Tires for 05 LGT Wagon?!

Welcome to the board. If I lived in an area that sees a lot of snow, I'd get a good set of snow tires for the winter months, and then a set of really good all seasons for the summer/rainy months.

You can pick up a set of used '05-06 LGT OEM rims for $300-400 bucks in the marketplace.

I'm sure someone will come along and point out what good snow tires and all seasons are out there.

Welcome:)

Nice userID....

Agreed with Z, pick up a set of stocker wheels & purchase yourself some winter tires. For the summer for rain look @ either the Toyo T1R or the Goodyear F1.

For even more traction & still a decent rain tire look @ the Falken Azenis 615

For summer rubber I recommend the RE 050, the contisportcontact 2, the dunlop sp sport Maxx, dunlop SP 80x0, the Toyo T1-R, the michelin pilot sport PS2, and the Avon M Tech 500.

For an all season that is really good in the rain and in the snow, there aren't any.

Decent choices are the RE 960, the Avon M Tech 550, and the Michelin Pilot Exalto PS 2.

Many people don't have my tastes in tire performance, but I think this list is it, the other choices aren't in the same league.

I will be flamed, but then many people think the RE 92 is fine, too, so whatever.

If you can only have one tire, Nokian WRs are supposed to be pretty good as well, but I agree with everyone else, the only way to really go is to have separate sets of wheels and tires for both summer and winter.

Where exactly do you live?

I agree that having two sets of tires is ideal if you live in snow country but I have noticed more and more people running the WR as thier only tire lately. The Nokian WR is such a great tire. I was driving the wife's car in the snow the other day and the WR's are pretty amazing for a 50K All Season tires. I have never tried the ContiExtremes but I am sure they are pretty nice as well.

I suspect the ContiExtremes are a little easier on the wallet.

Thanks for all the recommendations! We had our first bit of snow up here in Maine this weekend, and I had a heck of a lot of fun sliding around on the RE92s. I'll check out the Contis and the Nokians!

Can I run 17" snows on the stock rims, then switch out to 18" wheels and tires for summer? Or does that throw everything off?

Thanks again for the help!

Thanks for all the recommendations! We had our first bit of snow up here in Maine this weekend, and I had a heck of a lot of fun sliding around on the RE92s. I'll check out the Contis and the Nokians!

 

Can I run 17" snows on the stock rims, then switch out to 18" wheels and tires for summer? Or does that throw everything off?

 

Thanks again for the help!

I put Nokian RSI's on my stock rims and bought aftermarket rims for the Summer tires.

So far this winter the Nokians have come in handy for 15 minutes.....

he;s looking for SUMMER and WINTER all in one tire.. if you want to go that route, get some Michelin Pilot Sports A/S

Ortherwise, get two sets of tires, one for winter dedicated (like Nokians or Dunlops Winters) and a set of summers (such as Falken Azenis RT-615s, Kumho MX, or something similar to those).

I have Goodyear GW3s on the way, they're a winter performance tire, but not a dedicated snow tire. Consumer Reports liked 'em. Two sources tell me that some (or all) local cop cars run them year-round - winter becase they're very good at a that, and summer because they're good enough. Will report on their performance in a week or three.

Will probably get summer tires too though, on nicer wheels... eventually.

I have Goodyear GW3s on the way, they're a winter performance tire, but not a dedicated snow tire. Consumer Reports liked 'em. Two sources tell me that some (or all) local cop cars run them year-round - winter becase they're very good at a that, and summer because they're good enough. Will report on their performance in a week or three.///

I find that very surprising since like other dedicated winter tires like the Nokian RSI and Dunlop M3, they have no UTQG rating and no treadwear warranty.

The CR test you refer to states:

ow H- and V-rated winter tires are catching on as a winter replacement option for cars that use performance tires in warmer months. Performance winter tires provide higher levels of snow and ice grip, but keep some of the handling and cornering capabilities of the performance tires they replace.

 

As with conventional winter tires that typically carry a speed rating of Q (99 mph), their traction is not always as good as all-season tires on dry or wet pavement, and their softer rubber compounds wear easily. You should remove winter tires once seasonal driving conditions become moderate.

on the snow we only measured the acceleration and braking performance of the tires. Given our available space, we measured the 0-to-50-mph acceleration time and the distance required to stop from that speed with each tire. Not surprisingly, the snow tire was the best performer. With it we were able to accelerate to 50 mph in 14.2 seconds and stop in 245 feet. As we expected, the all-season RS-A lagged behind, being 3.4 seconds slower in acceleration and needing an extra 20 feet to stop. Those differences might not seem large enough to justify snow tires. And for sure, if your car has all-season tires on it and you live where it doesn’t snow often, you can probably get away with them. But as you’ll see, any car with high-performance summer tires is going to need another set of tires for the winter months.

....Until now, we had never tested a snow tire on hot, dry pavement, and we didn’t expect its performance to be remotely close to the others’. The Ultra Grip had much less of that loose, imprecise feel that we’ve experienced with other snow tires, and we wouldn’t hesitate to attack an off-ramp with it. Be warned, however, that the Ultra Grip shouldn’t be used year-round. Its rubber compound was designed to work in the cold, and after our testing on the hot, dry track (it was 77 degrees and sunny that day), the Ultra Grip looked noticeably more worn than the two other tires.

It surprised me too. The tire shop guy also said it wasn't recommended but they do it anyway. The other source was a guy on this forum who I gather works in or with law enforcement. I can't find his post now but maybe he'll chime in here.

This had me worried:

As with conventional winter tires ... their traction is not always as good as all-season tires on dry or wet

(Italics mine.) But this made me feel better:

The most interesting result was that the snow tire performed better on wet asphalt than did the all-season tire.

Perfect. I'll probably be using F1s in the summer too btw.

Grip levels of various tires change A LOT with temperatures. At 35 degrees in the wet a summer tire may have zero grip, whereas your winter tire will. OTOH when its 70 degrees out, the reverse can be true.

DO NOT make sweeping generalizations about tires.

It surprised me too. The tire shop guy also said it wasn't recommended but they do it anyway. The other source was a guy on this forum who I gather works in or with law enforcement. I can't find his post now but maybe he'll chime in here.

 

This had me worried:

 

 

 

(Italics mine.) But this made me feel better:

 

 

 

Perfect. I'll probably be using F1s in the summer too btw.

Can I run 17" snows on the stock rims, then switch out to 18" wheels and tires for summer? Or does that throw everything off?

Yep, no problem - lot's of folks here do this. You just need to make sure your 18's are the right size wheel & tire. Please refer to the Xenonk FAQ's 'sticky' at the top of this here Wheels/Tires forum for all the information you need for that.