Studded winter tires

[alphaod]

I just got back from vacation in Russia and my rental car came with studded winter tires and I have to say I am sold! No worries about black ice or anything, grip everywhere, really no extra tire noise. I drove 180+ km/h (500 Rub [~$8] max daily fine) not a worry in the world. Saw tons of luxury cars with studded tires including the many X5 drivers. Unfortunately I did not get a closer look. I didn’t want to look like the suspicious tourist checking out people’s tires.

Anyone try them here? Sizing? Brand? I know it’s legal in New York.

[redline9001]

I have tried them in the past, they have crazy grib, but they are noisy... if you need then they are great...

[gqgambler]

Were you on paved and plowed roads? Studs are good in Russia and other cold weather areas that don't treat and plows the roads like the US does. Studs are really only advantageous in icy and hard-packed snow conditions. When winter roads are dry or wet, studs actually decrease traction potential (they interrupt the contact patch of the tire negatively effecting stopping distances). Plus on non-icy and hard-packed snow studs will also produce additional road noise. In snowy, slushy, or mixed conditions, the traction advantages of studs are minimal. I could be wrong, but more often than not I bet you are driving on roads that have been plowed and salted (especially major roadways and highways) as opposed to hardpacked and icy conditions.

[wearenh]

Originally Posted by gqgambler

Were you on paved and plowed roads? Studs are good in Russia and other cold weather areas that don't treat and plows the roads like the US does. Studs are really only advantageous in icy and hard-packed snow conditions. When winter roads are dry or wet, studs actually decrease traction potential (they interrupt the contact patch of the tire negatively effecting stopping distances). Plus on non-icy and hard-packed snow studs will also produce additional road noise. In snowy, slushy, or mixed conditions, the traction advantages of studs are minimal. I could be wrong, but more often than not I bet you are driving on roads that have been plowed and salted (especially major roadways and highways) as opposed to hardpacked and icy conditions.

+1

[TheUltimateDrivingManiac]

Newer studded tyres are not that noisy and bad on clean asphalt, I had Michelin X-Ice North 3 on my 435i. The only problem - that winter when I had them was extremely warm and I was always forgetting that I'm on studded tires, so I've lost about a half of the studs on the rear.

[RED_Y_]

Studs are great for a smaller/lighter cars, helps with a grip on the ice, for X5 decent winter tires will perform as good. If you drive a lot in really icy conditions you might give it a shot but they noise is significant especially as tires wear. I lived in Tahoe for 10 years, and I had studs on my Inifiniti G-series sedan but on X5 decent winter tires worked great, I drove on I80 in the really bad weather conditions many times, ice,blizzard low temps and never had an issue. Overall depends on your location. If you have 9 months of winter with really icy roads-sure, get studs to be 100% safe.

[DuSh]

Originally Posted by alphaod

I just got back from vacation in Russia and my rental car came with studded winter tires and I have to say I am sold! No worries about black ice or anything, grip everywhere, really no extra tire noise. I drove 180+ km/h (500 Rub [~$8] max daily fine) not a worry in the world. Saw tons of luxury cars with studded tires including the many X5 drivers. Unfortunately I did not get a closer look. I didn’t want to look like the suspicious tourist checking out people’s tires.

Anyone try them here? Sizing? Brand? I know it’s legal in New York.

I lived in Russia for more than 30 years basically (I'm not Russian, but I can speak fluently, I was born and raised there, my parents were working there since USSR times lol).
I would say 90% of cars are studded there, but it's a necessity there, as road conditions and weather conditions can be very bad. In large cities like Moscow, Saint-Petersburg etc - roads are cleaned and reagents are used so majority of cars, especially last couple years are converting to non-studded tires - there's simply no need for studded tires in big cities. However, the rest of the country is on studded. IMHO it's not really needed in USA/Canada, except some states where weather is indeed more extreme.

Studded tires are 100% as good as you are saying, but I never considered using them here in USA just because no one is using them and they are indeed a bit noisier on dry road. Besides they are not as easy to get and choice is limited here in USA. In addition I wasn't sure which states allow them and such. I 100% agree that with studded tires you can drive almost like it's a dry road in summer. Every-time I come back to Russia for a short visit, and get a taxi (during winter time) I instinctively jump everytime taxi driver comes to a stop or street light - simply because you tend to forget that you can stop and drive on studs like it's summer. You are REALLY surprised when you can feel how fast car can stop and accelerate on winter snow/icy roads. It takes time to get accustomed and really try it for yourself and get that feel - then you realize and feel traction and naturally adapt to a worry free driving - you can stop literally at any surface. Then I come back to USA and it takes me couple days to adjust again and start driving and slowing down in advance - everything like in slow motion movie.

Best rated studded tires for SUVs in Russia are:
Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 and 9 (https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tir...tudded/p/38169)
Continental Conticle Contact
Pirelli Ice Zero
Goodyear UltraGrip Ice Arctic
Gislaved Nord Frost 100
but I'm sure there are other brands too. Modern studded tires are immune from all old issues like losing studs etc. I mean you will lose about 5-7 studs per season, but it's normal considering you have about 130 on each tire. Life of studded tires is about 3-4 seasons (years) anyway.

Bottom line is: I do understand your excitement, studded tires are like magic really, they really are, but imho I don't think it's worth it (all things considered like price, poor availability in USA, potential issues with law if you happen to travel to states where they are illegal etc) to have them in NY. You can try still and do a review - would be interesting to read