We got a few inches of snow in Massachusetts today and I had a chance to test my new BF Goodrich Traction TAs on my 4th Gen with 16 inch rims. I am not impressed by the Traction TAs' performance. Anybody have snow tires they love? If so then please let me know what you have and what you paid for them. Thanks.

 

I have Khumo KW17's on steel wheels (215/55/16). Great in deep snow and slush, reasonably quite and aren't too much worse than stock in dry.

 

Perhaps you just don't know how to drive in snow if the Traction TAs don't do the job.

I suggest taking public transit and parking the Maxima.

 

Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 > *

 

hey im sorry for jacking the thread by i was wondering why these were so cheap? they look pretty grippy to me

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....e1=yes&place=7

 

I'll be using the Blizzak LM-22 this year....it's not the best pure-snow tire, from what I've read, but is a very good PERFORMANCE snow tire, that performs well when there's NOT snow on the ground, and is pretty good with snow/ice. And, it's v-rated, so I will just be leaving them on all winter until march, snow or not.

 

SR speed rating....this is more for minivans and light trucks, not performance sedans IIRC....

these might be ok if you ONLY put them on when there's snow on the roads, and take them off once the roads are clear...

 

I just picked up a set of Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 from tirerack.com. They were on sale. So far so good.

 

Pretty much all snow tires are cheap. I got Dunlop DS-1s for $52 a piece, and I've got Yokohama something or others also. I like them both. I think I like the Dunlops better though. The difference between ANY all season tire and snow tires is night and day. If you've never driven on snow tires you wouldn't understand.

 

Thanks. If anyone else has any good reviews then I'd love to hear them.

 

Nokian NRW's are the best I have ran so far, I have another set of Gislaved(sp?) that were on my Saab for one winter that I might throw on the max soon and give it a try.

 

You call these cheap? If so, you make too much money

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes

 

I said "PRETTY MUCH ALL SNOW TIRES ARE CHEAP." Never did I say "EVERY SINGLE SNOW TIRE IN EXISTENCE IS CHEAP." Those are H and V rated winter tires, and as such are more expensive, the other H and V rated winter tires out there are more expensive than regular snow tires as well. The fact is that most snow tires are not that expensive.

 

I just posted this in the "all season thread"

Once you have used dedicated winter tires, you will be kicking yourself for trying to get by with all seasons.

Our winter probably isn't as bad as a lot of you in the midwest and northeast (although we get some bad storms), but my town is built on a pretty steep hill. I think I am 600 or so feet above downtown, which is about 2 miles away.

I have a set of studded Cooper WeatherMaster S/Ts mounted on steel wheels for my Maxima and they are fantastic. Studded tires suck on dry pavement, so I just swap back and forth, usually 2-3 times during the winter.

For my Infiniti QX4 I have a set of studded Signet Winter Trax mounted on inexpensive aluminum aftermarket rims. I usually only swap those over when I know a bad storm is coming or we are going to the mountain or through some high passes, like on the way to Boise.

 

No need to yell, nealoc, I was just kidding around with you....

the split seems to be between the "snow only" type of snow tires (i.e. you only put them on when there's snow on the ground), which tend to run VERY cheap....and the "all-winter snow" tires (i.e. put them on in December, leave em on until March, no matter snow, rain, or dry conditions), which as you mention are quite a bit more expensive...

the most popular winter tires for our cars (from what I can tell) are the Blizzak LM22, BlizzakWS50, Dunlop Wintersport M2/M3, Nokians, and the Pilot Alpin....all run around $100 each in a 16" size, or around $150 in our stock size. That's about the same price as the most popular A/S tires that we use (Proxes 4, Contis, Falken 512s, etc).....

reasonable price? yep.
cheap? no.

Those Winterforce MS run about $55 in 15" size, so they are significantly cheaper than the "typical" winter tire, and hardly the "norm" for the maxima community IIRC

 

Just got some snow here in Calgary, the new Dunlop Wintersport M3's I put on are awesome. I got them from tirerack mounted on 16" steel rims and I'm very impressed so far. 215/55/16

 

I was checking out tiretrack as well. I have a 2004 SE and live in Minnesota.
Since the car has 18" on it now I figured I may as well buy a set of downsized rims/tires for the winter...

tiretrack.com had 17" snowtires/rims packages, but didn't have any available in steel. (seems silly to buy another set of alloys since they are gonna get beat down with sand/salt etc.)

Anyone know of a good combo for a second set of tires? This was a combo I put together on tiretrack:

Tire: 225/55SR17 Winterforce M+S
Rims: 17x7 Kazera KZ-U Silver Painted

Total after shipping was about $930.
I'd like to find a steel rim deal, as it would probably be cheaper as well. Also is it possible to go down to 16" on the '04? And would that be more desirable for a winter tire?

Any other suggestions?

 

I would make sure any 17's you buy will clear your brakes. Not all of them will, for example; stock 00-03 17's dont clear 04 brakes.

Edit- Dont the 04 SL's come with 17's?? Try and get a set of them...

 

Great topic guys!! I myself am shopping for snowtires.

Frist quickie question: I have a 2K SE with 17". I am buying a 15" steelie set from a member. It should clear the brakes, right?


Now, back to the tires:

I heard good things about the Blizzak WS-50. Not a bad price but I still want to get cheaper.


Winterforce seems like the same crap but even cheaper. Anyone actually using those?? Any inputs?


On a third note, I was searching ebay and came across this:

REMINGTON SNOW TRAKKER ST/2 TIRES

Anyone??


Later

BB

 

Same thing I will probably end up buying. Let me know if u got new info about them.

 

I would do a test fit before investing the money... try a similar 15" steel rim if you cannot get to the ones you plan on buying. Test the FRONT tires, the brakes are bigger and harder to clear.

 

If its an 15" OEM Nissan steelie, it should fit as the 00-01 GXEs came with 15s, though it doen't hurt to double check.

 

I've seen the suggestion a couple time for snow tires/rims to get a good used stock steel rims (like for my 04' SE which currently has 18" to find some stock 17" steel rims from an SL).

Any suggestion on where to find them?

I had a hard time finding anything on ebay. Do the Nissan dealers sell stock steel rims from when they've done upgrades for people? Or are they gonna try to charge too much?

I'd post in the classified section here, but I haven't gotten my "15" replies to allow me to post a new thread yet.. heh

Just got another couple inches of snow last night, and I can tell these 18" low profiles are gonna be squirley to try to use all winter.

 

Ohhh yes they did come with 15" steelies...

 

As far as I remember for the 04's, the SE's came with 18" alloys, and the SL's came with 17" alloys... No steelies came from the factory on the 04 maximas...

 

bummer - is it even possible to find 17" steel rims that will work with this car? (at a reasonable price) tirerack.com had nothing in steel...

I guess if that's the case I should try to find the cheapest alloys and call it good.

 

I would just try and find a used set of SL rims and call it a day.

 

close, but no cigar...00-01 SE 17's won't clear the 04 brakes, but the 02-03 ones will, just barely.

I use G35 17's with my snow tires and they clear my 6th gen calipers/rotors, by the way. more importantly, they're very strong to handle the potholes and snow-covered obstacles
You can find them cheap on the G35 forums.

 

Did they change the offset?? I thought they were the same besides the lug cover and colors. Do you know what the offset is on stock 00-01 SE 17's?

 

The design of the inside of the spokes is different. Aren't the front calipers slightly different between 00-01s and 02-03s? Offset is +45 mm.

 

indeed...offset is the same, but there is more clearance on the BACK of the spokes of the 02-03 (because of the curvature).....