CW32

So today was our first snowfall of the year and I saw six accidents on my morning commute. I would like to not be one of them this winter, so I'd like to hear some opinions on best tire choices for winters in the midwest. I know there have been multiple posts about this recently and have compiled some popular options into a poll so I'm not just repeating those other threads. Feel free to suggest something not listed; I'm sure I've missed some that other people prefer.

All-Season

1. Continental DWS
2. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+
3. BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S
4. Pirelli P-Zero A/S+

Winter

1. Bridgestone Blizzak WS80
2. Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4
3. Continental WinterContact TS 830 P

Coming from an AWD Audi A5, this will be my first experience with RWD in the winter and I know it's not ideal. That said, what are your opinions on all-season tires compared to a set dedicated for winter? Could I get by with all-season without sacrificing safety/driveability, or are dedicated winter tires objectively better? For dedicated winter tires, is there any advantage to also having a dedicated set of rims other than not having to pay every time they need to be swapped?

Any tips for RWD in snow other than the ones below?

• Take it slow (obviously)
• ECO mode
• Weight in trunk
  • How much? 100lbs? 200?

Will31894

I live in the Philadelphia area and we get maybe 5 or 6 decent snow storms a year. Last year was the first year with my 200t and I put brand new Continental DWS. Driving carefully and very slow I was able to get from point A to point B(about 6 miles to work and back) but i dont recommend it. I ended buying a truck from a friend and used that for the snow season. I probably could of made it the entire season without the truck but the car fish tails a lot since its RWD and I rather just garage the vehicle. Now almost 12K miles into the tires, they of course have wore out quicker due to the staggered set up. Now I feel like I slip sometimes in regular rain, where when i first got the tires, I could mash the accelerator in the rain and just take off.

I recommend the Continental DWS 06s they are quiet, smooth and sticky, but for the snow there are probably better options.

RX_330

How much snow do you usually get in the season? I'm in Michigan and had all-seasons on my Camry and winter tires on my E63 AMG. The E63 felt more secure with the winters so I decided to drive that all through the winter. I kinda did the whole winter/summer car thing backwards.

crepr12

Have the conti's on the wifes TL SHAWD no issues with snow (looking for 2019 ISF350 for her new daily) ... Mich PA4 on the Focus RS only limitation in snow is the cars low ground clearance...On a rear drive car I would do a winter set...jmho

TOPENDMS

- Winter tires should only be used when outside temperatures are below 42 degrees
- All Season tires can be used in any temperature (should be called All Temperature Tires)
- Michelin Pilot Sport A/S +3 is the factory tire, but has excessive road noise
- Continental DWS06 is an excellent tire. Very quite. High mileage rating (50k or 25k with staggered set-ups). Great Reviews.
- Michelin Pilot Sport A/S +3 has a better size tire option for 19s (225/35/19 and 255/30/19)

.. I'm not sure about the other tires.

arentz07

Coworker of mine just picked up a RWD IS 350 and put the Continental DWS06 on. He says they drive really well in the snow - totally manageable even with TC off.

I have the BFGoodrich G-Force Comp-2 A/S on mine. First experience in the snow this year was pretty drama-free, but then I also have the AWD car.

I think if I had a RWD IS, I would be more inclined to run two sets of tires (winter + summer), but you can certainly make do with all-seasons if you don't have a ton of snow or extended periods of sub-freezing temperatures.

CW32

Thanks for all of the input, everyone. I ended up getting the Blizzaks and they're being put on today.

If it were just me I probably would've gone with the Continental DWS (had them on my last car and they were great, but it was also AWD), but I didn't want to risk it with kids in the back. We usually get around 25 inches per season and the car was already super squirrelly the other week with light snow; albeit with cheap, non-factory all-season tires. The roads are somewhat hilly around here, so that also doesn't help.

We'll see how it goes!