I dont know from experience, but I've always heard great things about the Bridgestone Blizzak's.

 

I use Michelin PS Alpines (I think thats what they are called) on 17 inch rims. 225's, a little narrower and taller than my summers which are 245's PS2's. The difference over all seasons is amazing and up here in the great white north you need them.

 

I will be either using Dunlop Wintersport M3's or Bridgestone Blizzaks this winter coming up

 

Who uses a winter "snow" tire on their WRX sti and if so what brand and size and your reasons for chosing that tire.

I did a search and also came up with a "Tire Rack" comparison for the more popular winter snows for performance tire low profile equipped (for brake clearance) cars, but I want to hear what you guys are using on the WRX sti.

Thanks!

I use a dedicated snow in the winter on my sti, especially the first winter when I lived in Danbury. Those tires saved my ass 1000 times. See you are in Rockland so I suspect you'd see a similar result. I used to drive 40 miles each way from Danbury to White Plains, many times in snow with absolutely zero traction issues. Moved to DC last summer and this winter here was tame but I still had the snows on it with no problems. I run stock size Dunlop Winter sport M3 tires on ASA rims. I got the set from tire rack and its much easier to just do the wheel swap versus changing out snows/summers on your BBS rims (plus it protects the BBS from the salt all winter as well). When I first got the M3's it took some getting used to as opposed to the handling in the stock 070's but once that initial "knobs" wear off the tires handle pretty good. Just don't put them on and smoke it around a curve at 80 like you might have done in your 070's or you will feel the car coming out from under you. Put 2K on them and they handle fine. Hope that helps

 

I dont know from experience, but I've always heard great things about the Bridgestone Blizzak's.

i've heard great things about blizzaks, but usually from people who have never used anything else. imo there's much better snowsout there; blizzaks wear pretty fast too. i'd prefer the alpins or if you want to spend more money, the nokinans

 

I've been using Vredestein Wintrac W's or V's (can't remember which one i have), (W rated or V rated, whichever is 150mph) on my STi. love em. not super cheap, but definitely super high quality. and, rated for 40k miles, after using them for about 10k they are holding up great(including a lot of dry weather). they will last me at LEAST two more years of winters. i'll probably be putting the summer tires back on in the next week or two. got them at Big O Tires.

 

you know, i'm actually thinking about getting all-seasons for my winter tires - falken 512's and toyo proxes4 are at the top of my list. i just dont drive enough in actual snow that i feel they are needed

 

Thanks for your replies everyone. Yes I'll do a swap with a set of OZ wheels that I had on my Lexus if they fit, in fact if they fit I like them much more than the BBS wheels and I'll use the BBS for the snows. I'm leaning towards Dunlop Winter sport M3 or M2's. Although I live in Rockland county NY I have a weekend get away in the mountains (Catskills) of Delaware county NY and they get bunches of snow there that is why I asked cause I'll really need to use snows.

 

I did a 16 in steel wheel with Kelly Magna grips. Hands down the best snow tire ever. I dont know if anyone was in Detroit on the day of the IAS but I drove from Lansing, and never went under 55, everyone else was either wrecking or turned the other way, so it is def a bomb tire! I had them on my last car too, they are studable so they are crazy aggressive tread.

 

Thanks for your replies everyone. Yes I'll do a swap with a set of OZ wheels that I had on my Lexus if they fit, in fact if they fit I like them much more than the BBS wheels and I'll use the BBS for the snows. I'm leaning towards Dunlop Winter sport M3 or M2's. Although I live in Rockland county NY I have a weekend get away in the mountains (Catskills) of Delaware county NY and they get bunches of snow there that is why I asked cause I'll really need to use snows.

If there is alot of snow go with the thinest and smallest rim you can, then get a thin tire, that is key, like a 205 or in that area... If you start going wide on big rims. A. the tires are super expensive and B. they wont work as well cus they become more like skis. I was going to throw the dunlops on my 18's, but they were like 250 a peice, no thanks, i got the steel rim for 55 and the tire for like 80 or so. work better and much cheaper. So if in the mountains get a real snow tire, not performance snow...



POW that was six hunny yo! haha

 

I use the stock WRX wheel with a 205 55 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 Studded Tire...but I lived in Vermont, where we get a TON of snow and many of the dirt roads are hard pack snow all winter long. That being said, with that set up I had many fun drives on those very roads.

Nokian

 

I used blizzak LM-22s size 225-45-17, the stock tire size. They're excellent in light snow, good in 4-8 inches, but start to slide a little more in snow deeper than that. They're a blast on packed snow. I can get the car sliding sideways anytime I want, but it's such a controlled slide that I can bring back on line whenever I want. I put my DCCD torque bias a little to the front. The rear tires spin if I don't. The LM-22s are decent on dry pavement, but like any winter tire, they feel a little squishy.

 

Toyo Proxes 4

I use Toyo Proxes 4 tires for my all season tires.

They are decent for snow and mud (I live in Colorado, and have used them a fair amount on various mixtures of snow, slush, dirt and mud, with no complaints.) They are really terrific on pavement (wet and dry.) Amazing level of grip for an all season tire. Good tread wear so far, too. If you want one tire that does everything, I would recommend these. When I wear out the summer-only oem Potenza tires, I won't buy another set of summer tires. The dry performance on these Proxes 4 all seasons is very close to the summer-only stock Potenzas RE070s, and traction in wet, snow, slush and dirt is better. They are quieter than the Potenzas too, and "W" speed rated. They really proved themselves on a ski trip earlier this year. I was able to really haul a$$ up a twisty narrow canyon on the way to the ski resort, then they got me back in safety after it dropped 8 inches of snow that day.

I just bought a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 non-studded winter tires. I didn't really buy them for snow (bought them for rally cross.) I've heard good things about them as a snow tire, however, so I suppose if we get some serious blizzards here next winter, I may see how they work in deep snow. I got the Nokians, because they are supposed to have better tread wear than the Blizzaks, and they have the most agressive tread pattern I've seen (look as much like a true rally tire as I've seen in a non-competition tread.)

 

If we are talking about snow tires, then there is only one name that you need to know, NOKIAN. They actually INVENTED snow tires over 75 years ago. They are made in Finland, plenty of snow there, and they have the only year round snow tire testing facility located in the Artic Circle. Here in the states the top Nokian's are the Hakkapeliitta 2 and the RSi (studless). The new Hakka 4's may be available in the states this year. I actually drove on a set of Hakka 4's this last winter (awesome). Read more about them here:

http://www.nokiantyres.com/wintertyres_en

Remember, this is the European website and the entire Hakka 4 line may not be available here in the US.

 

i use the Dunlop Wintersport M3 as my winter tires. great winter tires, they are softer then the stock sti tires so the cornering proformance isnt as good as stock, no surprise. either get Dunlop Wintersport M3 or Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22, both great winter tires.

 

i've heard great things about blizzaks, but usually from people who have never used anything else. imo there's much better snowsout there; blizzaks wear pretty fast too. i'd prefer the alpins or if you want to spend more money, the nokinans

i'll second that.