Winter Tires, What to use?

[PhEaR]

I searched "winter tires" and went back all ten pages. Yet I found nothing that was helpful. What i am looking for is people's opinon on good winter tires.

Some people recommend blizzacks, some like studded snows. So which do you think preforms better in snow and ice? And which specific manufacturer should i get?

Last winter i was in Vermont with my 96 Jetta (FWD) it had a set of studded snows on it. This car was virtually unstoppable. I would make it though 3 ft snow banks. Now I am in no way expecting that from my BMW, nor would i do that to my BMW. But i am looking for some reliable and safe mobility in the winter w/o the purchase of a new vehicle.

Any help and sharing of info would be great. Ty.

[deviant94ex]

Well, this is my first winter with the BMW as well, and i have been thinking the same thing. For the past 3 years i had a civic with nokian hakkapelliita Q's and it was unstoppable. That was a lot of fun in a big parking lot that wasnt plowed yet. Anyway, they discontinued the Q's this year and came out with a new tire, the RSI, to go along with the Hakka 2's. They look interesting, but they are so new that there are no reviews on them yet. They are also very hard to find in some places. I was lucky.

I bought my mom a set of blizzak ws50's last year and they are very nice as well. They did a great job for her. I would say that any good set of blizzaks or the hakka 2's or RSI's would be really good. I have heard really good things about the dunlop wintersport M2's from a friend with an S4.

Just be sure to get a full set of 4 tires and take it easy and you'll be fine. Any set of true winter tires will be better than summer's or all-season's. Oh, and be sure to get the right sizes. Always go 1 step narrower and 1 stop higher sidewall. You'll bit through the snow much better with a thinner tire and just ride up on top like a surfboard with a wide tire. Good luck.

EDIT: I dont think that studs are necessary unless you have frequent shear ice situations. The advances in todays snow tires (thousands of biting sipes, etc) are such that a studless ice and snow tire will get you through anything you would be out driving in short of ice racing on a frozen lake (which BTW, is a lot of fun!)

Chris