[Gryffindor101]

I remember a few years ago we got a big dump of snow during Christmas holidays in Calgary Alberta. My in-laws where snowed in for 3 days. I probably helped push out over a dozen cars with all season tires that where stuck. A few of them where AWD vehicles.

My Compass with the All Weather tires plowed through the snow with no issues. We live on a circle, so I drove around a bunch of times to help pack the snow down.


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[RCWestcott]

I've come to realize over the years that AWD is really only good for getting your vehicle going in mud and snow. Once you're moving and want to break, ALL vehicles are FOUR-WHEEL-STOP. That's when your tires really matter!


Living in Edmonton, AB Canada, it's winter a good portion of the year, and since I want to stop behind and not in the trunk of the cars in front of me, I'm planning on purchasing good winter tires. My issue, my 2014 Titanium came with 19" rims, and the snow tires for those are both hard to come by and expensive. My plan, then, is to find someone with a 2013 or 2014 Escape SE who's swapped out their OEM 18" rims (I prefer the look of stock), buy those off them, then get much cheaper tires at Costco come October.


Best I can tell the bolt pattern is the same between all 2013 and 2014 Escapes, so my question to the group is whether anyone sees any flaws in my plan as well as what the consensus is on what's a fair price for a set of four one-year-old 18" Sparkle Nickel Painted Alloy rims. Cheers!

 

[RCWestcott]

Tires?

Found a set of 17" takeoffs from a 2014 SE, complete with the OEM Continental all seasons with almost no wear on them. $650 for the set of four, with the TPMSes in each rim. I plan to peel the tires off and sell them.

Now the big question: Which snow tires to get for this rapidly-approaching Edmonton winter? Anyone out there can recommend between the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 and Bridgestone Blizzak WS80?

In 235/55R17 they are within $10/tire of each other.

I have the Blizzak WS70s on my old Jeep and like them, but am leaning towards the Michelines for my new Escape.

Thoughts?

 

[mrmikesdeuce]

Found a set of 17" takeoffs from a 2014 SE, complete with the OEM Continental all seasons with almost no wear on them. $650 for the set of four, with the TPMSes in each rim. I plan to peel the tires off and sell them.

Now the big question: Which snow tires to get for this rapidly-approaching Edmonton winter? Anyone out there can recommend between the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 and Bridgestone Blizzak WS80?

In 235/55R17 they are within $10/tire of each other.

I have the Blizzak WS70s on my old Jeep and like them, but am leaning towards the Michelines for my new Escape.

Thoughts?

Check the Tire-Rack site. Look under each brand in the size you want. They may have some customer reviews for that tire.

 

[Gryffindor101]

Found a set of 17" takeoffs from a 2014 SE, complete with the OEM Continental all seasons with almost no wear on them. $650 for the set of four, with the TPMSes in each rim. I plan to peel the tires off and sell them.

Now the big question: Which snow tires to get for this rapidly-approaching Edmonton winter? Anyone out there can recommend between the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 and Bridgestone Blizzak WS80?

In 235/55R17 they are within $10/tire of each other.

I have the Blizzak WS70s on my old Jeep and like them, but am leaning towards the Michelines for my new Escape.

Thoughts?

You can't go wrong with either tire. I believe the X-Ice's have a higher rating. But I can't remember where I read that. I've used Blizzaks for my last three vehicles and they have been great in the winters we get in Calgary.

I remember 10 or so years ago I was driving to BC from Banff in the middle of the night during a big snow storm. I had my Mustang GT with Blizzaks on and we had no problems at all. In fact we where almost pushing snow with the front bumper the snow was so deep on parts of the highway.

Check out tire rack for reviews as the other poster recommended.


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[mrmikesdeuce]

I just got my 2014 Titanium 4WD. I ordered it with the 18" tires. This spring I will be putting new chrome mag wheels on with the stock tires. This fall I will buy new 18" snow tires to put on the factory wheels for the winter. Even though I have 4WD, I still like the idea of good snow tires all around. I live in Syracuse, NY, and we get our share of snow. I also like to personalize my vehicles, hence the mag wheels for nice weather.

UPDATE: Just bought a set of Dunlop Winter Maxx snow tires for my factory rims. I checked the customer reviews on Tire-Rack and they were overwhelmingly positive for these tires. My stock Continentals are mounted on chrome Verde mags for good weather. I have pics of both combinations in my gallery.

 

[DreamU]

Now the big question: Which snow tires to get for this rapidly-approaching Edmonton winter? Anyone out there can recommend between the Michelin X-Ice Xi3 and Bridgestone Blizzak WS80?

Its been 2 months so RCWestCott may have purchased tires already but for anyone else Tirerack did a preliminary test of the two tires in question:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=191

Summary: WS80 is 17% better acceleration and 23% better braking than the X-Ice. But the tradeoff for that better performance is the WS80 has 0 miles warranty versus 40000 miles for the X-Ice.

 

[mn_escape]

Its been 2 months so RCWestCott may have purchased tires already but for anyone else Tirerack did a preliminary test of the two tires in question:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=191

Summary: WS80 is 17% better acceleration and 23% better braking than the X-Ice. But the tradeoff for that better performance is the WS80 has 0 miles warranty versus 40000 miles for the X-Ice.

Am I interpreting this correctly. The WS80 have no warranty what so ever?

 

[bigbirchlake]

UPDATE: Just bought a set of Dunlop Winter Maxx snow tires for my factory rims. I checked the customer reviews on Tire-Rack and they were overwhelmingly positive for these tires. My stock Continentals are mounted on chrome Verde mags for good weather. I have pics of both combinations in my gallery.

