Cheap&quiet winter tire?

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I'll put it this way, compared to the Michelin Latitude Touring tires the Explorer rides on the rest of the year, the Ipikes make a little noise. Either way, you know what you'd be getting with the I-Pikes. Maybe not cheap cheap, but...

And based on my experience with a winter tire from Cooper, I'd not invest in those. (Full Disclosure - I have not run that particular tire, but it looks similar to the Discoverer M+S that I did run on my old F150 the last few years. Not in the same league as the I-Pike in my opinion).
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
These are cheap and quiet and one of the best snow tires I have used.

http://www.gtradial.com/global/Tire-Details/CHAMPIRO_ICEPRO

Not available in that size, though, it seems.


Totally this. I got a set of 195/65/15 for my camry for $101. I ran an additional set in the same size on my wife's HHR over last winter and they're great-- and quiet.

Winterforce are like driving Fred Flintstone's car. Thump thump thump, then slide.

Altimax arctic are good/great as well. Ran those on my neon. More $$$ than icepro. But you stand a chance of finding one local replacement tire to fix a blowout.

My caravan steelies have a huge center bore. ~8mm more than camry requires.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Didn't your wife drive RT43s in the winter? Maybe you can just get a set of those and drive the truck on heavy days, if it isn't a heavy day the RT43s are probably good enough.

But I also know nothing about driving in snow, so...


She used to; I picked up a set of Yoko Iceguards for this year--I wanted a rim so I could have a full size spare, but happened into a near-new set of rims and tires for $280. But the RT43's are ok in snow--not a snow tire, but good enough.

And the plan was to drive the truck in snow, regardless--but if I can get into snow tires for the same cost, I can always get all seasons come spring. Trying to rock this car on the cheap, but I wouldn't mind "proper" tires all the same. Sometimes weather happens.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
I'll put it this way, compared to the Michelin Latitude Touring tires the Explorer rides on the rest of the year, the Ipikes make a little noise. Either way, you know what you'd be getting with the I-Pikes. Maybe not cheap cheap, but...

And based on my experience with a winter tire from Cooper, I'd not invest in those. (Full Disclosure - I have not run that particular tire, but it looks similar to the Discoverer M+S that I did run on my old F150 the last few years. Not in the same league as the I-Pike in my opinion).


I am not a big fan of the iPike, though I must state that my experience revolves around their use on my wife's former '06 Charger with the 350HP HEMI and an open rear. Their snow performance was quite good but they were dreadful on ice. Given that I generally regard ice as the biggest hazard one might encounter during the winter months, I've deferred back to an ice tire this time around.
 
Tire shop that I've used in the past (and am apt to use again) suggested Uniroyal awp 11 (?) at $81/ea (including mnt&bal), but said that RT43 wasn't in that size... doesn't sound right. Nordman 2 replaced by Nordman 5, and not available in that size. In some ways I'd like to put snows onto these 14's, that way future a/s go onto larger 15's... but that doesn't seem to be working well.

Town Fair Tire lists (has?) RT43's in the 14" at $94/ea (mnt&bal), and Goodyear Ultragrip at $91/ea. At least alignment would be only $50. The Ultragrip didn't seem to be well liked here though. If I found 15" rims Altimax Artics are $104/ea. That's getting out of my desired price range.
 
Stopped at Walmart; apparently if you order online it's cheaper--otherwise they charge more to order. ? Anyhow, sounds simple enough, order the RT43's and move on.

They did have the Artic snow tire, 185/70R14 for $59 (or $81 out the door), so I think, once I check load ranges, I might do that. There is a set of generic Unique W83-4441-1 rims on CL which might fit the bill for this. But I should first hit up the alignment shop and see if they will get close in price (although I suspect they would balk at putting lugcentric wheels onto a hubcentric car--going the Walmart route I'd just have them mount and I'd rotate on at my leisure).
 
Lost the edit time.

The Altimax Artic 185/70R14 is load/speed 88Q, which is 1,235lb per tire. RT43 in the "proper" 195 size is 91T, or 1,356lb. Curb is around 3,200lb and max payload is 900lb, so about 4,100lb max weight -- so I think 185's will be ok? Usually one goes down a size on snow tires.

-2.2% loss on the odometer though.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Usually one goes down a size on snow tires.

Yes, but you make up for it by increasing sidewal profile. So for you, if 195/70/14 is your OEM size, then 185/75/14 would have been a more appropriate winter tire size. Granted, that's a pretty unpopular size, so probably not viable.

Personally, I would not go below the OEM load rating requirement though.
 
Originally Posted By: supton
Lost the edit time.

The Altimax Artic 185/70R14 is load/speed 88Q, which is 1,235lb per tire. RT43 in the "proper" 195 size is 91T, or 1,356lb. Curb is around 3,200lb and max payload is 900lb, so about 4,100lb max weight -- so I think 185's will be ok? Usually one goes down a size on snow tires.

-2.2% loss on the odometer though.

Q speed rating... 99mph. Probably have around 900-1000lbs on each front tire, and run them often at 80mph?
Probably the stress factors are starting to add up to a slightly greater than average chance of a tire failure.
I think most "good" ones have a T rating atleast, with that I'd feel better about undersizing the tires slightly.
 
Yeah, General doesn't have in a 185/75R14.

Edit: I haven't been cruising much at 80, but I do like to set cruise at 70mph. Which does mean bumping it up at times. Front tires probably do have the brunt of the load. I'll have to look up what Q means (I know it's the rating for 99mph studded/studless snow tires, but not beyond that).
 
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Lost the edit time again.

Bummer, was hoping to go that route, but I think you're right, no sense in going down a load range--even though I could say, with 99.99% certainty, it wouldn't be a problem--that 0.01% of me is good indication to not.
 
Nitto SN2. I've used them for years. As good as Blizzaks IMO as not overly loud or rough riding. A little hard to find, although I think you can order them through Walmart.com or tires-easy.com
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
Happy Birthday! According to the forum software.

Have you checked CL?


Thanks! Feels a bit like any other day, even if it's a milestone.

Yeah, been looking on CL. I found a set of 14" Camry rims for $60, bit of a drive, but... cheap. Few Accord rims but then I need rings (I know I can get by w/o but will buy anyhow), and hubcaps (I think I want hubcaps, don't know why, but I kinda like the ones I have right now, strange I know). There is a salvage yard with 15" Camry steelies but they want $35/ea, too rich for my blood.

Suddenly I see that CL has piles of Tundra rims, they were hard to find 3 years ago when I wanted a set. If I wanted a set now (esp with junky OEM rubber) I'd be all set, go figure.

Someone has a set of 195/70R14 snows that don't appear to be Winterforce; they're supposed to get back to me today as to what they are. Tempted to stick with 14's, just to keep my hubcaps.
lol.gif
 
To justify the cost, use a calculator to see when it'll pay for itself.

If the Tundra gets 17 mpg in the winter at $2.25 a gallon and 500 miles a week, that's $66.

Camry at 30 mpg for 500 miles a week is $37.50, or $28.50 a week saved, about $114 a month.

If you run snow tires on the Camry for 3 months a year for 3 years, that's $1,026 saved in 3 years.
 
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