The beginning of April is a time where you start planning to shed your vehicle of their trusty winter tires for a nice set of summer performance tires. Unfortunately, the snow keeps on coming down in Toronto, so the change date seems to be pushed back a few weeks. 

It will be fun to test out some new summer tires when the time comes, but for now I want to talk about the last month and a half testing out the new Ice Blazer WSL2 tire from Sailun. I waited for a few late snowfalls in order to fully test these Ice Blazer’s out, because a dry test wasn’t going to cut it. It’s a strange time to do a winter tire review as we want to put that all behind us, but I want you to keep this review in mind for next season and perhaps you can always find a great deal on winter tires in the off-season.

Before I can talk about the specific Sailun Ice Blazer tires, I want to fill you in on the company that you’ve probably never heard about – Sailun. Sailun is a Chinese tire company and a division of Dynamic Tire Corp. They’re trying to be more noticeable in the Canadian market as a value tier competitor to the more visible bigger guns in the industry. They have a Chinese origin, but Sailun does perform plenty of tests in Brampton, Ontario and have a larger Canadian warehouse in Vaughan, Ontario. In 2011, they hit ten million in global sales within fifty countries and five continents and expanded that to twenty million in 2012.  

Sailun Tires are a growing company that we’ve already featured in the fall with their Atrezzo Z4+AS ultra-high performance all-season tire in a successful blind test versus Continental’s Extreme Contact all-season tire. But if you go back just two years prior, 70 percent of Sailun’s tires were winter tires. The rest of their products were built based on a winter focus, so I was very excited to see how the Ice Blazer WSL2’s would hold up in the Toronto winter.

They were fitted on my 2010 Mazda3 Sport, which has never had the pleasure of winter tires in its three years. I just don’t drive it that often, so there was never a big need to put them on. I might have been the only one praying for a few snowfalls in late February and March, but lucky for me and only me, I got my wish.

You hear it a lot that putting winter tires changes your entire driving experience. The key is how much of a change it creates? Do all winter tires have the same effect? Well I can only talk about these Ice Blazer’s as this isn’t a comparison test, but after testing them out it felt like I had a brand new Mazda3. What a difference it made!

The Ice Blazer is a studless performance winter tire specializing in slush, snow, and wet traction. Let me take you through my journeys on snowy and slushy roads as well as dry roads.

Starting with dry conditions, the Ice Blazer performed admirably. You don’t feel too much of a difference from the previous all-seasons which is exactly what you want on these dry, but cold days. They provide for you a firm ride with a tight cornering grip. It might not be the smoothest of rides, but it’s far from bumpy and uncomfortable. It’s a good feeling to have a firm ride knowing that you will be secure come the next major snowfall. 

Winter tires are not meant to be driven hard and fast, but unfortunately I had to suck it up and take it for an aggressive run. I was pleasantly surprised with the control they provide you as well as the lack of noise. In Toronto, we deal with many different weather conditions, but on most days we are blessed with dry conditions. Given that dry isn’t the Ice Blazer’s main focus it got a checkmark in my book.

Off to the good part – the snow. My front-wheel drive Mazda3 was ready for anything that came its way. I put it into drive and accelerated forward with ease digging right through the mid-range level of snow. It’s always nice to feel that confidence while driving and tackling the snow head-on opposed to searching for those grooves and following them up the side streets. 

The Ice Blazer’s gave new life to my Mazda3 similar to a hip replacement. It gave me a renewed spirit to want to be more adventurous and take on those corners head-on. Regardless if I was aggressive on turns or driving conventionally I didn’t have to deal with much sliding as the Ice Blazer’s found grip. Windy and slushy roads felt like nothing, as I drove at the speed limit experiencing no slipping or sliding whatsoever. 

When it came to some braking tests, the Ice Blazer’s passed again. Under normal stopping situations in medium-level snow I was able to stop reasonably quickly. The Ice Blazer’s braking performed as expected from my previous experiences testing winter tires over the years. To further test out braking I tried some emergency braking at 50 km/h. The Ice Blazer’s immediately dug into the snow and came to a full-stop once again in a respectable time. There wasn’t much sliding at all which made me feel safe and sound. In the slushy conditions, the braking was even quicker as the tires ripped through the slush and brought my Mazda3 to a full-stop impressively fast.

The confidence you gain from driving without stress is immeasurable. For all those people who don’t understand the need for winter tires and how much of an impact they provide, I say test it out for a day.  When you really think about, in the time that you’re using those winter tires – you’re not wearing out those summer performance tires allowing them to last longer.

The best part about Sailun that might tip the scale for those debating to pay for winter tires is the cost. As a value tier tire company – those money concerns slowly dissipate when you can pick-up a 16” tire ranging from $80 to $100. In comparison, if you look up the same size in a Continental, Bridgestone or Pirelli brand – you’re looking in the $150-$200 range. The Ice Blazer’s performed at a level above their retail price and that makes me more than happy to recommend them for next year’s winter season. It doesn’t hurt that you can save some money in the process, so if you’ve always worried about the cost of winter tires or are looking for a great deal on a new set – the Sailun Ice Blazer might just be the one for you.