Winter rims/tires today

[DaTT]

I think it's more accurate to say those who say they don't need snow tires and their all seasons do awesome in snow are more likely to be less than stellar than those rocking snow tires once it gets cold out.

I can get on board with this. A couple years ago, I was procrastinating about putting my snows on. Well didn't we get a freak snow/ice storm. I had to drive on my Eagle F1 Supercar tires through that (285's in the back 255's up front). Pretty sure they froze. I have never experienced so little control of a car in my life. They went on the next day.

 

[z1ggy]

I keep debating if I want to get snows on a set of steel for this winter. I live in south east CT where winter is either light and barely noticeable, or a severe beat down.

I have a 2011 mazda 3, which is a pretty light car and FWD. Has a set of fairly new (<6k) all seasons on it... But I worry it won't be enough for when my more rural roads aren't plowed well.

I only have a manual car jack and hand tools, so changing all 4 tires might take me an hour or so. I may order them and wait to go home for Thanksgiving this month and have my Dad's buddy help me who has an air powered impact wrench....

Is it even worth the $600-700 for good snowies?

Edit: If it is worth it... I'm between Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice & Bridgestone Blizzak WS70. Would put on steel, 16''.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ce+WRT&partnum=055TR6UGIWRTXL&fromSurvey=true

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...izzak+WS70&partnum=055TR6WS70&fromSurvey=true

 

[desy]

I have them on separate wheels I use the factory alloy for winter and bought upgraded rims for summer.
I didn't buy the whole set of tpms for the summer ones cause to jump out and check when the weather is nice doesn't bother me.

As far as knowing and not knowing how to drive in snow with all the nanny systems in rwd vehicles today they are about as competent as fwd anyway technically. A poor driver is a poor driver in either situation

 

[Midwayman]

I keep debating if I want to get snows on a set of steel for this winter. I live in south east CT where winter is either light and barely noticeable, or a severe beat down.

They're predicting a very snowy winter this year. Same for my area.

Is it even worth the $600-700 for good snowies?

Edit: If it is worth it... I'm between Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice & Bridgestone Blizzak WS70. Would put on steel, 16''.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ce+WRT&partnum=055TR6UGIWRTXL&fromSurvey=true

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...izzak+WS70&partnum=055TR6WS70&fromSurvey=true

[/quote]
Can't really go too wrong with any studless ice and snow tire. Just avoid the performance winter if you really care about snow. Continental makes a snow tire that's really inexpensive, but its usually top or 2nd place in the tire rack testing that you may want to check out. Its what I bought. As for worth it? I'd say if you spend all winter below freezing and get frequent snows its worth it. In CT I'd figure it would be.

 

[pauldun170]

I keep debating if I want to get snows on a set of steel for this winter. I live in south east CT where winter is either light and barely noticeable, or a severe beat down.

I have a 2011 mazda 3, which is a pretty light car and FWD. Has a set of fairly new (<6k) all seasons on it... But I worry it won't be enough for when my more rural roads aren't plowed well.

I only have a manual car jack and hand tools, so changing all 4 tires might take me an hour or so. I may order them and wait to go home for Thanksgiving this month and have my Dad's buddy help me who has an air powered impact wrench....

Is it even worth the $600-700 for good snowies?

Edit: If it is worth it... I'm between Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice & Bridgestone Blizzak WS70. Would put on steel, 16''.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...ce+WRT&partnum=055TR6UGIWRTXL&fromSurvey=true

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...izzak+WS70&partnum=055TR6WS70&fromSurvey=true

I just picked up the WS70's on closeout from tire rack.
$328 for the set. (I'm mounting them on 15's)
$52 shipped to my door.

I went with the WS70 because they were reported top dog for ice performance and among the best for overall snow performance.
The downside with the Blizzaks is that they wear fairly quickly and are a bit squishy.
I still have awhile before I mount them (waiting for it to hit the low 40's high 30's). Have to decide whether to do the annual swap or to just pick up a basic set of steels from the junkyard.

Goodyears are also supposed to be top notch but I think they are below the Blizzaks for ice traction. However, they should last longer.

Blizzaks are allegedly good for only 15K before they turn to mediocre.
For me that's probably about 5 winters since I don't put a lot of miles on my car.

