I have the 19” Duratracs in Wisconsin, absolutely no problem.

 

I drive from Boston to Stowe VT every week to ski and agree that a dedicated winter tire is best. You have far better traction when accelerating on slippery conditions, but more important it's about stopping and turning our rather heavy vehicles.

I would go with the Nokian Hakka R5 SUV. We run those on our 2021 Defender and they have been great. I ran the Michelin X-Ice on our 2025 Defender last winter because I could get them in 265 width. (Hakka R5's only come 275 width in 20") I'll be lucky to get 2 winters out of the Michelins before they are worn out. Nokians last 4 winters from my experience.

Here is an interesting Nokian tire comparison: https://www.tire-reviews.com/Tire-Te...RG4-vs-One.htm

 

Thanks for the recommendation on the Nokian.

Have you driven up the access road to Bolton Valley? So many vehicles on the ditch every year!

 

I have not skied Bolton Valley but may start given the Stowe crowds. Probably the same idiot drivers that are spinning in place on the steep section of the Stowe access road. My neighbor said he couldn't understand why all 4 wheels were spinning on his SUV and he had to turn around and go back to the condo instead of skiing. He has that hideous Infiniti (QX80?) with 22" wheels and nearly bald OEM tires. He's a doctor so I guess being smart doesn't guarantee having common sense too.

 

My two cents... All valid comments here. Depending on the winter conditions, you could be fine with a good set of AT tires. However, dedicated winter tires are extra insurance. The key thing is stopping and turning, especially in the bad conditions. And if the conditions are really bad, you still may need chains, or tire socks, etc. And for what it is worth, I do run a dedicated set of winter tires. I'm on 19s so I run the Michelin X-Ice Snow. And in Maine, I have a long gravel driveway that goes a uphill that is steep at the end and in the winter I notice the difference in traction going up the hill compared to my AT tires. And for AT tires, I'm running the OEM Goodyear Wrangler AT Adventure, which I know has its own set of detractors on the this board.

 

Nice to hear you like the Michelin X-Ice Snow. As I plan on getting them for this winter, since I have the 19" rims "spare". I have always run Nokian winter tires in the past and they have been fantastic. Really wish they made a 19" tire.

 

I've only had one winter with the X-Ice Snow, but they seemed to perform well. Though, I will say that I don't claim to be an expert when it comes to winter tires. Perhaps if there are ever more winter options when it comes to 19" tires, I'll try something else. I've only been using winter tires the last few years. I'm originally from LA so never had the need to use dedicated winter tires. On my P38 I was running the Cooper discover h/t plus and just carried chains with me when I went up the mountains as required.

 

We have settled on Nokian dedicated winter tires for several years in Colorado. I prefer dedicated winters, but we also run the Nokian "all weather" category of tire on some of our vehicles year round. The performance in ice and snow is pretty close to dedicated winters.

This will be the first winter with our Defender and our choice is to stick with an all-weather tire on the original rims. Nokian don't have anything in our wheel size, so we are going with either the Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive or the Michellin CrossClimate 2 and plan to run these all year including winter mountain driving. So if you want a dedicated winter and a second set of rims the Nokian's are great. Otherwise have a look at the all-weather category from Nokian/Pirelli/Michellin to see what fits.

 

All this talk of snow tires really gets the winter juices flowing.

Our WA highways in winter can be interesting.






KO2's have been good in deeper trail-snow where rocks and roots and frozen pools lurk beneath.



Blizzaks on 20"s are on their last season. This will be their 5th winter.

 

I am for a competent year round tire that doesn’t require automn and spring change, even tho I always do my tire rotation in automn and spring.

Unfortunately, the BFG K02-K03 are the worst all terrain tire one can have for winter conditions. Looking at the tread, you will notice that there’s no clear escape route from the middle of the tire towards the exterior because of the tread’s closed-in design. What this causes is extreme hydroplaning when going through slush and even deep water puddles in the summer, as these cannot quickly escape from under the tire, therefore you float on it which is extremely dangerous.

I’ve had the BFG on my Jeeps (even had them on the Jeep I traded for the Defender) and therefore completely speaking from experience in Southern Canadian winters.

From my experience ( I rarely keep the same tire set more than 2 years) the very best A/T for winter is the Good Year Duratracs and even better now, the new Duratracs RT. Second would be either the Falken Wildpeaks AT3 and Toyo open country AT3, followed by General Grabber AT2. And you get to keep all of the fore mentioned year round.

Of course do as you wish, but I thought I’d let you know.