Studded vs. Non-Studded Tires

Which do you prefer?

I have studded nokian hakkapeliitta 7's on my outback.

Snow tire technology has come a long way, and having used blizzaks on my last car, I'll be the first to admit they outperform my current setup in the snow.

Tire manufactures claim that studless tires perform just as well on ice as studded tires, but I'm still convinced that having metal pressing into the ice is more effective. Not to mention, blizzaks just about have the tread life of a pencil eraser.

CO is one of the few states that allows studded tires year round, and since there is only a 2-3 month window where I won't get snow I keep them on year round. 20k miles later, the treads and studs are still in great shape with my current setup.

When I lived in Northern VT and didn't travel much, I had studded Haks for the winter.

Now I live in the flat lands and travel way too much on the highway to consider studded. The noise from the winter tires is plenty annoying as is.

We studded the tires in my wife's Jetta wagon because it's only front wheel drive. I like knowing that the car has that little bit of extra traction.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I always chuckle when I hear someone rolling on studded tires in the middle of July.

Studless tires here. Although, up north, on dirt roads, I can see how they would be helpful. Our neighbor has a longer driveway and I've see it become a sheet of ice.

Glenn said:

I always chuckle when I hear someone rolling on studded tires in the middle of July.

Studless tires here. Although, up north, on dirt roads, I can see how they would be helpful. Our neighbor has a longer driveway and I've see it become a sheet of ice.

Click to expand...

Plus, I hate to see the amount of debris that Glenn could kick up into the air with studded tires while driving behind him as he's either doing donuts or peeling out going into/out of various parking lots! :lol:

I prefer these.

Puck it said:

I prefer these.

Click to expand...

Those must be awesome on pavement!

bvibert said:

Those must be awesome on pavement!

Click to expand...

How do you think they get those grooves on the shoulders of the highway?

Are you even allowed to use studs in Massachusetts?

Other than going skiing I don't do too much driving in the snow mostly to avoid the other dipshits on the road. I'll work from home on snow days.

I do have snow tires but I don't think I've actually ever driven w/ studs. I'm sure using studded tires is way better esp. on ice than just non-studded tires. It can't even be comporable.

Nick said:

Are you even allowed to use studs in Massachusetts?

Click to expand...

Yes, you can.

Studded tires are permitted November 2 to April 30 unless otherwise authorized by Registrar.

Click to expand...

http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/laws/studded-tires/


Oddly enough, Alaska, does not allow metal studs, while Wisconsin and Minnesota don't allow studs of any kind.

Unless you are spending 50% or more of your time on snowy roads I don't see it being worth it.

Nick said:

Are you even allowed to use studs in Massachusetts?

Click to expand...

Yes. The only snow belt states that ban studs are in the midwest. Places like Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Most states insist you get them off sometime in April.

I run studded Nokians on the SUV and Nokian friction tires on my VW GTI. My Mountaineer is white-knuckle on black ice with stock tires. It's heavy so it wants to go straight no matter what you do with accelerator, braking, and steering inputs. It drives like farm equipment with lots of transmitted vibration and road noise with studs but I don't daily drive that vehicle any distance. I opted for the studs because they perform so much better. I wouldn't recommend them for somebody with a daily flatland commute.

My VW GTI with studless Nokian Hakka friction tires performs very well on just about any winter driving condition until the car bottoms out in deep snow. I ran Blizzak WSx0 friction tires on it initially. Those were superb on ice for the first 12,000 miles but then were so bad on ice that I got rid of them with plenty of tread life left. If I were rolling in money, I'd put brand new Blizzak WS80's on it every November and toss them in the dumpster in the spring.

The handling in my GTI sucks with 17" Nokians compared to the 18" Michelin Pilot Sport performance summer tires I run in the summer. It feels like I have four gum erasers for tires. My summer tires are laughably bad on snow and ice. I can't even back out of my Killington parking spot that has a very modest grade without dumping sand on the ice. I try to hold off as long as I can before I put on the Nokians but I occasional get caught.

Same deal with the summer tires on my Mazda3. I've been caught each winter waiting too long to put on the snow tires and always curse myself. I wait because of the road noise difference. If I have one complaint on the Mazda is that there's not a ton of insulation in the cabin, so road thunder from snow tires is pretty bad. I assume the lack of cabin insulation is both to keep cost down and weight down, hence the great gas mileage I get out of the car.

I have studded snow tires, same as OP -nokian hakkapeliitta. (is that how you spell it? ha). I have never had them before but after last winter I don't think I could go back to regular snows during the winter (so long as i'm still living here, I never put studded tires on back in VT). My car was a beast last winter and with the location of our home this year, they will be much needed.

Yeah ...But Can your tires do this?

I use all season tires year round. I can manage steep climbs like at Jay Peak and Bolton Valley without problem!


.......

Blizzak WS 80's. on my Subaru. Been very happy with them.

I getting these this winter lots of snow on my curvy road last winter my car was a plow on the road.

dlague said:

I use all season tires year round. I can manage steep climbs like at Jay Peak and Bolton Valley without problem

Click to expand...

I run my all seasons bald in the summer, and by winter the wisps of exposed steel belt are almost as good as studs! Bonus!

mister moose said:

i run my all seasons bald in the summer, and by winter the wisps of exposed steel belt are almost as good as studs! Bonus!

Click to expand...

lol


.......