Hey I'm from utah so in the winter I have to deal with a fair amount of snow, but in the summer the rounds are always dry and grippy. I have no clue what tires I should look at. anyone have any suggestions?

 

There is a tire and wheel section on the .org, where you can get a lot more opinions.

We get a lot of snow (I live in Eastern Oregon, in the desert -- not where it is rainy and moderate all the time) and I prefer to have a set of studded snow tires.

With all season, you are giving up something during every season to get something back in others. You generally give up handling in the summer and traction in the winter. I would rather have something I know will do well in the snow.

I have a set of Cooper Weathermaster studded tires for winter and Proxes FZ4 for summer.

If you are careful, you can get around OK with all-seasons. I have read good things about Nokian tires being a very good all-season choice, but haven't used them myself. The only all season tires I have used in the winter were on my first Maxima, where I had some Dunlop D60s, which I don't think they make anymore. I didn't get stuck or anything, but I didn't feel very confident with them.

Usually, if you set aside a little bit of money, you can pick up a set of snow tires through the local classifieds. Sometimes they come with wheels. If not, I know you can round up a set of stock sawblades or GXE rims for cheap.

 

Look on www.tirerack.com. They have lots of good tires as well as reviews and test data. I just bought some Avon 550 A/S tires in 225/45/17 size for my new tims, but I haven't been able to mount them yet. They seemed to have top reviews. Other tires I researched w/ great reviews were the BFGoodrich Traction T/A's. Both the BFG's and Avons seemed to have very decent snow traction and good pricing. I believe you should stay with an H speed-rated tire for the Max. For a more general tire (S or T- rated) you can look at the Goodyear Assurrance TripleTread (Awsome reviews) or the Michelin HydroEdge. Also the Firestone Indy500 Looked decent. There are also some good promotions going on, so check it all out on tirerack. Let us know how it goes.

Sincerely,
Mrkanda Fitch

 

what size wheel are you running?

 

First suggestion is that make up your mind what are u after. Like: looks, racing quality, comfo driving, price... Each one makes an compromise on others.

For some rea$on salespeople want you to drive 22" rims with just a scent of rubber: expect terrible cruising and slalom to avoid any pebble. Hit a pothole and back to shop... Some say they look good - well, looks is in the viewers eyes.

As u can guess, I am a problem customer. I want cheap AND comfo, got already a family so no problem in there.... That means as big rubber as possible, stock rims. I think the 205 width is terrible snowboard; but its not allowed to be any narrover: just for rallydrivers - why is that?

One issue is the edge profile: on snow, sharp edge is good, but makes loose handling on dry. This is why I will not use allseason tires; compromise on every point of view =always lousy.

Some tires last longer because of harder rubber composition. They may be very bad on wet conditions; if u accept that, then its ok. The wider, the more prone to float on water, snow, generally.

I had ten yr old [yes I know what some will say] goodyear with the car, non used. Sharpened the shoulder with a groove as it was terriblese sideways zero grip. Vice versa is how old winter tires become snappy: grind the shoulder edges off.

Summarum: first make up your mind what is it u want. Read magazines which compare all features. Then find the tires that u can afford. This is important, because tires make ½ of the handling... Btw. When was u shocks last changed...

 

I used to live in Northern Nevada. Dry in the summer, enough snow in the winter to make you wonder how difficult attaching a plow to your car would be. What I did for tires was had a set of studded snow tires I used in the winter. When the snow was done (I hoped) I put the high performance tires back on. I had the snow tires mounted on old black junkyard rims so the sand and salt wouldn't foul up my custom rims. Also made changing between tires easy.

 

goodyear triple tread, although i've heard you need to be a little careful turning on snow, doesn't really surprise me with that tread design (snow traction is big in 49*N Minnesota) but other than that they seem almost too good to be true... i'm saving up for a set [well, if i had a job, that is]

but, make sure the tires have an OPEN SHOULDER design, no solid bands of tread on the outside, that kills slush and snow and mud traction quicker than slicks.
Ern

 

This is basically what I was saying. If you get pretty bad snow, it is definitely worth the extra money to use dedicated snow tires. Mine are also mounted on stock size (15 inch) black steel wheels. My summer tires and wheels are 17s.

 

I agree with the above. Any all season that good enough to handle alot of snow won't handle that well. Unless you buy some ultra expensive tires.

Just get a set of 4-gen steelies (people give those away) and put some dedicated snow tires only on it. That gives you the freedom of buying some decent higher performance tires.

 

You are lucky it doesn't snow much in Seattle, Jeff. You would have to get some pretty spendy snow tires to mount on some rims that would clear the BBK! haha

 

I working on a low cost winter tire setup though. If I take off the bbk brackets and use a milled down 300z rotor, I can use the Z32 na 16" wheels and buy some 16" all seasons for a fairly decent price. I could put all seasons on the Cobra wheels but I'd rather not have to buy 17" tires.

The Track wheels come with Bridgestone re040s. High performance summer. This winter should be interesting. haha

 

You could probably use the stang rims for snow tires. Mizeree did and he found a good deal on some used snow tires that fit. I can't remember what they are.

If you watch the classifieds/craigslist, you can find good deals on snow tires. It's good to search all year round, too. I have found them in the past for all of my cars except this one (it came with them when I bought it) and the Q, which I bought snow tires for last year because the 15s I had from my 95 Pathfinder wouldn't clear the brakes.

 

I would like recoup a bit $ to offset the $2000 worth of wheels/tires I just bought. haha.

 

i love the nail in the tire, very classy!

