I decided to buy winter tires

[BigSkies]

They arrived today.

Which is precisely why the Denver 10 day weather forecast is mostly in the 50's and 60's.

You're welcome.

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[R1Thor]

I feel like that happens to me every year.

Should I install my winter set? Nah, we'll be fine. BOOM, SNOW.

Winter set installed? Yep! WARM WEATHER!!

Similar luck in the spring:
Time to put the summer set back on? Sure! BOOM, SNOW!

 

[COdogman]

 

[moosehead]

Soon as you swap back out to your summer sneakers, it’ll dump 15” of freshies.

On April Fool’s Day.

 

[Kanuk]

They arrived today.

Which is precisely why the Denver 10 day weather forecast is mostly in the 50's and 60's.

You're welcome.

Good one!

 

[solaskaze]

They arrived today.

Which is precisely why the Denver 10 day weather forecast is mostly in the 50's and 60's.

You're welcome.

Can you return them? I have a ski trip planned in Feb.

 

[Riviot]

Can you return them? I have a ski trip planned in Feb.

Ditto, OP. Please drive your AS wheels on up to Breck for that pond hockey tourney ?

 

[Herb]

I cancelled snow shoes today after TireRack pushed back delivery half a dozen times. Ordered in November, delivery estimate went from Dec 22, latest estimate: Feb 08. I'll probably regret my decision....

 

[Jakelake]

In September I purchased WildPeak tires and put them on a set of Dodge wheels. In early December I removed my original 21s and installed the WildPeaks on my "T". I was not happy with their performance in the snow. They were great when crawling out of a foot of snow and could easily creep over 2 feet of deep piled up snow but once I was going down the road, at almost any speed, they were not good snow tires. Braking and handling were terrible. I put 800 miles on them and gave up on them. I just installed a set of Michelin X-ice 275/60/20s. Had some snow yesterday so I took them on a test drive. At 35MPH on packed snow they handled like I was on a dry road. I would not recommend X-ice tires unless you live in the mountains and drive on snow covered roads for several months every winter. The rubber on these tires is very soft and I would guess I will only get 2, maybe, 3 seasons out of them. For the last 20 years I have run dedicated snow tires on all my cars from mid December to mid March and can get at least 4 seasons out of them. But that has always been on lighter cars like Subarus and Toyota SUVs. The Rivian, I'm sure, will eat them up faster. My first 60 miles on the X-ice has shown about 15% improvement in range over the WildPeaks but I need more mileage to get an accurate estimate. With my 21s I averaged 2.4 m/Kwh over 9000 miles. The WildPeaks averaged 1.8 m/Kwh over 800 miles.

 

[R1Thor]

In September I purchased WildPeak tires and put them on a set of Dodge wheels. In early December I removed my original 21s and installed the WildPeaks on my "T". I was not happy with their performance in the snow. They were great when crawling out of a foot of snow and could easily creep over 2 feet of deep piled up snow but once I was going down the road, at almost any speed, they were not good snow tires. Braking and handling were terrible. I put 800 miles on them and gave up on them. I just installed a set of Michelin X-ice 275/60/20s. Had some snow yesterday so I took them on a test drive. At 35MPH on packed snow they handled like I was on a dry road. I would not recommend X-ice tires unless you live in the mountains and drive on snow covered roads for several months every winter. The rubber on these tires is very soft and I would guess I will only get 2, maybe, 3 seasons out of them. For the last 20 years I have run dedicated snow tires on all my cars from mid December to mid March and can get at least 4 seasons out of them. But that has always been on lighter cars like Subarus and Toyota SUVs. The Rivian, I'm sure, will eat them up faster. My first 60 miles on the X-ice has shown about 15% improvement in range over the WildPeaks but I need more mileage to get an accurate estimate. With my 21s I averaged 2.4 m/Kwh over 9000 miles. The WildPeaks averaged 1.8 m/Kwh over 800 miles.

When I was cross-shopping tire options, I'd called my friendly neighborhood tire shop and talked through it with them.

They recommended AGAINST the Wildpeaks for this reason. Fast forward, and the 3s have been discontinued already and they believe this is why. Hopefully the AT4s are better for people who like Falken. I ended up getting myself a set of Outpost nATs, which (so far) have performed phenomenally in winter weather; albeit, I'm CERTAIN dedicated snows would be EVEN BETTER.

FYI: There's a reason that snow tires have soft compound. It's so it can still mesh with the road when it's cold. Glass transition temperature is ultimately what creates a specific 'season' tire, as they're vulcanized for the thermal ranges they're going to encounter. Further, winter tires include much more siping, and there's a particular tread density that does better in snow/sleet/ice/etc.

Every tire has a tradeoff.

 

[Jakelake]

When I started looking for snow tires last August I either did not find the X-ice or thought they were not the proper load range, can't remember. I have always bought Blizzak or X-ice tires for my cars. After driving for a month on the WildPeaks I knew I needed a better winter tire. I saw a set of X-ice on an R1S a few weeks ago so I bought a set from Costco. They are only a 115T load rating but since I'm only driving on snow covered roads like the old guy that I am I figured the snow safety factor out weighed the slightly less capable load factor compared to the WildPeaks. I should have bought the X-ice to begin with and I would have saved myself $1300. Also, I had terrible steering wheel shimmy with the WildPeaks and there is none with the X-ice.

 

[RivAW]

When I was cross-shopping tire options, I'd called my friendly neighborhood tire shop and talked through it with them.

They recommended AGAINST the Wildpeaks for this reason. Fast forward, and the 3s have been discontinued already and they believe this is why. Hopefully the AT4s are better for people who like Falken. I ended up getting myself a set of Outpost nATs, which (so far) have performed phenomenally in winter weather; albeit, I'm CERTAIN dedicated snows would be EVEN BETTER.

FYI: There's a reason that snow tires have soft compound. It's so it can still mesh with the road when it's cold. Glass transition temperature is ultimately what creates a specific 'season' tire, as they're vulcanized for the thermal ranges they're going to encounter. Further, winter tires include much more siping, and there's a particular tread density that does better in snow/sleet/ice/etc.

Every tire has a tradeoff.

You’ve totally disregard the difference between an AT tire (Falkens) and a dedicated winter tire. It’s not the fault of the (AT) tire if your use case favored the dedicated winter tire.

 

[R1Thor]

You’ve totally disregard the difference between an AT tire (Falkens) and a dedicated winter tire. It’s not the fault of the (AT) tire if your use case favored the dedicated winter tire.

I think you totally misread what I wrote and why.

My local tire shop recommended against the Falken Wildpeaks because in practice they were verily inadequate, even though they were a 3PMS tire--hence why they're not onto the 4 series.

I pointed out that nothing will outperform a dedicated winter tire as an aside.

That is all.

 

[RivAW]

I think you totally misread what I wrote and why.

My local tire shop recommended against the Falken Wildpeaks because in practice they were verily inadequate, even though they were a 3PMS tire--hence why they're not onto the 4 series.

I pointed out that nothing will outperform a dedicated winter tire as an aside.

That is all.

Yes, but they were inadequate - for your use case - because you needed a dedicated winter tire…not because there is some issue with the Falkens…

 

[ksurfier]

Now that winter is over, 3 snow tires to consider (275/65R20):

$247/tire - Firestone Winterforce LT (54#) - very narrow tire but cheap

$301/tire - Bridgestone Blizzak LT (52#) - good price and reasonable except very poor treadwear

$434/tire - Toyo Open Country A/T III (55#) - Best for offroad and treadlife and 9.1" wide

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