LRR winter tires

[Daox]

Well, I'm thinking ahead a little bit, but winter will be coming sooner or later. So, I am looking for winter tires for the Prius. I've been looking at the Nokian tires and they all claim to be LRRs. The Hakkapeliita R's claim to be "Extremely low rolling resistance".

Does anyone have any experience with these tires?

Any other suggestions for winter tires?

I'm replacing a set of General Altimax Arctics. They are honestly a great winter tire. I've been very happy with them, and their price is quite reasonable. However, they aren't LRR and you can tell when you put them on or take them off.

[Daox]

I see you can now filter by LRR on tirerack.com! Very nice new feature. This brings up two more tires for consideration:

The Pirelli - Winter 190 Snowcontrol Serie II which is currently for sale at closeout prices which is very attractive. The couple user reviews praise these tires.

Then there is the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 which seems to be a fairly high rated tire.

[Nevyn]

Thanks for starting this! I was planning on doing just the same.

Here's a question I have. My summer tires are 195/60-15's. The sticker on the door says I can use 195/60 or 185/65; both are listed.

Which size would be better for a winter tire? What if I only bought two instead of four?

[NeilBlanchard]

Yes, I have driven the Hakka R on my Mom's Prius, and they are very good at coasting. They are among the best LRR tires, period; not just good winter tires. They have 51PSI sidewall maximum.

The other winter tire that I have more experience with that is low rolling resistance is the Michelin X-Ice. These were better than my Yokohama Avid all-seasons, by quite a bit. The X-Ice also have 51PSI sidewall max.

[Daox]

Skinnier tires are better for snow/slush since they tend to cut through it better vs ride on top of it.

You can go with two tires for better stopping and acceleration in a straight line (which is most of the time). However, with four you'll gain additional stopping power and cornering will be better.

[Daox]

Have you driven with the Hakka Rs in winter Neil?

[Daox]

Also, where did you get your Nokian tires? My local garage can't get them and TireRack doesn't sell Nokian.

[NeilBlanchard]

I only drove on the m briefly, and My Mom drove with them. They work well as winter tires.

I bought them from Chang Ho Kim, who is the guy who won the economy run with them, on his Honda CR-X HF. His garage is very local to me! :-)

[Daox]

I just purchased the Pirelli Winter 190 Snowcontrol Serie II from tirerack. I had a hard time hunting down the Nokians and the only place I did find them they were over $100 each. The Pirelli's came in at $57 each... kind of hard to beat that.

[320touring]

I've yet to put a winter tyre on the Scab,

But my Norwegian friend who lives in Sweden said that Nokian is about the best you can buy..

I may have to invest in a set if this weather continues over here.

Good luck with the Pirelli