Winter tire discussion for grown ups thread.

[trollface]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

where can i get a set of new winters for $400?

Look at my post above.

[twitchyzero]

damn here i was content with $750/set of 18s
now i get why people put 15s on their winter beater

[trollface]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

damn here i was content with $750/set of 18s
now i get why people put 15s on their winter beater

I'd put on 10's if i could.

[Teriyaki]

Originally Posted by twitchyzero

damn here i was content with $750/set of 18s
now i get why people put 15s on their winter beater

Pricing goes up as wheel size goes up though. But yea, go for smallest size that'll clear the calipers is the general thinking

[wreck]

Looking for some new all weather tires to replace my wrg4's.

I've never driven with true winter tires, and the Nokians were the only 'winter-ish' tires I've ever used so I don't really know how good they were. I think they were good, but at times I was like ehh.

The options i'm considering are another set of wrg4's, Michelin crossclimate2's, Toyo Celsius, or Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady.

Any experience or recommendations? Thanks.

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by wreck

Looking for some new all weather tires to replace my wrg4's.

I've never driven with true winter tires, and the Nokians were the only 'winter-ish' tires I've ever used so I don't really know how good they were. I think they were good, but at times I was like ehh.

The options i'm considering are another set of wrg4's, Michelin crossclimate2's or Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady.

Any experience or recommendations? Thanks.

I’ve used the WRG2, WRG3, Nordman WR, run-flat Blizzaks, and regular all-seasons (Pirelli P7, Michelin Hydroedge, etc.)

The all-weather tires I’ve used are a lot better in the snow and ice than all-seasons for sure. I would say they were close to the Blizzaks in snow/ice. I did feel they weren’t great in terms of longevity (every set I had developed a sidewall bulge on at least 1 tire before the warranty expired).

From Consumer Reports, the CrossClimate+ (75) is their top-rated all-weather tire followed by the Assurance WeatherReady (64), Vredestein Quatrac 5 (62), Firestone WeatherGrip (61), WRG4 (59), and Toyo Celsius (53).

The Firestone was the best rated of the bunch in snow and the WRG4 was the best rated on ice. The CrossClimate+ was the only all-weather tire to score above average in all categories.

[wreck]

^ interesting.

yea, I've narrowed it down to the wrg4 (~$1100), crossclimate+ (~$1200), and the assurance weatherready (~$900).

[BlackV62K2]

Might be late to the game for stock but looking for a set of All-Weather tires to replace All-Seasons. Don't want to get dedicated winter tires as I don't have a place to store them in the condo. Any recommendations?

[CorneringArtist]

Originally Posted by Jmac

I’ve used the WRG2, WRG3, Nordman WR, run-flat Blizzaks, and regular all-seasons (Pirelli P7, Michelin Hydroedge, etc.)

The all-weather tires I’ve used are a lot better in the snow and ice than all-seasons for sure. I would say they were close to the Blizzaks in snow/ice. I did feel they weren’t great in terms of longevity (every set I had developed a sidewall bulge on at least 1 tire before the warranty expired).

From Consumer Reports, the CrossClimate+ (75) is their top-rated all-weather tire followed by the Assurance WeatherReady (64), Vredestein Quatrac 5 (62), Firestone WeatherGrip (61), WRG4 (59), and Toyo Celsius (53).

The Firestone was the best rated of the bunch in snow and the WRG4 was the best rated on ice. The CrossClimate+ was the only all-weather tire to score above average in all categories.

Didn't realize that the Celsius rated so low. On the dealer end of things, they're readily available since CrossClimate is way more money and limited in sizing. People aren't receptive of Firestone, and Nokian usually has cheese for tread softness so they're already mad that the expensive all-weathers Kal-Tire sold them are shot in a year and a half.

[trollface]

Originally Posted by BlackV62K2

Might be late to the game for stock but looking for a set of All-Weather tires to replace All-Seasons. Don't want to get dedicated winter tires as I don't have a place to store them in the condo. Any recommendations?

DWS-06, the bomb

[Vulgate]

Originally Posted by BlackV62K2

Might be late to the game for stock but looking for a set of All-Weather tires to replace All-Seasons. Don't want to get dedicated winter tires as I don't have a place to store them in the condo. Any recommendations?

I just got a set of Michelin CrossClimate Plus and they are great so far. Good dry and wet performance and quiet. I can drive on them all year long if I wanted to except I have OEM wheel/summer tires combo already. But it opens up to prolonging set of tires that I can use year round. Plus, they are V-rated, not that I would be driving fast in winter, but they would perform well in summer.

However in hindsight, I could have just sold my summers and replace them with the CrossClimate+ so I do not have store another set of wheels/tires in the house.

I chose those over dedicated winter such as Micheline Xice-Snow or X-Ice Xi3 is because for the mild winter that we get in Vancouver, it is better in the wet and dry than winter tires. It still have the snow-flake symbol so it is legal in all aspect as winter tire, but obviously, it will not be as good as dedicated winter tires when there is lots of snow or sheets of ice. It's a balancing act so you have to decide how much hard core snow/ice you will be driving in.

I previously had nokian hakkapeliitta r3 as dedicated winter tires on my previous car, and they were pretty good but slip alot due to my car being rear wheel drive and high powered.

[roastpuff]

Originally Posted by BlackV62K2

Might be late to the game for stock but looking for a set of All-Weather tires to replace All-Seasons. Don't want to get dedicated winter tires as I don't have a place to store them in the condo. Any recommendations?

