Topic: Why Costco rocks for tires

[ktm525]

I was wondering why I have not considered Michelins for winter as  I use them almost exclusively for spring/summer/fall. I recall the original Michelin Alpins howling horribly on wet pavement with my Contour SVT, perhaps that embedded a deep seeded mistrust of  winter Michelins. I am sure they are as good as the Blizzaks.

[KD]

I was wondering why I have not considered Michelins for winter as  I use them almost exclusively for spring/summer/fall. I recall the original Michelin Alpins howling horribly on wet pavement with my Contour SVT, perhaps that embedded a deep seeded mistrust of  winter Michelins. I am sure they are as good as the Blizzaks.

Yeah, I remember that noise well on my Subaru OBW.  Convinced myself at the time it was he sound of reassurance.   

[dirtyjeffer]

i can say, the X-IceIII tires are excellent tires in terms of being comfortable and quiet...there's no snow/ice here yet, so i'll add comments later in the season, but i really like these tires.

[Gurgie]

i can say, the X-IceIII tires are excellent tires in terms of being comfortable and quiet...there's no snow/ice here yet, so i'll add comments later in the season, but i really like these tires.

I'm not a fan of them in the snow, otherwise they're fantastic in the cold, wet & icy conditions, and as you described comfortable & quiet.

[dirtyjeffer]

i can say, the X-IceIII tires are excellent tires in terms of being comfortable and quiet...there's no snow/ice here yet, so i'll add comments later in the season, but i really like these tires.

I'm not a fan of them in the snow, otherwise they're fantastic in the cold, wet & icy conditions, and as you described comfortable & quiet.

yea, i can't really comment on their winter performance as that stuff isn't here yet...my Blizzaks were beasts in the snow, so i'm hoping these are quite decent too...we have these on our Sorento and that thing is a beast in the snow, but it's also AWD, so that certainly helps too.

[Gurgie]

i can say, the X-IceIII tires are excellent tires in terms of being comfortable and quiet...there's no snow/ice here yet, so i'll add comments later in the season, but i really like these tires.

I'm not a fan of them in the snow, otherwise they're fantastic in the cold, wet & icy conditions, and as you described comfortable & quiet.

yea, i can't really comment on their winter performance as that stuff isn't here yet...my Blizzaks were beasts in the snow, so i'm hoping these are quite decent too...we have these on our Sorento and that thing is a beast in the snow, but it's also AWD, so that certainly helps too.

Yeah, we run them on Bella's RWD BMW 323i and I was less than impressed with them in the snow, everywhere else they were excellent... I know Angry Chicken had the same experience with them as well on his car (think it was his 320i), but on the Sorento with AWD they will be great. Will be interesting though to hear your comparison to the Blizzaks as I felt they were always better in the snow.

[Weels]

Step-daughter needs new winters, so checked out Costco this morning.
Blizzaks are $816,  X-Ice are $724 and you get a $70 Costco card... I'm a big Blizzak slappy but for the $160 difference i'd get the Michelin's

[Great_Big_Abyss]

Step-daughter needs new winters, so checked out Costco this morning.
Blizzaks are $816,  X-Ice are $724 and you get a $70 Costco card... I'm a big Blizzak slappy but for the $160 difference i'd get the Michelin's

Huh, it wasn't too long ago that the Blizzaks were quite a bit cheaper than X-Ice.

[Gurgie]

Step-daughter needs new winters, so checked out Costco this morning.
Blizzaks are $816,  X-Ice are $724 and you get a $70 Costco card... I'm a big Blizzak slappy but for the $160 difference i'd get the Michelin's

What about here? https://www.4tires.ca/  I find them usually cheaper than Costco.

[tortoise]

Step-daughter needs new winters, so checked out Costco this morning.
Blizzaks are $816,  X-Ice are $724 and you get a $70 Costco card... I'm a big Blizzak slappy but for the $160 difference i'd get the Michelin's

For the $40/yr extra I'd get the Blizzaks.  But I am often driving in snow.

Gotta figure the WS-90s are pricier because they are a new model.

[dkaz]

The WS-80s were cheap. The WS-90 probably has a better and more expensive tread compound.

[Weels]

Step-daughter needs new winters, so checked out Costco this morning.
Blizzaks are $816,  X-Ice are $724 and you get a $70 Costco card... I'm a big Blizzak slappy but for the $160 difference i'd get the Michelin's

For the $40/yr extra I'd get the Blizzaks.  But I am often driving in snow.

Gotta figure the WS-90s are pricier because they are a new model.

