my tire dilemma

[bowlofturtle]

This isn't exactly a which tire should i buy but a what kind of tire.

I'm in chicago and winters can get a little hairy at times. The past, been driving 6-7 years. the first 5 years were FWD cars with all-season tires, none were new or anything high end. My last 2 years. I've gotten a AWD G35 sedan. I used the stock stuff that came with the car. I never had any issues but i dont street park anymore. The car has gotten a little squirlly at times on the highway, i think its due to the way my AWD drops to RWD on the highway.

So here is my dilemma, i have 2 sets of rims. One a nicer set of OEM FORGED wheels they are 18's and then i have stock 17's. I need to get tires for both soon, they are both at 5/32. I wanted to start looking now. My instinct tells me to get WINTER tires on the 17 and Summer tires on the 18's. But i heard winter tires wear out extremely fast when its not cold outside, like today 11/28 in chicago right now its 45degrees, wouldn't snow tires be a waste right now.

I was leaning towards a nice all-season tire on the 17's and a sticky summer 18 because of this. The cheap-ness in me says i should just get all-season 18's and call it a day save about $500-800..

What would you guys do in my situation...

Cliffs: have AWD car in chicago, have 2 sets of rims, 17's and 18's both need tires. SHould i get tires for both sets or just one....

 

[mrsilv04]

If you're going to do winter tires/summer tires, definitely do the winter tires on the 17's, summers on 18's.

And go as narrow as you can on the winter tires. Narrow is good for winter.

And you don't have to spend a boatload of money on the winter tires on the 17's. The Firestone Winterforce is a more than capable winter tire, at a nice price. That way, if you run them on some dry pavement.... no worries.

 

[rpn453]

Softer winter tire compounds will wear more quickly and provide more grip on ice, but many winter tires - especially studdable ones - use a harder compound that should give you good life at those temperatures while still providing great snow traction and decent ice traction.

You could get some nice snow-capable all-seasons like the Continental DWS for the 18" wheels and run them year round for a couple years, then buy some winters for the 17" wheels when they're no longer suitable for winter. It sounds like you might want to keep the 18s in good shape though.

It's a compromise no matter what you go with. I'd put some winter tires on the 17" wheels right now, and if you find that all-seasons or a different type of winter tire would have been more ideal for your conditions then go with them on the next set.

 

[brentalan]

45 isn't bad for winter tires. Just don't drive on them in the summer.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: rpn453
Softer winter tire compounds will wear more quickly and provide more grip on ice, but many winter tires - especially studdable ones - use a harder compound that should give you good life at those temperatures while still providing great snow traction and decent ice traction.

You could get some nice snow-capable all-seasons like the Continental DWS for the 18" wheels and run them year round for a couple years, then buy some winters for the 17" wheels when they're no longer suitable for winter. It sounds like you might want to keep the 18s in good shape though.

It's a compromise no matter what you go with. I'd put some winter tires on the 17" wheels right now, and if you find that all-seasons or a different type of winter tire would have been more ideal for your conditions then go with them on the next set.

I agree.

For now winter tires on 17", then come Spring put good all-seasons such as Continental DWS or Yoko AVID ENVigor on 18" wheels.

 

[rshunter]

Go with a set of Nokian WR G2 on the 17" wheels. They get excellent scores in both the winter and all-season tire categories. It's about the only tire that would qualify as a "win-win", snow and ice grip without worrying about burning through the tread before it's time to install the summer tires.

If you're not the type to really get the most out of a summer tire, then just get the WR G2 on the 18" wheels...

 

[bowlofturtle]

^ last time i checked Nokian GR2 were $200/each

i think conti's DWS took the Gr2 idea and made a decent tire with it.

My tire size 215/55/17 stock and 235/45/18 but since tires selection is poor i'm looking to run 245/45/18. i was running 265/40/18 michelin PS2 off a porsche.

as it stands 17's winterforce are $93/each and DSW are 118$. The 245/45/18 i'm looking at are Sdrive or Hankook v12's both are $149. I dont know which i should do for the 17's.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
^ last time i checked Nokian GR2 were $200/each

i think conti's DWS took the Gr2 idea and made a decent tire with it.

