Just another vote for genuine winter tires. Our CX-5 made it through heavy snow and icy conditions in Colorado that had many cars off the side of the road and/or stuck and it was due to the fantastic performance of our Blizzak tires. I never felt the tires spin or slide at all, and we could drive up and down a steep driveway at a friends house where their 4WD full size truck with "snowflake" tires could barely move and could not make it up the driveway.

 

I ran new hakkapeliitta r3 on my 2019 CX 5 Signature here in Edmonton in the worst snow storm I saw in years a few weeks back. This thing will keep with any Subaru in the nasty stuff I guarantee it. So confident in the corners and off the line.

 

Plus 1 on the Blizzaks, they've worked very well for me.

 

I ran the Blizzaks in my last 2 cars 2017 Audi and 2006 Subaru. But I did not use them last season - I guess I was taking a gamble and/or just being too lazy to have them swapped out, but last year we had so little snow/slush that it worked out. This year I updated to an AS tire with that Snowflake designation as my year round tire for a few reasons. For this particular tire - Vredestein Quatrac Pro - it was rated best in the type of conditions found here in NE NJ - USUALLY not a lot of snow. These have excellent wet weather traction as well as better than AStires for light snow/slush/ice. Where a dedicated snow tire - especially ones like the Blizzaks don't do as well, is handling/braking/hydroplaning in wet weather.
Having said that, if I find that these don't handle well in snow or if we start getting more snow on a somewhat regular basis, I'd get a set of snow tires in a heartbeat. But if I were living in an area like Colorado or New England for example, where snow was all too common, getting dedicated snow tires wouldn't even be given a second thought.In those areas, it's foolish if you don't have them.

 

^ The Nokian Hakka tires are my go-to choice for stellar snow+ice and cold-weather grip. Had them on a VW Passat 4Motion some years ago, and it was all but unstoppable in the winter with those tires. Grip in inclement weather was almost as good as in the dry, actually.

On a new-to-me 2016.5 CX-5 GT, I'm evaluating rims and tires for winter. The current set should do fine for now, but am strongly considering the Nokian Hakka R3 or Nokian Nordman 7, as the winter tire. Possibly the Nokian WR G4 as the tire for the rest of the year.

 

Separate subject, how are the Vredesteins?

 

I have not put many miles on my car yet ~ 800 miles, nor have I driven them in snow. They did superly in the rain and corner well. Very quiet on all sorts of pavements.

 

Nokian WRG4 - have been using them for 25 years around metro nyc area and they are perfect for our area. They also do an amazing job of holding up to the 95 degree summers. While our roads are total crap they do get plowed immediately. The Nokians can be hard to find at times but I've been reading about the Michelin CrossClimate 2 and it seems the 2 tires are very comparable. has anyone tried these CrossClimates on a CX5?

my 2022 was delivered with Yoko Geolandar G91 - any experience with these during a northeast winter?