 

[Spicedaddy]

Getting Nokian Hakka R2 SUV tires installed next week, on my first AWD vehicle. Going to be a fun winter!

 

[Aikouka]

Continental extreme contact DWS. Best snow tracking of the high performance all seasons. I ran them a couple years in Chicago.

I saw those and also read about their great snow performance (for an all-season tire). Although, I wasn't sure if those would be a bit excessive for me, since while we do get a bit of snow in Alabama from time to time, we mostly get rain. It probably is also worth considering the differences in when it does actually snow here. Alabama doesn't really have any measures for handling snow, which means there's no salt or gravel to help melt or provide traction. They're about $250 a tire, which isn't too bad as most other decent options are between $200-230. I saw a Falken tire for about $180 each, but I saw some mixed reviews on those (especially their snow performance). Fortunately, I only need them for about 5 months out of the year, which means the investment will last a few years.

I'd probably also just get them swapped on the current rims. I don't have an extra set and buying factory rims is ridiculously expensive for my car. They're $900 a piece from Ford, and on eBay, they're $350 each for scratched rims. Luckily, there's a place out here where they'll teach you how to do it yourself, and you can use their equipment for a minimal cost. It ends up being around $20 for swapping all four tires.

 

[cbrsurfr]

I have the Dunlop Winter Maxx. I bucked the trend of Blizzaks as I dislike the Bridgestone/Firestone company. I got burned many years ago with a bad set of tires (sidewall defects) and neither Ford nor Firestone would make it right. The tires were OEM on the car. Also I heard the longevity on the Blizzaks isn't that great due to their foam like outer compound that's 60% of the tread.

I've been happy with the Dunlops, granted they are my first winter tires. Very good wet/snow performance and not too noisy in dry conditions. Never got stuck and the car was very controllable.

They are going back on tonight as snow is in the forecast for later this week.

 

[z1ggy]

I just picked up the WS70's on closeout from tire rack.
$328 for the set. (I'm mounting them on 15's)
$52 shipped to my door.

I went with the WS70 because they were reported top dog for ice performance and among the best for overall snow performance.
The downside with the Blizzaks is that they wear fairly quickly and are a bit squishy.
I still have awhile before I mount them (waiting for it to hit the low 40's high 30's). Have to decide whether to do the annual swap or to just pick up a basic set of steels from the junkyard.

Goodyears are also supposed to be top notch but I think they are below the Blizzaks for ice traction. However, they should last longer.

Blizzaks are allegedly good for only 15K before they turn to mediocre.
For me that's probably about 5 winters since I don't put a lot of miles on my car.

I'd be getting 16's for my mazda, which is 1'' down from OEM actually.

For WS70 on 16'' steel, TPMS and shipping, the price came to $1000 on tire rack. I might be able to save a few bucks if I go for the Goodyear's, but overall it seems like I am looking at about $1000.

 

[Midwayman]

I saw those and also read about their great snow performance (for an all-season tire). Although, I wasn't sure if those would be a bit excessive for me, since while we do get a bit of snow in Alabama from time to time, we mostly get rain. It probably is also worth considering the differences in when it does actually snow here. Alabama doesn't really have any measures for handling snow, which means there's no salt or gravel to help melt or provide traction. They're about $250 a tire, which isn't too bad as most other decent options are between $200-230. I saw a Falken tire for about $180 each, but I saw some mixed reviews on those (especially their snow performance). Fortunately, I only need them for about 5 months out of the year, which means the investment will last a few years.

I'd probably also just get them swapped on the current rims. I don't have an extra set and buying factory rims is ridiculously expensive for my car. They're $900 a piece from Ford, and on eBay, they're $350 each for scratched rims. Luckily, there's a place out here where they'll teach you how to do it yourself, and you can use their equipment for a minimal cost. It ends up being around $20 for swapping all four tires.

I'd just use them as a year-round tire in your area. You're giving up a little grip to summer tire when its warm, but its not a lot.

 

[Aikouka]

I'd just use them as a year-round tire in your area. You're giving up a little grip to summer tire when its warm, but its not a lot.

The original summer performance tires for my car are only $150 right now (they might be more when it's warmer out). With a $100 difference per tire, it seems like it might be more advantageous to put more wear on the cheaper tires?

