• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

snow tires for 215/65R16 tire size?

Killingtime

Active member
Joined
Jan 16, 2018
Messages
410
Points
28
Location
Long Island, NY
Whatever you get its worth the extra peace of mind. I've heard Blizzaks are very good. I've used General Artic Altimax Stud-able tires which were reasonably priced and made it through a blizzard on the way to Tremblant one year when everyone else was sliding into ditches off the road. I have same problem as you living in the NY Metro area. One day its freezing and two days later its 65. I bought separate rims for the snow tires and only put them on when it got cold. Warm weather tends to chew them up faster in my experience.
 

ctdubl07

Active member
Joined
Jan 30, 2021
Messages
143
Points
28
Location
NorthCentral CT
With 45K on the ODO, how old is your car? Let's get an understanding of how many miles your driving annually before you wear winters year round.....they are super soft and will get eaten up quick in summer.
 

cdskier

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 26, 2015
Messages
6,612
Points
113
Location
NJ
With 45K on the ODO, how old is your car? Let's get an understanding of how many miles your driving annually before you wear winters year round.....they are super soft and will get eaten up quick in summer.

Maybe it is just my imagination...but I don't even like the way snow tires handle in the warmer weather on my truck. They feel softer and less responsive making turns.

It also really hasn't been mentioned in this thread, but I've found a noticeable difference in fuel economy as well between my all season highway tires and my snow tires. Not to mention the road noise difference.

Personally I'll never go back to just using the same tire year-round. Love the performance of dedicated snow tires in the winter, but also like the handling, less noise, and better fuel economy of my all seasons in the summer.
 

drjeff

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
19,325
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn, CT
Maybe it is just my imagination...but I don't even like the way snow tires handle in the warmer weather on my truck. They feel softer and less responsive making turns.

It also really hasn't been mentioned in this thread, but I've found a noticeable difference in fuel economy as well between my all season highway tires and my snow tires. Not to mention the road noise difference.

Personally I'll never go back to just using the same tire year-round. Love the performance of dedicated snow tires in the winter, but also like the handling, less noise, and better fuel economy of my all seasons in the summer.
100% agree with the difference in mileage with the snows on.

My entire family sees a 2-3 mpg drop in fuel economy with the snows on vs the all seasons. Worth it for peace of mind sake in the Winter months though.

Also agree with the difference in the ride. If one is the type of driver who does notice the subtle differences in the feel of the ride of your car, you will notice that the ride with the snows on is slightly less smooth and if one goes at a turn in dry conditions it's slightly less "tight" of a feeling. Not a massive difference, but something if you do pay attention to those kind of nuances, you will notice it
 

KustyTheKlown

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
5,473
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn
With 45K on the ODO, how old is your car? Let's get an understanding of how many miles your driving annually before you wear winters year round.....they are super soft and will get eaten up quick in summer.

about 40 months. i bought the lease out in may. so about 15k per year, with 11-12k winter to/from new england. covid kind of skewed it tho. i think id be closer to 50k if we didn't have a lockdown
 
Last edited:

2Planker

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2007
Messages
1,600
Points
113
Location
MWV, NH
I've been using Snows on my Quattro Audi's for more than 20 years in NH and Maine.
Drive 375 miles (rt) every weekend. Up Fri PM, Back Sun night.

Blizzaks are OK, Had the 40, 50, 60's over 10-12 years
Nokians are GREAT but pricey. Had the R2's and the R3's since about 2014.
Only complaint was road noise on the Highway, and the price at $1200 for a set of four 17".

My very knowledgeable tire shop recc Continental Viking F7's last year. They are GREAT.
Perform just as well as the Nokian's and $300-400 less, and they're a lot quieter at speed.
 
Last edited:

tumbler

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Messages
1,461
Points
83
Have had a bunch of blizzaks which are very good and now have the Toyo on a truck and they were great last winter.
 

ctdubl07

Active member
Joined
Jan 30, 2021
Messages
143
Points
28
Location
NorthCentral CT
about 40 months. i bought the lease out in may. so about 15k per year, with 11-12k winter to/from new england. covid kind of skewed it tho. i think id be closer to 50k if we didn't have a lockdown
Ok, with that info and responding to a previous members comment about running snows year round, no chance. Your actually driving a fair bit and true snows will get eaten up after 15-20K miles of warm weather driving. Just bite bullet and get yourself a set of Mounted, highly rated winters on tire rack.
Store them in off season. If you go to a local dealer, its possible they might offer to store sets over winter. (my dealer does but Ive bought a number of cars there and its a service they provide) I put snows on all my a-wheel drive car and its bullet proof.
 

