Tire opinions for Nissan Rogue?

[Gooberlx2]

My wife's Rogue needs new tires. She SUCKS in Winter driving.

Unfortunately, the Nissan's OEM tire size (215/70/16) seems to border LT categories so some of the regular passenger tires I'd choose from aren't available. From the research I've done, it seems the best contenders, in regards to my wife's terrible snow/ice skills are (with comments from my 'net research):

General Grabber HTS - $$, fair tread life, poor on ice, excellent in everything else
Fortera TripleTred - $$$, fair tread life, great all-around
Michelin LTX M/S2- $$$, excellent tread life, great all-around

For some reason Consumer Reports has the Grabbers rated top and Michelins around the middle, despite the Michelins meeting or exceeding the Grabbers in every test except wet braking. Do they put a lot of weight on price/value?

Anyway, I'd love to hear some thoughts about it from the AT Garage crowd.

edit: Note: I'm not buying dedicated winter tires. Her regular set need replacing anyway, and I don't have the money to buy two sets of tires.

 

[jlee]

I think BF Goodrich All Terrain TA KO's are available in that size - I have always ran those on my 4wd trucks and I managed just fine during winter. They might be a bit more aggressive than she would like, though.

 

[desy]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Altimax+Arctic&partnum=17QR6AMAXA

I'd get these and stud them if allowed in your area, I ended up with a set this winter
Heres a review
http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-tires/general-altimax-arctic

 

[jlee]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=General&tireModel=Altimax+Arctic&partnum=17QR6AMAXA

I'd get these and stud them if allowed in your area, I ended up with a set this winter
Heres a review
http://www.consumersearch.com/snow-tires/general-altimax-arctic

He doesn't want dedicated winter tires - those will wear out very quickly if driven in summer.

 

[Howard]

Do the DWS come in that size?

 

[Vette73]

Hoe about the Geolandar A/T-S Only $94 each

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Yokohama&tireModel=Geolandar+A%2FT-S&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=17SR6GEOATS&tab=Sizes

 

[Vette73]

Do the DWS come in that size?

Ha that was what I was thinking as well, but closest is a 225/55-16. It would make the speedometer off about 7%.

Would work great but would lowwer a little and speedometer would be off.

 

[desy]

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11884&group=1.02&name=Nokian+WR

Well. . . He edited it. . .
Then I'd get the Nokians why? cause their all-seasons are better winter tires than any other all seasons and winter driving seems to be the issue. Thes you can run all yr round

 

[jlee]

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11884&group=1.02&name=Nokian+WR

Well. . . He edited it. . .
Then I'd get the Nokians why? cause their all-seasons are better winter tires than any other all seasons and winter driving seems to be the issue. Thes you can run all yr round

Yes he did, 21 minutes before you replied.

Those look like a very aggressive all-season..if appearance is any indicator, they're a great choice.

 

[desy]

Not really, I multi-task so it took a while to track down links then you get caught up reading something else bfore you actually post.
I'm sold on Studs otherwise I'd have tried them by now, reviews are +, Summer handling isn't as good but they aren't going on a sports car, that would be the compromise

 

[Gooberlx2]

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11884&group=1.02&name=Nokian+WR

Well. . . He edited it. . .
Then I'd get the Nokians why? cause their all-seasons are better winter tires than any other all seasons and winter driving seems to be the issue. Thes you can run all yr round

Hmmm...I have seen these mentioned. Price comparable with the TripleTred and LTX, though I'm a little concerned about treadlife at that price. I'd guess that the Nokians might be pretty soft (coming from a winter tire philosophy) and wear down faster than other brands.

*sigh* Have to do more research.

 

[ShawnD1]

My wife's Rogue needs new tires. She SUCKS in Winter driving.

lol. posting in an epic thread

edit: Note: I'm not buying dedicated winter tires. Her regular set need replacing anyway, and I don't have the money to buy two sets of tires.

If you're not buying winter tires then don't even bother reading how they perform in winter. Winter tires and summer tires are polar opposites. Winter tires are very soft rubber; summer is very hard rubber. Winter tires have better traction when they have deep grooves and can throw snow around while summer tires have better grip if they have smaller grooves and press flat against the road.

It's actually a lot like that game Gran Turismo for the original playstation. The softer tires had better (winter) traction but they wear out fast. The hard tires slide all over the place but they last for a long long time. If she sucks at driving and you don't feel like buying two sets, then maybe get the softer tires that wear out fast. It's either you buy tires twice as often or you pull her butt out of the ditch every couple days.

 

[desy]

WR have a 50k mile tread life warranty

 

[Gooberlx2]

WR have a 50k mile tread life warranty

How accurate are those numbers though? I've always figured that treadlife ratings from the tire maker were probably like wattage ratings for stereo manufacturers...aka mostly a load of bullshit.

 

[desy]

I always get really good wear no matter what I buy cause I drive slow and on the HW lots and usually get 50-60 out of anything.
I have 85k miles on the pair for my minivan. The summers will be done this yr but the winters have at least 2 more seasons or roughly another 20k miles for the pair.
Thats just on cheap Hankooks. . .

 

[Gooberlx2]

Well, went with a set of Michelin LTX m/s2. I'm pretty encouraged from the opinions and user reviews I saw online. Thanks, everyone, for the feedback.