Yeah i forgot the 90's are out now so makes sense they would be more $$.
I bet the $70 giftcard will be on the Blizzaks in December, so could wait for that... but we tend to have more ice down here with freeze & thaws, so the Michelin's would be better for that

[dirtyjeffer]

i can say, the X-IceIII tires are excellent tires in terms of being comfortable and quiet...there's no snow/ice here yet, so i'll add comments later in the season, but i really like these tires.

I'm not a fan of them in the snow, otherwise they're fantastic in the cold, wet & icy conditions, and as you described comfortable & quiet.

yea, i can't really comment on their winter performance as that stuff isn't here yet...my Blizzaks were beasts in the snow, so i'm hoping these are quite decent too...we have these on our Sorento and that thing is a beast in the snow, but it's also AWD, so that certainly helps too.

Yeah, we run them on Bella's RWD BMW 323i and I was less than impressed with them in the snow, everywhere else they were excellent... I know Angry Chicken had the same experience with them as well on his car (think it was his 320i), but on the Sorento with AWD they will be great. Will be interesting though to hear your comparison to the Blizzaks as I felt they were always better in the snow.

yea, once we get some snow here, i'll provide some updates...my Blizzaks were great, although the last couple of years i could tell they needed replacing (likely less tread depth and perhaps different tire compound once you are below half depth?)...i won't fault them though as the first 5 years they were awesome.

[pi314]

Step-daughter needs new winters, so checked out Costco this morning.
Blizzaks are $816,  X-Ice are $724 and you get a $70 Costco card... I'm a big Blizzak slappy but for the $160 difference i'd get the Michelin's

For the $40/yr extra I'd get the Blizzaks.  But I am often driving in snow.

Gotta figure the WS-90s are pricier because they are a new model.

Do you have blizzaks on your car? I'd be curious to swap cars and try blizzaks vs hakkas sometime this winter.

[tortoise]

Yeah. I have WS-80s that are going into their third season.

[dkaz]

It was icy as heck out there, but boy did my X-Ice perform. Acceleration, turning, stopping, all so so good.

If the new Blizzak WS90 did indeed increase ice traction to meet or exceed X-Ice 3, that’s quite the feat. Competition is good.

There is another tire I thought was interesting, Cooper Discoverer True North which claims to be great for drivers who deal with mostly slush and black ice ie. in milder climates. Slush has been challenging to most of the winter tires I’ve driven in and only Nokian WRG2 (haven’t tried G3 or G4) and Nordman WRs seem to have handled slush quite well.

Anyway, shot of the X-Ice Xi3 which we have in both the 3 and the Matrix.

[quadzilla]

There is another tire I thought was interesting, Cooper Discoverer True North which claims to be great for drivers who deal with mostly slush and black ice ie. in milder climates.

Funny as I was looking at this tire last night as I saw it on The Fast Lane Cars winter tire test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzGN6cxL1Mg

Looking at pricing online it seems that my size (225/45/17) is way above all the other sizes which makes it more expensive than either the X-Ice3 or WS90.

I'm still going to drop my shop an email and see what price they can give me.

[johngenx]

Yeah, Edmonton and area roads were horrendous yesterday, and the missus reports the WS-90s are fantastic. No issues getting around at all, the car felt totally secure. Can she say they're better than the 80s?  No, but they're at least as good, and perhaps better.

[dirtyjeffer]

There is another tire I thought was interesting, Cooper Discoverer True North which claims to be great for drivers who deal with mostly slush and black ice ie. in milder climates.

Funny as I was looking at this tire last night as I saw it on The Fast Lane Cars winter tire test.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzGN6cxL1Mg

Looking at pricing online it seems that my size (225/45/17) is way above all the other sizes which makes it more expensive than either the X-Ice3 or WS90.

I'm still going to drop my shop an email and see what price they can give me.

lol...if you watch that video, read the comments...the 2nd reply on the 2nd comment is NormT.

[dkaz]

Funny as I was looking at this tire last night as I saw it on The Fast Lane Cars winter tire test.

Looking at pricing online it seems that my size (225/45/17) is way above all the other sizes which makes it more expensive than either the X-Ice3 or WS90.

I'm still going to drop my shop an email and see what price they can give me.

Pretty cool. Too bad none of the big players submitted tires to compare.

It’s competitive in 195/65R15:
Cooper Discoverer True North $124 (1010Tire)
Michelin X-Ice Xi3 $128 (Costco)
Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 $120 (Costco)
Pirelli Winter Ice Zero FR $120 (Costco)
BFGoodrich Winter T/A KSI $130 (Costco)
Nokia’s Hakkapeliitta R3 $145 (Kal Tire)

lol...if you watch that video, read the comments...the 2nd reply on the 2nd comment is NormT.

Lol. Thought he was going to respond that with Buicks, you don’t need winter tires.

Skating rinks are good but don’t let you test higher speed stuff.