2015/16 Snow tire thread

[marcski]

I am trying to do exactly this for the wife's new ride and I am not having much luck.

Anyone with a lead on some rims/tires for a 328x drive please share the info.


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Go find some beemer forums and look at the classified threads. That's how I found mine. The guy lived in PA....we met half way in south central jersey about 60 miles for each of us.

 

[BackLoafRiver]

Back to the OP, I had run Micheline Xi-2's in the past and really liked them. I am due for some snows and will probably grab the Xi-3's if I can find them cheaper locally. Tire rack has them but a $70 shipping charge is painful. Costco has them with a $70 off mail in rebate.

 

[Puck it]

Go find some beemer forums and look at the classified threads. That's how I found mine. The guy lived in PA....we met half way in south central jersey about 60 miles for each of us.

That is how I found mine for the X5 exactly. Brand new rims and tires for like $500. Guy was cleaning out his garage.

 

[ALLSKIING]

Plus the cost of the tires! Some of the tires mentioned on this thread are not cheap. For my truck - I would need 4 at around $160 each and that is the low end for tire size 265/50R20. Part of the reason I have good traction is due to the weight of my truck and the width of the tire. It also is AWD with traction control that works very well. The right tool for winter! The all season tires I use are designed to reduce hydroplaning when wet or slushy.

Description of my tires

All-Season Performance

Staggered circumferential grooves, curvilinear blades, and see-through grooves help enhance forward and lateral traction, and enhance grip in rain and snow.


Funny thing about this thread, I was showing it to my wife and all of a sudden she is thinking Snow Tires - What? Her logic, she needs new tires and we plan on trading it in in the spring so with that in mind, rather than buying all season, go with winters and then trade it in around April.

Discliamer: I have to admit, NH does a phenomenal job clearing the highways (for the most part). Getting to Cannon is easy right off the highway and we live about 1.5 miles from the highway on a flat road. My wife works from home most of the time so my truck is our real recreational work vehicle.

You don't want wide low profile tires like 265 50's for the snow. More side wall is want you want.

 

[dlague]

You don't want wide low profile tires like 265 50's for the snow. More side wall is want you want.

Been driving on the same size tire for 7 years and it has never been a problem. It is the size tire that came with it. Plus if you have more than 6 inches of snow it does not matter. Then again, I do not recall the highway ever having more than 6 inches of snow on it even during the biggest storms.

 

[dlague]

As mentioned prior. It ends up prolonging the life of your summer tires. Over time, the only added cost is the swapping. If you like your car and buy the same model again, the winter steel wheels (or alloys if you want something nice) are usable again.

Your V8 monstrosity pisses away gas and money too. So, I guess it's a matter of where you don't mind spending it. It's cool that you don't want to go that route, but to argue against something you've never tried??? That's like saying Long Horn Steakhouse is a good as Ruth Chris when you've never been. That's all I'm saying.



And the compound of the rubber. You experienced the same with summer tires.

I am more of a Morton's guy!

 

[Puck it]

I am more of a Morton's guy!

Capital Grill here!!!!

 

[Cornhead]

Nothing but Blizzaks here, three different vehicles, no complaints. IMHO almost worn out snows perform better than most new all season tires. Micheline all seasons are the worst. Hard rubber compound? They do have a high mileage warranty.

My car, Subaru WRX, came from the factory with Summer shoes. It was either swap them for all season, or dedicated snows. I like having two sets. My steel rims are 1" less diameter, 16". They are also narrower. The sidewalls of my snows are much higher than my low profile Summer tires. The outside diameter is the same, so no speedometer error. The higher sidewalls act as shock absorbers for typical shitty Winter roads.

I'm on my second set of snows on this car, original tires should be good for at least 2 more years. My rims are still in great shape too, seeing only Spring/Summer/Fall.

 

[HD333]

That is how I found mine for the X5 exactly. Brand new rims and tires for like $500. Guy was cleaning out his garage.

That is what I have been trying to do. Craigslist is a crap shoot, nobody knows what model the wheels they are selling will fit on.
May have found some for $500 locally just gotta go try them on for size.




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[bigbog]

Good siping on the tire is what make it work in snow.

+ a little more narrow, diagonal tread. Blizzaks are running 1st but beginning to shop...

 

[marcski]

That is what I have been trying to do. Craigslist is a crap shoot, nobody knows what model the wheels they are selling will fit on.
May have found some for $500 locally just gotta go try them on for size.




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In my experience, the car enthusiast forums will be far better than Craigslist.

 

[octopus]

i found my tires and rims on craigsist, made sure the rims fit before i went to see them. used blizzaks on alloy rims for $400, seems good to me.

 

[wa-loaf]

That is what I have been trying to do. Craigslist is a crap shoot, nobody knows what model the wheels they are selling will fit on.
May have found some for $500 locally just gotta go try them on for size.




