2019 Yukon XL Winter tires good for rain, snow, ice and gravel

yukontires · November 16, 2020

I am looking for winter tires, we do get heavy snows and ice for 4-6 weeks but the winter is largely rainy with very wet roads. There will be some gravel road driving as well. Any consensus on tires to consider or avoid?

I have heard Duratrac, KO2, Revo 3, Wild Peak might be good options.

X-ice tires have also been recommended, though others have said they will get destroyed by any gravel driving, unsure if that is true.

CamGTP · November 17, 2020

For the occasional gravel road you can still run dedicated winter tires and still be fine but if you go bombing down dirt roads for miles and miles everyday you may not want them. They are a softer compound that can get chewed up faster but if the temps are under 30 degrees they still hold up good.

Michelin X-Ice are good and so are Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires. Some other good options are Toyo Winter tires and Continental makes a nice winter tire for the SUV's. I don't remember the names off hand of those two but any winter tire will outperform a all season/all terrian tire when it comes to snow and ice.

nfisherman · November 17, 2020

I’m continually disappointed in original tires from GM. I just replaced the factory Bridgestones on my 2019 Yukon XL with 27,000 miles. They had some tread left but they were useless on wet pavement. Most of my miles are on the highway. I don’t drive hard. I bought Continental Crosscontact tires based on the reviews on Tirerack. They’re supposed to be good in snow and wet conditions. I love the tires. I could tell the improvement immediately because it was raining on the day they were installed.

Mandalorian · November 21, 2020

Hard to go wrong with Michelin.

yukontires · November 25, 2020

On 11/17/2020 at 12:31 PM, nfisherman said:

I’m continually disappointed in original tires from GM. I just replaced the factory Bridgestones on my 2019 Yukon XL with 27,000 miles. They had some tread left but they were useless on wet pavement. Most of my miles are on the highway. I don’t drive hard. I bought Continental Crosscontact tires based on the reviews on Tirerack. They’re supposed to be good in snow and wet conditions. I love the tires. I could tell the improvement immediately because it was raining on the day they were installed.

Have you driven in any snow/ice yet, and if so how did they handle? Also, do you mean the Continental TerrainContact? I tried looking up the Crosscontact but don't see them in a size to fit the Yukon XL. Did you get the H/T or A/T? I'm seriously considering these currently, leaning towards the H/T. It seems pretty hard to find decent wet performance in a snow tire, so I hope these work well for snow.

nfisherman · November 25, 2020

1 hour ago, yukontires said:

Have you driven in any snow/ice yet, and if so how did they handle? Also, do you mean the Continental TerrainContact? I tried looking up the Crosscontact but don't see them in a size to fit the Yukon XL. Did you get the H/T or A/T? I'm seriously considering these currently, leaning towards the H/T. It seems pretty hard to find decent wet performance in a snow tire, so I hope these work well for snow.

I have not had the opportunity to drive them in snow yet. We have had a lot of rain lately. They are wonderful in wet conditions. The TireRack ratings suggest that they will be good in snow, too, but I have no experience. I bought the Crosscontact LX25. The size is 285/45R22. I have a Denali with 22-inch wheels and that's the size they need. My favorite tire used to be the Michelin M/S 2, but they appear to be discontinued. I had several sets of.those on various vehicles and I loved them. Michelin replaced them with the Defender. I had that tire once and I didn't like it as well. I like the Continental Crosscontact tires as well as the Michelin M/S 2. My experience with the Continentals has been great so far. I don't go off road much, so I don't need an all terrain tire. I wouldn't want to put up with the noise anyway. I have driven my Yukon across a harvested soybean field to pick up a deer after hunting. The field was soft, but not too muddy. I had no trouble at all.

yukontires · November 25, 2020

I see the tire you mean now, it does look great based on tire rack https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=CSTAS

Unfortunately that tire, and the Michelin CrossClimate which I had been considering earlier, doesn't come in the P265/65R18 112T my 2019 Yukon XL SLT 4WD came with. Otherwise they look like the kind of tire I'm really after.

Is it a big deal to change the tire size so I can get one of the tires I want? Obviously would need to get new wheels then, but anything else I'd have to buy or do to make the switch, or reasons not to? I have seen on TireRack and Discount Tire the 2019 Yukon XL SLT 4WD can also come with 275/55R20 or 285/45R22, though haven't been able to find that as supported in the owner's manual. These sizes seem to have a better selection.

Otherwise from what I've seen so far the best options for both frequent heavy rains on day to day basis, and snow/mountain pass driving intermittently, to fit the 265/65R18 seem to be Continental TerrainContact H/T or the Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season Plus II, with preference to Continental for rain handling per consumer reports reviews, but preference to the Verde for Crossover/touring over a highway tire.

nfisherman · November 27, 2020

I looked hard at the Verde, too. I think either that or the Continental would be good. You could change the tire size but that seems like an extreme effort to me. You should be able to find a good tire without the expense of new wheels. If you do that, you would also have to have someone adjust the tire size in the vehicle computer to keep the speedometer, etc., accurate.

If you like the Continentals, maybe you could find a dealer and see what he recommends. He can probably recommend a good tire in your size.

newdude · November 28, 2020

Nokians kick some a$$. My brother has one of the Nokian Nordman models on his 04 Lincoln Town Car with an open diff and it goes everywhere and anywhere in the winter.

They make the Hakkapelitta R3 in 265/65R18 which is their equal to the Blizzak line. Here is the link: Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV - Winter tires / Nokian Tires

I know this is testing with a car, but Car and Driver did a couple of good winter tire shootouts with good test data such as acceleration, braking and handling: Winter-Tire Test: Six Top Brands Tested, Compared (caranddriver.com)

Edited November 28, 2020 by newdude