winter tires for 2003 Matrix

I think any reasonably priced snow tire will always be better than all seasons. My current set of snow tires is a "gimme your cheapest set" and will be entering my 3rd season with them. My previous and original set of snow tires I bought for my Matrix were Nokian Hakkapelittaa 1's. Great awesome but premium tires.

snows for the Matrix

getting close to the time to put these tires on. kinda thinking of doing so before the end of the month.

thanks for the response

My local garage sells Coopers. I run them on my 05 Matrix AWD, my Scion XD and my Toyota 4wd truck. Everybody in these parts uses them. My 2cents is that they have good traction but don't wear as good as some. However, I was driving a lot, about 24,000 per year on each vehicle.

All my good ol' boy truck driving buddies that plow a lot seem to like them. Overall, I think you'll be pleased. My vehicles will all be switched over by early next week.

harlycarly

thanks for the reply

just put the tires on this weekend.

now we just gotta wait for the snow.

I just got Michelin Primacy PA3 tires (high-performance/snow tires). What a wonderful set of tires. I cannot say enough good things about it. It excels at everything. From dry traction to steering response to ice traction.

Highly recommend these.

I know this thread is ancient but I wanted to add my experience.

I have an '06 AWD and I bought a set of steel rims with Yokohama Ice Guard tires when the car was new. I live in NH so I see a fair amount of snow and ice in the winter. These tires are wearing very nicely. I have over 35K on them and they still look almost like new. Best is they are spectacular on bad roads. With the AWD this is the best vehicle I have ever owned for driving in winter conditions.

Just always remember ...

"All season tires" are really three season tires. If you live somewhere there is a lot of snow, get snow & ice tires.

silver04rollas said:

I just got Michelin Primacy PA3 tires (high-performance/snow tires). What a wonderful set of tires. I cannot say enough good things about it. It excels at everything. From dry traction to steering response to ice traction.

Highly recommend these.

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Good to know. I am just getting ready to replace my original Contis with Michelin Primacy MXV4's (well, it is 2013 now - ha, ha). They are "all season", but I will still use my Yokohama Ice Guards in the winter. They are crazy good in the snow & ice.

Winter tires

I just put General Altimax Arctics on my new-to-me 07 5 speed Matrix. They were very good in the recent heavy snow and and slush. I could navigate 6" of slushy rutted snow without too much drama - pretty good for a lightweight front drive car that the Matrix is. Snow braking is fine. They also handle well in the dry, and are not too hard on MPG.

This is my second set. I had them on my previous car, a 2002 VW Golf diesel. The Arctics held up well, so I bought a second set.

I've also had good luck with Nokian winter tires, although they cost a bit more.