Summer tire time!

[NAC]

So my car needed new tires last fall and I decided to spring for some snow tires to replace the all season ones which it came with. I got a set of Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice WRT XL, and I gotta say they drove nice. Great traction in snow, water, and dry. They are a bit louder, but handled better than the OEM all season ones, even in dry weather.

But summer is almost over. So I order a nice set of summer tires to enjoy. BFGoodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2 on new rims. They look sticky. I can't wait to try them out. The rims look great. I'm certain they are gonna handle great.

I'm surprised more people in snow areas don't spend the money on two sets of tires. It took me 3 years to get mine, which was 3 years too long!

 

[LTC8K6]

But summer is almost over.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Was_a_Short_Summer,_Charlie_Brown

 

[JCH13]

I'm surprised more people in snow areas don't spend the money on two sets of tires. It took me 3 years to get mine, which was 3 years too long!

One of us... one of us...

Welcome to the light side.

 

[rh71]

I'm surprised more people in snow areas don't spend the money on two sets of tires. It took me 3 years to get mine, which was 3 years too long!

Sure it's more practical while you're driving it, but you have to swap out tires twice a year (and that's not good for the wheels) plus you need to store the things somewhere which isn't easy for everyone. Even when I had a garage there was no space for it (boiler was in there and the width is barely the size of the car). I do have a basement and 4 tires for 20" rims is not fun to lug up and down, and throw in the car twice a year. Not even that - I would need to go down to 18s or 19s for winters so that would be another set of rims, with wheels, making it even more of a chore. In NY, thankfully all-seasons are fine.

 

[pauldun170]

Sure it's more practical while you're driving it, but you have to swap out tires twice a year (and that's not good for the wheels) plus you need to store the things somewhere which isn't easy for everyone. Even when I had a garage there was no space for it (boiler was in there and the width is barely the size of the car). I do have a basement and 4 tires for 20" rims is not fun to lug up and down, and throw in the car twice a year. Not even that - I would need to go down to 18s or 19s for winters so that would be another set of rims, with wheels, making it even more of a chore. In NY, thankfully all-seasons are fine.

I'm in New York and finally bit the bullet and got a set of snow tires.
Since I live in a hilly area, with a lot of dead ends that rarely see plows, all seasons do not cut it. After this winter, being able to climb the hill of doom that even some of the local plows have trouble with I have zero problems with setting aside garage space and making visits for tire swaps.
The real bonus is when there was ice + snow on the road. Watching all the all season SUV\AUDI\Subaru brigade slip all over the place while my car kept on trucking was awesome.

This summer I'll probably order a spare set of wheels for the wife's car and get her some tries too. If the snows are already mounted on rims swapping the in and out is less than an hour of my time, twice a year. Whether its me or having the wife add it to the list of work come oil change time.

Fortunately, I'm a homeowner and have space.

For most of the NYC+surrounding suburbs, all seasons are "ok". State is pretty good at plowing\sand\salt the roads. My wifes car has a set of Conti DWS and they did alright on most roads conditions. With the set of snows on my car, as long as the bottom of the car cleared the snow I was good to go.

 

[JCH13]

wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah I will compromise safety and performance for the sake of 10 minutes of effort twice a year wah wah wah wah wah wah wah

FTFY! :whiste:

Seriously though, most people who have two sets of tires also have two sets of wheels (at least the sane people). The cost of the wheels is quickly negated by the savings of not re-mounting one set of wheels twice a year, and the cost of winter tires is quickly recouped by down-sizing the wheel and spreading your tire wear over cheaper tires. Financially it saves money to have two sets of wheels and tires.

Winter tires are better than all-seasons in every way for winter driving, as summer tires are better than all-season in every way for summer driving. So, it's also safer to have two sets of wheels and tires.

How hard is it really to carry your wheels/tires up or down a flight of stairs? Or from the garage? If the answer is "too hard" then what on earth will you do if you get a flat (he asked rhetorically)? A stack of wheels and tires takes up the same, or less, room as a hot-water heater. I could have comfortably stored a set in my old NYC apartment either on the floor or in a rack.

 

[Belegost]

I'm in New York and finally bit the bullet and got a set of snow tires.
Since I live in a hilly area, with a lot of dead ends that rarely see plows, all seasons do not cut it. After this winter, being able to climb the hill of doom that even some of the local plows have trouble with I have zero problems with setting aside garage space and making visits for tire swaps.
The real bonus is when there was ice + snow on the road. Watching all the all season SUV\AUDI\Subaru brigade slip all over the place while my car kept on trucking was awesome.

