-AoW-JP

I know it's a bit early but I bought my car during the tail end of the winter last year and got caught driving in the snow with stock tires. The car felt a bit slippery. I wanted to know what tires you guys prefer. I drive all day so I want the best rubber for my Mav. I went to tire rack and there was alot to choose from.

us024077

wonder when this will get moved?????

Tek-Niq

iTrader: (3)

thats weird cause I thought the 04 max drives way better in the snow than my 02 did with stock wheels. altho I haven't experienced winter with the coils and swaybar installed yet..

Apollos2

iTrader: (16)

Most people seem to like this Continental tire on tiresrack.com
Continental ContiExtremeContact
"The Continental ContiExtremeContact is an Ultra High Performance All-Season radial that was developed to satisfy the year-round driving needs of sports car, coupe, sedan and light truck drivers by blending dry and wet road performance with light snow and slush traction."

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

My recommendation is to get a set of tires and wheels just for winter.

Once you drive with dedicated snow tires, you will kick yourself for white knuckling it with any kind of "all season" tire. There are some all season tires that do decent in the snow, but none are excellent. They just use too much compromise. My snow tires suck on dry pavement, but I have no traction problems going or STOPPING. This is a big key.

Look into Toyo Observe, Nokian Hakkapeliitta, Bridgestone Blizzak, etc.

I live on a hill and we get quite a bit of snow and ice, so I have some studded Cooper Weathermaster ST tires. I have them mounted on steel wheels, so I can swap them over myself when the weather forecast calls for the snow or ice. If you set yourself up like this, your snow tires will last a long time and you won't mess up your nice summer tires and wheels.

05SE6SPEED

I agree that the Continental ContiExtremeContact is a great tire - probably one of the best all round tires out there. I had them on a Volvo S80 T6 and loved them.

However - when you really need it there is nothing like a set of dedicated snow tires. Hakkapeliitta has always been great. My question is about if anyone have tried to use 16" alloys on the 6th gen Maxima? The reason is twofold - I could use a narrower tire (better snow grip) with a higher aspect ratio while keeping the same tire diameter. Also this would save a lot of dough for a set of snows and rims that would be used for a couple of months a year only.. I know- I love the 245/45/18's original to my SE - but I'm concerned that this is too meaty for a grip on ice. Not sure if I could fit them on the front especially of a 05 Maxima SE, or if I should play it safe and go for 17"'s.

04BlackMaxx

Im getting the Continental ContiExtremeContact
too...the dunlop winter sports dont seem to be better enough to justify the extra $300 for the set.

Cliff Clavin

iTrader: (11)

As long as you have a set of smaller rims that will clear your brakes, you should be fine. Just like 3rd-5th gens with BBK, it depends on the rim.

As for tires, you can always get taller sidewalls, which would probably be better in the snow, anyway. So, if a 16 even clears your brakes, you could find something like a 225/60/16 (if they make that size, I was just looking at the tire size calculator). I don't see why going narrower is a problem, as long as your overall tire diameter is the same or very close.

Since 3rd gens come with 15s stock, I take off the 17s and have a set of stock size snow tires. My Infiniti came with 17s, but I have a set of 16s with the studded snow tires for it.

Northern Maxima

Definitely go for Nokian Haakapeliita RSI's! Both my Mom and I have Nokian winter tires and they are awesome in the snow! I live out in the country in a snow belt so I've had to do quite a bit of driving in harsh weather. My car was great this winter, even through 10 - 12 inches of unplowed snow, I had no problems. The braking traction is great too - my ABS only had to kick in a few times. Cornering is also excellent with these tires. They are WAY better than the Blizzaks I had on my 98 Maxima. I paid about $900 Canadian for 4 tires and I just mount them on my stock rims. I don't plan on buying any other brand of winter tires when I need to replace mine!

max_speed97

iTrader: (20)

I had Nokian last year and they were goooooood in the NY snow.

Black2damax

Where did you pick up those Nokians at that price??! I just got quoted 245 per tire at Kal Tire.

BlueC

iTrader: (5)

Those were the two tires I was stuck deciding between for my Q45s wheels (235/45/17). I just ordered the ContiExtremeContacts about 10 mins ago for $500 off tires.com (free shipping). Ive heard nothing but good thing about these tires, and ill be able to use them for the summer too.

I really didnt go for a winter tire because we really dont get too much snow around here. I live in a decently populated suburb, so the roads get plowed right away. Not to mention, theres many days where the roads are clear, but its just cold out. So why not enjoy great dry traction on those days? Plus winter tires can have poor wet & dry traction when its needed, so id have to take them off right away when the snow melts. Plus these suckers are Z rated.

Champ2433

iTrader: (9)

I live in the hills of CT and we definately get a decent amount of snow. Plus my driveway is on a steep incline. The Nokians (hakkapeliitta rsi's in our size, unless you want studded, which are the 4's) are definately the best snow tires out there if you can afford them. All the current snow tires are more or less designed off of them. The Dunlop M3's and the Michelin Alpin PA2's are also very good.

The Nokians and Dunlops are pretty soft though, so I would take them off as much as possible or they will wear out pretty quick on dry pavement.

Northern Maxima

I got mine from Kal Tire...I think they had a sale on and I also managed to get them to bump the price of each tire down around $12 each if I remember correctly. I like dealing with Kal Tire...my family has bought 4 sets from them in the past few years. I actually trying to get a job there too...

My RSI's are crazy soft...when I brought my car into the shop even the mechanic was surprised. I'm not sure how long they'll last because I have them on from the end of October/beginning of November until April or May. There were a few storms last year where we had about 12 inches of snow on the road and I still got out no problem. I did get stuck once, but only cause I tried to plow through the bank that the snowplow left at the end of our driveway. I have to go uphill a little to get out to the road so that contributed too. Its funny how deep the tread is...makes my car look even more like a 4x4!

BlueC

iTrader: (5)

Well actually not getting the Contis now, they are on backorder everywhere. So Discount tire offered me a discount on the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S @ $130/tire vs. $136. Looked them up on tirerack and they are rated better that the ContiExtremeContacts anyways, so it'll work out. I'll let you guys know how they work out.

MoCoMax

I use the Pirelli Winter 210's. Not cheap, but I'm going on my 3rd season with them, and expect to get at least 2 more. Dry traction isn't bad, much better wet performance than I expected, and they're phenomenal in the snow.

Ammi

iTrader: (26)

are you looking for snow tires or all season?

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

i just picked up some 17x7 winter rims.

what is better as far as picking a tire size. i can go with either a 225/45/17 or a 225/50/17.

those who have non-studded snow tires are they good in dry cold weather or not?

im just wondering if i go and get the good snow tires or get something decent.....