I have been in the market the past week for winter tires as a result of a blizzard that rolled through here 4-days ago. Currently my truck has Duratracs 275/65/R20. Some may say these are great tires and that they do bare the 'Mountain' symbol so one should not need actual winter tires...however I disagree. They are great tires, and have used them on my past three vehicles, yet there performance in the winter under icy conditions is pretty weak. Now someone will comment that there is no perfect tire for ice and I would partially agree however a bit softer of rubber should lend itself to better performance during those days where a warming event turns to a deep freeze and the roads turn to shear ice. Deep snow, Duratracs work extremely well, slick, and iced over side streets and roadways, not so much.

Did some research and was looking into the following, trying to keep to somewhat the same tire size with only slight variations (maybe originally OEM size):

• Toyo Observe GSi5 ($1459.80 installed, tax paid) (275/55R20)
  • For the most part, lots of reviews and fairly positive feedback on multiple sites
• Blizzak DM-V2 ($1659.60 installed, tax paid) (275/55R20)
  • Lots of favorable reviews
• Toyo WLT1 ($1948.20 installed, tax paid) (LT275/65R20)
  • Positive reviews but quite expensive; not sure I needed a 10-ply tire...I do not haul heavy loads
• Blizzak LT ($1704.00 installed, tax paid) (LT275/65R20)
  • Replace the W965 tire is what I have been reading; very few reviews out there on this 10-ply tire, yet they claim offers 30% better traction and should get an extra season out of them for wear??

Had no real allegiance to any tire manufacturer and yet partially wanted to go to a Blizzak tire purely on overall reviews and quality; even looked into another tire size for the DM-V2 (285/50R20 - $1770.60 installed, tax paid).

Decided I was going to go with the Blizzak LT's. Walked into the tire shop we use for all of our company vehicles and talked to our representative. We discussed what I was most interested in for the winters and then went and actually checked the rubber out in the back shop. He showed me how 'grippy' and soft the GSi5's were compared to a bit harder tire like the LT's and felt that this would be a better choice if I didn't need a 10-ply tire and wanted good traction on icy roads. So, took his advice and had them throw on a set of 275/60R20's, slightly up in size from what I was quoted above.

Left the truck there, came back later that day and could almost immediately tell the first drive that I definitely had way better traction and control then the Duratracs on the city streets (highway roads were clear by this point). At four-way stops, while others would sit and spin out, I had no problem getting up and going from a complete stop. I should mention that I have been in 4A since the snowfall. I should be able to jump out of 4A by this weekend as temperatures start to rise a bit.

Conclusion: so far so good. Its early in the test driving for sure but I have no real complaints yet. I will report back in the spring and see if I regret the decision at all.

 

I ran a set of those on Raptor wheels. They were a great winter tire, but wear fast. Even at 50%, they were better than my KO2's on slick roads.

 

Do you recall roughly when you took them off in the spring and how many km's (mi's) you may have gotten out of them?

 

I would say about 25,000 miles before I would be moving onto another set.