Winter Tire Recommendations

[ReallyChillCoolGuyOnHere]

Hey y'all. I'll be moving from Florida to Chicago at the end of the month, and as I need to get new tires at the moment anyways, I was hoping for some pointers on what kind of tires I need to buy. Any specific recommendations on anything? Do I need two sets of tires for the seasons? I've never driven in the snow or anything like that, and I'd also welcome any driving tips, or other maintenance and quality of life info I should know before making the move! Cheers!

 

[TyphoonFiST]

Hey y'all. I'll be moving from Florida to Chicago at the end of the month, and as I need to get new tires at the moment anyways, I was hoping for some pointers on what kind of tires I need to buy. Any specific recommendations on anything? Do I need two sets of tires for the seasons? I've never driven in the snow or anything like that, and I'd also welcome any driving tips, or other maintenance and quality of life info I should know before making the move! Cheers!

Stock wheels?

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[FocusedSlayer]

Since your on Florida and hardly see any snow, I'm in Alabama and don't see much snow like up North . So my advice would be take it slow and watch for idiots. But that pretty much goes for anywhere.
If you have the stock 17" like I do , your owners manual gives you recommendations for winter tires. I think either 15 or 16 is what is in it.

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

I'm a big fan of Nokian, but they can be spendy. Blizzaks work pretty well, if they have to be studless.
If you are just getting into winter driving, and they have winter events in your area, rallycross may be a good way to learn how your car will handle in a controlled environment.
ABS and traction control have really made things a lot easier, but the same physics still apply. Slow down, take your time, be aware of where you are in the friction circle, and make sure you have emergency supplies, etc. with you.

EDIT: 15" steelies are cheap, and the bigger sidewalls mean a comfy ride on bumpy roads

 

[TyphoonFiST]

I rolled pirelli sotto Zeros for 3 seasons. Great tire for the FiST in stock size. They are spent now and I will most likely get some Bridgestone or Continental next in stock size as I have a plethora of stock wheels to accommodate some.

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[Intuit]

We're in a valley which means if you aren't driving up a hill, it's only because you're going down one.

First snows of every Winter, it's as if people here have to learn to drive all over again.

Get familiar with the limits of your vehicle. I tend to use straight line take-offs to gauge available traction for stopping and maneuvering.

Driving on slippery surfaces, TORQUE is your enemy. Use higher engine RPMs on take off and especially when maneuvering down hills.

If your brakes have even the slightest amount of pulse, get that taken care of, *immediately*. Pulsing brakes have a propensity to lock-up on slippery surfaces. The root cause of pulsing brakes and warped rotors, are stiff/locking caliper slide mounts. If the slide-mount issue becomes chronic, it may be necessary to hone out the slide-mount bores. Mechanics and parts stores will recommend replacement; (with non-OEM junk). Avoid that.

Beware of large ice patches. They can be in places where least expected, largely due to freezing water run-off or/and pooling.

Re tires, the uglier the tread pattern, the better they'll perform in the Winter; with the trade-off of much weaker performance in the wet. Wet performance will be heavily weighted on tread-depth. Most of your all season tires have pretty tread designs that sell well. Because the pretty ones sell well, it's hard to find the ugly patterns. If you want true performance in the Winter, avoid the pretty and curvy and straight-lined tread patterns.

I have ONE and the same set of Winter 215/45R17 Continental. Superior Winter performance. They've also aged well, having been stored for much of the past five years. I may have to replace them following another season of use. That said, I just bought and mounted a set of all-season Cooper Zeon RS3-G1 215/45R17XL 91W. Compared to the hard Bridgestones they have gripperz. I'll look forward to testing them in Winter weather. If satisfactory, I may go back to all-season versus rotating to a semi-dedicated set.

 

[Intuit]

Also, the road salt will eat your car alive. It ain't pretty. The over-application of salt which allows people to drive on bald tires is down right aggravating. We've had salt dust-bowls on the highways here.

Strategic application of marine salt products like Salt Away and Salt Off seems to help with this. The wetter and warmer it is, the quicker the chemical reaction ~corrosion~ occurs.

 

[SteveS]

I have opted for 15" wheels and 185/60-15 snow tires. We have a very hilly area in the Ozarks, and need traction when it snows. Going with the 15s saves money and widens the selection. We're using Yokohama iceGuards and have been happy with them both in snow and dry. You do need to remember you are on snow tires and drive accordingly when it's dry.

As long as you have a place to store them, having a second set of wheels and tires is the way to go.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Re tires, the uglier the tread pattern, the better they'll perform in the Winter; with the trade-off of much weaker performance in the wet. Wet performance will be heavily weighted on tread-depth.

I keep hearing this from everyone, including tire 'experts', but, at a steady state speed, straight line on the highway, my 195/60-15 General Altimax Arctic 12s (made by Conti), have never given me any problems in the summer WET conditions.

When pumped up higher than most on here would ever do (like 46 PSI front 43 PSI rear), they are also amazingly decent handling for as hard core 'tready' and siped, and TALL side-walled as they are, (on a 7" wheel at least), but yes, ultimately you must remember what have on the car, and NOT hoon seriously.

Coming back from NEFR in Maine last weekend, I hit some of the hardest downpours I've ever seen in my 66 years of living, on 84 east through Connecticut, and on the top of 287 south in northern Joyzee.

I was going up to 75 MPH through a lot of that (to get around, and away from, the multitudinous left lane bandits, and creepers going 40 or under), and never ONCE did the steering ever feel 'light', or the car become disconnected to the road due to hydroplaning.
They do only have about 3K miles on them, at most, so yes, that does help a bunch.

 

[Intuit]

@M-Sport fan - That little bit of "V" curve will really help it slice into and subsequently evacuate water.




Surrounding conditions favorable I tend to push the limits and the above will start to drift pretty easily compared to the narrower Bridgestones with a smaller footprint under similar scenarios with way less tread-depth. Of course performance is as heavily dependent upon the roadway drainage design, as it is the rate of downpour. Based solely on tread pattern I would've anticipated that the Bridgestones would've been worse but the narrower footprint and much stiffer carcass/sidewall likely play key roles as well. (which speaks to your experiences on elevated tire pressures)

 

[M-Sport fan]

and much stiffer carcass/sidewall likely play key roles as well. (which speaks to your experiences on elevated tire pressures)

Yes, I am SURE that the stiffer sidewall because of the XL rating of the Arctic 12s (as well as any other XL rated winter tire out there) is helping me with the cornering/handling as well.

Even though I sought out that rating mainly because of the added strength it provides while driving down totally bombed-out, rally stage roads while working on those events.

(Most on here would have turned around and went back 30 miles out of their way rather than drive over some of the stuff I did this past weekend, even at rock crawling speeds! LOL)