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Any pro driver will tell you that a car is only as good as its tires. You can buy a car with the best handling and the most intelligent all-wheel-drive system on the market. But if you don’t have the traction to put the power down, those features become pretty much worthless. That is where snow tires come in.
The best winter tires pump water, slush, snow and salt out via intricate channels between treads while the soft rubber composition molds to and grips the road surface; that’s why they look more complicated and extreme than even all-terrain tires. And if you live in an area that experiences frequent winter weather, snow tires are the most necessary upgrade you can make to prepare your car for winter.
Note: Snow tire prices can vary depending on the tire size, and in some cases, only select tire sizes are available for certain cars. Nearly every manufacturer will recommend buying a full set of four winter tires for your vehicle.
When it comes to balancing price and performance, Blizzaks are legendary. Bridgestone updated the WS90 with a new tread pattern that increases the contact area of the tire and provides more block stiffness for better durability. Bridgestone’s unique NanoPro-Tech Multicell hydrophilic compound wicks water off the road while microscopic bite particles blended into the rubber dig into icy surfaces.
If there’s one thing a Finnish company would know, it’s traction in winter driving. We tested the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 and found its grip and snow and icy conditions to be phenomenal — to the point it felt like cheating. Nokian has updated that already excellent tire with their new flagship R5 version. The R5 brings a new tread pattern that enhances the contact patch between the tire and the road and microscopic crystals that emerge to provide more grip as the tire wears.
These tires are best for truly snowy winters. Some reviewers have complained about their performance in resisting hydroplaning in wet conditions. Nokian also has a smaller brand presence in America. It may be harder to find Nokian-branded tires (and consequently find replacements) at certain outlets.
The Continental VikingContact 7 fits an incredibly wide variety of vehicles, coming in sizes ranging from tiny 15-inch compact car to massive 22-inch crossover wheels. A proprietary Nordic compound with canola oil provides added flexibility and active grip silica for better performance in the wet. Wider sipes allow the tire to create snow pockets and use snow-to-snow traction for better grip.
Michelin’s X-Ice Snow is the successor to the X-Ice Xi2 and X-Ice Xi3 tire. It uses Michelin’s “Flex-Ice 2.0” tread compound which has micro-roughness on the surface for better snow and ice grip. Its silica-based compound allows the tire the flexibility to still provide traction in low temperatures. And increased groove widths reduce hydroplaning and help provide snow-to-snow traction.
Michelin claims these tires will last an extra winter season vs. competitors and backs that u with a six-year or 40,000-mile treadwear warranty.
Bridgestone makes a great all-around snow tire for coupes and sedans. The DM-V2 carries that reputation into the truck universe. It uses the same NanoPro-Tech Multicell compound with a hydrophilic coating. The tires’ aggressive siping pumps away slush and holds on to snow for more grip on ice. The sizing is designed to fit larger vehicles like trucks.
As the name suggests, these are the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 tires designed for use on larger trucks and SUVs. They have similar features to the car tires, like the embedded grip crystals that give the tire extra bite when it starts to wear. But they come with tougher Aramid sidewalls to handle the bigger load from a larger vehicle.
Best High-Performance Winter Truck / SUV Tires
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Pirelli is known for its high-performance tires for F1 and sports cars — and handling in the dry is still a concern here. But the Scorpion Winter is designed as a great cold-weather tire, first and foremost. Performance on snow and ice is its main objective, thanks to rubber packing a new polymer blend and more silica than its predecessors for improved grip in winter conditions. It may not have studs, but it should have your back even if you find yourself in winter conditions that are really getting out of hand.
Best Winter Truck / SUV Tires on a Budget
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Firestone’s Winterstone UV is made to help everything from minivans and crossovers to burly body-on-frame SUVs and trucks handle the slop and snow. The directional tread pattern helps channel slush away from the tire’s contact patch to prevent hydroplaning. The tires also have high-density siping for extra bite on snow and ice. The Firestone UV provides a solid snow tire at a price that’s easy on your wallet.
