Thank you summer tires...

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... for saving me from the shake and roar of my winter set! As much as I recognize the need for dedicated snow tires (especially here in MN), they sure do get annoying in the crossover season of Feb/Mar when the roads are fairly dry. I've delayed swapping the summer set on the Impala the last few weeks, just in case we get a last minute storm, however today I bit the bullet and threw them on. I went from 215/55R17 Firestone Winterforce's on steel wheels to 225/60R16 Starfire Solarus A/S on the stock 16" alloys. To clarify: the winter tires are at least 5 years old, and ever so slightly feathered but still showing 7/32 tread. I mounted them on aftermarket steelies which do the car no favors in terms of ride and handling, as they're very heavy. The Starfire's are almost new, I installed them last spring on the OEM wheels.

I'm sure I've become accustomed to the noise over the winter months, but it really is amazing how much quieter the A/S tires are. What a relief! That, and the loss of un-sprung weight due to the lighter tires and alloy's really make the car ride and handle better. Well, as good as OE 187k mile struts can, that is.

As this thread is a bit one sided and dull, I'd like to take the opportunity to extend best wishes and gratitude to everyone out there, throughout this forum and elsewhere. For those considered "essential", as I am, thank you for your dedication to go out every day and provide the service you specialize in. To those deemed "non-essential", forced to stay home without knowing how to pull through, you are sorely missed and not forgotten.

Best to all!
 
Nice that you've already got 5 seasons on those winter tires. If I were a dedicated winter tire guy, I could give you some recommendations on the next winter tire to try out. Nothing against FStones but I recall some tires I had long ago the were soft and quiet and good winter traction. If you can live with the noise and the F S are fairly inexpensive you may not be shopping and are happy.
Blizzaks or Goodyear come to mind as good experiences but I don't know you'll get 5 or more season out of them and that was 20 + years ago.
I'm thankful and able to run A/S tires with very little compromise over here.
 
I put mine on about two weeks ago. No problem with my winter tires though. Have Michelin Xice. This was their third year and tread still looks great. Will get two or three more winters out of them then run them through one summer if the tread is still good. We did not get a lot of snow here in South Dakota this winter. I now view snow tires as "cold weather tires". It's not just about the snow, it's about the cold as well, as far as snow tire function. My coworker has Blizzaks and likes them. Unfortunately, they won't last. She works part time at a convenience store. The guy she works for also has a service station. He runs his winter tires year round and has convinced her to do the same. He can afford to replace his tires whenever, she cannot. The good thing is that she doesn't put a lot of miles on her car.
 
I know what you mean . noisy snow tires , couldn't wait to get them off and back to my all season ones.....
 
I changed them out yesterday. The new Leaseon Sentra gets pretty bad gas mileage on the winter tire, interested to see how it does on the continental OE tires. It'll be due for new snow tires this year anyway, maybe I'll get ones that aren't oversized for it! They are dated 2014 and I bought them use in 2017 on wheels for $200. Not a bad deal at all! Also put the OE tires on the Forester too. I probably would have run the god awful Hankook snow tires all summer just to burn them of but the wheels managed to rust pretty bad.
 
Three car's FWD with Michelin X Ice on them on winter month's very satisfied on their peformance #1 is no tire noise.Since 1995 I've been using winter
tires-started with Bridgestone Blizzak,then switch over to X-Ice.It's like driving the car with all season tires with them except on the rain?
 
Inaccurate thread title.
Post has nothing to do with summer tires.
spankme2.gif
 
Swapped my Viking snows (Norway) off yesterday. They're also a $200 used set.
While the tread is low they really work. There's one more season in 'em.

BAD: the steel wheels they're on are very rusted.
GOOD: a guy gave me an identical set of steel wheels...only 10 years younger.

DECISION: Do I swap these old tires onto the new wheels now or just wear 'em out?

MINOR COMPLICATION: I've put one of the new wheels into service as one oldie leaked air.
I want to use my friend's Harbor Freight changing mast. All I'll need is to buy balancing.
It's just this darn plague.

LAUGHER: My town's metal recycling yard is closed.

And yes, the noise reduction is welcome. I must say, however, snow tire noise never ruined my day.
 
Originally Posted by Kira
Swapped my Viking snows (Norway) off yesterday. They're also a $200 used set.
While the tread is low they really work. There's one more season in 'em.