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i found my tires and rims on craigsist, made sure the rims fit before i went to see them. used blizzaks on alloy rims for $400, seems good to me.

If you know the bolt pattern and wheel offset your car requires then you should be all set. If the seller doesn't know what they have, move on. I got lucky there is a VW dealer in MA that buys up the steel wheels from the port (apparently a lot of the alloys get put on when the cars arrive) and sells a set of 4 for $200.

 

[Sky]

I will be selling a set of four Blizzaks (sp?) soon. Great shape. Kept them balanced and aligned....on in Dec...off in early April. Tons of tread.

We sold the car (donated actually). Ill post the size here tonight.

 

[Geoff]

Good siping on the tire is what make it work in snow.

Actually, siping is what makes a tire perform well on black ice. The little cuts in the tire channel away the water layer. Ice at subzero isn't all that slippery. It's the water layer at near-freezing temperatures that gives it such a low coefficient of friction.

Grip in deeper snow requires much wider gaps than the little siping cuts that channel away the water. People in the west don't see much black ice. An SUV with A/T tires works fine most of the time.

 

[Geoff]

I've run studded Nokians on my SUVs for years and Nokian studless friction tires on my VW GTIs. I tried the Blizzak WS-50 on my 2007 GTI. The grip was amazing but that grip went to hell at 12,000 miles when the outer rubber layer wore out. I went back to Nokian.

I'm planning to put the Nokian Hakkapelitta R2 on my Outback in November. The TPMS on the Outback is really annoying. The senders are over $200 for a set of four no matter how hard I internet shop it. You have to reprogram the car any time you change senders. The ODB-II gizmo to reprogram as a DIY is another couple hundred bucks. When I totaled up what cheap alloys, TPMS, and the tires would cost and asked around how much a tire shop would charge to swap winters & summers, I concluded that I'm just going to pay for a mount/balance every 6 months.

 

[Cornhead]

I've run studded Nokians on my SUVs for years and Nokian studless friction tires on my VW GTIs. I tried the Blizzak WS-50 on my 2007 GTI. The grip was amazing but that grip went to hell at 12,000 miles when the outer rubber layer wore out. I went back to Nokian.

I'm planning to put the Nokian Hakkapelitta R2 on my Outback in November. The TPMS on the Outback is really annoying. The senders are over $200 for a set of four no matter how hard I internet shop it. You have to reprogram the car any time you change senders. The ODB-II gizmo to reprogram as a DIY is another couple hundred bucks. When I totaled up what cheap alloys, TPMS, and the tires would cost and asked around how much a tire shop would charge to swap winters & summers, I concluded that I'm just going to pay for a mount/balance every 6 months.

I was lucky, when I bought my WRX you were still allowed to buy snows mounted on steelies without sensors from Tirerack. I was also able to have the second set of snows mounted at my local shop sans sensors. Hopefully as long as they're not on the car when the tires are changed I'll be able to continue getting snows mounted without sensors. I wouldn't mind having them on the snows, but it is a lot less hassle and expense not.

 

[bigbog]

Here's just one website devoted to tires & wheels...plenty others like this one.

http://www.hubcaphaven.com/

 

[andrec10]

I've run studded Nokians on my SUVs for years and Nokian studless friction tires on my VW GTIs. I tried the Blizzak WS-50 on my 2007 GTI. The grip was amazing but that grip went to hell at 12,000 miles when the outer rubber layer wore out. I went back to Nokian.

I'm planning to put the Nokian Hakkapelitta R2 on my Outback in November. The TPMS on the Outback is really annoying. The senders are over $200 for a set of four no matter how hard I internet shop it. You have to reprogram the car any time you change senders. The ODB-II gizmo to reprogram as a DIY is another couple hundred bucks. When I totaled up what cheap alloys, TPMS, and the tires would cost and asked around how much a tire shop would charge to swap winters & summers, I concluded that I'm just going to pay for a mount/balance every 6 months.

Sounds like you are happy with the Nokians. Had the Michelin X-Ice 2's, but once they get below 50% wear, they are not great in snow. Are the Nokian's great/good in snow closer to end of life? Need to buy 3 sets of snows for this winter.

 

[skifree]

I'm sure they are better but I'd rather not have my rims beat up with swapping tires twice a year. Steel wheels are not easy to find for Volvos and sorry but I don't want a TPS light blaring at me for several months a year.

I manage fine with AWD and all-seasons and I don't go out if the roads are too bad.

Personal preference...

If there's any car I'd get snows for it would be my daughter's Ford Focus. That little light car is pretty bad in the snow with AWD tires.

I'll be replacing my tires this fall, not sure what I will get yet. The Continentals I've been running with were better in the snow than the OEM Michelins (most OEM tires are crap anymore) but I had an issue with an out of round tire that I just could not get balanced quite right.

My daughters Focus sucked in the snow till i put blizzaks on it. thing is a tank in the snow now.