Blizzaks, not just another snow tire

January 4, 11:06 PMAlaska Transportation ExaminerGeorge Angus

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It's been an Alaskan ritual for years. In late September - or as soon as the first snow flies - we scramble to get those ubiquitous yellow bagged studded tires out from under the deck and head on down to the tire center to pay $50 to $75 to change over our tires.  In early May, we go through the process again.  Well, it looks like the Bridgestone Blizzak tires may have thrown a monkey wrench into that whole ritual.

I recently worked for a national company and drove a company car.  The fleet department decided studded tires were a bad thing and those wise folks in San Diego forbid their use.  As you can imagine, us Alaska folks were stunned at this heresy.   What the company did was change over our tires to Bridgestone Blizzaks.

My driving experience with these tires was incredible.  My car was a 2003 Dodge Stratus, the front wheel drive version.  Through two winters, I never got stuck and in fact I never had a single traction issue regardless of the road conditions.  And this was with driving an average of 2500 miles each and every month.

What makes these tires so sticky is a combination of tread design and the inclusion of Bridgestone's Tube Multicell Compound, an innovative tire material that helps to disperse water, making slippage on surfaces less likely.

Now, it may make sense to use these strictly as a winter tire replacement.  Given their cost, you may not want to waste the tread on summer driving.

Even with new stud technology, studded tires are just plain murder on our roads, and we all know that our roads do not need any help in getting goofed up and miserable.   This reason alone should be enough to make you consider a switch to Blizzaks.