dirleton

Final decision time. Tire Rack is highly regarded for advice on brand, sizing, etc. and I respect that. They do seem , however, to lean toward Blizzak although the Ice X3 has done very well elsewhere (reviews). Does TR have a dog in the fight or do Blizzaks really have the edge? RDX mainly driven around town - slush, ice, snowpack. Deep snow seldom. Opinions on both tire choice and Tire Rack?

rosen39

Two years ago I got the WS70's on rims, size 235/65-17 for my RDX. No problems with grip or noise. They will not feel the same as the stock tires on 18" wheels when taking an exit ramp, but that is one of the trade offs with a winter tire. The rubber compound is softer.

dirleton

Anyone else?

Sculldog3

3 yrs with the xi3's for me and I've liked them. Also mainly around town and on roads that are maintained. Have driven in storms with the snowplows out and several inches on the ground, no worries. Very confidence inspiring, no slipping or uncertainty. Tipping point for me is the warranty, which is 40 k I believe. Blizzaks are great by all accounts, but won't last as long and no warranty. Think the Michelins are maybe one of the only snows with a more traditional mileage warranty. Either works and represents the top of the respective manufacturers game. I think what's often missed is even on a plowed, treated road, snows will stop and handle better than all seasons in low temps and winter conditions. AWD is great, snows maximize that potential.

Sculldog3

I got mine on tire rack as well, seem to recall them talking very favorably about these.

dirleton

How important is the warranty (Michelin)?

andysinnh

Personally, between the two, I'd go with the Michelins, since they do pretty well and have a similar snow handling behavior for a longer period of the tread depth. The Blizzak's have a changing rubber composition as you get near 1/2 way down that is much less "grippy" and is more akin to an all-season rubber vs the much stickier rubber. Plus, that rubber tends to wear pretty fast (based on a set of WS-70's I ran a couple of years ago).

Of course, my brand of choice is Nokian - but that's not available often thru online resellers...

andy

johnrh

I think both are a good choice.

I have run Xice2s and 3s on past cars and have no complaints about the Michelins.

For my '16 RDX, I decided to try the new Blizzak DMV2s given they are new - at least in North America - this year. Only the older Xice2 is available in the stock 235/60-18 size from what I can tell.

I was also tempted to try some Nokians this year, but went with the Bridgestones instead. In Ontario, there are not too many places you can buy Nokians from, and I wanted to make sure the tires I ended up had not been sitting in a warehouse for a few years already. (This is one of the reasons I like the Tirerack and Costco -- their inventory seems to be refreshed regularly).

TacoBello

I've heard this about Blizzaks too, however, I thought it was only on past models (WS-50's, etc). I've always been a Michelin X-Ice fan. I've owned the originals, the 2's, and the 3's. However, this winter I need to buy new winter tires for my TL and I'm thinking of trying the WS-80's this time, for a change. I've always heard good things about Blizzaks, with more people liking them than not.

I had a set of Nokians on my '99 Civic SiR for winter duty. I didn't buy them new, but rather, they came with the car when I bought it. The grip was pretty good with them during the winter, however, the one thing that was outstanding was their lateral grip. It was difficult to do e-brake drifts in the snow with them

karlmax

No experience with WS80, but I had the Ice X3's. They were fine but I must say that they are not the best tires in slush.

c5davey

I've had my '16 RDX for a week now and looking for snow tires. Is it ok to get the ws80's even if they are 225s with slightly lower load rating or am I better off getting the DM-V2's?

dirleton

Whatever Tire Rack lists as OK is OK.

emsrph

WS80 installed today...they seem firm and grippy. We'll see what they do in the inclement weather. Today will be 50+ Fahrenheit.