Snow tires or 3 Peak A/T tires?

I’m contemplating getting a winter set of wheels and tires.

Would like an opinion if you guys would just go true snow tires or get 3 Peak A/T tires?

Which brand / tires did you have good experiences with?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Going to buy new tires tomorrow so any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Where are you?

 

If you get winter tires, are they going to be winter use only and then you switch back to your other set in the spring?

 

In SF Bay Area but we go up to Tahoe every weekend.

 

mom considering to get winter set of wheels and tires, but if for example the Falken Wildpeak AT3W will do fine I’m going to swap my brand new Nitto Terra Grapplers from my 2023 TRD Pro to these. Thoughts?

 

So it sounds like your primary use is non-snow driving? You’ll only be driving in the snow on limited occasions? If that’s the case I’d go with 3pmsf AT tires that you can use year around.

 

Have you used the brand new Nittos in the snow? May wanna try before you switch.
I found these reviews for your Nittos. I'd keep 'em. Some tires without the 3PMS badge work just as well as ones that do. I haven't paid attn to which ones.

 

Ok so it’s definitely not going to be apples to apples, but I just had a bad experience last weekend. I have a 96 Suburban with 4WD with Terra Grapplers 285/70/17 and I was slipping down the slope on the way out of Donnar Pass road. I know it’s a completely different vehicle and the I’m sure the 4R is a way more capable vehicle for sure and newer tech than my 1996 Burb.

I don’t want to take any chances anymore and rather be over-prepaid as I have precious cargo and I’m willing to dish out the dough.

So I’ve narrowed down my search to either the Tokyo Open Country or Wildpeak AT3W.

 

For few reasons winter tires won't work for me.

• Here in Colorado even in winter we have plenty of days where the temperature is over 45°F sunny days. So the road will be too hot for winter tires.
• Even in winter time I like to go on some trails. So winter tires will not be strong enough for off pavement use.

So I prefer 3PMSF rated A/Ts. The best for winter I've experienced is Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac. Now I have Toyo Open Country AT3. Its new to me and not bad so far. Falken Wildpeak AT3W are not bad for the pavement for the price. BFG KO2 performed very well off pavement but wasn't good as Goodyear Wrangler Duratracs on pavement when there's ice and light snow. If its a heavy storm with deep snow I love KO2.

I see some members tend to claim some "M+S" all season are good on snow, I don't give a damn about it. As Consumer reports winter tire videos state M+S tires have not meet the industry standard for severe winter weather hence do not carry 3PMSF rating. Just a heads up..

Edit-
Forgot about the stock Nitto Terra Grapplers. They were pretty bad on snow and mud. So I sold them pretty quickly before I get into trouble having to call CO4x4rescue However aftermarket NittoTerra Grapplers seem to have 3PMSF rating. May be Toyota is getting some dirt cheap version for the TRD Pro. Very reasonable to think that way because Toyota didn't even spend money to give a matching spare tire for the TRD Pros.

 

If you're only driving in snow occasionally, I'd go with a 3PMSF all terrain. I have Toyo AT3's and they're pretty good in snow. Obviously not like a winter tire, but sufficient for my use.

If you lived in a snowy climate, and in an area where they don't clear the roads, I'd go with winter tires.

A couple of mild days aren't going to hurt a winter tire. I've seen people drive on them all year. They just wear faster in hot weather.

 

I might be the contrarian in the group so far: In your shoes I'd definitely get a true winter wheelset. The experience you describe is exactly why winter tires can be a lifesaver. A 4WD system, no matter how robust, can't compensate for conditions where the tires lose grip. If you're sliding, it's because of the tires. Efficient distribution of torque among those four tires won't matter if they're sliding instead of rotating.

If you're not willing to swap wheel sets in advance of each weekend trip to Tahoe, I'd then also switch my DD tires to all seasons that are known to be good in the snow. The 3-peak snow rating is a good place to start for that, but I'd look at the detailed reviews and tests on places like TireRack. Also this guy, who has a lot of very thorough and revealing tests https://www.youtube.com/@tyrereviews

That way, if you're in a pinch and gotta run the DD tires up to Tahoe, at least you're not being irresponsible.

Important to note that testing shows winter tires tend to be bad in anything but snow and ice. The Tyre Reviews tests linked above show that winter tires have long stopping distances compared to other tires in anything but snow/ice. And they can also perform poorly in rain. Dedicated summer tires brake better than winter tires even in freezing temps -- so long as it's dry.

So I'd get that dedicated winter wheelset, shod with something like Michelin X-Ice, and remember the longer stopping distances when you're in the dry. Then I'd put some snow-biased all seasons on my DD wheels. Examples that are popular on the forum include the Wildpeaks and Toyo Open Country AT3. I went with the 3-peak rated Pirelli Scorpion AT, but have yet to drive them in snow so can't vouch for them.

Best of luck, and pls keep us posted on what you do and how it goes.

 

A snow tire would be a waste. I have Wrangler Duratrac. No complaints through 2 winters (4-5 mo of snow and ice) and two trips through snow (along the east side of the Cascades & Sierras over to the Rockies).

 

This right here makes it sound even more like true winter tires are a bad investment in most cases. But, I really have a hard time believing that the winter tires perform as poorly as it sounds.

I'm also not sure about that video. The "all season/ all weather" tires included Nokian and Bridgestone. Meanwhile, the "winter" tires did not include Nokian, or Bridgestone, the leaders in winter tires. Seems like a bad comparison.

 

Not sure which video you watched. The tests in this one seem quite thorough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=421HkK4Nqss

Also this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKtnczk8Mxk

 

Right here:

https://youtu.be/8K8ThRGNaoM

I didn't know which one to watch, but this one seemed to most relevant.

