The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by chemgear

My joking reaction to all-weather tires is that they might as well be basically summer tires in situations like this.

Well that would be incorrect, because all-weather tires are just rebranded long tread life winter tires

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

https://jackandjillofalltires.com

I thought this looked cool, until I watched the height adjustment part. I think having a very easy, precise way to adjust the hight up or down without having to open/close a locking lever would make these infinitely more usable.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Well that would be incorrect, because all-weather tires are just rebranded long tread life winter tires

All Weather are better than All Season, but not as good as Winter.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Wow, they really make stuff for everything...


Can't say I've ever struggled with this using a floor jack, though. Jack the car until the tire is just off the ground, and you don't really have to lift it.

I didn't, till I became the oldest I've ever been and the damn things started going to R18-19. Doing two cars back to back gets tiring for that specific alignment part. Plus BMW like being weird, so I have to lift a tire on this middle lip thing to screw in a bolt/nut thing vs being able to lift the tire over and basically hang the tire on the bolt to pivot/align, then tighten it with a nut.

Long term I assume I'll end up in an EV. A Tesla is R19-21 and possibly 22 for tires? Yeesh. Either I'll buy something like this or I'm paying someone to mobile show up and swap tires.

Originally Posted by Sliver

Wasn't the amount of snow, it was the rain that turned to ice underneath. Plus the ass clowns who hadn't put their winters on yet.

And didn't turn on their car lights. The level of bright light from the car was the same in their head.

[timun]

Originally Posted by chemgear

My joking reaction to all-weather tires is that they might as well be basically summer tires in situations like this.

I have all-weather tires on my daily driver (which doesn't get anywhere near enough mileage on it every year to justify having two dedicated sets of 'summers' and 'winters'), and it was fine today.

(crappy ol' Mazda 3 with Nokian WRG4s on it)

[timun]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

BMW like being weird, so I have to lift a tire on this middle lip thing to screw in a bolt/nut thing vs being able to lift the tire over and basically hang the tire on the bolt to pivot/align, then tighten it with a nut.

FYI all of zee German cars use lug bolts instead of lug nuts, not just BMWs. I've helped friends & family with VWs swap tires around, and they're the exact same way: dumb ####ing lug bolts that according to the "official" procedure you should use an alignment tool—a glorified pin—to line the holes in the wheels and hubs up.

God forbid you cross-thread a bolt. Instead of getting a new stud put through the hub, unless you're lucky enough to be able to chase the threads you need to replace the hub entirely. Hooray.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I didn't, till I became the oldest I've ever been and the damn things started going to R18-19. Doing two cars back to back gets tiring for that specific alignment part. Plus BMW like being weird, so I have to lift a tire on this middle lip thing to screw in a bolt/nut thing vs being able to lift the tire over and basically hang the tire on the bolt to pivot/align, then tighten it with a nut.

Long term I assume I'll end up in an EV. A Tesla is R19-21 and possibly 22 for tires? Yeesh. Either I'll buy something like this or I'm paying someone to mobile show up and swap tires.



And didn't turn on their car lights. The level of bright light from the car was the same in their head.

Just did both of our cars. My Mazda is easy, 17" rims and it's simple to hang the rim off of the top bolt. My wife's Highlander is a total pain in the ass though, heavy ass 20" rims and I can't hang them off of a bolt, I have to make sure everything is aligned and then push the rim flush from the middle and hold it there while I secure the first nut. If I didn't have an impact gun they would be impossible to do by myself

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

All Weather are better than All Season, but not as good as Winter.

They are a marketing construct for a type of winter tire that already existed with a firmer compound, optimizing for longer life.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

I thought this looked cool, until I watched the height adjustment part. I think having a very easy, precise way to adjust the hight up or down without having to open/close a locking lever would make these infinitely more usable.

I looked at it too quickly and was like "Wait wait, does this thing jack the vehicle and allow removing the tire? How is it doing that while holding the tire, what kind of sorcer-... oh, nope, I got way ahead of myself."

[BlindMilwaukee]

Hey I'm just getting the Nokian WRG4's on my Mazda cx-5 this week.

Coming from stock all seasons I'm hoping this is a sizeable upgrade.

[timun]

My Mazda 3 had Bridgestone Turanzas from the factory, and Nokian WRG3s were a big upgrade in winter traction.

That said, they're also noisy and honestly not all that durable. I replaced the Bridgestones after about seven years simply because of age, but they still had tread left on 'em. I replaced the WRG3s with WRG4s after only about four years, and have since had three flats replaced.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by BlindMilwaukee

Hey I'm just getting the Nokian WRG4's on my Mazda cx-5 this week.

Coming from stock all seasons I'm hoping this is a sizeable upgrade.

I never had the WRG4 on my vehicle years ago, but I think I had the WRG3. I had them on the car year round.

HUGE upgrade from pure all seasons. I didn't sweat going into the mountains even in snow storms for the first 3 years. I don't think I ever had to rock the vehicle to get unstuck in the city for the entire duration of ownership (although I'm sure AWD helped too).

It was the 4th year that it started getting a little sketch in the mountains, still met my needs for the 4th and 5th year as dedicated summers/city snow storms when the snow came down a bit early. It allowed me to delay putting the winter tires on and not burn through that winter tire tread prematurely due to Calgary weather and winter warmth. As a year round tire and me driving around 15-25K km per year though, it was excellent.

[BlindMilwaukee]

That's awesome news thanks DoubleF.

I'm not quite expecting these to completely change my world but anything to upgrade from what seems to be below average all seasons I'm currently on is a huge sigh of relief for me.

[Johnny Makarov]

I had my Nokian Hakkas on my TSX for 12 years and they were still going strong. My mechanic said I could have prob used them for another 2-3 years.

then some idiot young guy on his phone smoked me and wrote off the car.... I still have them. It was in the summer when that happened. It doesn't fit on my newer TL but I might just keep them forever!

[chedder]

Originally Posted by BlindMilwaukee

Hey I'm just getting the Nokian WRG4's on my Mazda cx-5 this week.

Coming from stock all seasons I'm hoping this is a sizeable upgrade.

You will definitely be happy with them and notice a difference, especially for the first couple of years. Then if you ever go to full winters you'll feel the same way again.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

I had my Nokian Hakkas on my TSX for 12 years and they were still going strong. My mechanic said I could have prob used them for another 2-3 years.

I've had my Hakka 3's for 7 years now, and the mechanic who put them on figured I had 2-3 more years, too.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

It's generally not a great idea to keep running tires that are more than 10 years old regardless of what the tread looks like. They break down over time.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by BlindMilwaukee

That's awesome news thanks DoubleF.

I'm not quite expecting these to completely change my world but anything to upgrade from what seems to be below average all seasons I'm currently on is a huge sigh of relief for me.

I'd summarize it as, for the first few years, you'll feel like you can drive as you normally do in summer and winter. You shouldn't feel too concerned about attempting speed limit except in the occasional extreme white out storm and certain black ice scenarios.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

It's generally not a great idea to keep running tires that are more than 10 years old regardless of what the tread looks like. They break down over time.

Except even on the my final year I was zooming by everyone. I guess it helped that my TSX was a standard but holy mileage out of those!

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Johnny Makarov

Except even on the my final year I was zooming by everyone. I guess it helped that my TSX was a standard but holy mileage out of those!

And this is why I don't understand people's willingness to forego dedicated winters in our climate. They make a >100% difference in the safety and preservation of what is, for most people, their second largest asset and last 5, 6, 10 years, all for a completely insignificant cost when looked at on a per use basis. The risks, both financial and personal, seem so much more significant.