If you live in a place that has serious snowfall every year, there’s a chance that you might get hit by an ice storm that leaves a slick coating on everything. It’d be best if you could just stay home when things are that bad, but people don’t always have that option. If the weather’s that bad, all-season tires are pretty useless and even winter tires might not be able to get you there and back safely. That’s when you need studded tires, with a couple of hundred protruding metal or hard plastic buttons that can dig into ice like cleats on a mountain climber’s boots.

That’s where the GT Radial Champiro IcePro excels. Along with a state-of-the-art winter tread design and specialized tread formulation, the Champiro IcePro is pre-drilled so a tire technician can easily install studs for severe winter conditions (where permitted, as studs aren’t legal in all states and may only be legal in certain months. When things are that rough outside, a tire like the Champiro IcePro may be your only hope to get to your destination and back without a side trip into the ditch.

But what else does the tire have that allows for great performance? Let’s take a look in this GT Radial Champiro IcePro review.

Features and Benefits

Here’s just a few of the features and benefits that make the GT Radial Champiro IcePro a great choice in a winter tire for sedans, minivans, coupes and crossovers:

• Silica-rich tread formulation delivers long wear but stays pliable for enhanced traction in subfreezing weather
• Directional tread pattern with curved, sweeping grooves that evacuate water and slush from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning
• Dense, zigzag sipe pattern adds hundreds of extra biting surfaces to dig into ice and snow while stabilizing tread pattern
• Tread pitch is computer-tuned to keep road noise low
• Rigid sidewall boosts handling properties
• Solid center rib enhances straight-line stability, steering response
• Can be pinned with studs, where permitted, for extra traction and grip in severe winter weather conditions
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service

Pros and Cons

So, is this the right winter tire for you and your budget? First, let’s highlight the Champiro IcePro’s strengths:

PROS:

• Tenacious, dependable traction in the worst winter conditions
• Good ride quality, handling, steering response
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified
• Can be pinned with studs

Unfortunately, no tire is perfect and that’s true for the Champiro IcePro too:

CONS:

• A bit noisier than some competitors
• Should not be used when temperatures are consistently above 45 degrees Fahrenheit

SimpleTire’s view on GT Radial Champiro IcePro tires

After spending some time comparing the GT Radial Champiro IcePro, we really feel like this is an outstanding tire when you weigh performance vs cost. The Champiro IcePro has handling and cornering performance that are right up there with touring or all-season tires on dry pavement, with braking, acceleration and steering that’s second to none in snow and slush. As for the Cons mentioned above, it shouldn’t be surprising that metal or plastic studs are noisy on pavement (that’s why they’re outlawed in many states, since they’ll chew up asphalt or concrete); without the studs, the noise levels of this tire are not a big problem. And, most manufacturers recommend that their winter tires not be used if temperatures are above 40-45 degrees F (and may void the warranty if they are). They’re not all-season tires, and the specialized, softer winter tread compound will wear quickly in warmer conditions.

The Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating isn’t given out lightly, and the Champiro IcePro really earns it.

Vehicles the GT Radial Champiro IcePro is a replacement tire for

The Champiro IcePro is designed for use on passenger vehicles such as coupes, sedans, minivans, and CUVs. If you drive a Buick Envision, Chevrolet Equinox, Dodge Grand Caravan, Ford Edge, Honda Civic, Hyundai Sonata, Kia K5, Mazda3, Nissan Murano, Toyota Sienna, or Volkswagen Passat, then this is a winter tire you need to consider.