BAD: the steel wheels they're on are very rusted.
GOOD: a guy gave me an identical set of steel wheels...only 10 years younger.

DECISION: Do I swap these old tires onto the new wheels now or just wear 'em out?

MINOR COMPLICATION: I've put one of the new wheels into service as one oldie leaked air.
I want to use my friend's Harbor Freight changing mast. All I'll need is to buy balancing.
It's just this darn plague.

LAUGHER: My town's metal recycling yard is closed.

And yes, the noise reduction is welcome. I must say, however, snow tire noise never ruined my day.

How old are the tires? If they aren't that old it'd probably be worth the effort. Slow leak may be slow, but Murphy's Law says you'll have a flat when you least need it.

If you're going to toss the rims in the near future, I wonder if fix-a-flat would fix your slow leak. Usually I'd argue against it, from what I understand it's a mess, but if rims are shot and headed for the junkyard, is it really a problem?

Edit: Hmm, good time for me to swap the wife over to summers, but I think I'll hold out on my truck. Just in case. Besides, it's getting like 5 miles a week right now, and for the near future anyhow.
 
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I changed the snow tires on the Caravan last weekend. I had to drive 215 km (130 miles) on Monday morning in slight winter storm in a snow fall on the 401 with plenty of trucks on the road. Half of the trip was on snow covered roads (1-2 cm).

Much nicer driving on all seasons especially on the highway.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
... for saving me from the shake and roar of my winter set! As much as I recognize the need for dedicated snow tires (especially here in MN), they sure do get annoying in the crossover season of Feb/Mar when the roads are fairly dry. I've delayed swapping the summer set on the Impala the last few weeks, just in case we get a last minute storm, however today I bit the bullet and threw them on. I went from 215/55R17 Firestone Winterforce's on steel wheels to 225/60R16 Starfire Solarus A/S on the stock 16" alloys. To clarify: the winter tires are at least 5 years old, and ever so slightly feathered but still showing 7/32 tread. I mounted them on aftermarket steelies which do the car no favors in terms of ride and handling, as they're very heavy. The Starfire's are almost new, I installed them last spring on the OEM wheels.

I'm sure I've become accustomed to the noise over the winter months, but it really is amazing how much quieter the A/S tires are. What a relief! That, and the loss of un-sprung weight due to the lighter tires and alloy's really make the car ride and handle better. Well, as good as OE 187k mile struts can, that is.

As this thread is a bit one sided and dull, I'd like to take the opportunity to extend best wishes and gratitude to everyone out there, throughout this forum and elsewhere. For those considered "essential", as I am, thank you for your dedication to go out every day and provide the service you specialize in. To those deemed "non-essential", forced to stay home without knowing how to pull through, you are sorely missed and not forgotten.

Best to all!

That is where the problem is.
 
Originally Posted by Lolvoguy
Inaccurate thread title.
Post has nothing to do with summer tires.
spankme2.gif


You get a gold star for today.
 
Originally Posted by JC1
I changed the snow tires on the Caravan last weekend. I had to drive 215 km (130 miles) on Monday morning in slight winter storm in a snow fall on the 401 with plenty of trucks on the road. Half of the trip was on snow covered roads (1-2 cm).

Much nicer driving on all seasons especially on the highway.

Watch can tire or costco for tire sales, I got some Xice2's for the subaru on clearance from can tire for something like $600 taxes. The xice's are very quiet on the hwy and I think the best southern ontario winter tire for an AWD vehicle.
Last weekend we did some social distancing/ice fishing and the tires were good on the clear hwy and on the logging road/snowmobile trail!
[Linked Image]
 
I was hesitating swapping off our winter tires (both vehicles) as well down here in the Milwaukee area.

Last Sunday's 10 day forecast looked clear even though we have gotten dumped on with snow the past TWO APRILS!

The current 10 day forecast looks clear as well.... :fingers crossed:
 
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I'll be taking the Firestone Winterforces off our 2015 Nissan Versa soon too. They're crazy loud on this already loud little econobox. It will be nice having a functional TPMS system and more importantly, no light on again. This will be the last run for the factory Continental all seasons that are well worn. This car is for my driving age kids to use and it's been mostly sitting the last few weeks.
 
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