Winter Tires

[allpont]

With the winter season soon upon us, it's time to look for new tires....I've always been told to go with a "thinner" tire for the winter.

What are some of you using for the winter ? We see a lot of deep snow and slush here in central NY.

[wheelife]

255/55/18 car is a freakin snowmobile, ya, ya, narrower is better BUT our cars weigh 4000+ Lbs. I am on my third set of snows, tried smaller but didnt get the same bite.

My preference is for the Cooper Discoverer M+S

[Jeepers]

I am happy with 255\55-18 Hankook Ice Bears up here in the great white north.

[Dano]

When I used the stock Conti 4x4's it was a beast in the snow.

[jimmybamslam]

I'm using the Conti winters 225/60/R18's mounted on the 18'' LX cop car rim.

[magnum lover]

I've got Blizzak's in 255/55/18's. It never went so good and I'm happy with them.

[F1fan]

Yep, I'm using the stock Conti 4 X 4's on the stock wheels for winter.

They work great for me.

[coldh20rt]

I'm using the Conti winters 225/60/R18's mounted on the 18'' LX cop car rim.

Ditto, they work great.

[mr.niftie]

I run Dunlop SJ6 snows.
235-55/18.
So far, so good.

[Meathammer]

Has anyone seen or heard of these.

I'm on a tight budget and need to get a set of winter tires for the Magnum. Obviously the price has my attention. From what digging I have done, it would appear that they are made by Bridgestone/Firestone. That or they are the ones the warranty is through (which wouldn't make sense to me to warranty a product you don't produce).

[Turf]

the tread looks very agressive, you could even get them studded.

other sites list them as firestone tires.

[Meathammer]

the tread looks very agressive, you could even get them studded.

other sites list them as firestone tires.

Unfortunately studded tires are illegal in Michigan (the last I knew anyway) as well as chains.

[formerice]

The best snow tires that I have ever used are the Dunlop Wintersport M3's at $183 in size 245/50/18. I managed to get my rwd Magnum stuck in deep snow last winter but when I got out , I discovered that all 4 wheels were hi and dry. They are better than 90% of the summer tires in the summer as far as wet and dry handeling. Phenominal tires, not cheap, but you won't want to take em off in the spring. Wish that they made a 255/55/18

[Scott]

Tire Rack's winter tech article recommends one size narrower than stock for snow. However, they don't have anything like that for our 18" rims. 4x4 truck guys tell me that big tires hydroplane on snow, so they use thinner and shorter rubber for winter.

For cars, I don't think shorter than stock tires are best for winter driving, because cars need more ground clearance and sidewall height, not less. A lengthy deep snow drift is one of the only likely winter hazards that one can't overcome by driving technique. An AWD can accelerate 50-100% faster than 2wd, so we can carry more momentum, and that can make the difference depending on the length of the drift. The reason I like maximum sidewall height is to improve comfort and steering isolation on choppy ice.

In Wisconsin, our main roads are wet or even dry most days in winter, so I avoided snow tires known to be squirmy and wear fast on clean pavement. That means I probably compromised a bit on snow/ice traction, (e.g. multi-compound rubber Blizzaks) so I could still enjoy some sporty driving when the roads are clear. Being tired of the flimsy sidewalls on 99H rated stock Conti's, I figured that a tire with a higher load or speed rating, or a performance design, would provide better control on dry pavement at a reasonable tire pressure for comfort, e.g 30 psi.

Some people ask, why get winter tires for AWD? Winter tires offer improved traction on ice, and for braking and turning. More traction will make the stability control system more effective when it applies the rear brakes individually to correct for understeer. Winter tires can also be ordered in sizes suited for the season.

So for these reasons and recommendations by Northern Rider and others on the forum, I'm running the Pirelli Scorpion 235/60. At 35 lbs, it is a heavy tire, and you can feel that in the steering, but otherwise it is an all-around upgrade to the stock tires, being better in all road conditions than the stock conti's. It is reasonably quiet, more comfortable, and does a good job isolating the car from choppy ice.

The Scorpions are not a very aggressive looking winter tire. They look close to all-season, but have more sipes. (TireRack has very good pictures.) Some forum members have reported that other tires have even better grip in snow, however, some of these tires are only available in shorter than stock sizes.

The 235/60 size gives about 1/4 inch more side wall and ground clearance than stock. That's probably insignificant. But some folks run tires that reduce height by a 1/4 inch (235/55) or 1/2 inch (245/50). So compared to my setup that is 1/2 or 3/4 inch lower, which I think might be meaningful in deep snow. On a RWD, short tires would be an 1.5-1.75 inch lower than my setup, which I'm sure is very meaningful *if* one ventures out into deep snow.

Fit: A Dodge tech here wrote that the summer Goodyear 255/55 GS-D3's rubbed on AWD steering parts near full lock. There may be width variations between tire mfg's or models that allow use of 255 or maybe some people don't care about rubbing?? My 235/60's on the stock 7.5 inch rims measure 9.8 inch wide. Mounted on my AWD, I checked the clearance between the upper suspension arm and side wall and found only a 10 mm gap. I could not run the Scorpion in 255 as that would result in zero clearance.

For a handy list of stock or taller tires to choose from, go to tirerack.com and search by sizes 225/60 and 235/60. There look to be a number of good choices.

[Turf]

Unfortunately studded tires are illegal in Michigan (the last I knew anyway) as well as chains.

yeah, no studs here, but new york may allow them...