So, for those fortunate enough to have snow, anyone got their winter tires yet? any preferences and such?

 

I just put on the Pirelli snowsport 240's 18 inch stock sizes (I didn't want to go down to 17's and I got the stock OEM 18" rims on ebay for only 495+shipping). This is the third winter I'm going to use them. They've worked very well over the last two winters, but I'm thinking this is it. The fronts are fine, but the rears at 37 PSI tends to wear out at the center so this year I'm going to run the rears at 32 PSI. I mean, the rears, the center of the tire is probably almost to the wear bars while the edges are almost 1/2 inch tread!!! I've never gotten stuck - even in 8 inches of snow but the stock Dunlops are not no good after .25 inch of snow.

 

Waiting to test my Pirelli Sottezero 240's out.

I am going to check my PSI out. What are you running on the front Tooth Doc?

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...sp?type=W&VT=C

I special ordered the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D at America's Tire and they should be here from New York in about 7 days. My work takes me to some pretty bad weather areas 15 degrees, ice, coupe inches of snow before plowing. Should be able to give a review in about two weeks.

Ordered 235/40/18 and 265/35/18.

http://www.dunloptires.com/catalog/winterSport3D.html

 

I wouldn't say fortunate is the right word for that. Not sure if you were being sarcastic because I see you're from Alberta too. For winter tires I'm really a big fan of the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2, awesome tires!

 

Those are going to be my winter tires next year if the tirerack survey stays where it is. I'll probably get 225 and 255 though. BTW, I keep the front at 35 PSI.

 

i use the factory dunlops for the winter.

 

Pilot Alpin PA2s are supposed to be decent, but my friend had a lot of issues with those. I went for 225/40-18 and 255/40-18 on my stock rims and get Bilzzak LM-25s. They were pretty expensive in 18s, but it was either that or get new 17" rims and mess with the sensors etc or buy new sensors and I didn't wanna go through all that hassle. I've only had the Blizzaks for a week now so I can't say how good they are but they come very highly rated, second only to the M3s I believe.

 

Thats what I use too! They seemed pretty good last winter, going to put them on next week or so.

 

Hahaa, yeh..."fortunate" =) The stock all seasons were slippery as hell , so I'll look into the tires you guys suggested. I was thinking Michelin x-ice or some pirelli ones...not quite sure yet. I should have made my decision earlier...looks like the snow in Alberta is here to stay.

 

Well i've been driving around town and I have to say that the Pirelli's or the new IS350 just doesn't handle all that well in the snow. I am going to check the PSI as they may be over inflated.


Stopping on non-icy sticky snow was poor, handling and grip are poor. Not very impressed. Another annoying thing is that you have to keep switching the car into SNOW mode. I don't understand how anyone could drive this car without winter tires.

I am experienced in driving RWD vehicles. My benz handles almost as poorly with all seasons once the Nokian winter tires are on it is fantastic! Superior grip and stopping and all winter road conditions.

Any advice?

Also, dealer was supposed to include second set of TPMS with second set of rims. Just checked tonight, sure enough, they're not there.

 

I have had my Blizzack LM 25’s on for a couple of weeks now. They are mounted on stock 17’s, 245/45 in the back 225/45 on the fronts. On dry pavement they are very quiet and handle great for a winter tire. There hasn’t been a lot of snow but the small amount we’ve had they seemed to work pretty good. We did get some icy days and I am very impressed on how well they work in those conditions. Overall they are great tires.

 

Lots of snow up in the Ottawa Ontario region.

I had my LM-25 Blizzaks mounted the night before the first major snow fall a couple of weeks ago.

I'm running 225/40/18 front and 245/40/18 on stock 18" Sport Pack rims.

I previously ran 215/65/16 Blizzaks front and rear on my Nissan 350Z (winter Solo2 even) so the feel is quite different btw the two cars.

The Nissan was more controllable in thick snow and at the limit. While the manual tranny helps, I think it's also because the tires are skinnier and the thread design is more knobby. Also, the viscous and subsequent clutch (Cusco) diff on the Nissan is more responsive than the Torsen diff equipped on the is350 Sport Pack. Biggest knock on the 350Z is that the traction/skid control is excessive with full throttle cut-off for quite a few seconds (quite dangerous actually).

The LM-25 tires on my is350 seem to be much more of a performance design. They are much more responsive on bare roads (likely the 40 series accounting for a lot of that) but the tread design feels less optimal in thick/slushy snow. Braking on ice is quite impressive however. As for tranny modes, I find the 'snow' mode to be pretty lethargic and 'normal' mode to work well. I'm impressed with the traction and skid control. It's quite subtle with little throttle interruption. You need a fair bit of sliding/spinning tires to get traction/skid to really interfere with throttle and chime.

Either way, the car's current setup is plenty safe for my driving needs.

 

I had my tires installed yesterday and after about 400 miles on them I am happy to report that they are very quiet. I noticed a big difference over stock. Also I was pleased that even though they are wider than stock I still managed 29 MPG on the freeway. I haven't driven in ice or snow with them yet, that will happen next week. It did rain quite a bit and the hydroplaning above 70 mph that occurs with the stock tires is now not an issue at all. So overall I am very happy and would say that they are worthy for consideration.

 

One more picture.