What Winter Tire for NY Weather?
 

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 !

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.

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 ?

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.

My first choice would be Blizzak WS-70s.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 ?

I'm live in Long Island and plan on going with Winter Performance tires. I don't think it snows enough here for the extreme winter tires (especially if it's anything like last winter). Plus the snow is usually gone in a few days anyway. I'd rather still be able to have some fun when it's dry and get the better tread-life. I can work from home however if things get bad enough. I'm debating between the LM60s and the Wintersport M3s.

i rather make sure that i can plow through anything and take a few months off of driving like a race car driver, also i think the winter performance dont get as good of treadlife, maybe im wrong though

I believe winter performance get better tread-life on dry pavement.

damn i hate this decision haha , maybe ill go with winter performance for my second set of winter tires... ill go with the generals first then if they are amazing and the winter is not bad then i know global warming is kicking in and will get winter performance and that new york climate will soon be florida climate hahaa

Know what you are getting before you buy generals. First they are Q rated (99mph). They are noisy, squirmy, soft. I have a set on my last car, they are fabulous for a eco box going A to B. Got me through 8+ unplowed snow. In the dry I always kind of regretted them though because of how soft they were, so I made it a point to drive in every snow storm

Just letting you know since I'm guessing you got this car for spirited driving and you really won't be able to (confidently) with the generals.

I'm actually leaning to all season since I have the other car with generals if its snowing and if its real bad can sleep at someones house near work.

I've used the Firestone Winterforce on all my cars, and my wife's cars as well, going on 6 years. They've NEVER let me down on any car I've put them on, and they're the cheapest snow you can buy.

I bought a set for the FR-S and have high hopes. I'm not holding my breath, but I have high hopes.

I have a solution! Buy two winter performance tires for the front and two I&S tires for the back.
That way you make car funer when the weather is still not too bad, but still benefit from I&S grip to get you going on those icy/snowy days (safely understeering into a pole in case you push it too much on those days).

Disclaimer: if you f-ing crash doing this, it's your own damn fault ;)

good idea, what does everyone one else think ??? ^^^^

So long as your tire isn't using a compound designed to be used in a uniform set of 4, go for it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I used Winterforces on one of my cars, and they did very well for me as well. Not quite as well as the Sempirit Direction-Grip tires I ran on a previous car (which were the predecessors of Continental's winter lineup) but the Winterforces actually were competent as year-round tires. Better in every aspect than the Goodyear RS-As that came on that car, and they got me home with no issues in the worst conditions I've ever encountered.

To be honest, I wouldn't really recommend it. I just posted it more like a comic relief, cause I'm also torn between winter performance and I&S tires.

lmao , dont play with me like that haha i was thinking about it

I got Dunlop Winter Sport in stock size. I plan to put on stock rims, and then get wider wheels/tires for summer fun next year.

Thats exactly what im going to do , use my stock rims for the winter tires and wider high performance summer tires and wheels for summer

I'm getting narrower 205/50/17 winter performance tires. It's a toss up between Dunlop winter sport 3D or Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3s. The 1/2" of extra height will help a little too.

I personally run that size WS3D in the winter. Great tire for mild slush, wetness, and highway performance. Not the tire I'd want for some serious snowfall or ice. Also, right now there's a new compound out from Dunlop: the WinterSport 4D. This likely supersedes the WS3D, but I would just call TireRack and talk to Luke. He chimes in on a winter tire thread on NASIOC ALL the time giving REALLY helpful advice as to what kind of tire/compound works for where. I suggest calling them up!

My suggestion for SIZING is to grab a 16" wheel (OEM Subaru wheels from other models are DIRT cheap) and get 205/55/16 tires. Lots of sidewall, not TOO narrow, but not wide.

i guess i should go with a winter performance tire since we dont really live where we get 12+ inches of snow lol, i just want the tire to be able to get me up the slight hill on my block and moving when there is a little unplowed snow or icey roads

bump

I talked to a bunch of people with RWD cars and the most common answer was Nokian tires for winter. About to order a set.
I'm up in New York to, the winters aren't THAT bad.

My wife had Nokian winters on her Mazda 3. There are just OK in the snow, but not very good in icy conditions. The Blizzak WS-50s I had at the time (325i) were much better on ice and a bit better in snow.

Hakkas are fine, if you don't mind paying the Nokian tax.
What annoys me with them, is that their dealer network is very thin. Both R's and WR G2s are pretty old by now (there's a replacement coming out for G2s for sure and replacement for Rs is also overdue), and if you damage one tire this or next winter, good luck finding a replacement tire.

I had a situation like this several years back, when I ripped a sidewall on my RSIs, and couldn't find a replacement anywhere.

That said, I'm still considering ordering a set of R's off ebay in 205/55/16.

Sounds like you're talking about some incarnation of Nokian WR, not their proper winter rubber.

No these were the full winter tires - the Hakkapeliitta 2. Mind you, I bought these in 2005, they are probably better now (the current model is the 7).

Consumer Reports ratings

i found the Michelin X-Ice 3 in a 215/55-17 will this clear and fit ? stock height

It'll fit, but it's gonna throw off your speedometer and gearing. Overall, that's 21.5mm taller than stock.

http://i.imgur.com/z4xX8.png

Too much of a difference, IMHO.