Post your Winter wheel/tire setup

[IndyIan]

Unless forward moving is an absolute must.
Where I grew up people were mounting two snows in the front on FWD. But that is bcs. many streets had 10-14% grade and very narrow. Losing traction in the middle of climb was not an option.
Otherwise, in the back!

Yeah, thinking about it more, if in NJ, he is driving around like 99% on wet or dry pavement, a good all-season on the rear should easily out-perform a blizzak on wet/dry pavement, and it would be safe to drive normally.
But on actual snow/ice/slush he would really have to remember that the car will want to swap ends given any excuse. Especially at higher speeds, or if the car has lots of rear toe in and camber, then you might find conditions where the car wants to swap ends going straight! If he is just looking to get around town at low speeds in the rare snow event, then its not too sketchy.

 

[edyvw]

Yeah, thinking about it more, if in NJ, he is driving around like 99% on wet or dry pavement, a good all-season on the rear should easily out-perform a blizzak on wet/dry pavement, and it would be safe to drive normally.
But on actual snow/ice/slush he would really have to remember that the car will want to swap ends given any excuse. Especially at higher speeds, or if the car has lots of rear toe in and camber, then you might find conditions where the car wants to swap ends going straight! If he is just looking to get around town at low speeds in the rare snow event, then its not too sketchy.

Take into consideration that brakes are much stronger in the front, especially on FWD vehicles.
I think more than anything, it is important to understand performance advantages and drawbacks of each set up. Both have advantage and drawbacks.

 

[edyvw]

OK, finally switched tires. This is the latest in the fall that I put snow tires on. The warm weather here was just insane. We still did not have snow, mountains are in horrid conditions, still relying on fake stuff for skiing, and most mountains have only 1-3 slopes open.
Finally, this week the snow is coming, and on Saturday we are leaving for Vegas. I was thinking of keeping Defenders on Sequoia for a trip, but it seems that snow is finally ramping up, so venturing over the Rockies and parts of Utah will be easier on the snow.
Temperatire in Vegas will be in low 60's during the day, so it is OK.
Off: Michelin Defender M/S2
On: Continental VikingContact7

Defenders have 9000mls and still are around 12/32. These are rears, fronts are at 12/32 exactly. Really wearing well!

Continentals are at 10/32. Probably have around 5000mls on them.

 

[Ranger83]

Yeah, thinking about it more, if in NJ, he is driving around like 99% on wet or dry pavement, a good all-season on the rear should easily out-perform a blizzak on wet/dry pavement, and it would be safe to drive normally.
But on actual snow/ice/slush he would really have to remember that the car will want to swap ends given any excuse. Especially at higher speeds, or if the car has lots of rear toe in and camber, then you might find conditions where the car wants to swap ends going straight! If he is just looking to get around town at low speeds in the rare snow event, then its not too sketchy.

Back when Conti Contacts were new-ish, wanted to get a set for my 79 VW Scirocco, which I used for ice time trials and performance rallies. One store had two, another (same chain) had two. So put them on the front and drove over, 15-20 miles.

Rain turned to freezing rain. It became absolutely the most terrifying drive of my life. Tail tried to come out in every corner, and braking had to be done in an absolutely straight line. Never again!

 

[IndyIan]

Take into consideration that brakes are much stronger in the front, especially on FWD vehicles.
I think more than anything, it is important to understand performance advantages and drawbacks of each set up. Both have advantage and drawbacks.

I came home from college one Christmas and was driving my moms '91 fwd Escort GT in the snow, and it would not drift sideways with left foot braking no matter what I tried... Turned out it had no effective rear brakes at all! And no one had noticed, even me, before I tried to get it sideways. It had snow tires, but I was quite surprised that the rear brakes didn't matter that much.
They were rear discs and it had a cable actuated parking brake and somehow the whole thing got seized up on both sides.
My mom was just using Jiffy lube places for oil changes, so I guess for years, no one was looking at the rest of the car... I guess with drums you could do that, but not with rear discs, getting full of salt and sand every winter.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Winter tire changeover x 4 vehicles between Wednesday and today.
4 new VikingContact 8 on the Pilot.
4 new X-Ice Snow on the Forte.
4 x 8/32" VikingContact 7 on the CRV
4 x 6/32" WinterCommand Ultra on the Accord.