My tire size 215/55/17 stock and 235/45/18 but since tires selection is poor i'm looking to run 245/45/18. i was running 265/40/18 michelin PS2 off a porsche.

as it stands 17's winterforce are $93/each and DSW are 118$. The 245/45/18 i'm looking at are Sdrive or Hankook v12's both are $149. I dont know which i should do for the 17's.

In a winter tire, if you want to keep the price down, I'd go with the General Altimax Arctic. It should be available for just over $100 in a 215/55R17 and that would be the preferable size, as you want a narrower width and additional sidewall height in a winter. It has tested very well, though it is a "standard" winter tire as opposed to a "performance" winter tire. To be perfectly honest, most people will never notice the difference between the two categories. Better a top-rated standard winter tire, than a poor example of a performance winter tire, I say.

For the 18" wheels, I think you should seriously consider whether you really need a "summer only" tire. Unless you're putting some significant power to the ground you should have plenty of traction with an AWD car using a performance all-season tire, which will also last longer. Before you try a size other than 235/45R18, or 265/40R18, take a look at how accurate your speedometer is. If it's pretty close now, I'd say stick with one of those sizes. It would also make the switch from the 215/55R17 winter tires an easy proposition, as you wouldn't have to recalibrate your brain to a different "correction factor".

There are a number of possibilities for the 18" wheels, depending on what your thoughts are about my comments above...

 

[CapriRacer]

Turtle,

You need to be very careful with tire sizing. Tire size more or less equals load carrying capacity and G35's are a little heavier than they look.

Look for your vehicle tire placard. Placards are usually located on a doorpost or in the glove box.

According to Tire Guides, the AWD version of the G35 came with either P225/55R17 95V's or P225/50R18 94V - both inflated to 33 psi.

 

[charbaby]

turtle,
I have stated this in some recent tire posts. I am using Pirelli P4's for the winters only, as they did quite well in snow/ice(for an A/S tire) in the "surveys" at the time I bought them ~3yrs ago. I have been using similar tires for winter use for many years. Similar tires meaning...A/S tires that do well in snow/ice.

Today, the P4's have been eclipsed by newer tires comming to market but, I love them anyway. I'm not promoting the P4's, just telling my experience with this type of good A/S tire. Get a good/highly rated A/S tire of your choice that does well in snow/ice. This way, when the roads are clean/clear, tempurature rises or you can't change over to your summer tires til late spring/summer for what ever reason, you'll feel comfortable with your tire choice.

I have introduced many family/friends to this method and many of them have moved away from the dedicated snows as we do have great snow removal in this part of Western NY. Also, changing over to summer tires isn't as important as changing over to winter tires and we tend to take the winter/all season tires a bit further into the later spring/summer time as there seem to be too many other things to get ready as summer approaches. Things such as lawn/lawn care, taking out the patio furnature, cleaning the debris from what the winter left behind, prepairing boats/watercraft, opening pools, maybe just returning from a late winter/early spring family vacation...and then the changing over to summer tires. Depends on how you prioritize!

We would always take an early spring(late Apr/early May) one month in Florida each year. And when we returned home, the trees were in bloom and the grass was getting tall. The last thing on my mind was changing over to the summer tires/wheels.

I am currently using the Pirelli P4's on my '04 Nissan Altima in the stock 205-65-16 on the factory steelies/wheel covers for the winter. I purchaced(when the car was new/'04), 225-55-17 tires with nice after market Nissan/Infinity "looking" aluminum wheels for the summer.

This is my method and just wanted to share some info.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Turtle,

You need to be very careful with tire sizing. Tire size more or less equals load carrying capacity and G35's are a little heavier than they look.

Look for your vehicle tire placard. Placards are usually located on a doorpost or in the glove box.

According to Tire Guides, the AWD version of the G35 came with either P225/55R17 95V's or P225/50R18 94V - both inflated to 33 psi.

It depends on the model year, actually. If we're talking about a 2004-2006MY Infiniti G35X then the 215/55R17 is the OE tire size. The question is, what model year is the car?

I've answered my own question. I checked Turtle's post history and discovered that his G35X is a 2005MY car. That means that the 215/55R17 is indeed the correct tire size...

 

[rpn453]

Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
as it stands 17's winterforce are $93/each and DSW are 118$. The 245/45/18 i'm looking at are Sdrive or Hankook v12's both are $149. I dont know which i should do for the 17's.


