The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[ken0042]

I just keep in mind that the winter tires will be on for 5 months of the year; if not 6 months. (Mid October to mid April makes 6 months.) And if you spent $30K on a vehicle you want it to not look bad for half the time that you own it. So yes steelies can be had for around $60 each if you look, and alloys can be had for around $120 if you look. While that is still double, that is a difference of $240 on a $30K vehicle to make it look good.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I just keep in mind that the winter tires will be on for 5 months of the year; if not 6 months. (Mid October to mid April makes 6 months.) And if you spent $30K on a vehicle you want it to not look bad for half the time that you own it. So yes steelies can be had for around $60 each if you look, and alloys can be had for around $120 if you look. While that is still double, that is a difference of $240 on a $30K vehicle to make it look good.

This is exactly why I've always bought nice aftermarket rims for my summer tires and left the stock rims for winter. It's quite a bit more than steelies, but that way my car looks normal in winter and extra nice in summer

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

This is exactly why I've always bought nice aftermarket rims for my summer tires and left the stock rims for winter. It's quite a bit more than steelies, but that way my car looks normal in winter and extra nice in summer

This is the way

Don't waste money on ugly cheap alloys for winters, use the stock wheels for that. Get something nice for the summer

[Acey]

Unless your stock wheels are 19" with low pro tires that are unreasonable for winters (235/35/19)

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by Acey

Unless your stock wheels are 19" with low pro tires that are unreasonable for winters (235/35/19)

Ha, that still works well for me.

[81MC]

Originally Posted by btimbit

This is the way

Don't waste money on ugly cheap alloys for winters, use the stock wheels for that. Get something nice for the summer

As long as they’re actually an improvement. Man do I see a lot of terrible wheel/tire combos rolling around that are far worse than anything the factory put out.

[burn_this_city]

SUVs and trucks with large factory wheels are better off sizing down for winter. 21s to 19s is better than buying nice summer 21/22s and paying $500 a tire for 21" winter tires.

[calculoso]

Is there a decently easy way to know what sizes are compatible when sizing down? 235/45R18 and wondering what 16 or 17 sizes would be best.

[burn_this_city]

https://tiresize.com/calculator/

Use the comparison tab and look at diameter.

235/50/17 would be the exact same diameter, but you will need to check brake clearance ect when sizing down.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

https://tiresize.com/calculator/

Use the comparison tab and look at diameter.

235/50/17 would be the exact same diameter, but you will need to check brake clearance ect when sizing down.

Yeah, I have 19's on my boring old man Honda, and it according to a lot of websites I could downsize to 17's, but due to brake clearance, it looks like 18's are where I can go. Still 18's are much less than 19's.

[burn_this_city]

Cheaper and ride better when its cold, the extra inch of tire helps keep your fillings from rattling out on broken pavement or pot holes.

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Cheaper and ride better when its cold, the extra inch of tire helps keep your fillings from rattling out on broken pavement or pot holes.

While I have down sized rims on other vehicles for the winters, and there are good reasons too, cost being a big one. But it is not a rough ride at all on my current vehicle with 19” rims and fairly low profile rubber (but high quality winters). In fact they ride and handle really well.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

While I have down sized rims on other vehicles for the winters, and there are good reasons too, cost being a big one. But it is not a rough ride at all on my current vehicle with 19” rims and fairly low profile rubber (but high quality winters). In fact they ride and handle really well.

We have 19s on one but with a 50/55 tires, where it gets rough is on 19s with a 35 or 30 sidewall and going to an 18 with 40/45 is a decent difference.

[btimbit]

I find the rubber itself makes more of a difference than the wheel size. Obviously, if you have something cheap that turns rock hard when it gets really cold, it's going to ride like crap. Get yourself a winter that's nice and soft and you won't notice

[Regular_John]

Am the only one that get’s option paralysis when it comes to actually selecting the tire/rubber once I’ve narrowed things down to the size I need for my vehicle?

Maybe I’m just missing something but I find myself looking at a dozen or so options on the same screen and it seems like the price point is the only factor I can really understand. Is there a rule of thumb, or general brands to avoid that folks recommend?

Like studded VS stud-less is straight forward, but the rest of it is Greek to me.

[burn_this_city]

Michelin, Continental, Pirelli are my preferences in that order.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Michelin, Continental, Pirelli are my preferences in that order.

I don't think I've had Michelin or Continental winter tires. I've had Yokohama, Bridgestone and Pirelli for sure. I currently have a brand new set of Pirellis on my car and a brand new set of Blizzaks (Bridgestone) on my daughter's car. The Blizzaks are way better than the Pirellis, so I'd at least slide Bridgestone above Pirelli in your list.

That being said, when I was younger and had less money, I did buy some no-name winter tires from Walmart once. They were very good. Basically any winter tire is very good versus an all season, IMO, so you can't really fata this up and there's no need to overthink it.

I had Blizzaks on my work F-150 for four seasons. Not much can help a truck be good in the winter...they're just the worst. When I needed new summer tires I just bought All Weather tires and use them year-round now. Much better than all seasons and barely worse than winters on a truck. Can't stress this enough - trucks are awful in the winter compared to every other type of vehicle. Always have to do one of these when people buy a truck to be safe in winter. No, a RWD vehicle with the lightest rear end is the actual worst, unless you want to leave it in 4x4 all the time in case you hit some black ice, thereby fataing up your diffs and killing your fuel economy.

[Fuzz]

4x4 isn't great for driving, either. AWD systems are totally different, 4x4 systems don't have the power splitting benefits of quickly redistributing where your torque is going. So a truck is really not ideal for most winter conditions.

[burn_this_city]

I never cared for Blizzaks, had them on my folks cars and they always felt like #### on dry pavement.

My favorite winters after about 6 sets on different vehicles were Continentals. Have Michelins on both vehicles now and have no complaints. I skew towards a traditional tread block tire that doesn't handle like mush 90% of the time.

I will concede that Blizzaks might be better than Pirelli.

Had some Kumhos in the early 2000s that were pretty good value for the money.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I never cared for Blizzaks, had them on my folks cars and they always felt like #### on dry pavement.

My favorite winters after about 6 sets on different vehicles were Continentals. Have Michelins on both vehicles now and have no complaints. I skew towards a traditional tread block tire that doesn't handle like mush 90% of the time.

I will concede that Blizzaks might be better than Pirelli.

Had some Kumhos in the early 2000s that were pretty good value for the money.

You're not wrong about the mush on Blizzaks and that's one major benefit to my Pirellis on my car. The Pirellis drive more or less like normal all-season tires. To me, the mush on Blizzaks is worth it for the physics-defying grip I get when the roads are garbage. I just love them.