A/S vs Summer tires in Canada

[Lilswitche]

For some background info: Living in Onario and currently only driving my BRZ from early April to early-mid November and using a winter beater. Getting a set of 17x9 wheels and considering which tires to get in 245/40/17.

The 2 tires in question:

BFGoodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2; and
BFGoodrich g-Force Comp-2 A/S.

What's everyone's feeling on running summer tires in Spring/Fall?

[KnightRyderx2]

If you have a winter car or wheel/tire setup (like you do) don't skimp out, get yourself a dedicated summer setup.

[Keenercarguy]

Originally Posted by KnightRyderx2

If you have a winter car or wheel/tire setup (like you do) don't skimp out, get yourself a dedicated summer setup.

Sidenote though, think about how heavy the tires that you're looking at are. Some people spend THOUSANDS of dollars on lightweight wheels and totally forget that the tire on the outside has the most effect on rotational weight.
Firestone Indy 500's (rated higher than the sport comp 2's, and cheaper) are 23lbs a tire in 245/40-17
The KING: Michelin Pilot Supersports (the best tire above 300tw, and on sale at the moment) are 23lbs in that size too
G-Force Sport Comp-2's? Those are 25lbs in that size.
Food for thought

[Lilswitche]

Originally Posted by KnightRyderx2

If you have a winter car or wheel/tire setup (like you do) don't skimp out, get yourself a dedicated summer setup.

Unfortunately, when I switch the insurance to my summer car I can't just swap out into the beater when I get a snow day. It'd be a rough go if it did snow with summer tires on. I may have to saddle down and keep the car in the garage for another few weeks to be safe.

Originally Posted by Keenercarguy

Sidenote though, think about how heavy the tires that you're looking at are. Some people spend THOUSANDS of dollars on lightweight wheels and totally forget that the tire on the outside has the most effect on rotational weight.
Firestone Indy 500's (rated higher than the sport comp 2's, and cheaper) are 23lbs a tire in 245/40-17
G-Force Sport Comp-2's? Those are 25lbs in that size.
Food for thought

Good call. I'll have a look and get a quote on those too.

[Keenercarguy]

What bolt pattern is your beater? if it's 5x100 and the wheels/ tires fit you could have an emergency set on standby

[Lilswitche]

Originally Posted by Keenercarguy

What bolt pattern is your beater? if it's 5x100 and the wheels/ tires fit you could have an emergency set on standby

5x114.3

[Keenercarguy]

If the offset is pretty high you can get a good set of adapters for not too much though!

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lilswitche

For some background info: Living in Onario and currently only driving my BRZ from early April to early-mid November and using a winter beater. Getting a set of 17x9 wheels and considering which tires to get in 245/40/17.

The 2 tires in question:

BFGoodrich g-Force Sport Comp-2; and
BFGoodrich g-Force Comp-2 A/S.

What's everyone's feeling on running summer tires in Spring/Fall?

If only going to mid November and early April I would run the A/S. They will wok fine for those few days where the temp drops below 7 and the small amounts of snow we usually have in those months. You really only need dedicated snow/winter tires if driving when the temperature goes below 7 since summer and even A/S tires turn into rock solid hockey pucks at that point. I change my summers to winters the first week of November and back again the first week of April and have been ok other than a couple of cold days. I see you are in Bellville though so you will have colder temps earlier and longer than I do here.

[jasonojordan]

Originally Posted by Lilswitche

Unfortunately, when I switch the insurance to my summer car I can't just swap out into the beater when I get a snow day. It'd be a rough go if it did snow with summer tires on. I may have to saddle down and keep the car in the garage for another few weeks to be safe.



Good call. I'll have a look and get a quote on those too.

Insurance must be odd up there. With mine all I have to do is call my agent say hey I'm taking the car out today but only for the day and he has no issue with tossing insurance on it just for a day. Have done it a half dozen times over 3 years of owning the brz and another winter only vehicle.

[Keenercarguy]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

If only going to mid November and early April I would run the A/S. They will wok fine for those few days where the temp drops below 7 and the small amounts of snow we usually have in those months. You really only need dedicated snow/winter tires if driving when the temperature goes below 7 since summer and even A/S tires turn into rock solid hockey pucks at that point. I change my summers to winters the first week of November and back again the first week of April and have been ok other than a couple of cold days. I see you are in Bellville though so you will have colder temps earlier and longer than I do here.

What he should do is get a beater set of winter wheels and snow tires for his BRZ for those odd days. I can switch all four wheels out in 25 minutes or less. A/S are just so bad.
FWIW I got a snow set for $300 all said and done with barely used tires ($345 with mounting), and I live somewhere where it isn't even common to have them at all so there aren't even that many sets for grabs.

[wparsons]

Why are you going with 9" wheels with 245's if you're considering less grippy tires?

225's on 8" wheels will be lighter and cheaper, and you won't be giving up much grip with the tires you're looking at.

[Keenercarguy]

So you're right but there's more to it than that, 225/45 weight about a pound less than 245/40's, just one pound, but that's not even the big difference between them. The 225/45's have a higher sidewall by about 1.6% over the 245's which are also already .8% taller than stock. You risk losing some noticeable acceleration on them, granted I run 225/45 pilot super sports on my daily's and I like them. But the weight difference can be easily offset by the gearing change, your speedo reads more than twice more wrong with the 225/45's verse the 245/40's which have more grip. Both are decent sizes especially for sidewall ratio to width but this is a comparison
(225/45/17 PSS weigh 22lbs, 245/40/17 PSS weigh 23lbs but are basically an inch wider, under 5% increase in weight for a 10%+ increase in traction, and better gearing, is a worthwhile trade for a lot of people) number source: tirerack