the Fit, and I don’t think they’re any louder than the OE all season Dunlops. Over the last few days, a thick layer of ice has coated the roads, with some sleet dumped on top. The WS-60s are every bit as tenacious as the WS-50 tires, and though I can’t make a direct comparison, they may be a little better. Combined with a relatively light car, these tires have been impossible to break loose without some effort, both in straight line and turns. I have a significant slope to my driveway which combined with the ice, makes it difficult to walk up, but the Fit handles like it’s on dry pavement. TireRack has rated them their #1 Studless Ice & Snow tire, and from my limited experience, I agree that they are the best tires.
Studded tires might bite ice, but they tear up dry roads, don’t handle well dry or wet, and are quite noisy.  I think they’re a poor choice, especially since TireRack’s latest tests showed WS-60 tires outperforming a studded tire. Snow chains suffer some of the same limitations, and aren’t recommended for high speeds or long duration. All Blizzaks meet the tire industry’s severe snow service requirements and are branded with the snowflake-on-the-mountain symbol. Officials requiring studs or chains on mountain roads often accept this symbol as proof of a suitable alternative.

An excerpt from TireRack’s latest test states an interesting conclusion about studded snow tires. I’ve emphasized a few portions:

“At the end of this test we learned that today’s advanced tread compound and design technologies exceeded that of the traditional traction of studs on ice. Considering that only about six studs are in contact with the ice at any one time as the tire rolls across its surface, we found that the weak link is the ice itself, which chips away during contact with the studs. The ruts left on the surface of the ice showed that the studs were making contact, but the ice itself just wasn’t strong enough to be considered a good traction partner for the tires. Especially considering the unacceptable noise generated when studs contact dry and wet roads, we recommend using today’s advanced tread compound and design technologies to drive through snow and on ice in winter.”

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After giving Green Diamonds a try in the 2007 season, the unstudded rubber-on-ice crowd has reverted back to the old favorite, the Bridgestone Blizzak. What sets these apart from traditional snow tires and puts them in their own category of performance is tire compound. Bridgestone uses a compound that is very soft and remains pliable at cold temperatures. This combined with aggressive “siping” (jagged tread cuts) gives them a superior coefficient of friction when they can find asphalt through the snow at below-zero temperatures, and makes them a predictable winner in outright winter performance. The disadvantage to this is that soft, floppy tread wears much faster and gives poor dry-road performance. This is a totally worthwhile trade-off in my opinion, as “performance” snow tires that trade snow and ice traction for asphalt traction are not very good (a word on that later). Interestingly enough, Bridgestone now uses “bite particles” in the compound, which sounds an awful lot like Green Diamond’s strategy. I haven’t seen shiny slivers sticking out of these tires, so perhaps these particles are rubber-colored.

WS-50 vs. WS-60:

The AMEC “street legal” ice racing class started off with Blizzak WS-50 tires when they were new. Last year, the new Blizzak WS-60 replaced the aging WS-50 and racers were split between the last sets of WS-50s that were available and the newly stocked WS-60. By the end of the season, the general consensus seemed to be that the WS-60 offered better traction. Clint ran a set for the whole season and found them to have excellent performance on ice and snow. I drove a 3 hour endurance race in Maine on WS-50s and against a field of cars with studded tires. As the ice conditions improved and the course became more textured, I discovered I could beat some of them through the corner at the end of the main straight. Yes, braking from 70mph on ice to pitch the car through a 20mph corner was as good with unstudded Blizzaks as metal studs digging into the ice.

Having used Blizzak and several other winter tires in the past, I wanted to sample Green Diamond’s technology to see if it gave an edge on ice without using studs. After this experiment, I find that the grass was not greener after all, and that Blizzaks are still the best out there. Bridgestone is so confident about their performance that they sponsor AMEC ice racing (and no, that doesn’t mean we get cheap tires). I share their confidence in recommending Blizzaks as the best snow and ice tires I have ever used.

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