What Winter Tire for NY Weather?

[ScionFR-S]

what do you guys recommend for a Good Winter Tire for where i live in NYC? what tire and size also. i will be running stock rims and using winter tires on these, and getting aftermarket summer tires and wheels in march or so... i will be leaving these winter tires on from about mid November to about mid March to be safe. i use my car every day to get back and forth from college so i need winter tires just to be safe with anything mother nature throws at me. i saw the Generals with great reviews and great specs and also a great price of lower than 500 bucks... im looking for a tire that will handle well in snow and ice but also have a good treadlife, i wont be driving my FR-S like a crazy mother****** like i normally would so handling on turns isnt my concern.

THANKS A LOT !

[CMOS]

blizzaks 60 or 70s same size as you have, can be slightly taller and narrower, avoid fat and low profile, if you need width you can drop the pressure.

Also, get smaller rims if you can, better tire height and lower cost.

[dsgerbc]

Can you afford to stay at home when it's brutal outside?
If so - buy 'winter performance' tires. Stock size is fine. They will be decent on the asphalt, wet/cold rain, slush. Okay in the snow, while new, and marginal (but better than all-seasons) on the ice. Dunlop Wintersport M3 is the tire.

If you are taking a crapload of classes and missing a few days will threaten your graduation plans - get winter "ice and snow" tires. You will have to drive slower and gentler even in good weather, since you'll be sacrificing dry grip to gain some ice/snow traction.
You can get some cheap tires, but IMO it's a waste money. Get top tire in a cheap size. All these altimaxes, ipikes are recycling a decade-old thread designs with outdates compounds. In other words - they offer subpar performance.

You can get 16" OEM stockers of 02-06 WRX for like $200 or less, and then Conti ExtremeWinterContact is only $111/tire in 205/55/16 on tirerack. They are a supreme tire, besting Blizzaks and Michelin X-Ice2 in most tests.

Personally, I'm leaning toward trying X-Ice3 either in 205/55 or 205/60/16 size for extra clearance.

[ScionFR-S]

the thing is that I cant really stay home when its horrible out, although the streets are for the most part cleared, the side streets never are. Im going to have to drive like an old lady this winter just bc im going to have to stick with a winter tire instead of the winter performance. Im going to keep my stock rims on there because they look great and also because I have them already so why not use then. Do you think the extreme winter contacts are better than the generals ?

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

Can you afford to stay at home when it's brutal outside?
If so - buy 'winter performance' tires. Stock size is fine. They will be decent on the asphalt, wet/cold rain, slush. Okay in the snow, while new, and marginal (but better than all-seasons) on the ice. Dunlop Wintersport M3 is the tire.

If you are taking a crapload of classes and missing a few days will threaten your graduation plans - get winter "ice and snow" tires. You will have to drive slower and gentler even in good weather, since you'll be sacrificing dry grip to gain some ice/snow traction.
You can get some cheap tires, but IMO it's a waste money. Get top tire in a cheap size. All these altimaxes, ipikes are recycling a decade-old thread designs with outdates compounds. In other words - they offer subpar performance.

You can get 16" OEM stockers of 02-06 WRX for like $200 or less, and then Conti ExtremeWinterContact is only $111/tire in 205/55/16 on tirerack. They are a supreme tire, besting Blizzaks and Michelin X-Ice2 in most tests.

Personally, I'm leaning toward trying X-Ice3 either in 205/55 or 205/60/16 size for extra clearance.

[Foobar]

Given that we don't get an assload of snow in the NYC metro area, I'd recommend going with Winter Performance tires. The Blizzak LM60 or the Michelin Alpin PA3 for example. Keep them at the stock size 215/45-17.

If you have to worry about dredging through uncleared roads with lots of snow piled up, dedicated M+S snow tires won't really be necessary as your real problem will be the amount of snow you are now plowing with your front airdam. Snow accumulation that doesn't become an obstacle for your front airdam is navigable enough with Winter Performance tires, and since it doesn't snow all season long in our area, you're better off with that as you'll still have decent performing tires that aren't useless at colder temperatures (Summer Performance are designed for 50+ Farenheit).

I've got LM60's on my stock rims, getting 17x8 rims in the spring and putting 235/40 Summers on them eventually, but until then, my stock 215/45's are going on first until I wear em out.

[normancw]

My first choice would be Blizzak WS-70s.

