Advice needed: winter tires
 

Hey guys,

Bought a 2006 infiniti g35 with 19 inch sport pkg wheels. I am planning on buying nicer rims in the future. Since it comes with only summer tires, im definitely going to need a set of winter tires.

Now the question is.... Do i get 19 inch winter tires and use the stock rims? Or am i better off downsizing to 17s or 18s?
I really dont want crappy rims for winter - still want something decent so i think i might not even want to go as small as 17s - which leaves me buying 18 inch rims and winter tires.

Would winter tires that are 19inch in size even be effective in the snow?. I dont see the point of selling my stock 19s as i think they are nice for winter, but possibly the tires would be too "thin"? Plus I can get another season out of the oem summer tires next year by rewrapping them on the 19 oem wheels.

Also have you guys dealt with tirerack.com before with shipping to canada? how does it work if i ship it to my house in canada? How much does the duty/brokerage fees end up to be? I did a search and alot of ppl ship them to point roberts and then pick them up. The only problem is i am limited on time and would only be able to pick them up after 7pm - not sure if the pick up places are even open that late - somethin ill have to look into. I would prefer shipping them directly to my home if possible - as long as it doesnt cost way more money.

let me know wat u guys think i should do/advice pls
thanks

the snow in Vancouver won't be that deep so your 19s with snows should be fine. but normally it's better to use skinnier tires in snow. if you're going to buy 19 inch snows you better be ready pay major cash for them

downsize if you can. 19's and a snow covered frost heave/pothole and you're toast :(

in agreement about the cash aspect for 19" sizes... more (cheaper) choices available in 18" or less.

Go smaller. The tires are cheaper, and skinnier tires are recommended for snow.

Tirerack shipping to Canada includes brokerage and taxes, so you won't have to worry about being charged additional fees. You should be able to price out the tires and get shipping costs from their site once you enter in your postal code. If I remember, it's a bit more than shipping locally (I think it was roughly $30 per tire vs the roughly $10 for in US) but it's probably worth it since it also covers the taxes which you'd have to pay anyways when you cross the border.

I would go with 18" winter tires. We got our winter set up from Tirerack, everything went really well. We ended up getting it shipped to TSB Shipping at Point Roberts and declared them at the border. No trouble, we got the Michelin X-Ice Xi2 because the reviews were great on them.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&wTire=6
We got them in 17s instead, tires great in the snow. Very little road noise with those tires as well. Can't complain about em! The G35 handles great in the snow now

Can Anyone else confirm this?

How deep of snow do you think you would drive your car through?

In light snow, a wider snow tire won't matter, but in deep snow you will want a skinnier tire. Also, down size to a 17 snow tire. Even with 17's, they are going to cost you quite a bit, but 18's will cost more.

Also, don't ship to Pt. Roberts. Ship them to Blaine and there is a chance you won't pay any taxes when you cross the border. Pt. Roberts has a 100% chance of paying the 12% tax and 6% duty if the tires are made outside of the US.

Never tried shipping to my house, but I don't think the extra shipping cost covers the tax.

lol you must love tirerack,

i was checking up prices not that long ago, you can actually get it cheaper locally, 1010tires.com (richmond) is cheaper then tirerack by 50-60 bucks and Sorat is about 100 bucks cheaper

check out our sponsors they can hook you up

Are you sure about that? For all the tires that I bought, TR was way cheaper than 1010tires. The cheapest place in Cananda I found was Talon Tire in Quebec I think.

^ Agreed!

Advance gave me some amazing prices on tires when I was looking... :thumbsup:

yah I just priced out some ws-60s and it was the 90 cheaper from 1010 tires then tirerack and tirerack was in usd as well

What he said. Go with the smallest rim that'll fit over your brakes. Tires are cheaper and you'll have more sidewall for the shitty roads.

True story.

But don't think it's cheaper or anything, you basically pre-pay the outrageous custom fees and crazy shipping prices.

Just go through and put the tires in your cart and enter your postal code.

Here's a cut and paste from the order page:

215/50R17 XL Bridgestone Blizzak WS-60
Blackwall In Stock 4 $135.00 $540.00

UPS Standard (Canada) 09/29/2009 - 09/30/2009 $116.36
IMPORTANT INFORMATION — PLEASE READ!

CANADIAN ORDERS:

* All orders from Tire Rack are billed in US currency. On the day the transaction is processed, your credit card company will convert to Canadian currency using the current exchange rates and fees of the issuing bank.
* The sales taxes and duties included in this order are collected on behalf of the applicable Canadian government agencies. No additional taxes, duties, or fees will be collected by UPS Canada upon delivery of this order.
* Delivery may be delayed by customs procedures.

Additional Fees and Taxes
Excise Tax: $0.00
GST: $31.39
PST: $52.10
Duty: $37.80
Provincial Tire Fee: $20.00
Brokerage Fee: $30.00
Grand Total (USD):

$827.65

I stand corrected...$30 per tire was only for shipping - didn't include duties/PST/GST.

If you went down to pick them up, you'd save on the tire fees, brokerage fees. Buy a US or Mexico made tire and save on the duties.

Yep, same here. Getting Blizzak WS-60's from them, great price. Cheaper than TR, and cheaper than 1010tires.

205/55R16, in case anyone was wondering.

Are there any tires made in US/Mexico? lol

Has anyone tried the Sunny tires being sold by Sorat? They are pretty cheap, also looking at Hankook series as they are pretty affordable too.

Some firestone tires are made in Canada

great tires for the price :thumbsup:

OP - is your G35 the X model? (4wd?). i don't know how well you can get around if it snows like it did last year if you car is RWD. just my opinion.

Even 18's will cost you a pretty penny for a set of name brand tires.
I was lucky enough to get a set of winter tires last year from volco

My stock wheels are 17x7, even these cost me almost $700

what is advance like to deal with these days? i used to go there because SG and ken was there, but now that both are gone.... :confused:

^ anything 16 and over will cost a pretty penny :(

I'm pretty choked that Ken is gone. I always dealt directly with him when I ordered stuff.
They moved into a nicer place recently 2 doors down. I would hope service is the same. Apparently they got a new mechanic who's really good though

Looking at the sites right now, TR has the 205/55/16's listed at $107 usd each plus $55 for shipping, so they land in Blaine/Pt. Roberts for $483.02 usd.
1010 has they for $175.99 cdn each, or $703.96.

Even with a 1.10 exchange rate, the TR ones are only $531.32, a savings of $172.64ish.

The 215/50/17's are $135 each. With shipping they are $595.02 usd to Blaine/Pt. Roberts.
1010 has them for $215.99 cdn each. That is $863.96 cdn.
With a 1.1 exchange rate, the TR ones cost $654.52.

Are you guys seeing something I don't see? :confused:

Oh, and TR has an offer to get a $50 gift card too.

I'm not buying from 1010tires (which are fairly expensive). I'm buying from ADVANCE MOTORSPORTS, a RS sponsor. They're in Coquitlam.

You forgot to add taxes, duties and provincial tire fee. It's not like you can easily sneak four tires past the custom officer... they're fairly large.

Also, there's the convenience factor. Would you rather drive to Coquitlam, or to Pt. Roberts/Blaine and have to deal with the border crossings, which may or may not be busy at that particular time of day you decide to go? Plus, pay for gas, which isn't exactly cheap.

Advance can even pick up my car for me, have it mounted/balanced, and drive the car back to me. That way I won't have to chance Canadian Tire/Kal Tire/Big O's lineups, and I can be at work or at home and have less hassle.

I got a quote from a couple rs sponsors and after doing the math I'm going to get my tires from tr.