Stock tires winter
 

Are any of you worried about the stock tires in winter? Considering these are not intended for freezing weather or snow?

will be changing tires on winter. I've tried summer tires in winter...they just don't work.

You'd be a fool to drive this car on the tires that come with it in the snow. Make a ~1k investment in steel wheels & snow tires.

Definitely getting winter tires for this car. The stock tires are designed for temperatures above 45 degrees Fahrenheit, and will be useless in the winter, snow or otherwise.

Since it's already June, this makes me want to put off the purchase of this car until next year. I don't feel like spending more $$$ for a second set of wheels right off the bat. Hate living in New England. :)

Definitely saving up for all-season/winter tires for the coming fall/winter. Haven't decided whether to put the all-seasons on the stock wheels and get bigger stickier rubber for next summer or what. Plenty of time to think about that at this point.

Winter tires are a must. It's been a law here for the past few years, HUUUUUGE decrease in accidents.

Dont even try to drive the stock tires in winter.

Even temperatures around 0 with little to no snow is scary.

I hate to beat a dead horse, but because this is very important. The name says it all. Do not use the stock summer times in the winter.

Bridgestone Blizzak! (unless your locale allows studded tires, and chains if things get really bad.)

I think the manual even says not to run the stock tires in the winter!

http://www.cars.com/scion/fr-s/2013/...s/?revid=58456
"Scion spokesman Craig Taguchi says an all-season tire will arrive at a later date."


I haven't seen the FR-S owners manual, but based on the FR-S maintenance manual I would guess it may be similar to the BRZ manual.

Subaru's owner manual doesn't mention temperature and says:
"summer tires are inadequate for driving on snow-covered or icy roads. For driving on snow-covered roads or icy roads, the use of snow tires is recommended."

The following quote either lacks context or was added by Subaru's lawyers:
"Do not drive in excess of 30 mph (50 km/h), regardless of the type of snow tires being used."

noob question: why buy a whole new set of wheels to go with winter tires? is it that difficult to just switch out your tires twice a year? and why steel?

they salt the roads up north. messes up your rims bigtime,

With a winter wheel setup, you'll want to go the less costly route (typically steelies). Road salt, snow, road salt, debris, ROAD SALT, etc. will do a number to your wheels so there's no need to spend any more than you have to on those wheels. Not only that, but you'll also have tires mounted once and not have to worry about seasonal tire changeover on one set of wheels. Just mount once and re-program the TPMS. We had a discussion about TPMS, too. I have to admit I'm not as well-versed on that subject, but I'm sure others will chime in.

For a little light on the subject, go here:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...highlight=TPMS

And here:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...highlight=TPMS

^Above poster beat me to it with the explanation.

so i'm in the south with very little snow and i don't think they salt the roads. ok to stick with the stock wheels and just change out the tires each winter?

You don't want to constantly keep swapping tires of/on your rims. The more you do it the more wear on the rim and the tire seal from constantly changing will increase the risk of damage to either since getting tires on/off wheels takes a lot of force. Those machines exert a huge amount of pressure to get the tire on/off, and all it takes is one time, one inexperienced person doing it and you're replacing either a damaged rim or tire. Sure they would probably pay for it but who needs the hassle?! Plus having dedicated winter tire on dedicated wheels makes the change over a breeze, since you don't need to go to a garage to have remove and put on your tires. I do my own change over in my driveway just with the spare tire jack. Take me 1/2hr per car.

Do NOT use All-seasons in the winter , most especially in a RWD car. They are slightly better at best than summer tires. If you're going with summer tires or all seasons in the winter you're better off smashing your car to pieces with a sledgehammer rather than injuring/killing yourself and others along with having a totaled car when you drive it. Then again, you may not be able to get it out of your driveway. :bonk:

I'm just going to keep my AWD Eclipse for winter which already has performance snow tires on it. A lot of people get very aggressive small width, thick sidewall ice tires for winter which I think is a bit excessive and will ruin the handling unless you frequently see snow and want no compromise.

Anyway, I recommend the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes I've been running them for 5 years and aside from the softer sidewalls, they've been great. They are quiet, comfortable, have good grip and are very predictable at the limit. But again, they aren't the best you can get for snow/ice - just a very good all around winter tire.

These have always been my favorite winter tires. :thumbsup:

Doesn't take a genius to figure out Summer tires are not going to perform in Winter situations.

