winter tires

[Boofneenee]

Not me. I wait until its too late and I'm fucked. Then I put them on, end up being late to work and all hell breaks loose. But at least this way I get to enjoy the car longer

[superleggera]

Originally Posted by AznBRZer

Anyone else throw their winter rubber on last night thinking that there'd be more snow this morning?

I put mine on last weekend. Not happy about it

[Burrcold]

Originally Posted by Pbrown

I was surprised as well. I was bored and read through the owners manual and there it was. probably just a suggestion but it was in the warranty part of the manual.

Most Blizzaks are T or H rated (118 and 130 mph respectively).

[jflBRZ]

I'm putting mine on today for this season. Hankook I-cept and some aftermarket alloys from discount tire direct, used past 2 winters, works perfectly... no fear of sliding off the road like my previous bimmer on all-seasons, that was scary.

[meeskee2]

Originally Posted by Boofneenee

Not me. I wait until its too late and I'm fucked. Then I put them on, end up being late to work and all hell breaks loose. But at least this way I get to enjoy the car longer

I'm usually in the same boat. I have not put mine on yet.

[enjoyminutemaid]

If anybody is interested I may have a set of 16" steelies and general altimax arctics for sale...

[rainmonkey]

If I were to use the stock wheels and put winter tires on them, would going 215/45/17 be alright? Or should I see if I can do 205/xx/17?

[jxl00]

I have 205/50/17. Thinner tire will carve through the snow more easily. It doesn't matter. They're roughly the same dimensions

[FRiSson]

I used Little Foreign Car Garage in Waverly Square. They are certified Tire Rack installers. They specialize in sports cars, so its a pretty cool place.

[Meetjoeblack]

Just buy a set of steelies and slap on some general altimax. $640 all four installed at town fair.

[rba]

Originally Posted by thunderfox

Anyone have any experience with the stock Turanza (not Primacy)? I wont drive in snow but I suspect a lot of slush. Snow = gf's Forester

I have the Turanzas, but I haven't driving in snow or slush with the Michelins so I don't have a point of reference for comparison. They have very little traction; I would suggest getting winter tires -- I have Bilzzaks and they make a significant difference.

When I was snowing around Thanksgiving, I wasn't able to move my car three feet into the garage when there was about an inch on the ground. Despite the speedometer indicating 28MPH, I wasn't going very far.

[Bergen23]

I have Michelin xIce3's. Pretty impressed with them.

To compare, in the past I have Continental ExtremeWinterContacts on my old Camry and 626, as well as a set of cheap Wal-Mart brand winter tires (which were a hell of a lot better than I expected)

The xI3's are great while driving through snow, slush and going over ice. I've managed to really only break contact if I mat the gas on a straight. Turning from a stop isn't the greatest, but you can feel when they're about to lose grip so if you're prepared it isn't a big deal.

I actually prefer the Continental's, and they lasted me something like 5 or 6 winters, before my brother drove my car, got a flat and kept driving on the tire. They seemed to perform really well in every situation.

The Wal-mart tires were a temporary measure after the Conti's got a flat in the middle of January. I was funemployed, so I was working with limited funds. Overall, they weren't too bad they were a bit more slippery than every other winter tire I've had, but I never had any really bad experience with them.

Which brings me to my closing point. After spending about $280(Walmart), $600(Contis) and now $900(xI3) on tires, which gives a decent spectrum of what your average person will be using for snow tires. I don't see much of a difference in performance with the tires. I think once you have a set of winters on your car, it comes down to driving style and your ability to control the car.

Oh, before I forget, I don't know about your guys insurance in the US, but here in Ontario, Canada, we get snow tire discounts from some insurers. Most of them stipulate that winter tires are on Nov 1 and they come off Apr 1. I'm pretty keen about following that to the letter, because I'd hate to get into an accident on Nov 2 and have my policy become void because I didn't have winter tires on and they determined that was the cause of the accident.

EDIT: Also, tire manufacturers recommend that winter tires go on when the weather hits 7*C (45*F) because the compound in all seasons or summers gets too hard and starts to lose grip. I don't know how accurate this is. I'm always a little skeptical when a manufacturer says something like that ($$$) but if someone does know if that is in fact correct, or incorrect, I'd love to know

[Alexandr_Rychok]

I put up 4 brand new tires and rims for sale in the market place incase anyone was interested in a set for winter. If interested just PM me. I also have stock intake, summit white rockers, brand new blue ray spoiler for sale.