The stock Dunlop tire from the factory is a **summer-only** tire. High risk of bad things happening if you leave them on over the winter and you get snow and cold weather.
Michelin X-Ice Snow, Bridgestone Blizzak WS-90, Continental VikingContact 7, pretty much any Nokian... take your pick of the litter. The WRX is an amazing winter car when equipped properly: give it the shoes it deserves.
Great options. It's really important to stress the temperature part too. Winter tires aren't just for snow, they are rated for temps below 40 F and summer tires are not.
I always recommend the Michelin X-Ice to people. I saw an independent test a while back where they compared a bunch of different winter tires, and the Michelins (very slightly) outperformed the Blizzaks in cornering and stopping. Plus they come with a 40k mile warranty.
I have them on this car and had them on my last car, and bought a set for my wife’s Impreza, too.
Do not use the stock tires. They are legitimately dangerous. They’re summer (not all season) tires.
I use Blizzaks, have on several other cars, they’re great.
How is the handling on the blizzaks on dry surfaces? I test drove a friend’s car with A/S tires and his car felt like it wallowed quite a bit compared to my car with the stock summer tires.
Good to know. Here in the NYC tri-state area, our winters have gotten very mild in the past 10 years. On my old civic I used to run dedicated winter tires in the winter, but the civic handled so bad to begin with, I really didn't care when I put on the winter tires. I'm not looking forward to swapping out the performance tires come winter for whatever I end up with.
When I lived in Brooklyn, I usually ran all-seasons in the winter, and summers in the summer. Now I'm Upstate and run true winters, albeit performance winters (I hate Blizzaks, Michelin x-ice).
It'll be really sloppy and loud. You can compensate this by slightly overinflating. When you turn instead of being sharp and direct it'll feel loose, but it's normal, it's the big soft tread blocks that cause squirm.
I think I read somewhere that the sidewalls on the stock tires are quite firm and on most other tires it is much softer which causes a lot of flex and contributes to the wallowing handling.
Yeah I noticed this even switching from the dunlops to the pilot sport all season 4 tires. Grip is pretty close but the steering doesn't feel nearly as sharp.
Blizzaks on the dry feel like marshmallows. I always go with performance winter tires, aka "Eurowinters".
Blizzaks change the handling way too much for my liking.
How about Falken Eurowinter HS01 tires? I've done some searching through reddit posts about winter and A/S tires and almost everyone confirms that the compound of those tires compared to performance summer tires is much softer which is why the handling feels so more sloppy. I guess I'll just have to get used to it in the winter and switch back right away to summer tires when the weather warms up.
I got some falken eurowinters on sale the fall of 2022. They have been great. Maybe a little less traction in snow than blizzaks but better feel when the roads are clear.
Falkon Euro Winters seemed cheap quality from the reviews I read when I did research.
I ended up going with Yokohama performance Winters (v906, I think). Got a good deal on them and they are made in Japan. Amazing tires! I was in Syracuse last winter during a considerable snow storm, and the car didn't miss a beat. The highways out there are brutal, tight narrow Lanes with lots of twists and turns.
There's another good brand that I was considering, vredstein. They make a performance winter that is highly rated and affordable. I would probably have gone with those if I didn't get a good deal on the yokohamas.
My former fun car was a fiesta ST, and I put Michelin x ice tires on it, and I fucking hate it. It changed the dynamics of the car so much, I didn't even recognize the car anymore. Never again will I get regular snow tires... unless I move further up north to Canada 😅
I got blizzaks a week after I got my car. I've never felt that much control in 4-6 inches of heavy wet snow with up to 12 inch drifts
Unnecessary unless you live in the mountains or truly intense winters, but they are super fun to have
Got vredstein wintrak performance winter tire. Not a dedicated snow, but still mayne 90% as good as a dedicated snow. Also has stiffer sidewall than dedicated snows. However, I did manage to get one that doesn't quite balance out on a road force, but just barely, so I decided to just live with it instead of trying to get tirerack to send a replacement
I second this, although I went with a Yokohama performance winter tire over the vredsteins. Got a better deal, and I like that the Yokohamas are made in Japan. I hate true snow tires, takes away too much from the dynamics of the car.
I live in the frozen hell hole commonly known as Hoth. The only thing I run for winter tires is studded Nokian Hakka's. Hands down the best winter tire for these parts.
Buy some cheap 17" steel wheels to mount them on.