KustyTheKlown

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
5,473
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn
thanks, yea i dont want to run snows year round. a friend posted a few months ago that he was lazy about removing his snows and the treads like melted off or some shit in the hottest part of summer. don't wanna ruin expensive shit or make them less safe and reliable. I'll be a two sets of tires guy.

i think i am gonna get the blizzaks + steel wheel, mounted, from tire-rack. I'll ask whatever shop does the install to also remove my old tires from my stock wheel, and I'll store the stock wheel til i buy some unmounted all seasons in the spring, and I'll have the shop mount on the original wheels and install

thank you everyone for your insights. I've learned a lot.
 

machski

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
3,874
Points
113
Location
Northwood, NH (Sunday River, ME)
if you buy from tirerack they include all of that. it was great I ordered mounted tires and 2 days later there were 4 mounted and balanced tires sitting in my driveway.
The last several times I have bought from Tirerack, at least one tire was completely flat when it arrived at my house, and every time the balance has been crap on at least one wheel. Totally done with them.
 

2Planker

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2007
Messages
1,600
Points
113
Location
MWV, NH
thanks, yea i dont want to run snows year round. a friend posted a few months ago that he was lazy about removing his snows and the treads like melted off or some shit in the hottest part of summer. don't wanna ruin expensive shit or make them less safe and reliable. I'll be a two sets of tires guy.

i think i am gonna get the blizzaks + steel wheel, mounted, from tire-rack. I'll ask whatever shop does the install to also remove my old tires from my stock wheel, and I'll store the stock wheel til i buy some unmounted all seasons in the spring, and I'll have the shop mount on the original wheels and install

thank you everyone for your insights. I've learned a lot.
YES always use a dedicated winter rim, generally 1" smaller than your summer rims.
Never ever run your Snows in warmer temps.
You will destroy them real fast and their traction actually sucks on warm pavement compared to your regular summer tires
 
Last edited:

Dickc

Active member
Joined
Dec 5, 2013
Messages
575
Points
43
Location
Northeast Mass
thanks, yea i dont want to run snows year round. a friend posted a few months ago that he was lazy about removing his snows and the treads like melted off or some shit in the hottest part of summer. don't wanna ruin expensive shit or make them less safe and reliable. I'll be a two sets of tires guy.

i think i am gonna get the blizzaks + steel wheel, mounted, from tire-rack. I'll ask whatever shop does the install to also remove my old tires from my stock wheel, and I'll store the stock wheel til i buy some unmounted all seasons in the spring, and I'll have the shop mount on the original wheels and install

thank you everyone for your insights. I've learned a lot.
With respect to Tire Rack. My local independant repair shop lets you ship tires from Tire Rack to their location. You can then come in and they will mount, balance, etc for you. See if a local shop will agree to that. If so, buy, ship to shop, make appointment, get service done.
 

ss20

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 13, 2013
Messages
3,985
Points
113
Location
A minute from the Alta exit off the I-15!
I will be buying snow tires here in Utah as I always had in CT. I'm wondering if I'll see faster wear on the snows, as out here in the winter by the time it's March and April the valley is regularly reaching 60 degrees and a number of 70 degree days.
 

HowieT2

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
1,654
Points
63
can't beat the performance of true snow tires, but I've been using the Nokian all weather tires, WRG4 which are snow rated and great year round. worth a look IMHO.
 

KustyTheKlown

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
5,473
Points
113
Location
Brooklyn
any opinion on bj's tire store? there's a bjs blocks from my apartment. we aren't members because our household of two doesn't need 20 lbs of chicken breasts and a 200 count pack of bagel bites, ever, and this locale doesn't have discount gasoline. but its def the closest easiest tire place.
 

2Planker

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2007
Messages
1,600
Points
113
Location
MWV, NH
any opinion on bj's tire store? there's a bjs blocks from my apartment. we aren't members because our household of two doesn't need 20 lbs of chicken breasts and a 200 count pack of bagel bites, ever, and this locale doesn't have discount gasoline. but its def the closest easiest tire place.
Absolutely STAY AWY from BJ', s CostCo, Sears and NTB. Their in house brand is garbage made in China.

My BIL laughed when I paid $1100 for the Nokian R2's. He paid $500 for NTB "Super Claw" something that were complete junk. Couldn't get up our NH driveway, then slid right off Rt 16N at Pinkham Notch while behind us going to WC. I never even realized that the road was a lil slick. Getting back after skiing, he couldn't get up the driveway again. Left car on road and it was gone the next morning. Towed and impounded by Conway PD. Net cost was over $900 plus one day lost work on Monday and then he still had to go out and buy some Blizzaks....

Don't cut corners on tires, especially Snows if you need 'em.
 
Last edited:
Top