Tires Vredestein or GENERAL TIRE
I have put General Altimax tires on my older hatchback and think they're pretty good.
Nokian (any of their winters), Blizzaks (any of their winters), michelin x-ice or General Artic winter tires are the 4 brands that I stick to for winter tires. Nokian is hands down the best, Blizzaks and Michelin are a real close 2nd and 3rd and the generals are a solid budget tire that I used to run on my 240sx in ottawa way back in day. (I currently run General Grabbers on my pickup and they are better than the bfgoodrich that are nearly 100$ more a tire).
also, no comparo w/the Firestones, but I'm on the Wintrac Pros right now, driving in California, and they're fine in warm/dry conditions. I put them on since I'm going back and forth over the passes back to WA, where I am full time. For a winter/snowbird tire that's not terrible in the dry and good in the wet, I can definitely recommend these.
I have the 225/40-18 Vredesteins on my 7.5R. I can't compare to the Firestones directly, but I'm very happy with the Vredesteins. After breaking them in I'm quite happy with how well they stick in the dry, and their performance in ~8" of snow was outstanding.
They are good, but the tests are misleading here. A Y-rated UHP tire is being compared to V-rated Touring tires. You’ll see those Vredesteins have only a 400 UTQG so don’t expect mileage here as compared to other tires in the test.
I am running the Quatrac Pros on my R (225/45 18), and have been really happy with them. I ended up running them year round. They are a really impressive tire.
I have Vredestein Quatrac 5 (I think that's the model, not sure if it's still a 'current' tire) on my Alltrack, also an '18 SE. I drove them on some hard pack and a little ice last winter and thought they were good.
I just replaced my stock tires with Vredestein Quatrac Pro tires (205 55R17 for me). These Dutch made tires seem to be quieter and have a better grip than the Falken OEM.
I currently have General Altimax Arctic, studded, on my 2013. So far they have been great, but we will see how they go in deeper snow.
I've switched back to my "winter" set up, actually just severe snow rated all-seasons. On this setup, I run Motegis MR131s (Super light, inexpensive wheels BTW), with Vrederstein Quatrac Pro 225/50/17s. I now have just minimal wheelspin at wot in second, even uphill, and I'm able to take off from a light without babying it. I can now drive normally. These tires are Y-rated, so not quite the typical all season.
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