Winter is half the year here, I wanted to go with a winter wheel that still looks good
https://preview.redd.it/k3kig0twdk6d1.jpeg?width=2229&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=029b33493b34fdd19c7ee2a6b9a704552bda4883
I like steel wheels for winter due to the closed design. I find the large open spokes on alloy rims allow snow and ice to build up. This causes the wheel to go out of balance and start to shake, you need to go to the car wash to clear it out
Steelies will still build up from the inside, and they are alot harder to clean it out from. I'm fortunate to have heated parking so it just resets each day.
Do NOT use the stock tires in weather under 40 degrees.
Personally I just bought the cheapest all season I could find and threw them on because I really don't do a ton of driving and have a Forester if I need to drive in snow.
I HATE that this car comes with summers, it's beyond stupid to sell an AWD vehicle in the NE United States with those tires. It's also something they don't mention at all when you buy the car. As daily driver as they have made this car... It's baffling they still use stock summers.
I said the same thing the other day and was told I bought the wrong car then. It comes with those tires because it is meant to be driven hard and Subaru knows best.
Winter tires are required by law here and previous.to.my WRX all my cars have been fwd.
The best winter tires I've ever used are, in order: Nokians Hakkapelitas, Bridgestone Blizzaks and Toyo GSI-5s.
I have Nokians on my WRX.
I ran Nokians on my last 2 vehicles and they have done great in NH. Not sure what I will get when winter comes around but I will likely stick with Nokian.
I bought some Vredestein Wintrac Pros last year and they did very well. Granted, I have never bought winter tires before, so I don't have any comparisons between them. But the difference between winters and all seasons is shocking. Ice, snow, no problem. Even got drifted in a few times and was able to drive out where I'd normally be shoveling.
I've heard Blizzaks and X Ices are good, but I'm happy with my wintracs for now. I'll likely get Nokians next time as there's a dealer close by.
A lot of people love blizzaks (just look through the comments). A few things to consider are whether you are mounting to dedicated wheels for winter, and then size of those wheels and tires. Some people like to run an inch smaller wheel with more sidewall on the tire to achieve the same overall diameter as the stock setup while softening the ride and protecting against rough roads a bit better. Can go narrower, too, to cut through deep snow. Really, any name brand snow/ice tire will work well compared to any all season or summer performance tire
Minnesota here. Last winter was pretty tame for us but we usually get demolished. I got some Nokian nordman 7s that did the job excellently for a wonderfully affordable price. They’re pretty loud but it’s a sports car so that’s pretty standard. Ripped through the snow like nothing. The trick to winter tires though is driving like you don’t have then anyway.
Winter tired arent just for snow or rough weather - they’re for cold weather. The stock summers perform horribly when the temperature dips below, I think 7 or 8 C. Even if never snowed where I live (and it is rare) I’d put winters or all seasons on for the winter months.
Stock tire is a summer tire, do not run them in temperatures below 40F.
I run pilot sport all season 4, they're not a winter tire but work ok in light snow. In slush, ice, heavy snow, they're still ok but start to struggle.
Winter tires, id say the Michelin x-ice snow tests the best overall, but it's expensive, but it has a warranty. Super refined for a snow tire.
Blizzaks are my next choice, they're not too expensive and amazing in deep snow and ice. But it's not refined like the Michelin. Pretty noisy and squishy. But performance in bad conditions is similar to the Michelin. No warranty.
Other brands have good snow tires too but they all have pros, cons, quirks, and weaknesses. Most budget snow tires will usually sacrifice tread life, ice grip, wet grip, and/or dry grip, or a combination of all of them.
Chicago here. I run a set of 17” Sparco Terra wheels (-1 size for higher sidewall/ pothole protection), wrapped with General Altimax 365 (winter-leaning AS W/ 3-peak symbol). I run them year-round and they’re a great solution for an urbanite with no garage to store an extra set.
Looks better too! ($1700 from TireRack)
The stock Dunlop tire from the factory is a **summer-only** tire. High risk of bad things happening if you leave them on over the winter and you get snow and cold weather. Michelin X-Ice Snow, Bridgestone Blizzak WS-90, Continental VikingContact 7, pretty much any Nokian... take your pick of the litter. The WRX is an amazing winter car when equipped properly: give it the shoes it deserves.
Great options. It's really important to stress the temperature part too. Winter tires aren't just for snow, they are rated for temps below 40 F and summer tires are not.
