Winter Tires

Greetings from the great white north.

Yes, snow will be coming.. time to be shopping for a set of winter tires for my 06 LGT Wagon.

Love to hear some good recommendation or suggestions from all you folks.

Thanks in advance for your input.

Nokian Hakka.

dunlop wintersport m3. best performance winter tire there is.

I've had good luck with Blizzak WS-50 snows

Their new version is the WinterSport 3D. I've considered trying them this year. We have the M3s on our Audi A4. Good stuff.

 

What is winter like where you live? Lots of snow/ice on the roads all season long? Are the roads pretty much cleared a day after it snows or do you see occasional snow?

 

If the former, then go for a Q-rated winter tire such as the Nokian Hakka-Q, Blizzak WS-50, or similar. This type will have great snow/ice traction at the sacrifice of dry road traction.

 

If the latter, then go for a high-performance, H- or V-rated winter tire such as the Dunlop M3/3D, Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2, etc. This type will have better dry road traction while sacrificing some snow/ice traction.

Their new version is the WinterSport 3D.

Winter Sport M# is still listed on Dunlop's web site. Winter Sport 3D does come in a 215/45/17.

 

I have had it with "discount" tire places (long, ongoing story) and for an item like this I will not do mail order (maybe if I was buying them balanced, on wheels...maybe). The following are the quotes I have so far...all from independent shops (I need someone who can mount tires without borking the wheel), including mounting, balancing, stems, tax and no disposal fee since I have no old tires to get rid of:

 

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 $895

Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 $912

Dunlop Winter Sport M3 $860

Dunlop Winter Sport M3 $807 (same shop but through Dunlop's site)

Dunlop Winter Sport M3 $779 (different shop)

Dunlop Graspic DS-2 $800

Nokian RSi $860

Nokian RSi $989 (different shop)

Nokian WR $1010 (shop won't install anything else because of the speed rating the car needs)

 

Thoughts? Thanks.

Winter Sport M# is still listed on Dunlop's web site. Winter Sport 3D does come in a 215/45/17.

 

I have had it with "discount" tire places (long, ongoing story) and for an item like this I will not do mail order (maybe if I was buying them balanced, on wheels...maybe). The following are the quotes I have so far...all from independent shops (I need someone who can mount tires without borking the wheel), including mounting, balancing, stems, tax and no disposal fee since I have no old tires to get rid of:

 

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 $895

Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 $912

Dunlop Winter Sport M3 $860

Dunlop Winter Sport M3 $807 (same shop but through Dunlop's site)

Dunlop Winter Sport M3 $779 (different shop)

Dunlop Graspic DS-2 $800

Nokian RSi $860

Nokian RSi $989 (different shop)

Nokian WR $1010 (shop won't install anything else because of the speed rating the car needs)

 

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

If those prices include mounting, balancing, etc., then that's okay, but they're all overpriced.

 

I have to ask: Have you ever ordered from TireRack? The reason I ask is because I've *never* had a problem with them. They use a Hunter road force balancing machine for all their work, and it's included at no extra cost if you also happen to be ordering wheels at the same time.

 

You shouldn't be paying more than $140-150 per tire for 215/45-17. Anything over $600 for just 17" tires is nuts. I can buy a wheel and tire combo for $1000.

 

I understand if you still wish to purchase at a retail store. I was only wondering.

I have an extra set of factory alloys, so I am not buying wheels. I need a place that has someone beside underpaid inexperienced people running their equipment. I don't want to deal with shipping back a "problem". The local guy Tire Rack uses just mounts them and has no other interest in my satisfaction. Just my thoughts on the situation...you get what you pay for and I want a little more this time around.

I'll be buying 3D in 205/50R17 from TireRack unless I can find a decent local price on RSi.

 

The 3D in 205/50 is actually as wide as the stock RE92s, and I won't mind the extra 1/4-inch in sidewall height with Boston winter roads.

