UltraGrip vs Arctic Alpin vs Pirelli P190

[ScotcH]

Ok... same price for all of them. Which would you choose?

Goodyear UltraGrip
Michellin Arctic Alpin
Pirelli 190 Snowsport

Keep in mind this is in Ottawa, so a bit more snow/ice than TO. Opinions? (I know people like the Hakkas, but they're about $350 more)

btw ... for a 2003 Jetta 1.8T :)

[miataboi]

Originally posted by ScotcH
Ok... same price for all of them. Which would you choose?

Goodyear UltraGrip
Michellin Arctic Alpin
Pirelli 190 Snowsport

Keep in mind this is in Ottawa, so a bit more snow/ice than TO. Opinions? (I know people like the Hakkas, but they're about $350 more)

btw ... for a 2003 Jetta 1.8T :)


Goodyear UltraGrip ICE - if available...
Otherwise...
Arctic Alpin is a good ICE tire.
Pirelli is pretty much generic in terms of overall winter perf. Not excelling in either... IMHO.

[Dave]

Nokians rool the skool! But yeah, otherwise go for the Goodyears from what I've been told. Blizzaks are good too, based on the performance my brother got out of them on his car up in Ottawa. They were out fast if you use them a lot on dry roads though.

[Carguy]

Sorry to rain of the Goodyear ultragrip ice parade, but my past experience over 2 winters with them is that they're only so-so. On the ice I did not find them particularly grippy and in the snow only average. I simply found them to be soft and wobbly during cornering maneuvres in cold dry conditions - despite experimenting with tire pressures. I still have them - they've seem 2 winters with about 75% tread left - 185/65-14 on steel rims 4x100 bolt pattern if anybody is interested.

I spoke to a tire tech who admitted that Goodyear had some complaints about this tire and fixed the center block wiggle problem with this year's Eagle Ultragrip W2 model. But at this point I'm off the brand so I decided to try the Toyo Observe G02+. We'll see how they perform this winter...

[MitS]

I have Pirelli 190's on my car (2001 Jetta 1.8T) and they performed quite well last year. I drove them in every snowfall we had and never experienced a loss of traction that wasn't driver induced. I'm the silly guy who never ever stays home just because of snow so my snow tires always get tested. I even had an experience on an icy offramp where every car ahead of me (including SUV's) was either stuck or sliding BACKWARDS down the ramp. I made it up without any difficulty, with traction control off and barely any wheelspin which is difficult on even a dry day in a chipped 1.8T. I also found there was very little sacrifice of performance in dry weather over the stock all season MXV4+. They were reasonably quiet and they seem to have decent tread life even here in the GTA where snowy conditions really only exist 10% of the time.

[Guillermo]

Stay away from the Michellin Arctic Alpins.
I had them on my car and they suck in snow and slush.
I drove several of my friends' cars with other winter tires and they felt much better in deep snow and slush.

This year i'm buying Toyo GO-2 Plus.
If you are on a tight budget get the Kumho KW11 - very good all around winter tire that just happens to be one of the cheapest you can buy.

[Dave Barker]

Agree with G. Arctic Alpins are to be avoided.

Any of you folks trying Toyos heard of the new Snowprox?? I wasn't prepared to gamble on them and ended up with Dunlop Winter sport M2s. Mainly based on price vs Blizzak LM 22s which cost more. Car & Driver recently put them on a Jaguar and were very pleased with the results. They also did well in Tire Rack surveys. Obviously no personal experience yet.

[Marsh]

Everybody is bad mouthing Artic Alpins, and not even mentioning Pilot Alpins. A friend has those and loves them. I have to admit they are fantastic all around winter tire.

I have pirellis, because I used to have P210, and they were one of the top snow tire IMO before the ice tire revolution. They were replaced by the 210SS and those suck. I'm trying to wear them out to get new snows, but they are lasting forever. Interestingly the Pirellis work great over 100km/h, but are terrible at city or Solo-2 speeds.

[AlienDNA]

Originally posted by Marsh
Everybody is bad mouthing Artic Alpins, and not even mentioning Pilot Alpins. A friend has those and loves them. I have to admit they are fantastic all around winter tire.

I have pirellis, because I used to have P210, and they were one of the top snow tire IMO before the ice tire revolution. They were replaced by the 210SS and those suck. I'm trying to wear them out to get new snows, but they are lasting forever. Interestingly the Pirellis work great over 100km/h, but are terrible at city or Solo-2 speeds.

I've got the Pirelli 210 SnowSports on my Miata (mostly because they were the only 195/50s I could find) and have been happy with them for two winters now. In fact, I've just replaced my two rears with new ones. The only time I've been stuck was that one ice sheet we got last winter when I couldn't even walk to the garage, let alone back the car out of it. Mostly I've been able to happily motor around Jeep Libertys and such that are stuck in the curling rink parking lot.

