I sent this dude at a local tire shop an email asking for a quote on some winter tires.. he sent me this email back and it's left me a bit confused..I know a lof of Max drivers are using the WS-50 Blizzaks, but this guy is telling me it's unsafe? I'm also confused because TireRack lists this tire as an appropriate tire for my year and model as well.. Any thoughts on if he's full of crap, or if there's any merit to what he's saying. I'm obviously not going to buy from him as the prices are outrageous. Try to ignore the way he wrote the email and any motivations he has.. just looking for a breakdown of the facts.



"The tire requirement for your car is 93 V which supports the suspension design requirements of your car. I presume you purchased your car because you liked the handling characteristics of the ride etc, and of course its overall appearance both external as well as internal.You can run any manufacturers Q rated tire for 8 hrs at 118 klms per hour but that is not the only thing that is built into the tire to do the job for your car. Is there anywhere in Canada that you can run at 118 klms per hour forever? These tires are categorized because of improvements in sidewall strength and other strengthening features in the tire tread areas which integrates with your suspension. .Do you drive your car the way it was designed to be driven? Do you recognize how fast this car can go around corners without risk of losing control of the vehicle compared to softer suspension designed cars or the older style sedans like the Grand Marquais.The tires and suspension support each other in the features of your car.
I would not recommend the WS-50 tires for your car.The tire categories are Q,S,T,H,V.You would be 4 categories lower than recommended. In Europe, the Law is you must replace the tires on your car in the same category as OE. Why do you think this is so important in Europe that it is the Law. The WS-50 can be purchased for 265.00 each, installed and balanced. The proper tire for your car in the Bridgestone line are the LM-25 at 325.00 each installed and balanced.
However Toyo has a tire in the H category which would be suitable at 283.00 each installed and balanced. They also have 12 tires left from last year's design in the H category and these are being cleared out at 226.00 each installed and balanced. These are less money than the WS-50 but are in the right strength category for your car."

 

I am as confused as you are. What size, speed and load rating are you looking into? Check out page 10-9 of your owner's manual. The 01 GLE's OEM tires were 91H, so you can safely use down to this lower load rating. As far as the speed rating, H (130 mph) vs. V (149 mph), it's your call, but I doubt you'll be driving at those speeds on Canadian roads.

EDIT: I just got home and the Tire Rack winter tire catalog was waiting there. The WS-50s are Q rated (99 mph), a little tighter, but still, who's going for track days on snow tires?

 

you should be fine..i run ws50's in the winter...you just can't take turns as fast because the treads are SUPER soft. I don't think you'll really be going 130MPH every day ANYWAYS....

 

Run the Blizzak LM-22 - You can drive it hard like an A/S tire and it has excellent snow traction. i ran mine from December to February last year and they performed great dry, wet, or snow. The LM-22 was designed for cars on the autobahn in winter, so it can handle high speeds, hard cornering but at the same time grip awesome in snow.

also: see the SNOW TIRE sticky at the top of this section.....

The WS-50 is a soft sidewall and best used only when it's snowing - it's performance is poor when it's dry. Some people run it all winter, but I wouldn't, personally.

 

hm, alright thanks for the info guys.

 

Yep josh is correct...they SUCK when the road is dry. That's why I have them on a seperate 16" rim and only throw them on when it snows out. For the rest of the winter I use my stock 17's wiht Proxes4's

 

At least tell us what size tire you're running and also info about the wheels that the tires will mount onto.