[Norval]

Hi, I'm looking to put snow tires on my 2007 focus wagon. I'm in Ottawa.
Costco offer 3 kinds, in rising order of cost, Bridgestone Blizzak WS70, BF Goodrich Winter Slalom KSI, and Michelin x-Ice Xi2.

Does anyone have opinions on these, or links to a comparison somewhere?

Thanks.

[reldridge]

The WS70s would be my pick of those 3. I'm just south of Ottawa though, and I deal with more snow that ice most of the time (country roads). Here's a review of the WS70s (http://www.canadiandriver.com/2010/02/16...r-tire.htm)

I've been really happy with both my Toyo Observe G02s on my Mazda (call OK Tire for pricing) and the Hankook iPike W409s on my Focus. The Hankooks are almost the same as the General Altimax Arctic from Canadian Tire, and they will be a little cheaper than Costco.

Unfortunately, I don't have any good tire contacts in Ottawa anymore. You could try http://www.ottawatiresdirect.com/ if you want, or do what I do now, and go with The Tire Rack (http://www.tirerack.com/) and have them shipped to the UPS store in Ogdensburg. Tire Rack is also really good for tire reviews too.

[Norval]

Thanks for the reply and the link. The Blizzaks really outperform the Michelins in the test, and they are cheaper, too.

[duckcanuck]

Just my personal opinion here, but I think that we are going to tend to drive to the traction limit of whatever tire we have on our cars. I know I do. So, yes, that limit might be slightly higher with one tire over another one, but getting to work is not a race (well, not officially, anyway ;-) ).

Just having any reasonable quality "high tech" snow tire on your car is going to give you the confidence and predictability that you need in the winter. I have had Michelin, Yokohama, Goodyear, and Canadian Tire (Nordic, made by Goodyear, and a while ago, Nordic made by Goodrich - same a Winter Slalom) on various Foci and Escorts. Some were bought new, some were used. All did the job nicely.

As a result, I shop price, with the confidence that whatever I get will be more than adequate to allow me to enjoy messing around in the snow. I still have to pay attention to how fast I am going, and what is going on around me.

Here is a chart that compares a bunch of brands. You will need to Zoom to read it:

http://picolio.auto123.com/art-images/12...-chart.jpg

I am glad to read that the Hankook i-Pike is recommended in a response to this thread above, because you can get those at at a good price at Canadian Tire.

Blizzaks are great, except that the "magic" rubber is just a layer over the regular rubber tread. As a result, they lose their winter performance edge somewhat earlier than tires that have the magic rubber all the way through (such as the Michelins). Of course, once a snow tire loses too much of its tread depth, it ceases to be much use in deep snow anyway.

As they used to say, my opinion, plus two bucks, will get you a cup of coffee.... Good luck with your choice

Bob

[SVT ZX3]

You could also check out Continental's new winter tire...here's a review from Canadiandriver.com http://www.canadiandriver.com/2010/10/14...ontact.htm . I've been on Michelin X-Ice the last 3 winters and although they are good in the snow they don't perform as well on icey surfaces. I thought the comments about teh X-Ice in the article were very accurate.

I'd say go with the Bridgestones or the BFGs before teh Michelins.