Winter tire purchase

I've heard great things about the General Altimax Arctic - so much so that I plan on putting a set of those on the Cavalier this winter.

On the Cruze we have the Xi3s and they're exceptional. This year will be their third winter, and they still have plenty of life left. I generally don't bother clearing the driveway because I know they won't have an issue making it up it.

My son is a ski patroller and runs Blizzaks on his ECO MT.

The ne plus ultra winter tire is Nokian. Hakkapeliitta 8 studded and Hakkapeliitta R2 non-studied. R2 is also rated as low rolling resistance. They are expensive and hard to find. They are not sold online. I have the R2.

The next best is the Michelin Xice3. Less expensive and available pretty much anywhere.

The general altimax is a two generation old nokian design. It is very good.

The blizzak tire is a huge improvement over all-season tires. But they have a reputation of wearing out after two seasons or any use in warm weather.

I love my Contintental WinterContact SI tires. I had 4 Blizzak WS80's the first time around and they were horrible on anything besides ice and light snow. The front ones only lasted one winter too. I replaced those 2 with the Continentals, and they grip so well my problem became trying to keep the rear end with the Blizzaks from coming around. Also, the Conti's only lost 1/32 for the whole 3k miles last winter.

Thanks guys!! All in all I think I'll go with the Michelines


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I too have xi3's and could not get traction on my hill. As I promised mp81 I won't say anything negative about them until I get to try them again. I need to try them again because for some reason they were at 50psi. Hopefully they're good

Tomko said:

The ne plus ultra winter tire is Nokian. Hakkapeliitta 8 studded and Hakkapeliitta R2 non-studied. R2 is also rated as low rolling resistance. They are expensive and hard to find. They are not sold online. I have the R2.

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Discount Tire actually sells the R2s - in fact they sell it in the proper size for my Cavalier. I'm tempted, because Hakkapeliitta R2, but they're almost double the price of the Altimax Arctics.

Everyone must be thinking Christmas in July. It's a good topic though. I'll be looking for a set come winter and thinking either continental or Michelin. I'll be putting about 3k miles a month on mine so needing something that holds up.

It's worth thinking about now, in the event you see a rebate offer for the tires you want prior to winter. At least, that's what I'm doing with the Altimax Arctics.