Winter tires. Please share impressions of what you are using.....

[scotman]

I think some people here would also be interested in hearing from Fiesta owners who have studded tires on their Fiestas. I guess the great lakes forum area is appropriate for this post. I have Bridgestone Blizzaks. They are great.

 

[Mike]

I'm also running Blizzaks on mine. I've used them for years and always find them great during the winter.

 

[Tall Timbers]

I've got Blizzaks on the Fiesta, and Sam's Club studded tires on a Honda Fit. I think the studded tires are a little better than the Blizzaks.

 

[Mike]

How much did the Sam's club tires run you?

 

[Tall Timbers]

$380 installed. I'm in Fairbanks AK and tires cost quite a bit up here... Blizzaks have really good siping. The studded tires are siped, just not quite as well done as the Blizzaks. I like the combination of studs with siped tires... Siping is ideal under some conditions, and studs under others, so you get better results overall. Some say that studded tires are only good for a season. I've found over the decades that studded tires and siped tires tend to lose their effectiveness at about the same rate.

 

[Mike]

I guess $380 considering all things isn't too bad. I tend to procrastinate when it comes to switching the winter tires back to summer, so that's why I tend to stick with Blizzaks tires.

 

[Tall Timbers]

I get a second set of rims for all of our winter tires, so the change is quick and easy as I do it myself. I understand that Blizzaks wear out pretty quickly compared to a regular summer tire when they're used in other than wintertime... which may or may not be important to individual consumers.

 

[scotman]

I am looking at Nokian snow tires. Anyone here had recent experience with any of their stuff? They were the first snow tire i ever owned that i considered to be "modern". The Blizzaks are still very impressive. I have owned many sets of them since 1996. But i know the Nokians have provisions for pin studs. I am planning to buy a set of studded tires to have for times when the ice is overwhelming and the road crews are defeated. ( IE, I must get to work on many bad days. no matter what)

 

[scotman]

Some of the tires i use for winter play! Is iceracing on anyones list?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedsmscott I also have a pic of the Nokian studded tire i plan to get more of to complete a set.

 

[MKVIIST]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedsmscott I also have a pic of the Nokian studded tire i plan to get more of to complete a set.

Nice photos. A little off topic but what brand lights are these?

 

[scotman]

The lamps are Hella 500's. Sorry bout not putting images into separate groups. I have been cleaning it up a bit.

 

[MKVIIST]

I was thinking of doing something similar on my Fiesta ST, just haven't found the right lights. These are renderings I did.

 

[scotman]

I was thinking of doing something similar on my Fiesta ST, just haven't found the right lights. These are renderings I did.

Just a word on mounting lamps. Dont block airflow into the radiator. Small lamps prob, wont affect much. Big Hellas or similar need to be mounted above and ahead of the cooling air intake. I had to peel the facia and headlamps to fit the custom mounts. It was a tight fit to say the least.

 

[MKVIIST]

Agreed on not covering the radiator, but on the ST grill there's a lot more room to play with than on previous gen regular Fiesta. That why I was contemplating mounting so extra lights there as the stock headlights are just horrible.

 

[scotman]

I felt that the stock lamps are OK, not Acura TL HID good of course, but passable. The reason I added driving lamps was to get more distance penetration( Yeah, I said it!) and also to fill the roadside areas to the passenger side with light, cuz' that's where the deer seem to spring out from.I have Hella FF's on my Mercury Sable wagon and those will be fitted into the bumper on my ST. I am going to fabricate brackets and cut the facia and make a housing that will replace the whatevers the factory gives us.It will look far more elegant than it sounds like now. Ok. We have shed enough light on lamps. O.P regarded winter tires. I am leaning toward Nokians with studs.

 

[Fiestyone]

I have the Hankook i-Pikes & they are great, I didnt add the studs because I prefer not to have for better all around use & a lot quieter. Great all around tire & not noisy at all. I am able to make it up the mountains in PA further than some of the 4x4's. I put the winter tires on my stock steelies & purchased an alloy set for my all season tires so I can switch when I want. I highly recommend

 

[scotman]

For 2017 I bought General Altimax Arctic winter tires...

They were priced right because I got them in mid October. They are quiet and offer near Bridgestone Blizzak levels of grip. I put my Nokians on my Focus when we had ice storms a couple weeks ago. They are incredible in that type of situation. I will swap the Nokians onto new steel snow rims before spring. The old focus alloy rims are leaking down too much. I believe that they have changed the tread design on the current tire, But, this one’s really great on ice or snow.

 

[scotman]

My General Altimax Arctic snow tires are on their last season. I had a set of 195/65 R14 Bridgestone Blizzacks mounted on these 14 inch 1987 Ford Tempo sport package aluminum wheels. They fit fine to the hub. But, will need longer wheel studs all around just because of the thickness of the wheel center casting.
By this time next year I plan to have a fiesta “winter beater”!

 

[econoboxrocks]

14s. Pretty cool.

 

[scotman]

Between the super soft tread compound and the tall sidewalls, these tires have the softest ride and the least sharpness in steering feedback. They definitely would work. But they must have longer studs. I also have a set of 85 Merkur XR4Ti wheels. Those are also 14 inch diameter, 4x108 and an unknown center bore, offset and weight. I will dig one of those out and measure it.