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The proxes 4 all seasons are about bald and with some planned ski trips this winter I figure I might try out some of these fancy "snow tires" I've been hearing about. My budget it kinda tight though, so the two tires i'm looking at are"

Mastercraft Glacier Grip 2 (about $580 installed)

Hankook Icebear W300 (about $500 installed)

Anyone have either of these tires?

Just ordered a set of the Icebear W300's, we'll see how they do I guess

I have a set of the icebear studded and they have been pretty good to me.

What size?

I've been hearing good things about the General Altimax Arctics. Very reasonably priced too. They just don't have the speed rating that my Pirelli Winter Carvings do.

93forestpearl wrote: I've been hearing good things about the General Altimax Arctics. Very reasonably priced too. They just don't have the speed rating that my Pirelli Winter Carvings do.

I've also heard good things about the Arctics. I just picked up a set for my girlfriend's Impreza, so we'll see how they do.

They were the second cheapest winter tire TireRack carried - $1 more than the Firestone Winterforces.

I talked my sister into getting a set. If I can't squeeze another winter out of my Pirellis, I get some Arctics in 14s. I'd rather avoid getting another set of winter tires for my beater since this will probably the last winter with that car.

I needed some 205 55 16's, which turns out is a little odd and not too common size so my choices were limited. On top of that most of the places around here only carry studded tires, so that limited my options further.

205 55 16 Arctics from tire rack ran me $78 each + something like $40 shipping.

Ya, I was thinkin about that. I read some reviews on the icebears and everyone seemed to say that they were not great deep snow tires but were great in slush, wet and light snow conditions. Around here we pretty much only get a few days of deeper snow, and thats what a 4runner is for anyway . For the most part we get a lot of slushy wet roads in the winter so thought I try those, though the tread is definitely not as sexy as the arctics, but its about performance not looks right... or at least thats what I tell myself.

I'm a fan of studdable tires since they generally run a harder compound than other winter tires. I'm going on my fifth winter with the Pirellis, and two of those were with over 300 whp.

The harder compounds aren't as good on glare ice, but who needs to drive like a maniac on glare ice anyways.

Hockey players....those mothers are crazy...

Well, I was one, but I was speaking for more than myself. I happen to be "that guy" when its slippery.

I've got a set of yoko guardex on my old 14" wheels if anyone wants them. I ran them very limitedly when I was going to school in PA.

If anyone wants them, rims & all, they're yours for the cost of shipping. I'll try and look back through my records and see how many miles I put on them.

I had a set of 225/45-17 Ice Bear W300s and I really liked them.

I did see, however, that Consumer Reports rated them terrible in the snow, but the best on ice, and very good in the dry. Having a 5MT, AWD, and an LSD made short work of snow, no matter how deep it was. If it's for snow, look elsewhere, but if you drive mostly in the cold and dry, with some ice, the W300 is great.

I'd still be running minde if weren't for a sidewall cut on one.

I just got the ice bears. No snow experience yet though, they are pretty quiet it seems though.

Yeah, the Ice Bears are a really, really good dry, cold, and ice tire. Not so flash in the snow, but if you have AWD and an LSD you're ahead of %95 of the people on the road.

Hey guys, uh, first post. (Just bought a 92 Sport 5SPD tonight!)

I had a set of W300's on my 2.5RS, and I loved them. I worked as a photographer for a newspaper in Boise, ID, and needed to get around no matter what. I found them to be really impressive on every surface I took them on. Icy roads, slushy roads, snow up to 3 in deep, dirt, gravel, mud, even autocrossed and won my class on them (really pissed off the WRX guys I was faster than). I posted a review saying basically the same thing on tire.com. They are not the most aggressive snow tire, but I would honestly run them year round (I did actually, got 35k out of them). No other tire I have had has been so capable on every surface, perfect for a Subaru. It was neat being able to blast down a wet mountain road, then blast down a gravel road and feel like I had the right tire for both.

The only other snow tire I have tried are Hankook iPike whatever, and they did great in snow and ice, but were pretty terrible everywhere else.

Hope that helped.

Well, went to get the W300's installed today at the local tire shop, but their tire machine slipped and punched a hole in one of the sidewalls. They had special ordered the size for me as it was so they sold me a set of the glacier grips for about $50 cheaper, ended up being about $460 out the door installed. I wasn't going to argue with that so I guess we'll see how these tires do.

We have the Icebears on my wifes Forester. They work well for what they are. She runs them year round and they are wearing well. I have played around in the snow with them and they are OK. They are no where near my WS-50's but for how she drives they are perfect!

I've heard good things about iPikes...good luck!

An update on the Glacier Grip's:

Awesome. Ran them all winter long (short winter though). Minimal road noise increase over the toyo's, although I have a rather droning exhaust so it can be hard to tell. Handling just as good, wear has been excellent considering they have only seen about 4 days of actual snow. When in the snow they grip quite well and when they slip they are very predictable and easy to control. I was most surprised with how they handled gravel roads, they grip surprisingly well in all types of gravel, though compared to performance all seasons I would expect any winter tire to do better. Pure ice traction was still a bit slippery, though better than any all season and they are studable for those who are in to that.

Overall rating: For the price range (~$500 installed) I would definitely recommend.