Winter Tire Recommendations

We've had a very long and bitter winter, but I'm also ready to finally take off the factory studded Nokian winter tires on my FJ. Would be nice to have a quiet, comfy vehicle again

 

We put 195/65R-15 General Altimax Arctic from Tirerack on the Prius. We also studded the tires. Decided it was easier to just get a second set of rims and change out the tires myself then to get them mounted and unmounted every season. No TPMS on the snows. All that happens is the tire warning light stays on. I expect it to go off once we put the original tires/rims back on the car.

While they keep the main roads around here in pretty good shape - that is you can usually get around fine with just good snow tires - they often don't get the neighborhood roads plowed before we have to leave for work. Without the studs, we wouldn't make it out of the neighborhood. With the original tires, it was easy to get enough snow under the car to get stuck. The studs seem to have enough grip to keep the car moving. It helps to have someone else put down some tracks to follow in.

The Altimax Arctic tires have worked great this winter. We're in the middle of another several foot storm. It's been a good winter - over 400 inches at the house, and over 650 down the road at Kirkwood. Looks like snowboarding in the morning!

 

I know this is probably old news by now, and its Spring to boot. For my new Prius V (larger wider rims and treads than other Prius trim levels) in November 2010 I purchased from TIreRack a set of narrower and smaller alloy rims with the current Blizzak model (it was updated shortly thereafter). I considered I had excellent experience through a very snowy winter in the KC area. I was going from AWD BMW to FWD Prius and was worried. Never even spun a tire and was able to navigate uphill around other stalled vehicles on some pretty extreme occasions. Install/de-install is certainly peculiar to region and circumstances, but going with 11-15 and 4-1 has worked over my 4 decades driving in this part of mid-America.

 

A big +1 for the X-ice Michelin. I had a set of 4 "leftover" from my Gen 2 which was totaled, Another Priuchat member sold me his original 15" wheels from his new Prius. The X-ice is a superb tire on the Prius. I also have a 4X4 4runner and I prefer the Prius in the snow and ice. It's very grippy, and the traction control is really improved over the Gen 2. The Gen 3 Prius with the right tires is excellent in the winter,....the Gen 2?.........not so much.