Sports cars can definitely tackle winter conditions, so long as your skills are sharp and you take care to clean the salt off your ride as often as possible.
Vehicles: High-performance performance sedans, coupes and sports cars
3PMSF: Yes
Sizes: 18″ to 21″
Just because the skies aren’t blue and road conditions aren’t ideal for high-horsepower performance cars, it doesn’t mean your sports car has to stay hidden all winter. The Pilot Alpin 5 is the winter equivalent of Michelin’s remarkable Sport Cup 2 summer tires. The highly-siped directional tread pattern blends dry road cornering performance with hydroplaning resistance. A specialized undertread reduces rolling resistance and helps fuel economy. These tires come with a six-year, 30,0oo-mile treadwear guarantee.
Best Upgrade High-Performance Winter Tire
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Vehicles: High-performance sedans, coupes, sports cars, crossovers and SUVs
3PMSF: Yes
Sizes: 19″ to 22″
Pirelli manufactures the tires for Formula 1. The P Zero Winter is their snow tire alternative to their high-performance P Zero summer tires — if you still want to daily drive your sports car in the less clement months. The P Zero Winter tires use a brickwork pattern siping that creates more biting edges for better stability.
Best Budget High-Performance Winter Tire
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Vehicles: High-performance sedans, coupes, sports cars, crossovers and SUVs
3PMSF: Yes
Sizes: 16″ to 21″
Pirelli also sells a more affordable winter tire option, the Sottozero 3. These are described as more winter seasonal tires than snow tires per se. Think more “it can get cold from time to time” vs. “I reside in the Arctic.” Though they do have three-peak mountain snowflake certification. A directional tread pattern enlarges the contact patch for better grip while expelling water and slush. The tire’s internal structure is reinforced by spirally wrapped polyamide that helps the tire retain thermal stability in changing temperature conditions.
Best High-Performance Winter Tire for SUVs
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Vehicles: High-performance pickups, crossovers and SUVs
3PMSF: Yes
Sizes: 19″ to 21″
Now that manufacturers are building more and more street performance-oriented SUVs and crossovers — and the public is buying them up — there’s more demand for a specialized winter tire that can keep up with those fast high-riders. The Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV brings together the best aspects of performance winter tires and also meets the demands an SUV or truck asks of its tires.
Winter Tire Terms to Know
Studless
Studless snow tires (as the name suggests) do not have studs. They use complex tread designs to pump standing water away from the tread. They also grip and hold onto packable snow and ice with soft rubber and intricate, multi-layered tread block patterns to provide more traction.
Studdable
Studdable tires rely less on tread. They are outfitted to accept metal studs, which dramatically improve traction on ice. But they also are noisy and damage bare road surfaces. Many states and localities restrict or ban the use of studded tires.
Tread blocks
Tread blocks refer to the larger sections of rubber that give the tire’s pattern its overall design. Depending on how they are arranged and angled can affect a tire’s efficiency to pump away water and grip road surfaces.
Siping
Invented by John F. Sipe in 1923, siping is the process of cutting thin grooves across a tire’s tread blocks to increase grip in wet and wintery conditions. The tactic makes the rubber tread blocks more pliable and flexible and better at gripping snow, cold asphalt and pumping away water mitigating hydroplaning. (You’ve also seen siping on the bottom of Sperry boat shoes.)
Compound
The compound of the tire refers to the mixture of ingredients in the rubber of the tire itself. Modern winter tires have a higher silica content than say an all-season or summer tire because it allows the winter tire to stay softer at lower temperatures, stay malleable and grip the road better.
3PMSF
Look for the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) symbol. The 3PMSF symbol confirms the tire meets a minimum requirement for acceleration and traction on snow in conditions considered severe by the weather service. All dedicated winter tires will have the symbol. But be aware that a small but growing number of all-season tires also have this mark.
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