X-ICE XI2 or Blizzak WS-60

[thebarber]

14" = the cheap

i have 14" summers (hi performance all seasons, actually) and 14" winters on the yaris, and have 14" all seasons and winters for the aveo

175-65-14 or 185-60-14 work perfectly fine for the yaris....the speedo MAY be off a bit if you had 15's stock, but its only about 3.3% which is really only 3km/h at 100km/h

personally, i say the smaller the better.....hard to argue w/ sub $50 tires, lol.

as for brand.....i had x-ices on my matrix xrs the second winter i had it....they were good, but i never hit THAT much snow and i found them to be pretty soft (which is good in the cold, but i found they wore kinda quick). the winter following i ran goodyear nordics from CT, also a nice tire.....different dynamics than the x-ices, but noticeably louder on the highway (made for an annoying drive from london, on to fredericton, nb!)

last winter i had snowtrakker winters on the yaris which worked spectacularly well, but like the nordics they have a more open tread, which is great in the snow, but on dry pavement and on the highways they were not super quiet.

ive got some other form of snows on the aveo this year that i picked up used off a guy who had an echo hatch. i like them so far, not too loud, good grip in the cold so far, but we havent got any snow in freddy beach yet....so i dont know how they do.

i guess my opinion in the end is to just pick something and try it.....id lean get whatever you can get thats cheap......gta roads arent covered in snow THAT much that you need winter tires for cutting thru snow......slush, maybe......

next time i get winters (as im moving to waterloo, on soon) ill buy something with a more closed tread thats good for more clear pavement vs 2' of snow....because typically, thats what id drive on most....

[Dave]

I ended up getting a set of 14" X-Ice's and rims from the local Active Green & Ross. Friendly guys who treated me well when I brought my old car in there.

My parents live out in the country so I do a fair amount of out-of-city driving when I visit, so I figured they're worth the investment. Plus, there were some pretty hairy nights/mornings driving to and from work last year after heavy snowfalls (before the plows get out to the streets that aren't main arteries) so I'd rather not take my chances.

[randdtso]

This will be my second winter on Dunlop Graspic DS-2's. Got a set of four mounted and balanced on steel rims, with chrome wheel nuts all for $440 from Tire Rack. Excellent tire too; they will run away and hide from the stock Potenza's when there's just a hint of snow. They feel a little more "squirmy" on dry pavement though...but who buys snow tires for handling?
Part of this might also be due to the 175/70-14 size, compared to the stock 185/60-15's.

[minicorolla]

Hi, I bought four General Altimax Arctic with studs. Went through 10" snow getting on freeway, 30 mi. of snow squalls, and now the roads are sheets of ice. They are performing great.

[randdtso]

That's why I got the 175/70-14's rather than the stock non-RS size of 175/65-14...very close to the same OD of the 185/60-15's.
Plus the narrower tire is better for snow.
Plus...I saved $2 per tire. (Hey, 8 bucks buys 5 Tim Horton's coffee's...)

[mrpeasle]

I just put my graspics on yesterday, they are definately "squimier" but again, they are meant for snow so I dont really care. I got the 4 tires with 14" and steel rims from tirerack for 450 bucks, which is cheaper than I would have paid for 4 tires around here.

Tim Hortons, you must live in Canada, I had never heard of one until I rode through Alberta and BC on my motorcycle this summer, weird.

[derickveliz2]

I'm using Dunlop M3s and they are great, less road noise than OEM, Much better grip and handling than OEM, read lots of reviews before buying and WOW!!! I can't believe I'm riding on winter tires (100 mph no problem).

$112 at Sears.

Dunlop Sport M3 link

my 2 cts.