Hi Everyone, my wife and i have to make a one time trip at Christmas to Hamilton, MT from Portland, OR and it will necessitate going through the mountains. We currently have good quality 18" all- seasons on our Mini Cooper S Countryman ALL4 but they are not accepted by multi-state highway patrols without chains when going over the pass and of course you can't fit chains on the ALL4 with 18" wheels due to clearance problems. Since we seldom get much snow in Portland it would be silly to spend a lot of money on snow tires but I have just come across Sumitomo Ice edge snow tires in a 225/45R18 size for $78 each which is easy on our budget. They appear to get good reviews (4.5 out of 5) so my question is are there any owners out there using Sumitomo winter tire?

 

That's a very specific question, and I hope that you have good luck getting your question answered. I would assume they would be fine as long as they have at least half their tread on them. I'm a Blizzack guy myself... so I am of no help

 

Nokian Hakkapeliittas for me in the winter.

 

If you literally only need them for one trip I'd go with those... You can't beat the price (virtually disposable at that price).

 

I would visit TireRack.com and kill for the Ice Edge ratings and compare with the Blizzak's and Continentals. Call them as they are very helpful.