 

--Lee

I have an extra set of factory alloys, so I am not buying wheels. I need a place that has someone beside underpaid inexperienced people running their equipment. I don't want to deal with shipping back a "problem". The local guy Tire Rack uses just mounts them and has no other interest in my satisfaction. Just my thoughts on the situation...you get what you pay for and I want a little more this time around.

 

If you're just buying tires, then why not buy from TireRack? They're cheap, and you can get them mounted and balanced anywhere you want. Most places charge $25 per tire, so you could get a set of four 215/45-17 tires for, say $540. Add $100 max for mounting and balancing the set at the place of your choice and you come out $200-400 ahead.

If you're just buying tires, then why not buy from TireRack? They're cheap, and you can get them mounted and balanced anywhere you want. Most places charge $25 per tire, so you could get a set of four 215/45-17 tires for, say $540. Add $100 max for mounting and balancing the set at the place of your choice and you come out $200-400 ahead.

This is akin to you buying your prescription from a Canadian pharmacy and coming to where I work and asking me a bunch of questions about it.

If you don't really care about dry winter performance get the Hakka Rsi tires, they are just awesome in snow and ice. I have them on my MPV and that thing will outbrake my LGT any day on ice.

 

I have M3s on my LGT and they are fairly good in snow and ice, and also failry good in the dry, decent compromise, but am interested in their new tires for the snow and ice the 3Ds.

Also, I believer that from Canada if you get tires from the tire rack, they ship through Fed-ex and you will get raped on their brokerage fees. Likely about $85 for a set of tires.

Oh yeah, I forgot, Dunlop has a rebate until the end of October...$50 on a set of 4 (M3 qualify) or $25 on a set of 4 (Graspic qualify). So...maybe M3s for $729 after rebate.

Nokian WR $1010 (shop won't install anything else because of the speed rating the car needs)

 

Thoughts? Thanks.

 

The WR's are great but I'm not sure if that's a good price in Canada. However, the speed rating excuse is really stupid.

This is akin to you buying your prescription from a Canadian pharmacy and coming to where I work and asking me a bunch of questions about it.

 

Not really. That's what shops are there for. They do more than just mount and balance tires. You wouldn't be asking any questions. You would be asking for a service (mounting & balancing), which any shop would gladly do.

 

Do what you wish. I just tried to save you money by recommending a very reputable company.

 

If you're from Canada, then don't buy from TireRack. There's nothing indicating that you were. That would also explain what I thought were outrageously high prices, not to mention the strange reference to a Canadian pharmacy.

Providing location helps helping ;-)

 

Krzys

Once again, you can't expect a general response to your question - winter conditions vary a lot more than summer conditions, and it is really important to figure out and state what you want out of your winter tire.

 

**Important**

 

There are generally three types of tires you might run in winter:

 

1) A dedicated snow tire (assuming studless here): this will have the best snow and (important for me) ice traction. This is the safest and best performance when the weather is really bad, and when the road surface is unpredictable (i.e., black ice). The performance of this type of tire when the weather is cold but dry and the roads are clear will not impress, however.

 

2) A performance winter tire: This tire is optimized for the best dry performance when cold but clear and dry. It will perform will in the snow, but maybe not very well on ice, and it's performance in bad weather will not match that of the dedicated snows above. This is a great type of tire for, say, the cold dry winters of northern new mexico but is probably a poor choice for Buffalo, where you have tons of lake effect snow.

 

3) An all season tire - you can choose from tires in this category which have anywhere from decent winter performance to dangerous winter performance, but generally speaking this type of tire will underperform both of the above in bad weather, and going from the snow tire to an all season will generally be a scary experience in bad weather because you get used to having decent snow performance from your snow tire and you will absolutely need to slow down, break earlier, and turn in earlier, with an all season compared to a snow tire in bad weather. Dry performance when cold and clear should be at least as good as with a performance winter but if you have a summer biased all season its cold performance can suck.