[hyper4mance]

heres a good link for different price points to get you started. http://www.auto123.com/en/news/top-2...s?artid=147815

For me, I didn't go with any of those listed and decided on the X-ice 3 since they say blizzaks tend to have very little traction on the low tread test (shaved to 4/32"). Nokians are awesome, but out of my price range. Keep in mind there is a difference between ice and snow traction. Most perform decent/well on snow but black ice in our area is a concern so for me a good price, snow/ice traction, and wear rate I settled on the x-ice's. Heres some more info on them:

http://www.beyond.ca/michelin-x-ice-...ews/12491.html
http://www.auto123.com/en/auto-parts...id=140353&pg=1

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by ScionFR-S

Do you think the extreme winter contacts are better than the generals ?

By far.
I disagree with comment clearance above. I+S tires will help you get moving where winter performance won't. Clearance will become an issue, but it would take 15"+ on the ground at least (or slightly less if it's really wet).

On Blizzaks: they rarely make it to any european tests, and they aren't overly impressive on few tests done this side of the Atlantic. I mean they are quite capable, but noisy and wear quickly. For the money I'd prefer Conties.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by hyper4mance

have very little traction on the low tread test (shaved to 4/32").

For winter tires generally 6/32nds = done. Beyond that most winter tires will be pretty bad.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

By far.
I disagree with comment clearance above. I+S tires will help you get moving where winter performance won't. Clearance will become an issue, but it would take 15"+ on the ground at least (or slightly less if it's really wet).

On Blizzaks: they rarely make it to any european tests, and they aren't overly impressive on few tests done this side of the Atlantic. I mean they are quite capable, but noisy and wear quickly. For the money I'd prefer Conties.

If your part of NY gets that much snow on a regular basis, by all means get dedicated snows. I still wouldn't want to drive through 10-15 inches of it in a FRS/BRZ.

I used to use dedicated snows on my AWD DSM growing up in the Midwest, once the snow was packing up against my FMIC, it didn't matter how much grip the snows or AWD provided. Pushing further just built up a pile of snow in front that ran the risk of tearing the airdam and other front mounted components off.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by Foobar

If your part of NY gets that much snow on a regular basis, by all means get dedicated snows.

You misunderstood what I'm saying. Clearance is an issue when there is that much snow on the road, which is quite rare and this is NOT the reason I'm suggesting I&S tires. They have significantly more grip on other kinds of surfaces that the OP will see daily on the sidestreets. Ice, slush, packed snow, just snow. In an AWD vehicle one could get through that with winter perfomance tires, in a RWD with only 45-46% of the weight over the drive wheels he'll need all the grip he can get.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

You misunderstood what I'm saying. Clearance is an issue when there is that much snow on the road, which is quite rare and this is NOT the reason I'm suggesting I&S tires. They have significantly more grip on other kinds of surfaces that the OP will see daily on the sidestreets. Ice, slush, packed snow, just snow. In an AWD vehicle one could get through that with winter perfomance tires, in a RWD with only 45-46% of the weight over the drive wheels he'll need all the grip he can get.

I hear where you're coming from, and I agree with the scenario you've described, but we disagree on the frequency in which this would occur.

I'm just saying that given the kind of winters we get in the NYC area, I think having better cold temperature performance and snow/ice grip for 90% of the use case and then driving carefully (which should be done in any event) for the next 9% on Winter Performance would be ideal for our geographical location. The last 1% is what I would consider "too much snow, stay home or get in the SUV" situations.

Winter Performance is still way better than All Seasons which the vast majority of New Yorkers use.

[dsgerbc]

Everyone should judge those % for themselves. Some people don't have an SUV or public transportation nearby but can't stay at home in that 1% either. If there's any incline involved on those OP's side streets, I'd be leaning toward I&S.

I haven't made the choice for myself either. Still debating wether to get WP or I&S ones.
Gonna be my first winter in a RWD. If this winter is gonna be anything like the last one, driving on I&S the whole winter is gonna be super-annoying when there's neither ice nor snow. I'm seriously thinking about buying two sets for the winter, one of each class, lol.

[ScionFR-S]

i appreciate the help everyone, i live in Queens NY so the streets and highways are usually always cleared and i drive out to Garden City Long Island to college and some streets out there arent cleared as well as Queens. the most snow that is uncleared it about 4-5" at most , its usually the ice thats the problem. With what everyone is saying , you think that a Winter Performance Tire would be better than a dedicated Ice and Snow Tire like the Extreme Winter Contis or Generals? or should i go with the Generals and drive carefully even when there isnt any ice or snow and just very cold ?