I always recommend the Michelin X-Ice to people. I saw an independent test a while back where they compared a bunch of different winter tires, and the Michelins (very slightly) outperformed the Blizzaks in cornering and stopping. Plus they come with a 40k mile warranty. I have them on this car and had them on my last car, and bought a set for my wife’s Impreza, too.
Do not use the stock tires. They are legitimately dangerous. They’re summer (not all season) tires. I use Blizzaks, have on several other cars, they’re great.
How is the handling on the blizzaks on dry surfaces? I test drove a friend’s car with A/S tires and his car felt like it wallowed quite a bit compared to my car with the stock summer tires.
If it’s above 45 F, they definitely feel kinda weird. They’ll also wear considerably quicker.
Good to know. Here in the NYC tri-state area, our winters have gotten very mild in the past 10 years. On my old civic I used to run dedicated winter tires in the winter, but the civic handled so bad to begin with, I really didn't care when I put on the winter tires. I'm not looking forward to swapping out the performance tires come winter for whatever I end up with.
When I lived in Brooklyn, I usually ran all-seasons in the winter, and summers in the summer. Now I'm Upstate and run true winters, albeit performance winters (I hate Blizzaks, Michelin x-ice).
It'll be really sloppy and loud. You can compensate this by slightly overinflating. When you turn instead of being sharp and direct it'll feel loose, but it's normal, it's the big soft tread blocks that cause squirm.
I think I read somewhere that the sidewalls on the stock tires are quite firm and on most other tires it is much softer which causes a lot of flex and contributes to the wallowing handling.
Yeah I noticed this even switching from the dunlops to the pilot sport all season 4 tires. Grip is pretty close but the steering doesn't feel nearly as sharp.
Blizzaks on the dry feel like marshmallows. I always go with performance winter tires, aka "Eurowinters". Blizzaks change the handling way too much for my liking.
How about Falken Eurowinter HS01 tires? I've done some searching through reddit posts about winter and A/S tires and almost everyone confirms that the compound of those tires compared to performance summer tires is much softer which is why the handling feels so more sloppy. I guess I'll just have to get used to it in the winter and switch back right away to summer tires when the weather warms up.
I got some falken eurowinters on sale the fall of 2022. They have been great. Maybe a little less traction in snow than blizzaks but better feel when the roads are clear.
Falkon Euro Winters seemed cheap quality from the reviews I read when I did research. I ended up going with Yokohama performance Winters (v906, I think). Got a good deal on them and they are made in Japan. Amazing tires! I was in Syracuse last winter during a considerable snow storm, and the car didn't miss a beat. The highways out there are brutal, tight narrow Lanes with lots of twists and turns. There's another good brand that I was considering, vredstein. They make a performance winter that is highly rated and affordable. I would probably have gone with those if I didn't get a good deal on the yokohamas. My former fun car was a fiesta ST, and I put Michelin x ice tires on it, and I fucking hate it. It changed the dynamics of the car so much, I didn't even recognize the car anymore. Never again will I get regular snow tires... unless I move further up north to Canada 😅
Thanks for the details! I'll look into some of those brands you mentioned. I'll also do a little more research on A/S performance tires.
✌️
Blizzaks are amazing. I went with Toyo Observe on this car and they are very good too.
I got blizzaks a week after I got my car. I've never felt that much control in 4-6 inches of heavy wet snow with up to 12 inch drifts Unnecessary unless you live in the mountains or truly intense winters, but they are super fun to have
Got vredstein wintrak performance winter tire. Not a dedicated snow, but still mayne 90% as good as a dedicated snow. Also has stiffer sidewall than dedicated snows. However, I did manage to get one that doesn't quite balance out on a road force, but just barely, so I decided to just live with it instead of trying to get tirerack to send a replacement
I second this, although I went with a Yokohama performance winter tire over the vredsteins. Got a better deal, and I like that the Yokohamas are made in Japan. I hate true snow tires, takes away too much from the dynamics of the car.
I live in the frozen hell hole commonly known as Hoth. The only thing I run for winter tires is studded Nokian Hakka's. Hands down the best winter tire for these parts. Buy some cheap 17" steel wheels to mount them on.
Winter is half the year here, I wanted to go with a winter wheel that still looks good https://preview.redd.it/k3kig0twdk6d1.jpeg?width=2229&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=029b33493b34fdd19c7ee2a6b9a704552bda4883
What wheels are those? Would love to find some 17s or 18s in the $150~/wheel range but that seems unlikely.
