The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[Acey]

I've made a massive error in judgement by not putting my winters on, having been fine previously on all-seasons in snow until temperatures really plummeted at which point I'd put on winters. But now I live in Panorama Hills, and now I can't get up the hill of my street.

[Regulator75]

If you swap your tires at home, do you still have them balanced at the shop?

[ken0042]

I don't balance mine every year, but they were balanced when I had the shop install them.

Really, it's the same as when you would leave your all season tires on for 4 years. Even if you did rotate them, most places wouldn't re-balance them unless you specifically asked.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Something to keep in mind if you're looking at steelies...they're not that cheap and they look way crappier than aluminum.

I'll second this - I went the tire rack route last year and had my winters mounted on a nice set of aluminums for the same reason. The cheap $40 rim advertised in the Canadian tire flyer is usually for like a 14". I think I spent a total of $100 more for (4) aluminumns.

A few of my buddies laughed that I have nicer rims for winter tires, but I figured I see them more than my summer tires

[Burninator]

I guess I lucked out. I was able to get 16" steel wheels for $40 each.

So my vehicle has TPMS but I didn't have the sensors installed on my winter wheels. The TPMS light hasn't come on...which it should have, at least I thought it would.

[Wormius]

Just got the Federal Himalayas put on at UrbanX. Feels like riding on marshmallows instead of tires. This will take a bit of getting used to again.

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Just got the Federal Himalayas put on at UrbanX. Feels like riding on marshmallows instead of tires. This will take a bit of getting used to again.

This is a consequence of the winter tire for sure, I find that the tire grooves found on roads frequented by larger trucks will pull my car, this can be annoying.

[stazzy33]

Originally Posted by GreatWhiteEbola

This is a consequence of the winter tire for sure, I find that the tire grooves found on roads frequented by larger trucks will pull my car, this can be annoying.

Yeah, the other thing I have found is that due to the softer compound it can cause a bit of vibration up around 100 km/h, which can be a bit annoying.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by stazzy33

Yeah, the other thing I have found is that due to the softer compound it can cause a bit of vibration up around 100 km/h, which can be a bit annoying.

You might need to get them rebalanced. My winter tires don't vibrate at all (but they do like to find grooves in the pavement like GWE said).

[stazzy33]

Originally Posted by Sliver

You might need to get them rebalanced. My winter tires don't vibrate at all (but they do like to find grooves in the pavement like GWE said).

Hmm when you say find the grooves, do you mean it pulls your steering wheel a little bit? Cause that's what I get... Just a little pull and vibration, nothing too insane.

[AMG_G]

Originally Posted by Regulator75

If you swap your tires at home, do you still have them balanced at the shop?

You should really only need to balance a wheel if you take it off the rim or a weight falls off. Since no rim or tire is truely round, balancing it just adds weight to counter balance the wobble.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by stazzy33

Hmm when you say find the grooves, do you mean it pulls your steering wheel a little bit? Cause that's what I get... Just a little pull and vibration, nothing too insane.

Yeah, depending on the road it pulls my steering wheel left to right a bit. I wouldn't call it a vibration, but maybe we are talking about the same thing. The spot in Calgary that I've found does it the most dramatically is the bridge over the train tracks on Barlow Trail South just south of Glenmore. It's a trippy feeling.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Just got the Federal Himalayas put on at UrbanX. Feels like riding on marshmallows instead of tires. This will take a bit of getting used to again.

Himalayas are the furthest from a performance winter tire as you can get. I had my traction control light come on during a 4-5 shift...

If you hate the feeling you can go for a more performance oriented winter tire (Continental Winter Contact, Pirelli Sottozero etc) and you maintain a lot more dry handling at the sacrifice of a bit of the winter capabilities.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Himalayas are the furthest from a performance winter tire as you can get. I had my traction control light come on during a 4-5 shift...

If you hate the feeling you can go for a more performance oriented winter tire (Continental Winter Contact, Pirelli Sottozero etc) and you maintain a lot more dry handling at the sacrifice of a bit of the winter capabilities.

Yeah, I think I was experiencing the pull that some of the other guys were mentioning. Doing 100kph on Deerfoot just felt funny. I am hoping it is something I get used to with these tires. I don't remember this with the Hankook Ice Bears. I will see how these work out though this winter. Hoping to do some trips out west to Kelowna and Vancouver.

[stazzy33]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Yeah, I think I was experiencing the pull that some of the other guys were mentioning. Doing 100kph on Deerfoot just felt funny. I am hoping it is something I get used to with these tires. I don't remember this with the Hankook Ice Bears. I will see how these work out though this winter. Hoping to do some trips out west to Kelowna and Vancouver.

I get the pull on Deerfoot too. I was told it will get better when there is snow on the ground and it's a bit colder out by Lorne at UrbanX.

[Ironhorse]

When its colder out, your winter tires will still be pliable, unlike the hockey pucks regular tires turn into.

I get about the same amount of pull (very little), although the ride will always be inherently different and cornering feel will also change; in my case its because I run 215-45 17" Bridgestone Potenza in the summer, and 195-55 16" Dunlop Wintersport in the winter. Both sets are performance tires, but oriented at two separate situations.

[BlackArcher101]

Having studs before and now no studs on my new tires, I regret the last few days not getting them again. Amazing the difference it makes on the glaze ice/hard packed snow that's out there now.

[browna]

Looking to get a gently used set of winters for the wife's car that his been rendered undriveable out of our alley day 1 and 2 of the snow dump (probably ok now though). But the OEM tires (car is a year old) are garbage. Did ok last winter, but didn't have the same dump last year obviously, but they're a noticeable step down from the usual OEM AS tires I've had on all other cars I've had.

Anyways, I assume a 1mm offset difference in the wheel (the used set of OEM wheels for a different GM model vs and the specs for my OEM (also GM) model) isn't going to be a big deal? Same bolt pattern, obviously.

[btimbit]

^yup, no problem with that

[WhiteTiger]

Well, I've joined the "Winter Tires Convert Club". First year I've ever had winter tires on, and they have helped handle my driving the last couple days like a champ. I'm quite impressed, and while I had reasons for waiting this long to get a set, I wish I hadn't.