Tire Rack dropped the Xi3 in my size and..

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jacked price up 8 bucks a tire on the Blizzak WS80's..

I've never bought snow tires before but is it common that they only make so many of a tire and once they are gone they are gone?

Learn as I go I guess


225/60 18.......was there this morning!
 
Yep... shows sold out at a couple canadian sites as well.. and, yes, winter tires are limited production items, built well ahead of the winter season.

And, shopping for winter tires in late November is, umm, late, but you know that...now.

The Yokohama IG 51v is a new tire from Yokohama, and Yokohama winter tires are well respected here in Canada. They show as in stock at Tirerack...

Or try one size bigger , a 235/60/18... prices are about the same , the tire will fit fine, and you have a few more choices in brands...
 
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Yep, they only make so many and when they are gone for the season, you are out of luck. And that starts to happen as the snow begins to fly...
 
Originally Posted By: geeman789


And, shopping for winter tires in late November is, umm, late, but you know that...now


Yah...I bought the car a few weeks ago so they have me as a captive audience lol

They originally said more in stock 1/1/15....in fact could have ordered them this morning if I chose to.....

Well rat turds....235/55 18 is the other recommended size...currently on 245/40 20's
 
Looks like the Xi2 is still in stock.....based on my 100 mile a day r/t commute these might be my best option given their LRR
 
Actually the Ultra Grip Ice WRT gets top billing in that size from Tire Rack...

I guess beggars can't be choosers
 
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
Looks like the Xi2 is still in stock.....based on my 100 mile a day r/t commute these might be my best option given their LRR

Still a good choice. The 3 is a bit more refined for dry road use and comes with a 40k mile warranty.
 
Originally Posted By: Blue_Goose
.......I've never bought snow tires before but is it common that they only make so many of a tire and once they are gone they are gone?.......


Winter tires are typically produced in the summer. It takes about 6 weeks for tires to get from the factory to the retail end of things.

Plus it takes a few weeks for the factory to gear up once they know there is a demand for a particular tire. The company I worked for used a 6 week lead, with a 3 week locked production schedule. There is a HUGE lead time.

Then again, winter tires require different tread compounds than all season tires, so it isn't like the factory can easily gear up to produce winter tires. If they are going to produce winter tires, they need to produce 10's of thousands of them to make it work the effort - which is why they schedule them all during the summer.

And lastly: One of the biggest issue in trying to do tire production schedules is estimating the demand. The company I worked for struggled mightily with the issue. They were at one time experiencing a 30% fill rate (the percent of what they could ship compared with the orders they got.) They made major improvements, but the algorithms used to make predictions just aren't very good.
 
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer


And lastly: One of the biggest issue in trying to do tire production schedules is estimating the demand. The company I worked for struggled mightily with the issue. They were at one time experiencing a 30% fill rate (the percent of what they could ship compared with the orders they got.) They made major improvements, but the algorithms used to make predictions just aren't very good.


Is there a reason why car companies, and, thus tire companies need so many different size tires...? For example, a Bridgestone Blizzak WS-80 comes in about 45 sizes... the DM-V1 in over 60 different sizes... !

On my Honda van, for example, a 235/65/16 is the spec size. When i bought the van, only one company made a winter tire in that size... and it was sold out... so I started comparing alternate sizes...

235/65/16 is 28 inches tall , 235 mm wide
225/65/16 is 27.5 tall, 225 wide
215/70/16 is 27.9 tall, 215 wide
225/70/16 is 28.4 tall, 225 wide...

All of these tires are within fractions of inches of each other... do we really need such small differences between tire sizes...?

Maybe if automakers could agree on using some existing size, from a pre-determined range of sizes, tire makers wouldn't have to try and guess what demand for 1 particular size might be...

And if a tire maker could produce, say 1/3 the sizes, or even 1/2, maybe prices would come way down too...!
 
I agree with the size explosion problem. Toyota at one time put 195-70 14s on 4 cyl Camrys, and 205 65 15s on the same car with a six. The tires are within a mm or two of the same height. Then, in 2001 they put the 15s on the 4 and 205-65 16s on the six. Beyond me what the reason was other than looks maybe. The car didn't get any heavier OR faster in 2001. The car with 14s was not very nice to drive, the 15s made all the difference and raise the question of why they didn't start out with 15s for both versions in 97 when they introduced the vehicle. I upgraded to 15 on two 4 cyl Camrys of that model, one with OEM 15 inch wheels and one with 15x7s. THAT car handles very well with 205 60 15s.
 
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Originally Posted By: HerrStig
I agree with the size explosion problem. Toyota at one time put 195-70 14s on 4 cyl Camrys, and 205 65 15s on the same car with a six. The tires are within a mm or two of the same height.

205 65 15 has a higher load carrying capacity, possibly because the 6-cylinder models were heavier.

As for the height, the reason manufacturers purposely try to stick to the same overall diameter is so that speedo/odo doesn't have to be calibrated differently.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
I agree with the size explosion problem. Toyota at one time put 195-70 14s on 4 cyl Camrys, and 205 65 15s on the same car with a six. The tires are within a mm or two of the same height.

205 65 15 has a higher load carrying capacity, possibly because the 6-cylinder models were heavier.

As for the height, the reason manufacturers purposely try to stick to the same overall diameter is so that speedo/odo doesn't have to be calibrated differently.

THe 4 is an iron block, the six as all Aluminum. Weight difference is inconsequential. Trailer towing capacity is slightly higher with the six. My point is they could have put 15s on the 4 cylinder in 97 instead of waiting until '01 to do so. If the six needed 16s for a good reason, such tires were availible in 97.
 
I would imagine that older vehicles make a tire standardization very difficult. If they did agree on a few sizes, in 15 years when those old cars are mostly off the road, trends will change and they'll standardize on a different set of sizes, but still have to maintain the previous sizes.

Without a lot of tire sizes, it could get difficult to plus 1 and still maintain OD. It's all a compromise for ride quality, handling, load carrying, etc.

My guess is that tire size consolidation to simplify winter tire speculation isn't the highest priority for automakers.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Big rims and low profile tires weren't exactly what was offered on family sedans back in 1997.



Plus there's a price difference between the two, in addition to the perceived value increase to the customer, visually.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
.......Beyond me what the reason was other than looks maybe.......


There are a lot of reasons why car manufacturers select the tire sizes they do.

There has been a trend towards going with larger wheel diameters - and therefore lower aspect ratios - because of brakes. Eliminating asbestos took a toll on brake performance and the larger brakes help out a lot.

But it didn't come evenly. Sometimes the parts availability meant that there wasn't enough for the entire model line, so some models didn't get the upgrade right away. Plus making the same car in different places may mean different parts suppliers.

And the tire size explosion is pretty much all caused by the vehicle manufacturers. Sure from time to time a tire manufacturer will conspire with a car manufacturer to create a new size, but more often, it is the vehicle manufacturer's desire to assure that only the "right" tires go on their vehicle that prompts the unusual size.
 
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