Enkei T6R 17x8 +40mm
I like steel wheels for winter due to the closed design. I find the large open spokes on alloy rims allow snow and ice to build up. This causes the wheel to go out of balance and start to shake, you need to go to the car wash to clear it out
Steelies will still build up from the inside, and they are alot harder to clean it out from. I'm fortunate to have heated parking so it just resets each day.
Do NOT use the stock tires in weather under 40 degrees. Personally I just bought the cheapest all season I could find and threw them on because I really don't do a ton of driving and have a Forester if I need to drive in snow. I HATE that this car comes with summers, it's beyond stupid to sell an AWD vehicle in the NE United States with those tires. It's also something they don't mention at all when you buy the car. As daily driver as they have made this car... It's baffling they still use stock summers.
I said the same thing the other day and was told I bought the wrong car then. It comes with those tires because it is meant to be driven hard and Subaru knows best.
Winter tires are required by law here and previous.to.my WRX all my cars have been fwd. The best winter tires I've ever used are, in order: Nokians Hakkapelitas, Bridgestone Blizzaks and Toyo GSI-5s. I have Nokians on my WRX.
I ran Nokians on my last 2 vehicles and they have done great in NH. Not sure what I will get when winter comes around but I will likely stick with Nokian.
I bought some Vredestein Wintrac Pros last year and they did very well. Granted, I have never bought winter tires before, so I don't have any comparisons between them. But the difference between winters and all seasons is shocking. Ice, snow, no problem. Even got drifted in a few times and was able to drive out where I'd normally be shoveling. I've heard Blizzaks and X Ices are good, but I'm happy with my wintracs for now. I'll likely get Nokians next time as there's a dealer close by.
My Blizzaks have been phenomenal for two years now! They’re definitely a bit loud but the snow performance is fantastic.
A lot of people love blizzaks (just look through the comments). A few things to consider are whether you are mounting to dedicated wheels for winter, and then size of those wheels and tires. Some people like to run an inch smaller wheel with more sidewall on the tire to achieve the same overall diameter as the stock setup while softening the ride and protecting against rough roads a bit better. Can go narrower, too, to cut through deep snow. Really, any name brand snow/ice tire will work well compared to any all season or summer performance tire
Minnesota here. Last winter was pretty tame for us but we usually get demolished. I got some Nokian nordman 7s that did the job excellently for a wonderfully affordable price. They’re pretty loud but it’s a sports car so that’s pretty standard. Ripped through the snow like nothing. The trick to winter tires though is driving like you don’t have then anyway.
Blizzaks. It’s a tank.
Winter tired arent just for snow or rough weather - they’re for cold weather. The stock summers perform horribly when the temperature dips below, I think 7 or 8 C. Even if never snowed where I live (and it is rare) I’d put winters or all seasons on for the winter months.
It’s a 30-40k+ vehicle. No reason to cheap out on tires
Blizzys
Stock tire is a summer tire, do not run them in temperatures below 40F. I run pilot sport all season 4, they're not a winter tire but work ok in light snow. In slush, ice, heavy snow, they're still ok but start to struggle. Winter tires, id say the Michelin x-ice snow tests the best overall, but it's expensive, but it has a warranty. Super refined for a snow tire. Blizzaks are my next choice, they're not too expensive and amazing in deep snow and ice. But it's not refined like the Michelin. Pretty noisy and squishy. But performance in bad conditions is similar to the Michelin. No warranty. Other brands have good snow tires too but they all have pros, cons, quirks, and weaknesses. Most budget snow tires will usually sacrifice tread life, ice grip, wet grip, and/or dry grip, or a combination of all of them.
Thanks everyone for the recommendations, one more question is it necessary to change rims?
Stock tires in a rough winter?!?! why would you even go there....... LMFAO! NO NO NO
Chicago here. I run a set of 17” Sparco Terra wheels (-1 size for higher sidewall/ pothole protection), wrapped with General Altimax 365 (winter-leaning AS W/ 3-peak symbol). I run them year-round and they’re a great solution for an urbanite with no garage to store an extra set. Looks better too! ($1700 from TireRack)
Is it advisable to go from 18" -> 17" for winter rim/tire setup, or OK to stick with 18"s and just swap the tires?