I am considering these tires myself for my Escape, as I live in Minnesota.

Looks like a good combo.....

 

[DreamU]

Am I interpreting this correctly. The WS80 have no warranty what so ever?

Correct, where warranty means tread life there is none. Sure, there is a warranty on workmanship and materials which I take to mean if the tire unravels or explodes it may be covered.

I recently got to stick my fingernail in both the X-Ice and the WS80. Both are quite soft which is clearly why Bridgestone won't warranty it. But Michelin seems almost as soft!

Personally, I bought the WS80 anyway. That extra 5 or 10 feet of stopping power may be the difference between an accident and no accident......

 

[Gryffindor101]

I got 5 winters out of my Blizzak WS60 tires on my minivan. That is probably around 40K to 50K KM I got out of them. I'm happy with that.


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[4thman]

If anyone is interested, General Altimax RT 43,is a good "all" season tire,favorable winter reviews as well,good topic on them in the tire forum at bobistheoilguy.Google it.
Contemplating getting a set myself.

 

[NEescape]

Tpms

Good morning,

Just got a new 2015 Escape SE. Ordering a tire and wheel package for the Escape. Any downsides to not getting the TPMS? If I do get them, is any programming necessary when switching from summer to winter setup, or do the sensors adapt automatically?



Thanks in advance!

 

[2014escapemark]

Mine adapted automatically on both my 2011 and 2014 but others have said that they had to get dealer to do it. If you do get the TPMS you will see a warning all the time.

 

[zig613]

I didn't get the TPMS installed in my snow tires. In Canada they are not a legal requirement. The orange "icon" flashes for 15 seconds when you start the engine then the flashing stops and "icon" stays on. Just like the high beam icon. No big deal vs. the $$$ saved.


Wade

 

[canadamouse]

You need to get wheels to fit your Escape (correct bolt pattern, so they can be attached), and then tires to fit the wheels you've purchased. The two things are related, but not the same.

The OEM tires on the Escape's 18" wheels are size 235/50R18. The first number, 235, is the width of the tire's tread, in millimeters. The second number, 50, is the aspect ratio, i.e., the height of the sidewall divided by the tire's width. The "50" actually means 50% -- the tire is half as "tall" (at the sidewall) as it is wide. The "R" just means radial; sometimes this is left out, because most tires are radials these days. If the tire were speed-rated, there would be another letter in front of the R, such as H, V, or Z. (Sometimes the speed rating is also shown elsewhere on the tire.) Finally, the "18" refers to the diameter in inches of the tire's opening, and therefore of the wheels it fits.

However, the wheels you buy may not be the exact same size as the OEM 18" wheels, though matching them would be a prudent thing to do. You need to fit the wheels you do get.

If you're going to store the wheels/tires as units until you need to put them on again, rather than taking the tires off the wheels, I think it makes sense to keep them reasonably well-inflated, but others can chime in on this point.

I use general altimax arctic 225 65R 17 , they fit the stock 17 inch rims and are the same diameter as the 235 55 R17 tires on 17 inch stock rims, yes they have a lower load rating then stock but were I drive in Northern Ontario Canada and Upper Michigan they work great and in Canada tire prices are significantly higher than in the US.I purchased at Canadian Tire which is a very large retailer in Canada and with the rebate and sale price,I paid about $65.00 less per tire than the ContinentalExtreme Winter Contacts which was my first choice.I have Extreme Winter Contacts on wife's 2012 Mazda3 and can say they are amazing in our climate but I wasen't paying the 260.00 plus taxes extra for the Conti's.I would and have recommended the Altimax Arctic to friends and all are happy with there performance for price ratio.

 

[CND_Escape]

I have the stock Ford 17" rims

I'm looking to get winter tires and steelies. I have read in this post that the 16" steel rims have very little clearance on the brake calipers. I'm assuming the 17" steel wheel would be a better choice?

 

[escape05xls]

I use general altimax arctic 225 65R 17 , they fit the stock 17 inch rims and are the same diameter as the 235 55 R17 tires on 17 inch stock rims, yes they have a lower load rating then stock but were I drive in Northern Ontario Canada and Upper Michigan they work great and in Canada tire prices are significantly higher than in the US.I purchased at Canadian Tire which is a very large retailer in Canada and with the rebate and sale price,I paid about $65.00 less per tire than the ContinentalExtreme Winter Contacts which was my first choice.I have Extreme Winter Contacts on wife's 2012 Mazda3 and can say they are amazing in our climate but I wasen't paying the 260.00 plus taxes extra for the Conti's.I would and have recommended the Altimax Arctic to friends and all are happy with there performance for price ratio.

I LOVE those tires. I had them on 3 of my cars. Never got stuck once. They are cheap in the more standard sizes as well. I think I'll get them on steelies in 16" for the escape.

 

[escape05xls]

I have the stock Ford 17" rims

I'm looking to get winter tires and steelies. I have read in this post that the 16" steel rims have very little clearance on the brake calipers. I'm assuming the 17" steel wheel would be a better choice?

As long as there is clearance you are good. I had maybe 2mm or 3mm of clearance on my ms3 with steelies, but tirerack and the guys on the forum all recommended it. I never had an issue.

 

[Thenorm]

I have the stock Ford 17" rims

I'm looking to get winter tires and steelies. I have read in this post that the 16" steel rims have very little clearance on the brake calipers. I'm assuming the 17" steel wheel would be a better choice?

little clearance still means it fits. how much clearance is necessary?
if you do buy 16" wheels, try to do a test fit before you buy. I got mine off craigslist for $100, and pulled a front wheel off to check right there in the guys driveway.

16" tires are cheaper, so thats what i went with.