The Winterforce is designed mainly for snow traction. It's great in the deep stuff but without studs it's mediocre on ice. It will probably last longer than a softer compound though. The DWS would probably be similar on ice but much better on wet or dry pavement. Expect a deep and aggressive tread like the Winterforce has to be a bit noisier and mushier than the DWS.

Most Winterforce owners on here seem to like them. My buddy in the mountains just bought a set for his truck (studded) because they were a very good price compared to anything else he could get locally, but I haven't talked to him recently to see what he thinks of them.

For an inexpensive winter tire, I like the General Altimax Arctic and the Hankook I-Pike W409. Any winter tire from the major manufacturers will be decent though.

 

[bowlofturtle]

You guys bring up some interesting points...


Let me clear up some small things and give you guys prices as well right now.


my stock size are 215/55/17. Car has sports package with 235/45/18. They both have the same rolling diameter so the speedo will not be affected at all. Also 265/40/18 is the same diameter as well.

265/40/18 is a COSTLY tire. 235/45/18 is a rare tire in a sense only about 15-20 tire selection show up VS 245/45/18 which has 100+ selections and will throw off my speedo only by 2-3%. Cost diff between 235 and 245's are about $10-30 a tire. I just saw 235/45 had a tire that i really heard good things about the general UHP

215/55/17
Firestone winterforce is $93/each
General Altimax Arctic is $106
Continental ExtremeContact DWS is $118.

245/45/18
Hankook v12's Evos $149
Yoko S-Drives are $149


235/45/18
General Exclaim UHP $134
Yokohama AVID ENVigor (W) $159
conti DWS $170


Going off what one guy mentioned about my AWD sedan not making enough power. I'm not making huge power over stock. My bolt-on mods might yield me +25 whp over my stock. On the high side i would have 250/240 AWHP/TQ going to the wheels. So not enough to spin but i do spend some time at the 1/4 strip and plan on attending auto-X this summer. Right now after reading everyone's post and since i was fine with FWD on all-seasons i'm leaning towards DWS on the 17's since they dont cost that much and will last long with a treadwear of like 570 or something. The summer wheels are where i dont know what i want.

A thought hit me with just running the 18's all year round pair that up with the yoko Avid's. They are OEM FORGED lightweight wheels. So i guess the finish on it should last. My GF has OEM OZ wheels she runs them all year round for like 7 years now, it looks good minus the curb rash but she has 15's.

Given those prices what would you do....

 

[rpn453]

If you don't mind using the 18" wheels through winter and most of your winter driving is on clean roads, I'd probably just buy the DWS in a 235/45R18 and then buy a fresh set for the 17" wheels once they get down to 7/32. I wouldn't want to run the Avids or the Exclaims in the winter.

 

[bowlofturtle]

^ the exclaims will not be for the winter.

I wanted to 17's DWS and 18's exclaims = $1008
18's DWS + 17's Altimax/winterforce = $1104/1052

I rather not drive on my 18's for the winter but i have no problem... i think i'll do DWS/ winterforce for $1052 because i'll try to max out the time DWS are on to like April-Dec. So any winter tire will cut it...


I dont exactly have clean roads but i live in the city and they for the most part clean it up at a decent rate.

I drove on Avid's for 3 years on one of my older cars and never had issues. I wasn't driving fast or anything but it got me thru it.

 

[rpn453]

I think you'll have a decent setup with any of the options you've been considering. If you're going to have dedicated winter tires for the worst months, another all-season tire I'd suggest looking at is the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. It's a little more expensive than the DWS and less optimized for snow but more optimized for dry and wet pavement. I've had mine for a few years and about 20k miles now and I'm really happy with them. I still have 8/32.

 

[rshunter]

Based on what you've posted, and a price limit of ~$150, these are how I'd rank my top choices for your applications...

For a performance all-season tire, with good snow and ice traction to be used on the 17" wheels, I'd rank the top three as follows:

1: Michelin Primacy MXV4
2: Dunlop SP Sport Signature
3: Pirelli P6 Four Seasons Plus


For use on the 18" wheels, with thoughts of auto-Xing in mind, you'll want a UHP summer tire. My top three choices would be:

1: Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110
2: Kumho Ecsta SPT
3: Bridgestone Potenza RE760 Sport