Hey guys I live in Oklahoma and we typically dont see a whole lot of snow. About 9 to 12 inches a year. We do however tend to get ice. My question is with the rather small amount of winter weather we have here should I get a high performance all season tire, or should I really have a second set of tires that I run from november to march? Thoughts and recommendations on this?

I just got my max and its got NITTO's on it now and they're god awful noisy so I may be dumping those.

 

snow tires are one of the best investments i've made..saved my butt more than once

all season tires don't compare to winter tires

 

I agree, I also got winters but I need them for these Canadian winters. If you don't get too much snow I'd just go with all seasons.

 

Thanks for the responses guys. You guys get in one blast what we typically get in a year. I looked up hte average for my town earlier and we average 10.1 inches of snow/yr.

All seasons will be better than Z rated high performance summer tires I'd assume, and I also assume the Maxima is MUCH better than my Trans Am is in the wintertime?

Any particular tire you guys recommend? Snow and all seasons?

 

For winter tires- Blizzaks. I just ran a set on my new '02 SE. Love them.

For all season- I don't run A/S, but have friends that do. Falken Ziex 512 do fairly well, even in MA winters. I am looking at Falken Azenis ST-115 or Yokohama Avis V4S for my summer tires. The Yokos are A/S.

 

Don't waste your money on Falken 512s. That said, I can thank the crappy 512s that made me get a set of snow tires instead.

The worst set of snow tires will still be better on snow than the best set of A/S tires, maybe with the exception of the Nokian WR that give you the best of both worlds.

If money is no object (and it shouldn't be if you're looking into getting a second set of tires), get the WRs.

 

Well I guess thats the heart of my question are snow tires necessary for me? Given the amount of snow we get?

 

The way the weather has been going the last couple of decades, we don't get that much snow in Chicago either, but I still got my wife a set of Nokians.

Get a set of Nokian WR, although not cheap at about $700 out the door for 225/50R17s, will satisfy all your needs.

 

if you can afford 2 sets, get summer tires and snow tires. Otherwise, just stick w/ all season and be careful when driving on snow/ice.

 

Indeed.

And what's with the Falken 512 hate? Mine have served me insanely well through the worst winter NYC had to offer in 10 years. And early 2005 winter wasn't so great either for us. And the rain traction is nuts on the ZX512, as is dry traction.

 

just get a good set of all-seasons, you barely see snow at all so when it does snow just take your time and be safe. You say you get a lot of ice well there isnt any tire out there thats going to be good in ice ya just have to be carefuly, so in all essence I believe your looking for a good tire that does well in wet and dry performance.

 

If Falken can call 512s UHP A/S, I drive better than Fernando Alonso.

IMO, those POS tires are overrated, overpriced even at $95 a pop, as classified as an "All Season Ultra High Performance" tire. A "Grand Touring" tire maybe, but an "Ultra High Performance" tire? no way in hell.

 

That's the direction I'm beginning to lean, there's some good all seasons that have reasonable snow traction ratings and that will perform well in wet and dry conditions. Another thing I'm having to take a hard look at is the rubber compound. Z/W/V rated tires are all made out of soft rubber which is good until it goes through a full year of Oklahoma Season changes. The drastic temp differences seem to make soft rubber tires quit sticking. My 275/40/17s have plenty of tread left but due to the 0* temps in the winter and the 110* temps in the summer they don't stick as well unless I really heat them up. As opposed to a good H or R rated tire that will wear better and probably wind up being a better tire a 12 to 18 months down the road.

 

I wouldnt bother with snows in OK, All Season should get you by fine.

 

512s have served me well and I got plenty of life out of them. Many others can agree w/ me.

 

Sure, you are the only person I know of that got more than 30K miles out of them, but can you say the 512s are A/S UHP tires? They don't "perform", much less "perform ultra high".

To stay on topic, 6SpeedTA95 get a set of Turanza LS-Vs and call it a day.

 

Turanza made by bridgestone?

 

I hate Falken 512. They are light years away from my Toyo T1-S. Even in the wet, I feel safer riding with Toyo T1-S.

To stay on topic, I should the OP should get 2 sets of tires, with one being Nokians.

 

Yes, B'stone, but don't get caught on the fact that they also gave us the crapenzas. By all reports, the LS-Vs are pretty damn good in our cars.

 

If snow and ice are a concern, get BF Goodrich Traction TA in either the H or V rating. They are an all-season tire.

It was a toss up for me and since I don't get any snow of any consequence at the coast of British Columbia and I got a super deal, I went for H-rated Yokohama Avid H4S all seasons.

 

I like those yokohamas how are they holding up for you? do they perform well?

 

They're super quiet. I haven't been on a road trip since I got them or pushed them through the corners, but I'm sure they will live up to my expectations.

One concern I had with the Traction TAs is they are a heavier tire (about 5 lbs. each) and the Yokohama Avid H4S are virtually the same weight as the Goodyear Eagle RSAs they replaced.

Go to www.tirerack.com and read the customer ratings.

 

I've been reading like crazy at tire rack. I'm debating whether or not to sell my NITTO 450's and spring for some new tires now, or just run them till they're worn out and then get some new ones. The damn nittos are almost brand new, but they're noisy little ****s.

I'm also looking at the Michelin Pilot and Michelin Exalto. The Exalto has a better warranty it seems.

 

I wouldn't bother with snow tires if you only get 10" of snow a year. I live in michigan where we get much more snow though and I have snow tires on all my cars in the winter.

 

At this point I'm leaning towards the Michelin Exalto(sp?) and the Bridgestone 009's both have great ratings and are reasonably priced. I like the bridgestones because they're a bit lighter and I can get them in a wider size and they have longer tread life warranty.