 

those are studs.

 

what do you need studs in a tire for?

 

ice ice baby

 

Think about chains, except you don't have to get out of the car to put them on. Metal to ice = good traction. It does wear out the roads, but I only put mine on when the forecast calls for bad weather.

I have all four mounted on rims for my Maxima. It does better in the snow and ice than my 4wd Infiniti QX4 with Toyo Open Country tires. Of course, I have a set of all four studded tires mounted on rims for the Q, but that's another story.

This is my 2000 Q, but I traded it in for a 2001 -- still have the same rims and tires for snow, though.



this is what the tread design looks like:

 

They bite the ice an eat it!

Btw. Takes some practicing to brake and have studs down pos in each four wheels...

Ernie the one needin wash: yes, open shoulder is needed on snow, those goodyears are no good in that respect. I wouldnt buy 'em, but the small edge remakes really the sidetraction. But theyre common compromise - good to dirve on dry ...u have to seek long to find good snow tires which will throw the snow out.

I think these will make good summer tires after worn out (2020?) and studs taken off... then theyre petrified enough to last thru 2050.

 

those studs are very interesting, never seen them before. dam, the easiest thing amazes me. i dunno what the hell my tires are, a tire is a tire. all i know is that i havs 205 something's on there 2 different kinds (no money)

 

Hmm..... I think I'll go with buying 2 sets of tires. 1 for the winter and 1 for summer so that way I wont be freakin out if the tires will hold up in the winter. This last winter I was on these goodyear tires and they had no grip what so ever, I had 3 or 4 experiences in which I almost fish tailed into walls and curbs because of the lack of grip. so can anyone tell me about some good performance tires, I just picked up some studded winter tires.

 

Did you find the studded ones used? If they are stock size, I would mount them on some cheap rims.

Look in the tire and wheel section about good performance tires. Unless you upgrade to 16 or 17 inch rims, you might be limited to what "performance" tires you can get. Most of the stuff in the stock size are H rated all season type tires. On my 17s I have some Toyo Proxes FZ4 and they are very nice, with no problems. They came from Les Schwab and I have had good luck with all of the Toyos I have bought from them.

 

Yea my friend had used them for the last month or so of winter. I'm planning on doing alot of work on my max this summer so i need some new tires to go with everything else. I've been looking at Fuzion, Toyo, and Kumho tires and I'm still deciding. Thanks for the help.

 

studs.... been illegal in MN since the 70's, methinks... they didn't like having to re-do all the roads every 5 years. (even though the stupid gits do it anyways).

Wiking, that's the one really wierd thing with the triple-treads, the shoulders do look closed, but they're designed to sling the water out the back, not the sides... it's kinda confusing, but i hear tell that the rooster-tails from them need to be seen to be believed. and the tread is quite open, good for snow. lots of small sipes, good for ice... tirerack.com reviews = good stuff.

i worked a couple different jobs as a tire tech/repair for about 6 years experience, i will NOT buy michelins or firestones. I almost cracked up a pre-production '06 Sonata last march due to a deer on the road, the michelins just would not get braking traction on the concrete at about 40 degreesF (guy behind me said the smoke was most impressive-even with the antilocks working), that and they're a certified b^#ch to fix, that soft sidewall allows the beads to fold right out, usually taking a fingernail with, and boy does that hurt. Firestones were always the brand you'd find wierd things in; bolts, rocks, more bigger bolts, more bigger rocks, screws, live ammo, chunks of wire, you name it i've probably seen it in a firestone.

 

Studs been tested in labs for long: now these dont wear the road ... and also has only fraction stopping pwr of what they used to be. The stud weight decides how hard it hits the road; i suppose law say like 1,8grams or smtg, dont really know. Hehe: studlaw... and now what EU is churning on us criminals =car owners.

My skinny 1.2L 50hp Opel with its 145 re-threaded tires beats the g-year max (with slip lock) any time on snow...

 

Here in Maine, where we have (arguably) some of the most extreme weather changes on the planet: multiple storms of up to three feet of snow that STAYS for 4 months, and then hot (sometimes over 100°F in July and August) summers, we know about "All-Season."
I'm running Goodrich Touring T/A HR4's on my Maxima right now. However, I don't drive my car to extremes (and neither should anyone else who owns a 15-year-old car). If the going gets really bad in Winter, I take the Tahoe.

In another life (no kids, mortgages, or other financial responsibilities) I would run good summer tires, and then purchase some steel wheels on which to mount snow tires.
My "best" scenario is the latter: find some summer tires you like and then buy some Bridgestone Blizzak snow tires (they're expensive but very worth it) for the winter time. Save yourself some mounting/balancing fees and find a decent set of rims for the snow tires and just change them yourself each Spring and Fall.

 

I'd love to buy a set of summer tires and rims, but living in northern Michigan, my car travels off the pavement frequently. Doing some rally-x style driving on the back roads is way too much fun!

 

forgot about these: continental conti extreme contact. if you have the right size... i've seen 'em on special at tirerack for as low as $66 for 215/60R16 (common size, right?) but they're directional. good snow and rain handling reports.

I should say that right now i'm borrowing a 4x4 pickup from my grandmother, which has some horses#!t firestone highway tires on it... not only closed shoulder, but a solid tread band down the center. leaving two bands of block tread either side of center, completely walled off inside and out. talk about worthless in mud, snow, and heavy rain (had snow, now have heavy rain and mud). Glad the beast has auto-locking hubs: no stop, no stuck, no muddy boots while twistin' the hub locks.