 

[rancherlee]

The original summer performance tires for my car are only $150 right now (they might be more when it's warmer out). With a $100 difference per tire, it seems like it might be more advantageous to put more wear on the cheaper tires?

I just run my snowies year round on my Fusion, the car only sees 8-9k a year and after 3 years they still are well over 1/2 tread and getting great snow traction. I love these General Arctics, Cheap and GOOD.

 

[Wuzup101]

Deleted: Double Post

 

[Wuzup101]

I saw those and also read about their great snow performance (for an all-season tire). Although, I wasn't sure if those would be a bit excessive for me, since while we do get a bit of snow in Alabama from time to time, we mostly get rain. It probably is also worth considering the differences in when it does actually snow here. Alabama doesn't really have any measures for handling snow, which means there's no salt or gravel to help melt or provide traction. They're about $250 a tire, which isn't too bad as most other decent options are between $200-230. I saw a Falken tire for about $180 each, but I saw some mixed reviews on those (especially their snow performance). Fortunately, I only need them for about 5 months out of the year, which means the investment will last a few years.

I'd probably also just get them swapped on the current rims. I don't have an extra set and buying factory rims is ridiculously expensive for my car. They're $900 a piece from Ford, and on eBay, they're $350 each for scratched rims. Luckily, there's a place out here where they'll teach you how to do it yourself, and you can use their equipment for a minimal cost. It ends up being around $20 for swapping all four tires.

I just replaced my DWS with a set of Pilot Super Sports about a month ago. I got just over 30k miles on them in an Evo, and both the car (and my driving) is extremely hard on tires. Their wet performance was great, dry performance was very much acceptable for what they were (a high tread wear rated performance all season), and snow performance was great for an all season. The snow performance was not up to the level of the Conti 3D's that I had previously for snow only work. I originally put them on when I lived in PA but have been contracting in SC for most of the time that they were on the car (so no snow). They are a great long wear performance all-season. IMHO they would be very good for someone who had a dedicated set of summer / track tires and wanted something to use in the cooler months down south. They will deal with occasional snow way better than most things southerners have mounted on their cars. However, as you said, stuff really just stops down here if it snows. We have gotten crazy ice instead of snow since I've been down here... and I wouldn't attempt driving in it (except for an emergency) even with regular studless snows.

Based on the tires that you linked below, I assume you have a mustang (shelby?). Don't buy OEM rims for winter tires. Use your nice OEM set for fair weather driving and a cheap aftermarket set for winter OR get nice wide set of aftermarket rims/tires and use the OEM ones for winter. Buying OEM rims from the dealer is always a rip. You can get truly great rim for less than $900/each.

Edit: On another note, has anyone used a set of Pilot Alpin PA4s (or the previous PA3s)? I probably should have one car with a winter set avaliable (i.e. not MPSS that are on both now) for the winter. Was thinking of going with the PA4s as I don't need top notch snow performance but would like to have the extra tread wear / cold weather performance.

 

[96Firebird]

I keep putting this off, maybe this weekend I'll get around to it. But I need to get my winter tires rebalanced and some work done on the winter car. The WS6 is sleeping in the garage, still need to put Stabil in it...

 

[Midwayman]

Mine went on last night.

[/IMG]

 

[Zivic]

Putting continental winters on my wife's van today. 36 yrs in mn and last winter finally convinced me I needed winter tires

 

[DaTT]

Putting continental winters on my wife's van today. 36 yrs in mn and last winter finally convinced me I needed winter tires

It really is amazing the difference it makes.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Putting continental winters on my wife's van today. 36 yrs in mn and last winter finally convinced me I needed winter tires

Wouldn't dream of driving my LS w/o them when I was back in IA.

 

[Aikouka]

I just replaced my DWS with a set of Pilot Super Sports about a month ago. I got just over 30k miles on them in an Evo, and both the car (and my driving) is extremely hard on tires. Their wet performance was great, dry performance was very much acceptable for what they were (a high tread wear rated performance all season), and snow performance was great for an all season.

Hmm... I think I may end up going with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS then. My car is AWD, so I should pretty much be set for any sort of random snowfall that we get over the next few months.

Based on the tires that you linked below, I assume you have a mustang (shelby?). Don't buy OEM rims for winter tires. Use your nice OEM set for fair weather driving and a cheap aftermarket set for winter OR get nice wide set of aftermarket rims/tires and use the OEM ones for winter. Buying OEM rims from the dealer is always a rip. You can get truly great rim for less than $900/each.