 

If you don’t care about the money and it’s more about the safety, a dedicated winter tire is always going to be best in winter conditions. Blizzaks by Bridgestone are great and imo the best are Nokian hakkaepelita Snow tires, you can even stud them which makes a vehicle unstoppable in winter up here. I live in Alberta Canada and have had all kinds of terrible winter conditions. I personally currently run Goodyear wrangler duratracs all year. But I have been thinking about a set of winters. More for the stopping capability’s. You will stop faster than 3psmsf tires. the fast lane truck on you YouTube did a good stopping comparison video. I also ran a set of wildpeak at3w last winter on my Tacoma and I found they were good and I was able to get around no problem. I don’t recall ever having a scary moment with either tire. Good luck.

 

If the roads were that slippery weren’t you chained up?

 

I watched the second video, but it didn't actually give results for dry braking in sub freezing temperatures. It did show that summer and All season tires brake better at above freezing temperatures, though. I guess, if performance at above freezing temperatures was my biggest priority, I probably wouldn't be looking at winter tires anyway.

Edit: the first video is based on Michelen tires only. I'd have a hard time basing broad generalizations about different types of tires on one brand's offerings.

 

Huh. Perhaps our OP will find some of this data helpful, as I did. There are a number of tests and a number of brands. And he reports data from other reputable tests, on different tires, independent of his own tests.

It actually makes good sense to me to do one of these kinds of tests with one brand to reduce variables as you explore the typical performance characteristics of winter/summer/all season. Which is the point of that test. To do that, I'd also have chosen three Michelin tires like these three, because they are known to be top tier tires in each of the three categories of summer, winter and all season.

As a group of tests, I think they were helpful in showing that dedicated summer tires can continue to outperform other types of tires even in temps around freezing -- so long as it's dry. That is significant information for me for my other car, which I got in November and which came with Pilot Sport 4 summer rubber.

I think it is also helpful to realize that warmer and dry conditions don't just reduce tread life on winter tires, they can significantly reduce braking performance.

I think it was also helpful to see how well the Cross Climate performs in a broad range of conditions, showing that all season tire technology is really advancing.

Anyhoooo, if someone doesn't like these tests there are multiple other sources of testing and data and reviews on tires, eg TireRack, and my point was just to encourage the OP to look to such resources as he makes his decisions.

 

You definitely have some good points, here. Sorry I came off so argumentative.

My comments were mostly based on the winter VS all season tire video, which didn't represent the categories equally.

I actually thought the other videos were pretty good, but I still don't think you can generalize characteristics of different types of tires without testing several brands.

And, while Michelin is certainly a leader in all season and summer tires, I don't consider them a top choice for winter tires. I'd like to see how Nokian and Bridgestone would fare in a similar comparison.

I appreciate your response.

 

This youtube channel does not seem test good tires right? I don't think I've seen top of the line tires like BFG KO2, Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac, Falken wildpeak at3w tested. Hence the testing seems useless to our forum imo. Maybe...

 

Amen. To me its like someone saying my CRV has AWD so I have no problem taking it offroad.

 

Not really. Here are Tire Rack tests comparing X-Ice to Blizzak and two other winter tires. As you can see from the data, the Blizzak is great as expected but the X-Ice outperforms it in significant categories for snow use, and overall is quiet comparable.

https://m.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=263&tab=WinterResultCharts

There is a significant bias on this forum for tires that look beefy and off road worthy. That’s fine but I’ll lean towards what the data tells me.

 

Just an example. The link includes other data too -- dry and wet braking performance, etc.

 

I’m in Utah and run a dedicated snow tire and wheel combo. It’s nice when I’m driving on icy roads. I usually put them on during the first snow and take them off in March. For your case, the Wildpeaks will be a better option.

 

True, and agreed.

Out of the 3PMSF tires I've used in winter, the Yokohama Geolandar ATG015 was my favorite in snow. And, they're definitely not an aggressive looking tire.

As far as choosing tires in general, I've always been happy with tires I chose through my own research and reading reviews. I totally agree with making your own decisions over going with what's popular.

Heck, KO2's were the "in" tire not long ago, and now there are some folks who think they're outdated garbage. Personally, I still think they're a good tire, but certainly not the top choice anymore.

 

Thanks for your thorough response. I felt the same hence I’m asking here. I do watch that YouTube channel and it’s been very helpful. Although I wouldn’t be drifting in the snow he does lol.

I don’t have any experience with open Country or Wildpeak with the 3PK rating so I’m curious to try them out in the snow/ice conditions.

 

Pls let us know what you end up deciding. I'm a big fan of having more than one wheelset if you can afford it and have a place to store them. I despise my OEM tires and am not a fan of the OEM wheels either, but I run them in the summer just so I can get use out of them in conditions where they don't suck. I look forward to the day I can replace the OEM tires with something very different from my ATs. If I was going to Tahoe regularly, or lived in the snowbelt, that new tire would definitely be something like a Blizzak or X-Ice. But if I stay where I'm at I'd probably put Michelin Defenders on there as a superb all around street tire.

Now that I think of it, I'd be tempted to just buy a third wheelset lol!

Of course, that's coming from someone who was thinking of buying a 40th Anniversary Edition just as a spare 4Runner. Then my wife informed me I was out of my freakin mind

 

I 2nd the Michelin Defenders. Those tires are in a class of their own. They don’t look like much but don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

 

You're not alone! I'd love to have a set of real winter tires, a set of mild AT's, and a set of MT's lined up in the garage!