Winter tires, questions!

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Hi all, I am looking to outfit my 2015 Venza with winter rubber (mandatory here in Quebec as of Dec 1st). I have been spending way too much time looking at tires and trying to find a good deal.

I am going with 17 inch steel wheels and tires in 245/65/17 or 235/65/17. I was looking at Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S Light truck tires...and got to thinking, is there any reason I shouldnt consider them? I realize they are not exactly intended for a Venza, and I was ideally looking at passenger car tires.. but the ratings on these seem excellent for snow and ice and the price doesnt hurt either at 150$ a tire plus a 70$ mail in rebate. I thought that all terrain tires typically would fare poorly in ice or snow, but the reviews and ratings state otherwise... first off.. no i will not be taking the venza offroading or anything close to that.. so i dont need LT tires. Just looking for opinions. Thanks!
 
Go with the deep tread LT tires and enjoy better handling and longer tire life.
You could also improvise a little with 225/75/17 in an E rated tire.
LT tires weigh 10-15 lbs more than SLs, and the tread depths are typically 16/32 instead of 13/32.
Judging from all the slip & slide videos from MTL posted last year, studding would be wise.
I wouldn't go wider than a 235 on a 7' wide rim.

www.tiresize.com
 
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AT tires are not winter tires, and surprisingly do not perform that well in snow let alone ice. If you are going with an extra set of rims go with a winter tire. If not there are some good all weather (not to be confused with all season) tires out there.
 
Originally Posted by userfriendly
Go with the deep tread LT tires and enjoy better handling and longer tire life.
You could also improvise a little with 225/75/17 in an E rated tire.
LT tires weigh 10-15 lbs more than SLs, and the tread depths are typically 16/32 instead of 13/32.
Judging from all the slip & slide videos from MTL posted last year, studding would be wise.
I wouldn't go wider than a 235 on a 7' wide rim.

www.tiresize.com


Alot of tire places seem to recommend a 7 inch steel rim with a 245 width tire. My current rims run a 245 on a 7.5 inch wide wheel...
 
Wide tires on narrow wheels wear quickly. Because of the larger sidewall bulge, they flex horizontally scrubbing the tread.
For best performance and tire life, look at how wide a rim you can use with a particular tire size, instead of how big a tire that can be mounted an a given rim width.
Wide tires on skinny wheels tend to wear quickly in the center and little on the outside.

One example of that, are those urban cowboys who mount 33/12.50/18 tires on the stock 7.5-8" wide wheels, then complain that they wore out in 20,000 kms.
 
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Originally Posted by Tjbouwhu
AT tires are not winter tires, and surprisingly do not perform that well in snow let alone ice. If you are going with an extra set of rims go with a winter tire. If not there are some good all weather (not to be confused with all season) tires out there.
THIS-you need a studless winter tire, especially on a FWD (or AWD with front bias) vehicle. There are some decent studless LTs out there, I've been tempted to try a set myself (Bridgestone W965, Michelin LTX Winter, among others). Studs on steering tires, especially FWD steering ones, can cause some bizarre behavior.
 
Originally Posted by Rolla07
Ice Traction - 96% - Based on Canadian Tire's testing...

Source: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tire...s-light-truck-tire-4084005p.4084041.html





Not sure how such excellent tire (99% average) does not own the market. Not to mention Cooper is not known as tier one manufacturer.

I wonder how Canadian tire awarded such scores/percentages to such excellent product.
All vehicles should have them!

KrzyÅ›
 
If you like Cooper, get the True North instead
smile.gif


1010tires has a nice tire/wheel package with steel wheels plus True North tires and free shipping within Canada
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I have driven in Montreal quite often in the winter, you have a lot of steep hills on your over and under passes and it never fails i get stuck in traffic in the middle of some of these steep hills .
i run dedicated winter tires (not mandatory in ontario) but i would not go without them and i see why they make it law in your province i have run michelin xice 2 and 3 and found them to be excellent winter tires even on my rear drive chrysler 300. also have had no issues with toyo gsi-5 and general arctic altimax.
Hands down favorite for me are the michelins excellent ride and traction and very quite. also quite pricey.

Personally i would not run the cooper tires you have mentioned just because of the severe road conditions you face.
 
