there are many of these negative comments Falken HS 449, but trusting the judgment of a friend, I purchased and am very happy. I was able to try them in all conditions, wet and dry in the middle of all the other, the snow uphill no problem, I can safely forget the chains, it will be because the Renault Clio is a light car. Tires promoted with flying colors!

Great tires! On my BMW in the winter they are just doing great. No issues on snow, ice, rain etc.

You have to try it!

I was the first to review these tires but they were very new and had only done about 1000miles and temperatures had not dropped below 4 degrees at the time of the review. I have now done 6000 miles and it's been down to -11 and 6 inches of snow encountered ... and dealt with , with ease.
The tires remain quiet and you can sense and hear them approaching the limit very easily. On ice and snow they are very capable.
However they have worn more than I anticipated and that is my only reservation.
I had 4 Conti Winter Contact TS830's on my previous car which were excellent and after 2 winters / 8000 miles had only worn to 8mm. These are now on 6mm front and 7mm rear after 6000 miles. But they were £75 fitted whereas new Conti's were £115, so given the cost to wear, there is nothing in it. They will just get replace after next winter, after which I will probably change the car anyway.

Overal for me this is a great winter tire and not too expensive.

Dry
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Grip on dry is very good, though it's not excellent. Especially when the temperatures rises in winter above 7℃ you can feel the tire performance drop (but i suppose that's for every winter tire due to their rubber composition). When it's cold the performance is very good, it's responsive and if i want to do a small drift i really have to push my car.

Wet
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The tire really stands out on wet, cold roads. It's responsive an very predictable. When i'm driving on some country roads i can tell when i'm going to let my rear end slide out, every time. (i slide it on purpose, not because of the tires).

Snow
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I'm actually someone that goes for a drive when it has snowed. It's the first year i drive RWD so this was exiting. And 'oh my' did it perform. When driving normal i couldn't notice the difference between my RWD car and my previous FWD Alfa Romeo. Driving uphill in 5-6cm of snow was not a problem. I only got stuck once in about 12-14cm of deep snow, lightly uphill wanting to go standing still.
But again, here, very predictable.

This tire got me interested firstly on looks. Wide lateral shoulder blocks and plenty of sipes. Having used several other winter tire brands in the past and a interest in winter tire development I thought I'd give them a try. Regular driving is satisfactory wet or dry but the hs449 come into its
Own up the hills through Derbyshire in around 4/5inchs of fresh snow and slush. The ford puma needs all the help it can get in snow and the hs449 worked better for me than previous high end brands I have tried.

An interesting one this. These tires seem to produce mixed reviews, but I can honestly say that on snow, frozen roads or very cold but waterlogged roads, they are predictable, grippy and confident when fitted to a Subaru Outback. I drove the 30 miles into work this morning starting on 3 to 4 inches of fresh snow that had fallen on ice. This turned to deep slush, and then deep puddles and heavy rain, and not once did I feel compromised.I live in the Cairngorms and have 2 miles on unclassified twisting, undulating track to drive before I get to a B road, and the car never once mis behaved. Even a sharp off camber junction leading to a steep uphill section saw no dramas at all. Last week we have a flash freeze warning and I drove home with large patches of black ice on the same road, and again, the car just pulled through it all on these tires. I have only been using them for 4 weeks, but it has all been in conditions that would have had the previous tires (Geolanders) asking questions (hence the change). Even mucking about in my field in snow and mud the car was extremely predictable and controllable despite provoked 4 wheel drifts. All in all a very capable tire in typical Scottish winter conditions.

These are very new and seems few people have them so I cant rate wear.I have covered 1000 miles so far, in temperatures ranging 4-11 degrees. No snow yet so I cant comment on actual effectiveness below zero, but sure they are going to be far superior to summer tires. They are very quiet and grip well.