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What is the best winter tire for Honda Fit in Edmonton?

I am driving Honda Fit Sport(P195/55 R15 84H) I am wondering what is the best winter tire for this car in Edmonton. Tires I am considering are.. Continental Nord Frost Michelin X-Ice Semperit Because of price, Continental is the top on my list so far. Has anyone used these tires? Or if you could recommend any other brand, I appreciate it. This is my first car in my life. 65% City Drive 35% Highway

Public Comments

1. the two best snow tires i have heard of are the bridgestone blizzak and something by a brand called nokian, just like the cell phone company with an "n" on the end =) strangely enough the tires are made in finland, just like the phones! i met a guy with them and he was praising them to no end, his vehicle was a stick and he used it for plowing. he said he kept stalling it because the tires had so much traction! the tread pattern was very interesting, i ran my hand across it and i swear it felt like a cheese grater! www.nokiantires.com tirerack.com is a great site, users can actually write their own reviews of tires and the blizzaks are top rated. the town i've lived in for the past 16 years averages 360 inches of snow per year, and i've been driving for 11 of those years. by february the snowbanks are taller than cars and sometimes taller than minivans. now this is going to sound funny but i've never owned either of the tires i mentioned, they are too pricey for me but worth every penny, and if you're going to shell out the $ for good snow tires i would recommend keeping your regular tires and swapping them when the seasons change, because snow tires are much softer and bare pavement eats them up fast, plus it's usually less than $30 to get them swapped, then both sets of tires will last twice as long.....
2. The Bridgestone Blizzak series have been the standard by which all other winter tires have been compared for nearly 2 decades. They have 3 models to chose from in this size: The Blizzak WS-50 has been around for a few years and is well proven, using Bridgestone's multi-cell technology for traction on ice. It is heavily optimized towards winter weather but has recently been discontinued. There are still plenty available though and because of this there are deals to be had. www.tirerack.com is closing them out at $77 USD each + shipping. I have these tires currently and swear by them in the cold, ice and snow but find them squirmy on dry pavement under even moderate cornering loads on my high-performance FWD car. Take them off as soon as winter is over too as they really don't like warm weather. The Blizzak WS-60 is Bridgestone's 3rd generation Blizzak and the replacement for the WS-50 with enhanced dry-weather performance without sacrificing snow and ice traction. Have not tried this one yet because they are just starting to ship the first production batches but I can guarantee this will be the new standard by which all other winter tires are compared. Still waiting to get the first ones in my store actually. I should be getting 15 sets on Friday. The Blizzak LM-25 is a "performance winter tire" with a higher speed rating. This gives up a little bit of snow and ice traction in favor so that it doesn't have to give up so much dry-pavement grip and steering response. In other words, this is a better handling tire than the WS-50 or WS-60 but slightly inferior is severe weather. If you are an aggressive driver you may find this one more to your liking. They may also wear somewhat better. Comparable tires would be the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 and Nokian WR. The Nokian WR is the only winter tire you can leave on the car all year-round, it performs very well in the snow and has better dry pavement performance than a WS-50 but not as good on ice. I use the WR on my wife's minivan. For a while I used it all year round but this year have relegated it to strictly winter use. The Michelin X-ice is in roughly the same legue as the Blizzak WS-50. Is it better? Probably not. Is it good? Absolutely. The Nokian RSi would be another one worth considering. It, unlike the WR is strictly for winter use only and is Nokian's non-studded winter tire. They also make the famous Hakkapalitta studdable winter tire which has achieved quite a cult following. Just FYI - the Nikia telecom company and Nokian Tyre were one and the same company up until about a dozen years ago and both are based out of Nokia Finland. Those Finn's know a thing or two about winter driving. Continental's winter tires are not very popular. Theirs are among the few winter tires I have not personally tested simply because I have never had anyone request them nor have I encounted a customers car already so fitted. They are probably decent enough but there are better choices out there. Semperit's I have no recent experience with. I wasn't even aware the brand was still alive and kicking. Always use winter tires as complete sets of 4. Never use just two on a car or you are asking for trouble.