Blizzak Winter Tires - Any Good?

[400h08]

Snow tires are in great shortage in Canada this year, because Quebec made it by law mandatory for all vehicles to have snow tire in winter. I called my Lexus Dealer, and they put me on wait list. Today they called back and told me they have 18" Blizzak made by Bridgestone (I think). Are they any good? BTW, I have not used snow tires since 1970's here in Toronto.

[1990LS400]

Here is what I found when I searched for "Blizzak": http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...lite=%2BBlizzak

[400h08]

Thanks. I should have searched first. My next problem is that I do not want to pay for an extra set of expensive wheels. Are steel wheels ok or bad idea. I was also thinking of changing tires and balance twice a year, at which rate, it will breakeven in 6 yrs, and by that time, I will like need new tires any way.

[1990LS400]

Thanks. I should have searched first. My next problem is that I do not want to pay for an extra set of expensive wheels. Are steel wheels ok or bad idea. I was also thinking of changing tires and balance twice a year, at which rate, it will breakeven in 6 yrs, and by that time, I will like need new tires any way.

Tire Rack has some inexpensive 17" wheels for the 400h in stock for US$115 and Blizzak DM-Z3 in 225/65R17 for US$106. I bought the "snow wheels" for my current LS from Tire Rack. However, a problem with buying aftermarket wheels is that, after a few years, it can be impossible to find a replacement if you ever accidentally trash a wheel. Steel wheels would be fine if you can find some that will fit. You might be able to find used Lexus wheels on Craiglist and it is possible that wheels from a Toyota would fit. I bought extra wheels for my first Lexus from a Lexus dealer in 1990 when I bought the car -- they were "take-offs" and were inexpensive at the time.

I found a few issues with switching from summer to winter tires on the same set of wheels year after year -- I did this on a Mercedes I had for 10 years. For one, the tire beads can get damaged -- maybe not a big issue if you drive a lot of miles (excuse me ... kilometers) in the winter if your snow tires are going to last only a couple of years. Secondly, if you have allow wheels, they can get pretty banged up in a twice-a-year switchover process.

The cost of buying an extra set of wheels if really pretty low if you can amortize the cost over a number of years -- easy for us since we usually keep cars for over ten years. And when it comes to selling a car (we almost never trade in cars) having snow tires on extra wheels is certainly a plus to buyers.

Another thing I like about having extra wheels is that I can do the changeover myself on my own schedule -- takes me no more than 30 minutes. Down here, I can wait until mid-November to install snow tires and usually remove them the first day of Spring if I'm not going to be driving north. I've had to slap the snow tires back on once or twice over the past few decades when there has been a Spring snow storm.

[400h08]

Thanks for the advice. Too bad we do not have the same pricing here that can match Tirerack. I am concerned about damaging my wheels and beads as well. I may have to swallow the $2000 for an extra set of wheels.

[1990LS400]

Thanks for the advice. Too bad we do not have the same pricing here that can match Tirerack. I am concerned about damaging my wheels and beads as well. I may have to swallow the $2000 for an extra set of wheels.

Tire Rack ships to Canada ( http://www.tirerack.com/about/using.jsp ) but I'm not up on the what the customs duty would be.

Maybe its time for a little jaunt to the U.S. to pick up tires and wheels -- do you have friends or relatives in the U.S. near the border you could have Tire Rack ship tires and wheels to? Not to encourage illegal behavior, but my Ontario cousins don't get seem to get hassled or be required to pay import duties on excess purchases when bringing stuff in from the U.S. My wife, cousins and I were pretty much just just waved through the border crossing when we drove into Ontario near Detroit last June 27th -- just flashed our passports and that was it. But maybe they thought us five geezers weren't troublemakers.

[400h08]

Thanks for suggestion. I do sometimes go to Buffalo for shopping with my wife, and have some Buffalo wings, too. We only have to pay taxes on our purchases, but most of the time, they just let us through (I don't really mind paying taxes because sometimes things are hard to find in Toronto). May be I should wait till the Christmas holidays and go shopping again.

I noticed that the Blizzak DMz3 is closed out ($149) (what does close out mean?), and the next one up is new LM25 for a big increase to $268 (too much! for just winter use). The next one is Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow for $150 each. The cheapest wheels is $150 each. So, it sounds very economical comparing the price here in Toronto. Does my choice sound ok to you, since I don't really know much about tires and wheels. Thanks.

[1990LS400]

Thanks for suggestion. I do sometimes go to Buffalo for shopping with my wife, and have some Buffalo wings, too. We only have to pay taxes on our purchases, but most of the time, they just let us through (I don't really mind paying taxes because sometimes things are hard to find in Toronto). May be I should wait till the Christmas holidays and go shopping again.

I noticed that the Blizzak DMz3 is closed out ($149) (what does close out mean?), and the next one up is new LM25 for a big increase to $268 (too much! for just winter use). The next one is Pirelli Scorpion Ice & Snow for $150 each. The cheapest wheels is $150 each. So, it sounds very economical comparing the price here in Toronto. Does my choice sound ok to you, since I don't really know much about tires and wheels. Thanks.

Like I said earlier, it's nice to have OEM wheels in case you ever destroy one. I would feel a little better about the aftermarket wheels I bought from Tirerack with my snow tires if I had thought to buy an extra wheel. I haven't trashed a wheel yet (but my wife has on her Camry) and my CPA wife tells me that I'm keeping this LS for another 7 years.

"Closeout" means that they are depleting their inventory for the season and don't plan to restock or that the tire model has been discontinued. I've bought a lot of closeout tires from Tirerack over the years when prices have been right. I tend to plan ahead and have purchased as many as 12 tires at a time when prices have been particularly good. You have to be careful about tire aging but it's less of a problem if you store unused new tires in a dark, climate control environment.

Probably any heavy duty snow tire with the mountain/snowflake symbol on the sidewall would be just fine for you. The ones labeled "ice and snow" usually have the mountain snowflake symbol on the side wall and provide better traction that "performance winter" tires.