I do pizza delivery in a fairly hilly area. Since I got a '19 EX this April I need to get some new snow tires, I'm considering going studless, but I'm concerned about their ability to handle hills. Does anyone have experience using studless tires like Blizzaks in hilly terrain with ice? I'm sure they can handle snow, but I'm wondering if I'll be able to work when we get freezing rain, or if I'll have to go with studs.

 

I had to disable stability control, throw it into S and manually keep it in lower gears while gunning it with a running start to make it up an icy hill on X-Ice3 tires.

 

Just my opinion and you'll likely get a different one from everybody..
On mine the studless tires worked fine dragging my Daughter around college in
Bozeman Montana and the drive back and forth from Oregon..

Studs don't help much with startup traction, their main purpose is keeping your car going the right
direction. Spin them once and they are nearly useless.

The studless tires also greatly improve cold weather handling in general not just on ice..

 

That's why I'm considering them. I'm just concerned that I wont be able to make it up and down the hills in my area.

Thanks for the answer.

 

Yeah, and the hill up to my home is really long, which makes me worry more. Thanks for the info.

 

I'd use tires with studs . The Cooper Evolution have a reasonable price when studded . Usually under $90 each . They have siping down to the base of the tire which aids with the studs .

 

These are the EVOLUTION winter tires with and without studs . Notice the deep sipes . Studs will give more bite .

 

If you are in Washougal, I'd just stick w/all seasons. Ice on steep hills is dangerous for any tire, but studs are worlds better than snows alone.

If I had to traverse hilly terrain in hard ice conditions, I'd go studded and awd. If I were driving interstate distances and speeds, I'd opt for stud-less and just slow way down in icy conditions.

 

We have blizzacks and xice tires. Before this we had studded tires every year, 29 years for me running studded tires, the only time I miss the studs is on pure ice at intersections. At slow speeds I find the braking is a 9/10 compared to studded tires. In every other situation I prefer the studdles tires, including freezing rain and pure ice on the highway.
The blizzacks feel better in most situations and are better in slush then the x-ice. But the xice wear better and feel better on dry highway. The reviews I read said as much.
With 4 blizzacks im guessing the fit will go up any hill, will find out soon. Just got a 2014 fit that will be getting blizzacks next week, currently running x-ice on a 2005 civic.

 

I ended up going with some Goodyear studdables. If they aren't enough I can get them studded, if they are, or are close to enough then next time I'll get something like the Blizzaks or the Nokian studless tires.

 

Most shops won’t stud them after there used, sand dirt rocks in the little holes get pushed into the tire by the studs. But some might. Have fun in the snow 🙂

 

I live in Canada, very rural, snow capital of the planet pretty much.... on a mountain. I use GSI-5s. Studs only help with ice. Some times I can't make it home, but if you saw my hill you'd see why. The Fit is weirdly good in the winter because of the gas tank location

 

guessing your somewhere on the east or west coast.

 

Vancouver is 8 hours west, Calgary is 8 hours East. I'm in the BC interior (Nelson/Castlegar/Trail/Rossland). Bald Face lodge, whitewater, Red Mountain, Jumbo. I'm in the mountain range just to the West of the Rockies. So we get all moisture making it's way from the coast, we aren't too warm (like the coast) or too cold (like Alberta), and we are just before the rain shadow of Alberta. Genuinely prime snow location for Canada (Minus some very specific areas that get lake effect snow)