I have had Silent Armor's for probably 3,000 miles now and they are great. I got 265/74 R16's put on the stock steel wheels so they will be great in the snow. I was going to go with the Duratracs 10 ply's but decided to go with the Silent Armors for the same price because the 10 ply speed rating is like 70mph. The 6ply duratracs were considerably more expensive then the 10s for some reason. I did not like the loos of the SA's on the internet but am really happy now that they are on my Jeep. Also a plus, they have very little, if any more road noise they the stock tires.

 

I suppose I should update this thread.
I ended up going with the Blizzaks. In size 285/70R17 on a set of Jeep Commander Hulk wheels.

Here's a picture comparing them to my old Rubi wheels / tires


And here's a pic of them in the snow


As for that little Mini-Blizzard we had last Friday, I had the Blizzaks already during that.
As for stick and ability, they were great. They felt like they had more bite than the old Blizzaks on my Truck.
However I was disappointed in the Jeep for a couple of things. It's very darty at highway speeds compared to the truck. I don't think it's all in the length of the vehicles, as the truck is a regular cab short bed Tacoma.
Wheelbase on the Truck is listed at 104.3". In reality it's probably an inch shorter than that due to my custom rear suspension
The jeep lists as 95.4" Hmm, 8 inches shorter, maybe the wheelbase does have more to do with it than I thought.
Regardless it seems less stable, which is kinda scary at highway speeds. I was still going 10 mph faster than everyone around me
I was also disappointed in that I couldn't turn off the stability control completely. And you can't engage the lockers unless you're in 4-lo? I love on the truck being able to slide the back end out whenever I want with just a tap of the gas pedal. Donuts and power slides are alot more difficult with the stability / traction control always counter-acting whatever you're trying to do.
The truck has an auto locker (Aussie, btw)in the front, which is awesome in the snow. I miss having it being always there when in 4WD, especially for getting in and out of my driveway, which I still haven't plowed.

Anyway, I Love driving around in blizzards, sliding around corner and through drifts the snow plow leaves. I spent probably 4 hours that night blasting though everything, and swapped the Jeep for the Truck halfway through. I gotta admit the truck is more fun in the snow. It's also more powerful, so I can drop the clutch in 4WD hi at a light, spin 3 tires (locker in front, open in back) through first and second gear, and out-accelerate anyone on the road. Watching rooster tails of snow fly up from the front wheels as I'm doing this. Then drop back to a stop safely as soon as needed.

As for why I went with Blizzaks? Kinda like what SandMan posted, I took a really close look at the siping, which is that really helps in pretty much everything snow related. There is so much siping on a snow tire that it almost looks fuzzy, compared to a regular tire. Then the compund difference for the extreme cold we get here and I decided on the most expensive route for tires, 1 set for winter, and another for spring/summer/fall.

Granted blazing a trail through deep fluff a mud tires' blocks might have some small advantage in acceleration, I don't think they'd help with turning or stopping. And really most of what I use a winter vehicle for involves both turning and stopping in addition to acceleration. See the above paragraph. And I've never had trouble accelerating with the Blizzaks in any conditions, including breaking trail off-road through snow drifts (done using the aforementioned truck).

Anyway, thanks everyone for the opinions. I hope it helps out others.



P.S. - To sdebol, since you're in Minneapolis and have the Duratracs maybe we can get together sometime during the next blizzard, and kinda drag race? Our jeeps should be fairly close except for tires, we can see who accelerates fastest. Maybe even swap vehicles for driving impressions between the tires? It might be pretty beneficial information for the board here.

 

I relocated my Jeep from the deep south Destin Florida, to the Swiss Alps. The first purchase I made was changing from the steels stock 16 inch rims and going to the 17 stock alloys I bought from EBAY. To get EU compliant, stock is a better bet, and I like the wagon wheel look and the fact that they have low pressure indicators. Long story short, I also went with the Silent Armors you mentions. These tires were the only one I could find in the US that had the E EU compliant stamp.
I basically live on a cliff and go up and down Mountain passes all the time. Going up they are amazing, the tire with the 4WD and clearence are perfect. We got 7 feet of snow in 7 days, and I was the only person in my office who made it to work early each day. Now going down hill, they performed well, but due to the laws of physics, you must use more care. Wider tires allow for more displacement of weight, and thus, less digging down to get to the pavement, and more sliding like a sled. What helps in mud, can hurt in snow.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

In retrospect I wich I would've gone with the Silent Armors. They're cheaper than the Blizzaks, and probably get better mileage. Unfortunately no one has them in stock around here. And apparently they still don't.

 

in for later