 

[GenSan]

Winter tire changeover x 4 vehicles between Wednesday and today.
4 new VikingContact 8 on the Pilot.
4 new X-Ice Snow on the Forte.
4 x 8/32" VikingContact 7 on the CRV
4 x 6/32" WinterCommand Ultra on the Accord.
View attachment 312573
View attachment 312574
View attachment 312575

Man that's workout! Is that all DIY?

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Man that's workout! Is that all DIY?

Yes. All mounted on rims so like 16 flat tires. Milwaukee Impact gun and air jack help a lot. It gives me opportunity to check brake pads and quick glance at the rest of the area.

Still hurts with getting up and down a lot. Knees are shot with some arthritis, lack of cartilage from surgeries. Getting them all from back of shed and putting all the 3 season back in there is fun.

 

[Snagglefoot]

Sumitomo Encounter AT - LT 265 70 R17 All Weather with the mountain snowflake with a 1/2 inch deep tread. They’ll be staying on next summer.

A year later we are going into a 2nd winter. I’ll put the gage on them to see how much wear occurred but it wasn’t much. As far as winter properties go I am totally happy with their performance.

 

[Nyati]

It never snows in the south. Winter tires are the same as summer tires. Michelin Pilot 4S (not the original Pirelli crap)

 

[WeyounDS9]

2023 Nissan Armada 4x4 "S" (=base):
OEM 18 inch wheels with Yokohama Geolandar G015 with MPSF rating.

Some of you may point out that this is not a true winter tire but "merely" an AT tire with the winter mountain peak snowflake rating.
And you would be correct.

But I live in a mild winter urban area and am primarily doing this change, to humor local law as (Germany) that demands a 3MPSF symbol as a minimum on a tire during winter (which is defined as 1Nov to end of April so 6 months of the year.

I always put my on a bit late and take them off a bit early, since its not really winter here 6 months of the year and you dont get a ticket until 3 things come together at the same time, 1) snow and ice 2) an accident 3) no 3 peak MSF symbol.

As these are H rated, I could run them year around but my Dunlop AT23 (highway tires, ) unlike the name suggests these are not AT tires) run so nice at speed I will put them pack on in spring.

I also noticed my "wintry" tires seem to give me a mild lift even though they are exactly the same declared size.
Quick research shows that these do indeed run a bit large for the declared size.

 

[edyvw]

Winter tire changeover x 4 vehicles between Wednesday and today.
4 new VikingContact 8 on the Pilot.
4 new X-Ice Snow on the Forte.
4 x 8/32" VikingContact 7 on the CRV
4 x 6/32" WinterCommand Ultra on the Accord.
View attachment 312573
View attachment 312574
View attachment 312575

Man I thought I am overdoing it with winter sets for three vehicles.

 

[Astro14]

Man I thought I am overdoing it with winter sets for three vehicles.

Well, each one of the kids has a winter set (so, that’s three of the Volvos listed), and I have a winter set (Blizzaks on OEM wheels) for the R in Colorado.

So that is four sets, total, for our family.

We don’t put winter tires on the cars in Virginia Beach. It snows every couple of years, and on those days, you’re better off just staying home. It is less about winter traction and more about avoiding the all the bozos who either 1. think their lifted 4WD pickup is exempted from basic physics or 2. Drive something else and are so terrified of snow that they creep at 10 MPH.

The Tundra has Nokian Outpost nAT, which do very well in snow for an AT, while not being a true winter tire. If it were to snow in VB, or we were to venture up into snow country from home, it would be the Tundra.

 

[rstsco]

Bought a set of Ridgeline 18" wheels off Craigslist for our Pilot, which came with 20" wheels. Mounted a set of Continental VikingContact 8s for our trip to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. We left Madison on Friday heading home, so missed all the snow across Iowa and Missouri, thank goodness. I call it cheap insurance getting the winter tires for these trips. The all-seasons will be put back on in the next couple of weeks and the winter set stored for the next cold-weather trip up north.

 

[neosomatic]

I’m switching things up this winter. After years on Nokian snows, both cars are running Michelin X-Ice this season.

On my Tesla, a set of Nokian R5s only made it about 14k miles, even with rotations every 3k. Our last few vehicles have been on the heavier side (BMW X5 45e and VW TDI Touareg), and the Nokians never made it past 20k miles on those either. Maybe I drive too fast.

