LoudAndClear

Last week I ordered a set of four brand new Blizzak WS-60s for use on my stock 17 inch single spoke rims. I was originally running Yokohama AVID H4S which had done well in the summer, but had worn down considerably. Due to the change in seasons, I decided now would be a good time to get a winter tire/rim setup, and when spring hits, I will invest in a summer tire/rim setup.
I have been researching winter tires for quite some time. My first choice were Hakkas, but I was not able to find any dealers around my area for these. I use to run Blizzaks on an older Honda Accord during the winter, and never had an issue getting anywhere around town. The reviews on Tire rack for the Blizzak faired well also. This made the choice for the Blizzaks easy.
I live in Cedar Rapids Iowa, and on a regular basis drive to Waterloo Iowa (around a 55 mile trip one way). The past couple years, in our region, the winters have been harsh. Ice storms, and severe snow. I needed a tire that would be able to get me to and from work, and also the regular trips to and from Waterloo.
I drive a stock 2004 2.7 allroad. I do have around 150 lbs of audio equipment in the back(i use to do SPL and SQL competitions). Other than the audio equipment, nothing else has been done to alter the driving characteristics of the allroad.
This past Saturday I got the Blizzaks mounted and balanced at a local tire shop. That same day, we started to get our first snow fall of the season. The Blizzaks handled the lite snow and the resulting slush cover roads well, even without being broken in. I did notice that the ride in the car feels a good amount more "floaty" than the Yoko's. The Blizzaks also have a good amount of side wall roll if you take a corner a little too fast. But its a winter tire, so this would be expected. The acceleration and braking so far have been well. It will no doubtably get better once the tires break in. I also had an issue with the Yoko's causing vibrations through out the car. Once the Blizzaks were put on, all road vibrations are gone. The ride on this tire is very soft, which will help in the winter on Waterloo's often unplowed streets.
When I woke up for work on Monday, I was surprised to see that the slush from the past day had frozen overnight and almost all side roads and a portion of the interstate had a healthy covering of ice. I am happy to report that the tires held their one. Traction on ice is extremely well. Acceleration at medium throttle from a stand still shows no sign of slipping. Anything above that, the tires spin and ESP will kick in. Braking with these tires did take a little to get use to. Due to the heavy nature of the car, any type of hard braking does result is ABS activation. I am unsure if this is because of the tire, or because of the car itself. Light and moderate braking on ice had no slipping. Handling on the ice while up to speed is also extremely good. The tires do have a predictable pattern of breaking traction and will also give enough warning before doing so. In most cases I was able to correct my heading before the tires broke complete traction.
The tires do give the allroad a little more of a offroading look due the the deep treads. This also makes the tires have a slight hum while at highway speeds. Nothing too noticeable, but there was a difference between the Blizzaks and the Yokos. I have noticed a drop in gas mileage more than likely to do the much heavier weight of the tire. On the Yokos I would get around 21 MPG at around 75 MPH. The Blizzaks i am getting around 18 MPG at 75.

I will update the review with how the tires fair as the winter weather progressively gets worse. As it stands now, I feel confident that this tire will get me where i need to go, as safe as possible.

snokarver

Had they been an option a couple years ago when I got my last set of snow tires, I probably would have got them. The tests against the tires I got (graspic ds-2) on tirerack seem to be fairly accurate.

One thing to be clear, is that the ws-60 is not a "performance" winter tire, as I believe the Hakkas fall into. As a result, they don't handle quite as well but they cost considerably less.

girlroad

icebears last winter and have had them on since and once again this winter they are champs...I too couldn't find the Hakka's last year around here and the Nokian WR's were hard to find too so went with the Icebears and have been very pleased...I drive all kinds of roads in all kinds of conditions here as well You should check out the local euro group at www.euroblitz.org for some more local flavor...you also have another allroader in CR...over my way I see very few if any.