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Originally Posted by Tjbouwhu
AT tires are not winter tires, and surprisingly do not perform that well in snow let alone ice. If you are going with an extra set of rims go with a winter tire. If not there are some good all weather (not to be confused with all season) tires out there.


Not true, a lot of AT tires care the snowflake/winter rating. I have had Toyo Open Country AT/s on my SUV and they are some of the best snow tires I've used. I used to live in Vermont and have to get to work before the plows did. Saw and used a lot of snow tires and there are nowadays ATs that rival the very best. Cooper Discover AT3 would be one I would trust. I have had outstanding performance from the last two sets of Coopers on our car (all season), I'm going with the Discover when I take off the Toyo's next month on the SUV - way too much a difference in price and comparable performance to go with the Toyo over the Cooper in my more frugal budget/mind set.
 
At tires are 3MPS rated but it does not make them winter tires. Quite often the passing of the exam is more by a chance than design.
The winter rating is on the snow and apparently a lot of AT tires have enough open tread that they provide enough traction to pass the test.

KrzyÅ›
 
Originally Posted by Oro_O
Originally Posted by Tjbouwhu
AT tires are not winter tires, and surprisingly do not perform that well in snow let alone ice. If you are going with an extra set of rims go with a winter tire. If not there are some good all weather (not to be confused with all season) tires out there.


Not true, a lot of AT tires care the snowflake/winter rating. I have had Toyo Open Country AT/s on my SUV and they are some of the best snow tires I've used. I used to live in Vermont and have to get to work before the plows did. Saw and used a lot of snow tires and there are nowadays ATs that rival the very best. Cooper Discover AT3 would be one I would trust. I have had outstanding performance from the last two sets of Coopers on our car (all season), I'm going with the Discover when I take off the Toyo's next month on the SUV - way too much a difference in price and comparable performance to go with the Toyo over the Cooper in my more frugal budget/mind set.


Thats the angle I was thinking about. More durable tire and the price is right. its about 30-40$ less per tire right now than a halfway decent dedicated Passenger snow tire, and the mail in rebate drops the price even more. I guess Im just worried about how well AT3s do in comparison to a mid level snow tire when on ice... I am not concerned about driving in snow, but want to stay with non studded...

What SUV is it?
 
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Originally Posted by krzyss
Originally Posted by Rolla07
Ice Traction - 96% - Based on Canadian Tire's testing...

Source: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/tire...s-light-truck-tire-4084005p.4084041.html





Not sure how such excellent tire (99% average) does not own the market. Not to mention Cooper is not known as tier one manufacturer.

I wonder how Canadian tire awarded such scores/percentages to such excellent product.
All vehicles should have them!

KrzyÅ›



I agree, their testing is vague at best... but some dedicated passenger snow tires dont even rank that high on ice in their testing... granted who knows how good their testing parameters are.
 
The vensa is a camery wagon. LT tires would be ridiculous on that vehicle and make it extremely harsh. Wider than stock tires make for worse ability in the snow as they tend to float and slide more. Winter tires are often narrower than summers to cut through snow and slush better. A set of Nokian Hakkas on steel rims and you are off to the races.
 
Just for fun, I'll throw in this data point:

I have a customer with a 2008-ish Honda Odyssey that runs AT3's. No joke. I believe the size is 235/65R16. They absolutely LOVE them on the van. It sounds ridiculous, but in all honesty they've worn absolutely perfectly and they run them year round. Keep in mind this is a FWD van.

I don't know what tires qualify under the new Canadian law, but if the AT3's work, give it a shot! They're cheap enough.

Also, stick with a 235. Trust me.
 
Originally Posted by 14Accent
Just for fun, I'll throw in this data point:

I have a customer with a 2008-ish Honda Odyssey that runs AT3's. No joke. I believe the size is 235/65R16. They absolutely LOVE them on the van. It sounds ridiculous, but in all honesty they've worn absolutely perfectly and they run them year round. Keep in mind this is a FWD van.

I don't know what tires qualify under the new Canadian law, but if the AT3's work, give it a shot! They're cheap enough.

Also, stick with a 235. Trust me.


Stock size is 245/50/20. Closest match for 17 inch rim is 245/65/17. I have no issue running 235 though but not sure how that makes much of a difference? 10mm isnt much.
Canadian law just requires the snowflake symbol to be legal in winter.
 
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