I’m hoping the X-Ice lasts longer, but time will tell. It’ll be interesting to compare Michelin vs Nokian in real snow and ice conditions.

Interestingly, one set of X-Ice was made in Canada, and the other set was made in China.

 

[4wd]

I’m switching things up this winter. After years on Nokian snows, both cars are running Michelin X-Ice this season.

On my Tesla, a set of Nokian R5s only made it about 14k miles, even with rotations every 3k. Our last few vehicles have been on the heavier side (BMW X5 45e and VW TDI Touareg), and the Nokians never made it past 20k miles on those either. Maybe I drive too fast.

I’m hoping the X-Ice lasts longer, but time will tell. It’ll be interesting to compare Michelin vs Nokian in real snow and ice conditions.

Interestingly, one set of X-Ice was made in Canada, and the other set was made in China.
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That’s how they learn!
Nice car, BTW …

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Man I thought I am overdoing it with winter sets for three vehicles.

Mine, wife, 2 kids. I would have had another set for daughter-in-laws Tucson but she was arguing with my son over it. Same exact style factory OEM rims with sensors, no scratches for like $200 for the 4 IIRC. She didn't want to store them for a month until they got back to NY. It would have cost her $0 for them and the tires as I was getting them. She says we play with her car too much, you know, oil changes, transmission D&F, brakes, wash, wax.

They are only 1/2 hour from @Astro14 home base but travel up here to Long Island and then to Adirondacks. He will be back next week for hunting, they'll both be back for Christmas.

We'll see what happens with Tucson at Christmas. Currently she is on original tires so about 30k, 5 year old, Michelin Primacy AS. Next set will probably an All Weather version at least. Strong lean toward Nokian Remedy WRG5 so I can cross rotate. They do have a Sam's Club card so road hazard, flat repair, rotations included. Michelin CC2 or Goodyear WeatherReady 2 would be possible options and just let Sam's rotate. They also have Discount Tire not to far but we have none up here in the North.

Father-in-laws Jeep Renegade is on 6 month old 3PMSF Cooper Road + Trail and he won't spring for different. Daughters boyfriend just got 4x CrossClimate 2 last month. We'll see what happens in the future.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

I’m switching things up this winter. After years on Nokian snows, both cars are running Michelin X-Ice this season.

On my Tesla, a set of Nokian R5s only made it about 14k miles, even with rotations every 3k. Our last few vehicles have been on the heavier side (BMW X5 45e and VW TDI Touareg), and the Nokians never made it past 20k miles on those either. Maybe I drive too fast.

I’m hoping the X-Ice lasts longer, but time will tell. It’ll be interesting to compare Michelin vs Nokian in real snow and ice conditions.

Interestingly, one set of X-Ice was made in Canada, and the other set was made in China.
View attachment 312741View attachment 312743

Who is doing the rotations so it's marked on record? I don't know if asterisk exclusions for EV but the X-ice snow has a 40k treadlife warranty.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

2023 Nissan Armada 4x4 "S" (=base):
OEM 18 inch wheels with Yokohama Geolandar G015 with MPSF rating.

Some of you may point out that this is not a true winter tire but "merely" an AT tire with the winter mountain peak snowflake rating.
And you would be correct.

But I live in a mild winter urban area and am primarily doing this change, to humor local law as (Germany) that demands a 3MPSF symbol as a minimum on a tire during winter (which is defined as 1Nov to end of April so 6 months of the year.

I always put my on a bit late and take them off a bit early, since its not really winter here 6 months of the year and you dont get a ticket until 3 things come together at the same time, 1) snow and ice 2) an accident 3) no 3 peak MSF symbol.

As these are H rated, I could run them year around but my Dunlop AT23 (highway tires, ) unlike the name suggests these are not AT tires) run so nice at speed I will put them pack on in spring.

I also noticed my "wintry" tires seem to give me a mild lift even though they are exactly the same declared size.
Quick research shows that these do indeed run a bit large for the declared size.

New York, NY (your avatar location) or Germany? I think past posts you are stationed or currently living in Germany. If in Germany then yes, follow their local laws. If in NY unless you want to, they could give a 's .

 

[WeyounDS9]

New York, NY (your avatar location) or Germany? I think past posts you are stationed or currently living in Germany. If in Germany then yes, follow their local laws. If in NY unless you want to, they could give a 's .

I am currently in GE, just never changed my avatar after my move.