Of course, we've been getting a lot less snow in the GTA than either western Ontario or Ottawa. Anything more than 5 inches and the Miata would be more toboggan than automobile anyhow.

[Logan]

I had Alpins before Michelin replaced them with Arctic Alpins.
The alpins were awesome, I think because the tread had blocks in it, and not the tiny grooves that are in the arctic alpins.

[Marsh]

Don't get me wrong, the 210SS are still decent, and I've never been stuck either, but they are crap compared to the 210P. The 210P was better in the snow AND on asphalt. The only downside was they were loud. They fixed that with the 210SS but compramised everything else. It just shows what they're target market cares about.

[MitS]

Why design noise out of a tire and degrade performance? Wear ear plugs if you can't take it!

[Guillermo]

Here is an excellent tire talk web forum.
Tons of experts answer tire questions here:

http://www.canadiandriver.com/discuss/messages/2479/2479.html?1042254775

[haniforama]

I REALLY like my UltraGrip ICE tires.

They do tend to squirm around in the dry, but i run them at 29 psi.

Their snow/ice/slush traction is great. Wet is pretty good, and dry is adequate.

The HAKKA 10's i used to run on the other hand were not so good at ice/slush, but were great in the pure snow and wet/dry.

The non-ICE Ultragrips (my last set - now on my sisters car) were average in all categories but still better at the inclement stuff than a no-season tire.

My dad runs the Arctin Alpin on our Toyota Previa (the MR2 of vans :) ) and with the 50-50 weight distribution, mid-engine rear drive layout, the snow/slush/ice/wet performance is exemplory!

I'm loving the 215-50-17" Continentals on my Vectra SR-i rental right now though :D

Hanif

[miataboi]

Originally posted by haniforama
I REALLY like my UltraGrip ICE tires.

They do tend to squirm around in the dry, but i run them at 29 psi.

Their snow/ice/slush traction is great. Wet is pretty good, and dry is adequate.

The HAKKA 10's i used to run on the other hand were not so good at ice/slush, but were great in the pure snow and wet/dry.

The non-ICE Ultragrips (my last set - now on my sisters car) were average in all categories but still better at the inclement stuff than a no-season tire.

My dad runs the Arctin Alpin on our Toyota Previa (the MR2 of vans :) ) and with the 50-50 weight distribution, mid-engine rear drive layout, the snow/slush/ice/wet performance is exemplory!

I'm loving the 215-50-17" Continentals on my Vectra SR-i rental right now though :D

Hanif

I've got a set of Nokia Hakkapalita 10's on my car right now!!! They LOOK like an AWESOME deep snow tire!!!
I'd agree that ice may not be great... but it's a very nobby tire...

LEADING TO... road-noise... BUT... also... some decent sidewall stiffness for a winter tire!!!

WOO-HOO!

It handles quite well, actually!
And hydroplaning??? FUHGHEDDABOUDIT!

[ScotcH]

Thanks for all the input, guys. I'll probably go with the Goodyears UltraGrip Ice. Seems to be the best all around tire.

I'll report back on winter performance (maybe after a couple of Slush and Slide AutoX's!)

[MiG-29 Foxbat]

Originally posted by haniforama
I'm loving the 215-50-17" Continentals on my Vectra SR-i rental right now though :D

Hanif

Which Conti's are they?

[haniforama]

SportContact...

But i'm home now...

I love UK car rentals :)

Hanif

[blur]

I haven't tried the Ultragrip Ice, but I have tried the Eagle Ultragrip GW2 and liked them. They gave quite good icy/slushy performance and also held up to dry bare pavement better than any winter tire I've ever had.
So, If you want a winter tire which also handles, it's a good choice.
This year I decided to sample Dunlop's performance winter tire, the Wintersport SP D2, unfortunately my car kinda died before I put them on and they don't fit my new car so they are for sale. 195-65-15, never seen pavement, I'll sell them for whatever I got them for, which was a very good deal. I just can't seem to find the receipt right not but I bet it's a better price than anyone else can find.

[ScotcH]

Originally posted by blur
This year I decided to sample Dunlop's performance winter tire, the Wintersport SP D2, unfortunately my car kinda died before I put them on and they don't fit my new car so they are for sale. 195-65-15, never seen pavement, I'll sell them for whatever I got them for, which was a very good deal. I just can't seem to find the receipt right not but I bet it's a better price than anyone else can find.

That happens to be the exact size I'm looking for! I don't suppose you have a set of VW 5x100 wheels kicking around as well? :)

If the price is right, I'll buy them!

btw ... I can't find any info on the D2s ... how do they comapre to the M2s?

[macrossranma]

i have nokian hakka1 on my 01 civic, its very good on both ice and snow, the only thing is its noisy, sound like you are in an airplane, and i think its cheaper than artic alpine, at least in GTA

[blur]

Doh, typo, they are the M2's. I also have a set of aluminum 15x6 VW wheels with nothing to do. Unfortunately they are 4x100.