The stock all season tires will probably be borderline ok if the tires are still relatively new with EXTREME cautious driving. Anything after the first winter, it's going to be garbage considering you're going to drive through it all summer to the next winter. Dedicated winter tires are ten times better then all seasons in every aspect.

Since I'm guessing most of you folks will keep the car for more then a year, wouldn't it make more sense if you just get winter tires from the start? You're going to have to get it for the second year anyways, why risk on the first year?

I have personally tried all season tires and compared it to nearly worn out winter tires. The winter tires still perform better as the compound doesn't turn rock hard in sub zero temperatures.

Just to be clear...the stock tires are summer. the car is not available with all-seasons in the US.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGfvyPtYR0Y"]Tire Rack Tire Test - All-Season vs. Winter Tires - YouTube[/ame]

ive driven past idiots in suvs and trucks(why do people in jeeps think theyre immune to all weather conditions?) and audis in ditches because they skimped on tires in the winter. a good set of winter tires is key. just think, the speeds in this video are slow. most people dont slow down a whole lot in the winter. you'll never know where that nasty patch of black ice will be. ive never had any difficulties in my little saab driving in upstate ny. The blizzaks are a solid choice of tire.

If you're buying a new car in a region that gets snow, ask the dealer to throw in a set of steelies with snows to sweeten the deal. It usually works.

I'm somewhat concerned about this subject. I'm not sure if the lease plan I'm getting will let me change the tires for the winter, or if they're only going to let me have factory tires. I can't remember if I've expressed this concern on this site yet, if I have, sorry for the redundancy.

Are you doing the TEMA lease? I'm doing the same program at WV. My thinking is that they won't complain about you spending your own money for wheels and tires for winter driving. The terms of the lease will not replace your OEM tires with winter tires, though. It will only replace the OEM tires with OEM tires as needed for wear. Technically, you aren't allowed to do aftermarket wheels and tires, but I think they won't complain when you are doing something that is more likely to keep you out of the ditch come winter.

I'm still a year + out from my FR-S and I probably won't do it on the lease program (it makes more sense to put the Prius v on the lease since it will get a bulk of the miles, afterall), but when I do get my FR-S, I'll likely do the same and put snow tires on steelies on the leased Prius for my family's safety.

Interested as well - sounds like it might not be neccesary. Anyone else have thoughts?

Steelies will pay for themselves after a couple years by not having to pay a garage twice a year to swap your tires, and as mentioned it causes unnecessary wear to the tires/rims to constantly switch.

It's not just the snow, it's also temperature. Summer tires do not grip when it's cold. They're made of softer rubber or something, and it gets harder when it's cold. You need to read the specs for the tire, and if your climate doesn't meet those specs in the winter, you really need something else in the winter season.

Here's a link from Tire Rack:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=220

They say don't use them under 40F.

Brett

Found some used but good Blizzaks this weekend on Craigslist, and I've got a set of wheels that will work nicely. Now I just need to decide if I'm going to throw TPMS sensors in them... and have my BRZ show up. :)

for you southern folks..you can probably get away with all seasons. usually when it snows down there it doesnt stick (going off my aunts experiences in georgia). id just be careful w/freezing rain/black ice conditions. up here (upstate NY) we can get a foot in a couple hours and you might have places to get to so dedicated snow tires are a must

Everyone should get in the habit of treating ALL FOUR tires as integral to keeping balance and handling, as well as upper limit characters of the car.

Regardless of FR, FF, AWD, all cars have and need ALL FOUR tires to perform according to the designed balance.
Just because it is a RWD car, does not mean tires should only be upgraded to the rear, because all of the tires do the more important role of STOPPING and TURNING a car.

More often than not, upgrading only ONE end of a car is MORE DANGEROUS than not doing it at all, since the behaviors of the car will change drastically. If you are going for performance or safety, which is synonymous in my head, and should be for anyone, to replace all four tires with appropriate type for ideal levels of safety and handling.

I may be from Southern California, but I did spend 4years in Spokane, Washington and lots of time in other places where winter driving, and racing, was something of a life for me. And I can really attest that improper mix of tires have really dire effects on handling well beyond that of what can be cancelled or tuned by any form of suspension or driver abilities.

We really need to know if not having TPMS sensors is just going to set off a light, or if it's going to not let us turn off the Stability/Traction control (seen both)

My tire guy can get the sensors for $60/ea, so I'm going to buy another set since I can't do the pipe bomb trick with this car.

Though if someone finds the sensors cheaper, let me know :)