need all-weather tire for 2.5i

I've had my '05 2.5i for about a year and a half, but the tires are starting to drive me nuts. The dealer apparently put new Republic Enterprise tires on it right before I bought it, and while they have pretty good traction in wet and snow, they're horribly noisy. So much that it's almost impossible to have a conversation with someone in the backseat. I live in the mountains of West Virginia where I have to drive through unplowed snow fairly often in the winter, so I need something thats good in snow, but not too noisy for highway trips in the summer.

 

I've got a Costco in town, but looks like they mainly have Michelin and a couple BF Goodrich. I'd be willing to order something from Tirerack, but I'm overwhelmed with all the options from there (134 possible choices!). I don't need anything high performance since it's mainly used by the wife for commuting to work and back. Any recommendations?

You should be able to pick up a lightly used set of RE 92's for a few hundred dollars.

 

 

 

Can you afford two sets of wheels and tires?

 

If not there will be people swearing by Nokian WR G2 (or WR which is older model). Nokian WR G2 have two problems (at least in my eyes): price and they are all seasons.

For not much more money than 1 set of Nokians you can get decent summer and winter tires.

 

I am not sure about your dealer but maybe he/she knows what they are doing by mounting the tires that are noisy but have "pretty good traction in wet and snow".

 

By the way what size are you looking for? OE 205/55R16? probably yes as I got 134 matches in this size on tirerack.com.

 

Krzys

Yes, it's for the stock 205/55R16. I'd rather not have to deal with separate winter/summer tires.

You should be able to pick up a lightly used set of RE 92's for a few hundred dollars.

 

 

 

 

 

I would not use "have to drive through unplowed snow fairly often in the winter" and "used set of RE 92's" in the same sentence when recommending tires.

 

I think RE92s are decent all seasons with very low rolling resistance and decent treadwear but handling inclement wheather is not their strength.

 

Krzys

I would not use "have to drive through unplowed snow fairly often in the winter" and "used set of RE 92's" in the same sentence when recommending tires.

 

I think RE92s are decent all seasons with very low rolling resistance and decent treadwear but handling inclement wheather is not their strength.

 

Krzys

 

I just read the first page of reviews of the RE92's on Tirerack, and everyone there seemed to agree that they suck in the snow.

 

The dealer I bought the car from is just a small used dealership that gets stuff at the local auction, cleans them up and throws new cheap tires on them, then sells it for a $500 profit. He's a nice guy, just uses budget tires to increase his margin, and I'm ready for something quieter.

I would strongly suggest considering two set of wheels but if money or storage is the problem then I would go with:

Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position (first winter on my wife's 2003 VW Passat, she had some traction problems going up hill but happy over all)

Dunlop SP Sport 5000 Asymmetrical (they wore quite fast on Passat, probably my fault with not rotating them sooner, they were also V rated - on My Legacy GT they seem to be working quite well, they were quite good on my 1997 VW Passat)

Continental ContiExtremeContact (seem to be in short supply)

Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus (pricey)

Kumho Ecsta ASX

 

All of them are high performance all seasons.

 

If tread wear is importand I would go with grand touring tires like

Bridgestone Turanza Serenity

Michelin Energy MXV4 (Plus or S8) (their winter traction was not good in case of Passat)

Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum

Cooper CS4 Touring

 

This is what I would consider.

 

Krzys

 

PS My philosophy is that tires are there to provide the best traction for money as nothing else (maybe I should include brakes here) keeps you on the road. This is why I prefer high performance tires over anything else.

I'm a fan of the Continental ContiExtremes. They're probably one of the more snow biased A/S tires that you'll find until you go up to a dedicated set of winter tires. The only thing I don't really like about them is the relatively soft sidewalls. But, if you're good to them, they'll be fine.

At tirerack use the performance category filter, selecting all-season categories will knock it down to 72.

 

ContiExtremes are still on sale, $75 gift card when you buy 4. So I'm guessing that's why tirerack is out of them. Tires Plus might have them, doesn't list them on their website but the one near me carries them.

 

GY Eagle RS-A are on sale, but IMO they aren't that much better than the the stock RE92.

 

Falken ZE-912 are $76 at Vulcan tire, not sure how good they are in the snow.

http://www.vulcantire.com/cgi-bin/tiresearch.cgi?stock=810&f=ze912_t.htm

If you must do only one tire, the Nokian WR (G2) is the only tire i could recommend for serious snow work that won't melt in the summer..

But something more serious like a Nokian Hakka, General Altimax Arctic (rebadged Gislaved), or Michelin X-Ice would be far better and safer.

Get a set of decent wearing summer tires (even something like general exclaim UHP), which will do summer better.

I'd imagine a set of General winters and summers would cost about the same as any no-season they would be remotely up to the job and perform much better.

Consumer Report called Falken ZE-512 and ZE-912 a three season tires. They place near the top of CR list but they wear fast and are poor in winter..

