Winter tires, what are people in the snow & ice belt running in 2024?...

[scotman]

Depending on how severe the winter becomes, i might need to get new winter tires. Anyone have experience with Firestone Winter Force, Michelin Xice or Cooper Evolution winter tires?

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

I have older Firestones with 50% tread on the rear of my car. They are garbage. I had to replace two tires as I had a puncture that was too big to repair. I chose Nokian Haklapelliita R5s. I was stranded down a very commanding hilly curvy paved road in ~15"+ of wet snow and still falling. I had the 50% Firestones on the front, all-seasons on the rear and I had just picked up the Hacks, they were in the trunk. I could get about 80% up a hill and the car would break loose and pull power. So I swapped the tires on the side of the road...Hacks on the front, f-stones on the rear and all-seasons in the trunk. Made it up the hill first try, LOL.
I have had many sets of Hacks, and I will buy them again and again.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Sorry, wife called dinner...you dont miss dinner in this house, lol.
I dont have experience with any, but out of the three you have listed, X-ice are the only tires that seem to place up regularly with Hacks and Blizzaks is testing. Michelin also is one of the tire brands I would suggest to anyone who asked(albeit all-seasons for general use) as they are a reputable brand that in my opinion consistently builds quality tires that provide good quiet smooth ride and decent service life.

 

[Handy Andy]

Currently running Control Advantage from BF Goodrich. Wear like rocks - so far, so good.

Steel rims 15X6 with +47.5mm Offset X 4X108 185/60R15 - seems to provide a good "on-center" balance no issues with high-crown or rutted-pavement roads - seems to hold their own.

Later in January though, the forecast calls for more snow and ice - will keep you posted.

 

[Bflaker]

185/60R15 Blizzaks mounted on Sparco Terra's. I'm in WV and we don't really get good snow anymore, but when we do, these work great.

 

[scotman]

I have older Firestones with 50% tread on the rear of my car. They are garbage. I had to replace two tires as I had a puncture that was too big to repair. I chose Nokian Haklapelliita R5s. I was stranded down a very commanding hilly curvy paved road in ~15"+ of wet snow and still falling. I had the 50% Firestones on the front, all-seasons on the rear and I had just picked up the Hacks, they were in the trunk. I could get about 80% up a hill and the car would break loose and pull power. So I swapped the tires on the side of the road...Hacks on the front, f-stones on the rear and all-seasons in the trunk. Made it up the hill first try, LOL.
I have had many sets of Hacks, and I will buy them again and again.

Ive had a set of Hakka R5 tires in the early 2000's. They were a fantastic tire, but it was a difficult one to replace when i destroyed one of them in a pothole. They are not a commonly found brand in my area.

 

[theruns]

I'm in MN and I have Bridgestone Blizzaks I've run for 2 years. They've been awesome.

 

[scotman]

I'm in MN and I have Bridgestone Blizzaks I've run for 2 years. They've been awesome.

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Have you noticed if the traction controls are very sensitive if left on in slippery or heavy snow conditions on your fiesta? My 2011 has always been a reluctant player in slippery situations because the t\c is very active. I had General Altimax arctic tires and they were pretty good. All season tires were worthless in winter use.

 

[theruns]

Have you noticed if the traction controls are very sensitive if left on in slippery or heavy snow conditions on your fiesta? My 2011 has always been a reluctant player in slippery situations because the t\c is very active. I had General Altimax arctic tires and they were pretty good. All season tires were worthless in winter use.

It is pretty invasive lol. Not the worst I've seen but it definitely intrudes a lot.

 

[SyntheticAtmosphere]

Personally I cant stand it. I regularly will use a quick spot of rotation on the tires to help clear a patch and get the car rolling from a stop. I also find it difficult to feather the throttle to help clear the treads in deep snow, FWD or AWD this is valuable action. I dont like a car pulling throttle.

 

[scotman]

The traction controls can be numbed through the vehicle menu on the later 12s and 13s. But not at all on the 11s. The 11s can disable the t/c by pulling the fuse in the under hood fuse box. But that also disables the EPAS. That renders the steering system with about as much feedback as an arcade video game from the mid eighties.
The 2011 Fiesta had some serious shortcomings for the owner that used it in winter conditions or autocross events. Any situation that activated the traction control system resulted in power loss, sometimes at just the moment when it is critical to have maximum power.
I created a couple of "work arounds" one of them a rather elaborate rearrangement of the hall switches to read off only one location. The other was a flasher module that i could switch on to make the CHMSL flash continuously. Because the 2011 system was designed to delay activation of t\c if the brake lamp was on.

 

[Handy Andy]

The traction controls can be numbed through the vehicle menu on the later 12s and 13s. But not at all on the 11s. The 11s can disable the t/c by pulling the fuse in the under hood fuse box. But that also disables the EPAS.

Does your 2011 have the same Pinout connector of your other Fiestas? (I say that plural - not sure how many more you have collected over the years)


Why do I ask?
Pin 34 of the connector in latter years,

The Pin 34 of the power controller connector of the ABS system, would also be the pin that when "GROUND'ed" like any button push from it's pin to ground , the system would tell the other systems thru the CAN-bus - that ABS was on and would light the Dashboard idiot light to show that traction control - it was disabled. You still had ABS - but the system looked to Pin 34 on the ABS module, for decision on whether to enable or disable the Traction control which would then let the simple redundant ABS be taken over by the more complicated wheel speed, and shaft speed - sensors - as it tried to prevent or control the skid/spin it thought it was in - while you were driving and not using any brakes - just a speed differentail detection was needed between the sensors

Else ABS worked with all the wheels simultaneously and treated it as if it was a straight line skid and only activated when the the brakes (via Brake pedal switch) were on.

 

[scotman]

The 11 stands alone. Ford should have realized and experienced that it would have some real negative issues with the tc as it was released at introduction. The 2014 on Fiesta is much better in the tc functionality area. But everyone should understand that the traction controls, stability controls and ABS are inter-connected. As such, they are not really ever completely "off", even if you push the off button. They are just muted to some degree.