The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[Fuzz]

I changed mine on Friday. So you can thank me for the next month of snow free fall!

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

I'm looking at getting some winter tires for our 2015 Audi Q5. I've always had spare winter rims for my winter tires so I could change them out in the garage on all my previous cars, but they were all small cars.

With my current jack, I don't think it will jack up to a proper height for my SUV.
I see that Canadian Tire has a sale this week on jacks. Does anyone know what height I should be getting in order to swap out the tires?

Or should I not even bother with winter rims?

You can always use a block of wood to get a bit more elevation out of a jack. This of course depends on your current jack and whether or not its a floor jack or one of the widow makers the car companies throw in with the spare.

[Fleury’sOTGoalCelebration]

Just pulled the trigger on these for my wife's escape
Michelin Latitude X-ice Xi2
From Canadian tire
Not sure if it's been mentioned already or not but if you have a Canadian tire MasterCard you can purchase anything over $200 and do a no interest no fees for 24 months, promotion runs till Oct 31.
Plus I get a $70 rebate from Michelin. 🏻

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by me_dennis

I'm looking at getting some winter tires for our 2015 Audi Q5. I've always had spare winter rims for my winter tires so I could change them out in the garage on all my previous cars, but they were all small cars.

With my current jack, I don't think it will jack up to a proper height for my SUV.
I see that Canadian Tire has a sale this week on jacks. Does anyone know what height I should be getting in order to swap out the tires?

Or should I not even bother with winter rims?

Fellow Q5 owner. I got a set of 18" Winter tires and put them on the stock OEM rims, and then bought 20" summer tires and some nicer rims to go with. Sold the stock 18" all season rubbers and put it towards the other items.

Regardless of what you do, get a separate set of rims, nothing worse than having to turn a quick 30-45 minute job changing tires into a half day even by having to take it to a shop and wait or get picked up.

As for jacks, if yours doesn't work, you can honestly just use the one in the trunk. A bit slower, but a lot easier.

I have the below jack from CTire. Nice having low-profile and a high lift (24"), but any standard jack that can get to 18-19" should suffice. And as mentioned, just toss some wood under it if need be.

LINKS

[Esoteric]

I got a pair of Nokian R2's from Kal Tire. We bought 3 sets (family members all needed tires), so we got a pretty good deal, same pricing as Costco would have been for another set of tires.

It's also great that we don't have to go to Costco for service and warranty issues, as that can be a PITA.

[pylon]

Don't ignore Kijiji. Man there are some awesome deals there.

I just picked up the GF a set of Tires/Rims for her Sentra SER that came off a Subaru STI. Wheels have a tiny bit of rash, but I'm gonna paint them grey anyway.

90% Tread Federal Himalaya's on 17" Touren wheels for $600. The cheapest I could have done this retail is about $1400. Not my first tire choice, as I love Hakkipilleta's and Gislaved's, but for the tiny amount of driving she does in the winter, how can you go wrong? This set will probably last her 10 years.

[TomLeeMC]

Planning on changing my summer tires to winter tires(different set of rims) this weekend. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on cleaning the bolts. I typically use a wire brush to clean of the rust/dirt but is there some sort of lubricant or cleaner I should also consider?

[Fuzz]

You can use an anti-seize compound for lubrication. I've never bothered to "clean" them much though.

[chemgear]

10 years pretty much the max to use a tire? Might have to get a new set in the next while due to that rather than any kind of tire wear.

[Burninator]

The GF's car needs new tires (Mazda 3) and we went to Kal Tire and the guy really pushed the All Weather Nokian WRG3. What are peoples experience with the all weather tire?

I was interested in the X-Ice 3 as I have the X-Ice 2 on my vehicle and I have been very happy with them, but the salesmen was pretty down on them saying they weren't getting good reviews online. Not sure where he read that because they seem to be a top rated tire wherever I look. He also recommended the Hakkapeliitta R2. Any advice?

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by TomLeeMC

Planning on changing my summer tires to winter tires(different set of rims) this weekend. Wondering if anyone has any suggestions on cleaning the bolts. I typically use a wire brush to clean of the rust/dirt but is there some sort of lubricant or cleaner I should also consider?

I usually throw a dab of oil or tranny fluid on them to keep the lugs fresh.

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

+1 for Urban Expressions. I found out about them on this forum years ago, and will recommend them to anyone.

