Its that time of year around here, time to get dressed for the season and that day was today. I went to Discount Tire and got the Hankook "Ice Bears" mounted on my stock crown spokes. A couple initial comments about these tires:

-these are non-runflats and although I really like my stock Dunlop runflats and don't think they're "that bad" to deal with on a day in and day out basis I must say that these perf, V-rated, extra load rated snow tires are awesome and I can really tell a difference between runflats and non-runflats.

-I went with a P205/50/17 size, thus giving me an extra 5% aspect ratio and IMO you can see and most certainly feel the difference. I haven't "pushed" the car yet, so I can speak about the extra height affecting the handling, but I don't expect to lose too much and besides, its going to be winter soon, safety is the most important thing...right

-for those concerned about sound, pretty quiet too.

-from what I've read about them, they give good mileage also


Ok, onto the pics...

I can see the difference in aspect ration, how about you...

Stock tires (P205/45/17's)...


Snow tires (P205/50/17's)


While I'm at it, some more pics of my car...


I love the crown spokes!


Going into the garage for the day!


Gotta keep the inside clean, so I got these today as well and its the best $90.00 I've spent, but didn't feel it was worth spending the extra $25.00 or so to get the "S" mats, come on MINI


...just incase, the back is covered too!


I'm not exactly looking forward to winter, but when it comes I'm ready to go and actually wanna see how this car, with all its active "bells and whistles", handles the white stuff, so I wait...

 

I ran the Hankook IceBears on my GTO. I think my review is still the first one people see on the DiscountTireDirect.com website... Great winter tire if you do a lot of driving on cold and wet pavement. If I dealt with snow cover on the roads on a more regular basis than we see here in Chicago, I'd probably select a dedicated winter tire. But I'd get the IceBears again without hesitation. Hope they work well for you too!

 

Klasse,

I almost went with the Ice Bears in 205/50/16. Your 205/50/17s look good on your MCS.

With a tread factor of 0, let us know how the tires hold up after the winter and your experiences in the snow.

We get more cold than snow in Louisville/Boulder, so I went with the Falken 912s.

Great pictures, good detail. My front mats have the 'S', you have good taste.

 

I'm about to start my 3rd winter driving season on my tires and I can report to you guys these tires have been absolutely perfect! Great tread life as of right now, I've been told by Discount Tire that I've got about a season and a half left on them and this is after alot of driving on them from my first two seasons (about 6 trips to Chicago and the fact I used my car when I did legal courier work), so I've got a great variety of situations on them, one being a blinding snow storm going to Chicago during the winter of 2007-08. I was going so slow that I was only able to use 1st gear for a good portion of the trip on I-94!!! I highly suggest these tires, I paid $110 a tire and with road hazard and tax, I paid about $520.00....alot less than my deductable, that's for sure

Also, I really like the look of the Crown Spokes, I didn't expect these wheels to grow on me but they did

 

Rochester Hills? Hmm I don't know if I ever seen your car around, I work in downtown Rochester and live in Orion Twp. [/offtopicness]

I almost went with the Ice Bears but they didn't look aggressive enough for what I wanted to do so I went with the iPikes.

Oh and those rubber floor mats are possibly the best add-on I ever did to my car.

 

Thank you VERY much for posting your review, thoughts, and pics. I'm grappling with the winter vs all-season decision at this very moment. I've got an extra set of 16in V-Spokes from when I had my '04 Cooper and now I want to use them in the winter. The original Dunlop all-season run-flats are shot. This way I can get a high pro summer tire for my Crown Spokes and dump the Conti all-season.

After LONG thought, I was going to go with a good all-season tire, but now armed with your review and pics, the debate begins again. I'm just still not sure if I need a full-on winter tire.

I mean, we get a lot of snow in Cleveland, but the roads are never that bad for more than a day and I grew up in Alaska, so I know how to drive in winter. A good all-season tire should be able to cope with even the worst storm if you know what you're doing in snow. Still, to have the extra security of a winter tire nags at me still. My internal debate rages! Thanks again for posting. Cheers.

 

Ice is an entirley diffrent story. All-seasons can't compare to snows on ice based in our testing, particularly braking and cornering

Alex

 

You may know how to drive in the snow, but hundreds of others around you will have no clue. Winter tires will give you the ability to turn & avoid the clueless sliding at you & also stop & avoid the sideways car in front of you, active safety. You have the wheels already, those tires are going to cost less in the long run than a trip to the body shop plus your deductible.

 

The truth, this post speaks it.

I thought winter tires would be a waste of money, but I broke down and bought them this year. We had our first snow last night and they saved me from a collision on the way to work this morning. Easily the best $400 I've ever spent.

 

Just posted this on another thread but seemed appropriate here also...

I just bought 4 Hankook Winter iPike W409 from discounttiredirect.com for $414, including road hazard insurance. Unfortunately, I had them mounted on my spare rims today but because of a snow storm I was unable to get them on the car so I havent driven with them yet but on the discount tire direct web site they have received great reviews. I contacted the rep below and he has been most helpful. In checking inventory tonight they seem to be out of quite a few sizes but that may be temporary. Give Zack a call and see what he can get. Tell him Aaron sent you....wont give you any extra kind of a discount but it might earn me some benefit in the future.
Zack Taylor
Retail Sales Specialist
Discount Tire Direct
1-800-589-6789 Ext#51875
Tom.Taylor@discounttireco.com