It's a 2013 Taurus SHO. I've thought about buying aftermarket rims, but even they can add up quite a bit. I also saw that Tirerack has a few different options for the same rim that throws me for a loop. For example, I have no idea which backspacing I need for my car. Also, I need to be careful about buying rims online, because the sites don't allow me to denote that I have the performance package, which comes with summer tires, and most importantly, larger calipers. Apparently, said calipers are the reason why my car doesn't have a spare tire as the default spare wouldn't fit around the calipers.

I have found some far cheaper options for stock rims (like this), but they're still pricey. I've considered just swapping the tires as it won't be that costly for me if I do it myself (using the facilities available to me). Although, I would like to buy a single rim at some point so I can give myself a full-sized spare.

 

[Zivic]

It really is amazing the difference it makes.

Wife says "GOOD! I hope they drive better because last year this van wasn't all too good in the snow" -> yet we have had it for 5 yrs now. but she drove an '05 xterra 4wd before that so I would guess she misses it a bit

Wouldn't dream of driving my LS w/o them when I was back in IA.

I drove my evo through two winters on continental DWS all seasons, it wasn't bad...
mostly, the only RWD cars I have driven through winters were pickups -> and then you just switch to 4x4, but that still doesn't really help you stop.

I had a RWD '80 buick century I drove in highschool. it wasn't bad either, but maybe just because it was so slow.

One of my best cars for winter was my '98 mazda protege with a set of kuhmo all seasons. it has fairly narrow tires... something to be said for cutting through the snow vs driving on top of it with wider tires.

 

[Midwayman]

It's a 2013 Taurus SHO. I've thought about buying aftermarket rims, but even they can add up quite a bit. I also saw that Tirerack has a few different options for the same rim that throws me for a loop. For example, I have no idea which backspacing I need for my car. Also, I need to be careful about buying rims online, because the sites don't allow me to denote that I have the performance package, which comes with summer tires, and most importantly, larger calipers. Apparently, said calipers are the reason why my car doesn't have a spare tire as the default spare wouldn't fit around the calipers.

Tire rack has a phone number. Call them. I know the pain of larger calipers though. My TL had the brembo 4 pots and find wheels was a PITA.

 

[DaTT]

Apparently, said calipers are the reason why my car doesn't have a spare tire as the default spare wouldn't fit around the calipers.

I would assume you don't have a spare because your tires are run-flats...otherwise it would be illegal for them to sell a car without a spare.

 

[Wuzup101]

Hmm... I think I may end up going with the Continental ExtremeContact DWS then. My car is AWD, so I should pretty much be set for any sort of random snowfall that we get over the next few months.

It's a 2013 Taurus SHO. I've thought about buying aftermarket rims, but even they can add up quite a bit. I also saw that Tirerack has a few different options for the same rim that throws me for a loop. For example, I have no idea which backspacing I need for my car. Also, I need to be careful about buying rims online, because the sites don't allow me to denote that I have the performance package, which comes with summer tires, and most importantly, larger calipers. Apparently, said calipers are the reason why my car doesn't have a spare tire as the default spare wouldn't fit around the calipers.

I have found some far cheaper options for stock rims (like this), but they're still pricey. I've considered just swapping the tires as it won't be that costly for me if I do it myself (using the facilities available to me). Although, I would like to buy a single rim at some point so I can give myself a full-sized spare.

Is there a Taurus or SHO forum that you could join (I haven't looked)? IMHO I've got the best wheel fitment advice on forums specifically designated to the car. Both of my cars have large Brembo brakes, but it's certainly not impossible to get new rims for either. It does limit the size that I can drop down to (regarding wheel diameter) for something like a snow. It also limits your options regarding offsets and face designs. That being said, with a bit of research I'm sure you can find something. Also, given that you have a 2013, someone has thought of this already. I'm sure people on an owners group could help you out a lot!

Having them change tires every spring / fall isn't the biggest pain in the butt in the world... but it's pretty close lol.

 

[Virge_]

Been running Hakkapeliitta R2's for the past three years, swapping to Xi3's this weekend at the recommendation of a friend. Wish me luck!