This summer I'll probably order a spare set of wheels for the wife's car and get her some tries too. If the snows are already mounted on rims swapping the in and out is less than an hour of my time, twice a year. Whether its me or having the wife add it to the list of work come oil change time.

Fortunately, I'm a homeowner and have space.

For most of the NYC+surrounding suburbs, all seasons are "ok". State is pretty good at plowing\sand\salt the roads. My wifes car has a set of Conti DWS and they did alright on most roads conditions. With the set of snows on my car, as long as the bottom of the car cleared the snow I was good to go.

Yea, an inexpensive set of rims for the snow tires is worth it, and I just line them up along the garage walls, standing upright, roll them in, roll them out, and it takes ~30 minutes for a swap. Around here we get periods of heavy snow, and then times of completely clear during the winter so I'll swap wheels a few times over the winter to minimize wear on the snow tires.

 

[pauldun170]

Yea, an inexpensive set of rims for the snow tires is worth it, and I just line them up along the garage walls, standing upright, roll them in, roll them out, and it takes ~30 minutes for a swap. Around here we get periods of heavy snow, and then times of completely clear during the winter so I'll swap wheels a few times over the winter to minimize wear on the snow tires.

Fortunately, I don't put to many miles a year on my car so I just leave them on while temps are below 45 or until its pretty much a given that snow season is done with. I ended up with a little under 1000 miles on the WS-70's I have on now (took them off last week). At this rate I'll probably end up tossing them for dry rot before they wear out. That's taking into account the crappy wear of the WS-70's.

 

[cbrsurfr]

I would like to put my summer tires on. However it decided to snow today. Ugh

 

[Viper GTS]

I would like to put my summer tires on. However it decided to snow today. Ugh

I put my brand new Potenza S-04 Pole Positions on early this week thinking we'd finally seen the last snowfall. And of course it's going to snow tomorrow.

Luckily I still have one other car in the household with Blizzaks on it, and hopefully this will be the for real final snowfall.

Viper GTS

 

[Midwayman]

I would like to put my summer tires on. However it decided to snow today. Ugh

I'm itching to get on my summer tires too. However thanksgiving to easter is pretty normal for our area. By the looks of the 10 day you'd probably be okay swapping on Sunday. I might wait until next weekend though.

 

[sgrinavi]

Be careful with summer performance tires this early - they turn into rubberized rocks when it gets a little chilly

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

Sure it's more practical while you're driving it, but you have to swap out tires twice a year (and that's not good for the wheels) plus you need to store the things somewhere which isn't easy for everyone.

Coming from a state that salts roads, I would NEVER subject my nice summer wheels to winter! That's what a set of cheap wheels from the yard is for

OP : Just swapped out my Xi2s for Pilot SuperSports this morning.

Around here we get periods of heavy snow, and then times of completely clear during the winter so I'll swap wheels a few times over the winter to minimize wear on the snow tires.

Yeah, once the multicell thread compound wears out, they're garbage.

 

[rh71]

FTFY! :whiste:

Seriously though, most people who have two sets of tires also have two sets of wheels (at least the sane people). The cost of the wheels is quickly negated by the savings of not re-mounting one set of wheels twice a year, and the cost of winter tires is quickly recouped by down-sizing the wheel and spreading your tire wear over cheaper tires. Financially it saves money to have two sets of wheels and tires.

Winter tires are better than all-seasons in every way for winter driving, as summer tires are better than all-season in every way for summer driving. So, it's also safer to have two sets of wheels and tires.

How hard is it really to carry your wheels/tires up or down a flight of stairs? Or from the garage? If the answer is "too hard" then what on earth will you do if you get a flat (he asked rhetorically)? A stack of wheels and tires takes up the same, or less, room as a hot-water heater. I could have comfortably stored a set in my old NYC apartment either on the floor or in a rack.

Lol 10 minutes. Credibility gone. I have 315 width rears on 20s, and with rims they are stupid heavy. You asked. It is a chore for sure. Lol 10 minutes to swap tires.

My old set of tires had to be replaced due to age rather than mileage so getting a second set for winter does not work better financially.

And I've gone through many winters already with these tires so your harping on safety means little. Everyone knows winter tires are optimal, but it is dependent on what's on the ground so you trolling me I'm compromising my safety in all cases is ridiculous.

