For my money, I'll go for AWD every time, even if I lived in a state that never sees snow. I like the confidence/traction it gives even in the rain.

 

I probably will as well. AWD since the late '80s, but non-AWD with the prior rig. Was fine, but there were some days when I wondered about grip.

A little storm passing through for the next several hours, though it looks like we'll be getting mostly rain. A bit too warm for snow, even though they warned there might be a couple of inches.

Got the tires on, today. The Nokian WR G4 SUV. Still a little squirrely until the surface muck dissipates and the tread roughs up a little. Feels great. V-rated, a bit taller sidewall, a softer and more-comfortable overall feel, quite a bit less noise, 600AA/60Kmi ... and they're 3-peak winter rated. These should do nicely. Might be a week or more before more of the cold stuff comes through. Hopefully the tread will remain soft and grippy during the winters, through 60Kmi. Have never had a set of tires do that yet, so we'll see.

 

As expected, good first impressions. Looks like we get a bit of snow next week, but are getting some pretty cold weather (for this area anyhow) tomorrow and the next few days.So far I'm liking my tires very much for many of the same reasons you do.

 

Got quite a bit of ice and some snow here, overnight.

Lots of rain with rapidly-falling temps resulted in ice over everything. Dripped off the trees for a good while, afterward, as well, which has left all these little ice ***** over the ice sheets. Topped with about three inches of snow. Well below freezing since early last night. Ruts everywhere, due to the irregular deposit of the ice and tree-dropped "ice *****." Nasty conditions for driving, this morning.

The Nokian WR G4 tires are great. Took it out early, to a couple of park areas, lots of hills, and some nasty corners. Not quite the aggressively-sure grip (in the winter crud) of the Nokian Hakkas or Dunlop SP Winter Sport, but comes reasonably close. Quite comfortable, stable, very grippy. No more need to drive gingerly with the basic all-seasons, I'm happy to say.

On the Vredestein Quatrac tires, if you get an amount of ice and/or snow then definitely post on how they seem to perform.

 

Yeah, every tire has a trade off, but as long as there aren't tons of snowy/icy days, I'm happy (time will tell) with the AS snow rated tires. We get far more rainy days than snowy days - even in winter here and an AS beats dedicated snows in those conditions.

 

Of all the sets of snow/ice tires I've had, over the years, I was thoroughly impressed with the Dunlop SP Winter Sport tires in the rain. Exceptional for the wintry stuff, but equally at home with even "deluge" amounts of rain. Highly resistant to hydroplaning, even at high highway speeds. The directional tread and larger water evacuation channels seem to help, on that tire. Cold-weather grip began to peter out in the middle of the third winter, for me, but otherwise a great tire.

With the Nokian WR G4, there hasn't yet been heavy rain sufficient to test the highway-speed hydroplaning of the tire in various road conditions. But the rain I've seen so far as shown the tire to be promising. Hit a few puddles and standing areas of water, and had a period of heavier rainfall, and the tire was capable through it all.


Freezing all day, today. Light melting of some of the ice, in the sunny areas. Which has now melted into the ice and re-frozen to form an even thinner, slicker patch. Lovely. The morning's driving conditions are likely going to be a bit tricky. No new snow, though. Which means no new salt put on the roadways by the crews. That's something, at least.

Time to call up the Line-X folks, nearby. Give the CX-5 a little "squirt" underneath to help resist the salts and crud.

 

Looks like some snow here Monday - not more than a few inches - so far but that changes like the weather..... But my biggest worry when driving in snow or inclement weather is more the other drivers out there.
Funny about the Line-X as I have an appointment scheduled in March with Ziebert (which I may cancel anyhow). What made you choose Line-X?

 

This morning: very cold (into the teens); quite a bit of ice; several inches of snow.

The Nokian WR G4 tires are doing really well. Went down a couple of steep, off-camber downhill corners, icy from edge to edge, but the tires held with quite a bit of grip. On the flats, hard acceleration breaks grip momentarily but then the traction control (AWD, TCS) takes over and the car rapidly regains grip. Stable and sure.

Love these tires, so far.

The CX-5's grip isn't that of a Jeep, nor even an Audi Quattro ... but, IMO, with a great set of winter tires it comes close enough for paved-road travel.

EDIT, to update notes on ice performance: Well, there have been a couple of bad icy days, lately, slightly melting then re-freezing overnight, with temps staying fairly cold. Ice grip has plummeted, as the conditions have become straight ice without any snow or crust on top. Still safe, but I'm having to use the throttle, brake and steering very gingerly. Unsurprising, as they're not studded. Thankfully, nasty ice is a rarity around where I live. Any worse ice, and it'd take a dedicated studded ice+snow tire to get around safely.

 

Good to know - but not surprising that these tires did an admirable job in the snow/ice. I drove home Tuesday morning - a day after a large storm hit the area, so most roads were clear. However there were some stretches which still had snow with some ice under it and my Vredesteins held true. Where do you think the Mazda falls short vis a vis the other lines - Jeep, Audi? Jeeps are 4 wheel drive, not AWD I'm guessing? I think unless I was plowing through better than a foot of snow and/or on a hilly road under said conditions, I would prefer a well handling AWD - Subaru or Audi for example over a Jeep - or maybe I'm all wrong there?

I just ordered a set of Michelin Cross Climate 2's (Tire Rack was out of stock on the Vredesteins) for my wife's 2 month old Crosstek. Gonna put those OEM Yokohama's in the garage until/if the car is turned in after the 3 year lease. The piece of mind is worth it.
Again - broken record here, I wish these auto manufacturers would have the bean counters take a back seat when it comes to things as critically important as good/high quality tires. I should be in charge and then instruct my sales people to use that as a selling point.

 

Depends on the Jeep.The Grand Cherokee has one of the best computer managed 4WD systems out there and it can handle all kinds of terrain and automatically switch its modes depending on what is happening, though you can also lock it into certain 4WD modes if you desire. It is as competent on the road as on the trail. Wranglers on the other hand are better suited for off road use, though they are no slouches on the highway in bad conditions. Most of the other Jeeps aren't too much different from other crossovers.