 

So, what do you need? There are several good choices among each category. Do check out the tirerack - if nothing else it is an excellent source of good tire information - in fact I know of no other source for comparative information on tires.

 

I live in northern MA and I will be running the Michelin X-ice on my car. I want to make sure I have a safe tire in the worst conditions, i.e., ice, and I have a performance winter on my A4 (the blizzak MZ-01, also excellent) for normal use. I have all seasons (Michelin Pilot sport exalto; by far the best available in miata size, look at the test data) on my miata strictly for convenience so that I can drive the car in winter and avoid the pain in the ass that car storage for the winter involves. I know, tough life.

Wintersport m3, they worked great last year. I have not tried any of the other snow tires so I can't comment on them.

Wintersport m3, they worked great last year. I have not tried any of the other snow tires so I can't comment on them.

 

OT

 

Dude, in your sig, that's _Giga_ , not _jiga_ .

 

just a geeky dude

Not really. That's what shops are there for. They do more than just mount and balance tires. You wouldn't be asking any questions. You would be asking for a service (mounting & balancing), which any shop would gladly do.

 

Do what you wish. I just tried to save you money by recommending a very reputable company.

 

If you're from Canada, then don't buy from TireRack. There's nothing indicating that you were. That would also explain what I thought were outrageously high prices, not to mention the strange reference to a Canadian pharmacy.

I'm not in Canada...Minnesota (I believe LittleBlue GT and pdw assumed I was in Canada). I appreciate the comments on Tire Rack (I have purchased PIAA products from them in the past and am well aware of their reputation), I just don't want to deal with a "middle man"...the installer, who has no interest in the transaction other than putting the tires on the rims. I have concerns about having a shop do the install and damaging a wheel while installing tires I did not buy there because I bought them someplace that was less expensive, just to save a few bucks. If they don't sell tires, they probably don't have the latest equipment plus they don't have a lot invested in the transaction (no profit from the tires themselves), thus no reason to keep me happy. I am still dealing with a local discount shop on a wheel they damaged on 7/3/06, and I don't need a repeat performance of that debacle.

 

It's hard to tell a shop to install something that potentially could be a liability issue for them...I don't have an issue with that, just threw it in because the WRs are all season rather than dedicated snow tires (all the others I listed are snows, but just wanted to list another price comparison).

 

Sorry about the obscure analogy...I'm a pharmacist and our profession gives away its advice...there is nothing more irritating than answering a bunch of questions about a prescription you made no money on (one being bought from a Canadian mail order pharmacy, for example), but we do. Canada mail order pharmacies have been a big topic of discussion in the medical and consumer community for the past few years.

i was thinking of getting some bridgestone x-ice tires later this month, since the reviews of them seemed very good for ice (which fargo had for 3-4 months last year) and they are a reasonable price of about 120 a tire for 215/60/16

Mastercraft courser MSR. They were cheap. had them on my 2WD ranger in Rochester NY (100+ inches snow per year). Never got stuck and didn't need sand anymore. Passenger car version is the glacier grip 2.

 

They are a snow tire.

I've been very happy with Hankook W300. Great on cold dry and cold wet (probably better than the RE92's even in the warm for that matter), and pretty reasonable on snow and slush. You can't get the stock size, but 205/50/17 is about 2% larger circumference. Bonus: you can get them from TireTrends, who are fantastic to deal with. Great and friendly advice...

 

http://www.tiretrends.com/Winter-Tires-Packages.php?tireID=396

 

Great deal too at $140CAD + shipping.

 

Andy

I finally made my mind up. Going with Contiextremes on 17" wheels (215/50/17). They're an A/S with a bias towards snow which should serve me well here in Chicagoland where there isn't all that much snow (thanks to climate change) and most of my driving is at speed on freeways. Additionally, Discount Tire is matching the Tire Rack price and there is a $50 rebate for tires they have in stock.