Helps to mention what car you have, and how you'll be driving it

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by CorneringArtist

Didn't realize that the Celsius rated so low. On the dealer end of things, they're readily available since CrossClimate is way more money and limited in sizing. People aren't receptive of Firestone, and Nokian usually has cheese for tread softness so they're already mad that the expensive all-weathers Kal-Tire sold them are shot in a year and a half.

CR's Take

Though marketed as an all-weather tire, the Toyo Celcius takes a long time to stop in wet conditions, according to CR's tests. On the other hand, it scores a Very Good rating for resisting hydroplaning and ranks above average in winter conditions, earning Very Good ratings in those tests.

FWIW, every tire in this category (they put all-weather tires in the performance all-season category) scored very good in hydroplaning except the Kumho Solus TA71 which scored excellent

[wreck]

Originally Posted by CorneringArtist

Didn't realize that the Celsius rated so low. On the dealer end of things, they're readily available since CrossClimate is way more money and limited in sizing. People aren't receptive of Firestone, and Nokian usually has cheese for tread softness so they're already mad that the expensive all-weathers Kal-Tire sold them are shot in a year and a half.

thats my issue with the Nokian wrg4's.. the softness and corresponding treadwear..

my size is 235/45/17 and don't come in the 'newer' crossclimate2, but they are available in the crossclimate+ and GY assurance weatherready

crosslimate+ has a tread warranty of 70k km, whereas the crossclimate2 is 100k km. the wrg4's are 70k km and assurance weatherready are 100k km.

[Jmac]

Originally Posted by wreck

thats my issue with the Nokian wrg4's.. the softness and corresponding treadwear..

my size is 235/45/17 and don't come in the 'newer' crossclimate2, but they are available in the crossclimate+ and GY assurance weatherready

crosslimate+ has a tread warranty of 70k km, whereas the crossclimate2 is 100k km. the wrg4's and assurance weatherready are also 100k km.

The CC+ tread warranty is 90k km

https://www.michelin.ca/en/tires/cro...mate-plus.html

[wreck]

Originally Posted by Jmac

The CC+ tread warranty is 90k km

https://www.michelin.ca/en/tires/cro...mate-plus.html

90k km for H,V, 70k km for W,Y

My 235/45/17 are Y

https://www.michelin.ca/on/demandwar...renceGuide.pdf

[yray]

do winter tires need to warm up?

everyday after work, tires seem to slide like ikea trays in the first couple kms

[v_tec]

Anyone actually tried any of these?

RoTaLLA - S220 $89.95
APTANY - RW312 $90.95
Artic Claw - Winter WXI (Studdable) $96.56
Maxtrek - Trek M7 $109.28
Kumho Tires - Sollus HA31 SUV - $112.89
Kumho Tires - Crugen HT51 - $118.08
Firestone - Weathergrip - $119.64
Firestone - Winterforce 2 UV - $120.48
Kumho Tire - Wintercraft WS31 - $121.44
Generaltire - Altimax Arctic 12 - $122.50
Coopertires - Evolution Winter - $127.70
Goodyear - Wintercommand - $129.44
Sailun - Iceblazer WSTI - $130.29
Yokohama - Iceguard G075 - $147.05

I'm thinking if I were to go the "cheap" route of getting 2nd tier tires....at least the Kumho / Firestones ones? Or the Altimax Artic 12 mentioned last page.

Difference between a set of Arctic12 @ Quattro would be $535 all/in vs Pirelli Winter Ice $736 @ Costco.

[320icar]

I’ve got the sailun’s on my RS. No complaints at all really. No louder than My summer tires, they Launch hard, grip well in the dry and no hydroplaning on rutted/water covered highways. No snow yet but I have high expectations

[dared3vil0]

Lots of firestone winterforce's up here in snow country, I may end up with a set as well. My KO2's are getting near 50% tread so i'll probably throw a set of winters on. (The grabber's I ordered a month ago are now apparently 5 months away, so I cancelled obviously)

[underscore]

About a decade ago I had some Iceguards and they were fantastic, but I don't recall what model number they were

[Doubl3_H]

where do you guys recommend to swap my tires over and store them as well for the season?

Thanks

[smoothie.]

got hyped up by The Straight Pipes and got a set of Conti Viking Contact 7s.

Pretty decent sidewall stiffness for regular handling, waiting to see what they can do on ice and snow.

Loved my General Altimax Arctics prior, just wanted to try something newer and "better"

Cmonnn snowwww

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by Doubl3_H

where do you guys recommend to swap my tires over and store them as well for the season?

Thanks

Just so I understand, are you looking for offsite tire storage?

I don't know about the prices or whether the quality of service has changed, but the OK Tire on Kingsway just off of Victoria was pretty good to me for several seasons. Had my BMW and Porsche wheels and tires stored and purchased from them.

The storage fee (at the time) was reasonable but I don't remember what it was; They were competitive based on my research and this was between 2010 - 2015, so a solid 5 years I had done business with them. They store your tires/wheels in-house, and not off site like some tire shops will do, so for peace of mind, and ease of swapping, I liked them for that, and plus they were close to home. Make sure you ask to be sure! Both the owner, manager, and staff were great. Shop manager's name is Sterling, and he still remembers me when I sent him an email for some pricing around this time last year.

Make sure you shop around as I am sure there are other shops around which may be closer to you or cheaper. I chose them based on the fact they were 5 mins from home, and the cost was reasonable (but not rock bottom cheap.)

[Doubl3_H]

^
Canadian Tire near my house charges $50 for the tire swap and $80 to store in their warehouse offsite. 2 days notice for them to bring them back.

Sounds pretty reasonable.