So I just got my tires done at Urban Expressions. Awesome service. Great guys. Super helpful. I got in early and they managed to get me in right away and I was out of there in less than an hour. Super knowledgeable guys too.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Burninator

The GF's car needs new tires (Mazda 3) and we went to Kal Tire and the guy really pushed the All Weather Nokian WRG3. What are peoples experience with the all weather tire?

I was interested in the X-Ice 3 as I have the X-Ice 2 on my vehicle and I have been very happy with them, but the salesmen was pretty down on them saying they weren't getting good reviews online. Not sure where he read that because they seem to be a top rated tire wherever I look. He also recommended the Hakkapeliitta R2. Any advice?

I am getting X-Ice 3 put on next Tuesday at Costco. Cost me a shade over $1000 (incl. install) for the set. I did a bunch of research and I saw site glowing reviews (tire rack, Consumer Reports) everywhere, with the only downside was some complained of a bit more road noise than Blizzaks. Yes I saw some poor comments from users but I see that for every tire, and most were in fact positive.

Does Kal sell X-Ice? If not, that maybe why. If so, lots of tire guys have personal preference, or they maybe told to push stock. All I would say is do independent research and make your selection outside any salesman. I got overly analytical myself and realized the X-Ice were a good deal on a top tire and will be better than all seasons either way. I am totally comfortable with the decision.

EDIT: Just checked consumer reports and the Nokian WRG3 got a 64/100 rating and Xi-3 got a 70/100. The ratings for snow and ice were noticeably worse than the Xi-3, only hydroplaning was better. So take that for what it is worth from an unbiased source. Based on what I see Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 is the model you should look at, it tied the Xi-3.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by NSFL

So I just got my tires done at Urban Expressions. Awesome service. Great guys. Super helpful. I got in early and they managed to get me in right away and I was out of there in less than an hour. Super knowledgeable guys too.

I've seen a lot of people here and on other discussion boards talk highly of UrbanX. I'm pretty disappointed because I sent them an online quote request for two different sets of winter tires and they never responded. I received an auto response confirmation but never received a quote. It has been over a week since my request.

[Baron von Kriterium]

Originally Posted by Burninator

The GF's car needs new tires (Mazda 3) and we went to Kal Tire and the guy really pushed the All Weather Nokian WRG3. What are peoples experience with the all weather tire?

I was interested in the X-Ice 3 as I have the X-Ice 2 on my vehicle and I have been very happy with them, but the salesmen was pretty down on them saying they weren't getting good reviews online. Not sure where he read that because they seem to be a top rated tire wherever I look. He also recommended the Hakkapeliitta R2. Any advice?

I had Hankook Optimo 4S mounted on mY TSX. They were fine for my purposes. However, I had to replace them this year a couple of years sooner than I had hoped. The sidewalls were cracking. I guess that is an issue with some of the Korean brands? Their rubber isn't optimized for our drier climate? I don't know if that is true or not.

[Doodlebug]

Originally Posted by Burninator

The GF's car needs new tires (Mazda 3) and we went to Kal Tire and the guy really pushed the All Weather Nokian WRG3. What are peoples experience with the all weather tire?

I was interested in the X-Ice 3 as I have the X-Ice 2 on my vehicle and I have been very happy with them, but the salesmen was pretty down on them saying they weren't getting good reviews online. Not sure where he read that because they seem to be a top rated tire wherever I look. He also recommended the Hakkapeliitta R2. Any advice?

You might also consider the Nordman WR tires. It is my understanding that these are the Nokian WRG2 tires (rebranded under Nordman now). The WRG2's have loads of great reviews online, and are most likely cheaper than the WRG3. Nordman also sold by Kal-tire.

[The Yen Man]

Kal tire always pushes the Nokians. I'm guessing they probably get the best mark up for them, or have some kind of coop advertising with them.

[tvp2003]

Serious question: anybody want to come to my house to swap my all-season tires with winter tires (already mounted on separate rims) on a Dodge Caravan? Cash job -- evenings preferred. Only catch is that I don't have a garage, so you'd have to do it in my driveway (I'd try doing it myself but I don't have the equipment).

[Fuzz]

If you had asked 2 weeks ago....when it was WARM! What neighbourhood?

[NSFL]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I've seen a lot of people here and on other discussion boards talk highly of UrbanX. I'm pretty disappointed because I sent them an online quote request for two different sets of winter tires and they never responded. I received an auto response confirmation but never received a quote. It has been over a week since my request.

I went online to ask for a quote and they never got back to me. So a month later I just called. I talked to him and he said that they're so overwhelmed with online quotes that they can't keep up. Just call them. You can ask him to pull up your info when you call by telling him when you emailed.