Bought new tires - Pirelli Ice Zero FR

[weebl]

Just ordered a set of these ahead of the winter season and picked them up when they came in on Friday. They look good, and I am hoping they will have similar if not better performance than the Continental VikingContact7. The plan was that I would have them mounted and waiting in the garage for the start of winter before they go on the Tiguan.

But I have a bit of a side dilemma now.

The TL;DR background is that I had 2 of my all seasons go flat late this summer. I decided to just replace them next spring, and put my winter set on, due to be replaced for the upcoming winter season. These old winters have now been worn down almost to the wear bars after using them a considerable distance in the summer heat. Pretty much useless for anything but dry pavement.

We are now possibly driving from Edmonton to Vancouver for the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Much of the route is through the mountains, which can get winter weather early. Also, Vancouver - known for its rain. While early forecasts now are still showing good weather at various points along the route for all the days, I am still wanting to play it cautious and just put the Pirellis on early before the trip, and have tires capable of winter weather, as well as have enough tread to not hydroplane should there be rain.

The flip side is, we would be putting on 2,400 km (highway) plus whatever we did while we were in Vancouver during warmer weather.

Is the extra wear even something to be concerned about, given the small distance relative to how long the life of these tires will be?

 

[fsdork]

I would have the same concerns, and there's really no simple solution - you've covered the pros and cons. The only real alternative would be to buy a set of all-weather 3PMSF tires to run in the shoulder seasons. On balance, you're probably better off letting your brand-new snow tires take the beating. Another option would be to buy new tires for the summer wheels now, and opt for an all-season that's not a total catastrophe in the low single digit temps.

Out of necessity, I drove a Suburban on Blizzak DM-V2s from Edmonton to Hinton in mid-20s weather. The outboard tread blocks of the front tires in particular looked noticeably chewed up at the end of the trip. I didn't measure start and end tread depth.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

What are the all season's that you plan to get for spring? Do they have a sale going anywhere to take advantage of now? How are those new all seasons rated for snow if you encounter it and would you feel comfortable driving that way? Are the funds available to be able to get the new all season's early?

Using the new snows also lets them "wear in" a bit to get rid of the mold release as recommended by many.

 

[weebl]

I honestly haven't pinned down the exact tires that I am looking to get in the spring. Having spent a big chunk of coin on these Pirellis, and also helping our son with a purchase of car from a mechanic friend in the next few weeks (including getting him set up with a set of winter tires), I don't really want to be looking at getting the all seasons until I need to.

Wheel/tire situation is also a bit unusual on the Tiguan. We got it new in the fall of 2017, and the factory wheels and all season tires were 17".

I had VW wheels I saved from our Passat, which we traded in for the Tiguan. Those were 18". So it ended up the first set of winter tires being on the 18" wheels, with the plan that after the winters and all seasons were done (targeting to be whichever wore out first), that I would then switch to 17" for the winter and 18" for the summer.

We're now at that point, and the 17" all seasons are coming off the wheels to make way for the new winter tires. I'll throw them up for sale, as they still likely have 2 more seasons left in them, 2 good tires, and 2 with punctures in the tread that need repair.

The 18", I want to just put away until the spring and deal with them then.

I think I will just put the new winter tires on for the road trip. I remembered, then looked up the highway regulations in BC. The one we will be travelling on has a requirement to be equipped with "winter tires" from October 1 to April 30 annually (not really enforced unless there's bad weather, and then you get the ticket and/or liability for any accidents), though their requirements are really watered down to even include M+S marked tires. Sure, the worn tires meet their definition, but I know they are useless.

Wearing them in initially before winter sets in is probably a good idea, too.

 

[ae101]

+1 on installing the winter tires. the concern during that time of year is not the snow, as good all season tires can handle that. The main concern is if you get caught travelling early in morning when there is early morning frost after it rained the previous night. Aka freezing rain..

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Good plan! You have our full support.

And Kudos for setting up the off spring with a vehicle with winter tires .