 

Krzys

I have the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred on my car right now. So far so good with this set. I rode on wet and dry surfaces so far with no problem yet. Still waiting for some snow, so I can see how they are on the snow, but I think I will have to wait until next year due to the changing of the seasons.

Nokian WR G2's....end the search...just go with the best A/S tire on the market... In our family we have them on '06 Impreza, '03 Buick, '96 Camry, '08 Accord and the SUV WR's on a Pathfinder. AWESOME!!!

I would not dare to call Nokian WR G2 the best A/S tire.

They are probably the most winter oriented A/S tire available but not the best overall.

 

And they are expensive. For the price of 4 one can get 4 each dedicated winter and summer tires.

 

Krzys

I would not dare to call Nokian WR G2 the best A/S tire.

They are probably the most winter oriented A/S tire available but not the best overall.

 

And they are expensive. For the price of 4 one can get 4 each dedicated winter and summer tires.

 

Krzys

Given that it is the only tire worthy of being call "all-season" in places with snow, I'd say it fits.

Though i agree on the second point.

I have the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred on my car right now. So far so good with this set. I rode on wet and dry surfaces so far with no problem yet. Still waiting for some snow, so I can see how they are on the snow, but I think I will have to wait until next year due to the changing of the seasons.

 

+1 on the Triple Tread. My wife's car sports these and they are a great tire. Very safe all winter long. I think they perform as well or better in the snow as my Kumho ASXs.

 

I think the Kumho is a much better tire in the dry though... but my wife's car is not a performance vehicle to it didn't matter to me when searching for the best model.

I would not dare to call Nokian WR G2 the best A/S tire.

They are probably the most winter oriented A/S tire available but not the best overall.

 

And they are expensive. For the price of 4 one can get 4 each dedicated winter and summer tires.

 

Krzys

Krzys...you are right..they are not the best "All season" tire...just the only one Don't know where you are buying them but around here they are cheaper than any other decent a/s tires...Last set we bought were 205/70/15 for the Buick....$440Cdn...all in on the car:wub:

I tried to buy winter tires for my LGT in 205/50R17 or 215/45R17 or 225/45R17. I was getting quotes around $800.00 for WR G2 mounted.

I got Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 in 225/45R17 for $830.00 for mounted tires + all wheel alignment. I will get $75.00 back from Continental.

Continentals are higher rated by different venues (German car magazines' tests reprinted in Poland by sister publications) and here in US CR rated them higher too.

The tests were for winter tires.

If I went cheap with winter and summer tires I could have bought winter Hankooks for roughly 110.00 and summer Kumhos for 90.00. Awfully close to price of WR G2 (180.00).

 

I would personally consider Bridgestone RE960 or Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S or Michelin Pilot Sport A/S or Sport A/S Plus better than WR G2. Goodyear Eagle F1 All-Season gets noisy when wearing down per users' account.

 

Krzys

I would not dare to call Nokian WR G2 the best A/S tire.

They are probably the most winter oriented A/S tire available but not the best overall.

 

And they are expensive. For the price of 4 one can get 4 each dedicated winter and summer tires.

 

Krzys

 

I paid $700 installed for 4 WR G2's in 215/45/17. Not sure if you can get 4 decent winters + 4 decent summers for that price. However the 8 tires will last longer.\

 

Bridgestone RE960 cannot touch a candle in any winter condition to the WR G2's. They get you from A-B slowly. Basically usable in the winter with careful driving however incredible tire the majority of winter (eg dry/wet) and the other three seasons. I have a set of Re960's on my WRX and do like them. I do however park the car until roads are pretty clear.

Goodyear Eagle F1 All-Season gets noisy when wearing down per users' account.

 

Major understatement!! Otherwise they seem pretty good so far, but I'd never buy these tires for the obscene amount of noise they make. The Firestone store nearby quoted me $50 to check the balance using a Hunter Road Force tire balancer. They still have a good amount of tread left, so it's worth a shot.

 

None of the tire shops around here carry Nokians. You can get by most winters around here with good A/S tires, as long as you're careful and don't drive like you're Petter Solberg.

Bridgestone RE960 cannot touch a candle in any winter condition to the WR G2's.

 

Well I would say that RE960s are quite good for most of winter condition I see in Central Mass. Deep snow, ice are not they strong points but the roads are that bad only for fraction of total time. Mostly it is dry and cold. Or dry and warm.

 

Krzys

Well I would say that RE960s are quite good for most of winter condition I see in Central Mass. Deep snow, ice are not they strong points but the roads are that bad only for fraction of total time. Mostly it is dry and cold. Or dry and warm.

 

Krzys

 

I concur with new RE960's not too bad. Mine have 30k on 205/55/16 W rated(WRX) at about 5/32". They are barely usable in winter conditions at current wear.

 

That being said I highly recommend the tire otherwise.

I think I read somewhere that you need 6/32 for snow, 4/32 for wet and below 2/32 is illegal.

 

Krzys