 

[NAC]

I think that better tires for the environment are clearly safer. It is difficult to argue otherwise. On the other hand, all season tires are also certainly "good enough" most of the time, so hopefully you never get into a situation where the extra x% of performance from dedicate summer/winter tires makes a difference between accident and no accident. In my case, besides safety I just feel that better tires make the car more fun to drive.

What I think is ludicrous is that many people insist on 4 wheel drive, and pay thousands extra for the car and fuel, and then they don't spend a thousand for a set of snow tires. I guess they don't realize that snow tires on front/rear wheel drive car will stop and turn better than all season tires on the equivalent 4 wheel drive car.

 

[jlee]

Lol 10 minutes. Credibility gone. I have 315 width rears on 20s, and with rims they are stupid heavy. You asked. It is a chore for sure. Lol 10 minutes to swap tires.

My old set of tires had to be replaced due to age rather than mileage so getting a second set for winter does not work better financially.

And I've gone through many winters already with these tires so your harping on safety means little. Everyone knows winter tires are optimal, but it is dependent on what's on the ground so you trolling me I'm compromising my safety in all cases is ridiculous.

It's not just dependent on what's on the ground - winter tires perform better in cold weather than all seasons, even with dry pavement. Just because you haven't crashed doesn't mean your methods are less than ideal.

Oh, and fix your sarcasm detector. It's broken.

 

[SandEagle]

i have two sets of tires and wheels, each set with its own tpms too. i switch to summer tires in april and back to winter tires in november. discount tires swaps them for me for free. if you buy from them, they don't charge a dime for mount and balance.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

i have two sets of tires and wheels, each set with its own tpms too. i switch to summer tires in april and back to winter tires in november. discount tires swaps them for me for free. if you buy from them, they don't charge a dime for mount and balance.

^ This. I just lug whichever set out of storage and get 'em balanced and bolted on at DT.

 

[inachu]

Summer is almost over? WTF its still cold here in D.C. Cherry Blossoms started budding but thats about it.

 

[JCH13]

Lol 10 minutes. Credibility gone. I have 315 width rears on 20s, and with rims they are stupid heavy. You asked. It is a chore for sure. Lol 10 minutes to swap tires.

My old set of tires had to be replaced due to age rather than mileage so getting a second set for winter does not work better financially.

And I've gone through many winters already with these tires so your harping on safety means little. Everyone knows winter tires are optimal, but it is dependent on what's on the ground so you trolling me I'm compromising my safety in all cases is ridiculous.

You were whining about having to lug the wheels/tires up and down stairs twice a year. That should only take 10 minutes. I never said that changing over wheels and tires takes 10 minutes.

When I swap wheels/tires over I inspect brakes, brake lines, suspension bushings/links, shocks, steering parts, and anything else I can get my eyes on. I also spray important components with a penetrating and rust protecting lubricant. It takes about 45 minutes for me to do everything.

Just because you've never had an accident does not mean that you're being as safe as you can be. Your argument is completely flawed because you cannot take a very random type of occurrence like an accident and do a case study on one datum and draw any meaningful conclusions. Do you still wear a seat belt even though you haven't crashed yet?

I would love to hear a substantiated argument about how all-season tires are just as safe as winter tires for winter driving.

 

[skyking]

I got studded tires on steelies for the wife's car years ago. Now I am looking at another set for the beetle. Really nice rims and 95% tires for 400 on CL.
I too wish I had done it years ago, instead of compromising for noisier, less nimble tires all summer.

 

[Midwayman]

It's not just dependent on what's on the ground - winter tires perform better in cold weather than all seasons, even with dry pavement.

This. I read a study awhile back that showed winter tires starting to perform better than all seasons around 50 degrees (about The warmest you'd ever run snows) That's on dry pavement. Forget wet pavement and snow.

 

[JCH13]

I got studded tires on steelies for the wife's car years ago. Now I am looking at another set for the beetle. Really nice rims and 95% tires for 400 on CL.
I too wish I had done it years ago, instead of compromising for noisier, less nimble tires all summer.

For salty areas I would strongly recommend against steel wheels. I had them for my first car and the beads wound up rusting enough in a year or two to the point where one of the tires didn't seal reliably anymore. I know, I know, plenty of people have used them for a long time without issue, but it can still be a problem.

I have some inexpensive aluminum wheels now that I got for $100 on CL and then re-sprayed that haven't had any issues at all over the last 5 years.

 

[skyking]

Not much salt in the PNW. I have not lost a bead seal in the last 30 years.

 

[JCH13]

Not much salt in the PNW. I have not lost a bead seal in the last 30 years.

Rough life!