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Lets talk tires...

NEK5

NEK5

3/4 ton status
Joined
Oct 25, 2005
Posts
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Location
Ipswich MA
Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted in here!

At any rate, I'm in need of some new shoes for my DD, which is a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. I can 'probably' get through another New England winter, but I'm getting ready to do a 2k + mile road trip in a month from, so I'd rather not take the chance.

What is everyone running these days? Keep in mind I do still live in New England, and its a FWD car.
 
It's been a while since we had a car (as opposed to trucks) but I always kept Michelin's on my wife's car.
 
general make a good winter tread . altimax artic

Michelin make a few good winter tires .

you want a lot of sipping = little molded in cuts on the tread blocks of the tire.

also lots get away with it and do 2 on front . . . . but best to do all 4 .

and save your self a lot of time and hasle and money and get 4 cheepy steel wheels and cheep hub caps if you can and have them mounted on them 1 time.

to pay 50-70 bucks average to mount/dismount winter and summer tires add's up fast to the price of a set of steel wheels . and next time you swap its free if you do it your self or just the cost of a rotation at most shops in the 20 buck range .

but these days with tire pressure monitor systems this would mean a extra set of sensors in the rims . = not as cheep . . . . so its a catch 22 as they say .
 
My father in law has always told me to not bother with snows, and just get a good all season, so that's what I've always done. I've been running Continental Pure Contacts, but aside from having some alignment issues that beat them up a little bit, I was impressed with their performance in the snow. Their wear, however, has me wanting to avoid them again. The alignment issues sure didn't help, but after only 45k, they are pretty close to needing to be replaced. I'd estimate another 10k tops, but that would be in non winter months driving.

I've still tossed the idea around of getting some snow tires but never pulled the trigger.

@sweetk30 - We have Town Fair Tires in this area that do free rotations and free winter tire change overs, but man that sounds like a PIA haha! And yes, the biggest issue with having them on a cheep set of steel's is those dang TPMS sensors.
 
I used to agree with people like your father but snow tires aren't just a bit better on icy roads they are leapsxand bounds better.

But just on snow and ice. Everywhere else they just aren't awesome
 
blazinzuk said:
I used to agree with people like your father but snow tires aren't just a bit better on icy roads they are leapsxand bounds better.

But just on snow and ice. Everywhere else they just aren't awesome
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That's my biggest concern. We can go from getting slammed one winter, to hardly seeing any snow (comparably speaking) like last winter. I'd be running them on dry pavement 85% of the time I'd say, depending on the snowfall.
 
There is no such thing as an all-season radial unless you live somewhere that doesn't really have seasons. It's a misleading product title like "vegetable shortening" or "turtle ice cream" :grin:.

The bad wrap against "snow tires" goes back to the mud/snow rated tires of the 70's and 80's. Modern winter tires are a whole different breed and are way better in the winter than "all-season". I always have 2 sets of wheels for my FWD vehicles. It's not just the cost to swap 2 sets of tires on 1 set of rims, there's the abuse of all those balancing weights and the time it takes to haul your tires down to the tire shop, etc. Generally you can get a set of wheels for free by buying a set of take-offs with tires on Craigslist. Of course storing mounted tires takes up no more space than just tires.

There's no problem with running winter tires on dry roads. They just don't handle like a sport tire. The tall, siped blocks are kind of squishy. Some people even run them all summer, but there are varying opinions that higher temps wear them out too fast.
 
Blue85 said:
There is no such thing as an all-season radial unless you live somewhere that doesn't really have seasons. It's a misleading product title like "vegetable shortening" or "turtle ice cream" :grin:.

The bad wrap against "snow tires" goes back to the mud/snow rated tires of the 70's and 80's. Modern winter tires are a whole different breed and are way better in the winter than "all-season". I always have 2 sets of wheels for my FWD vehicles. It's not just the cost to swap 2 sets of tires on 1 set of rims, there's the abuse of all those balancing weights and the time it takes to haul your tires down to the tire shop, etc. Generally you can get a set of wheels for free by buying a set of take-offs with tires on Craigslist. Of course storing mounted tires takes up no more space than just tires.

There's no problem with running winter tires on dry roads. They just don't handle like a sport tire. The tall, siped blocks are kind of squishy. Some people even run them all summer, but there are varying opinions that higher temps wear them out too fast.
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That makes sense. Storage for another set may be an issue for me, but I might be able to figure that out if I went that route.
 
I'd say any of the modern ATs would suit your needs. They're all pretty good and it's really a matter of preference for a brand and price. I'm partial to the BFG AT (first tire to pass the new M&S standards and still highest rated) and Coopers. You're driving a car based Ute so you don't need an LT tire.

Anything on this page would work.
http://us.coopertire.com/Tires/Sport-Utility.aspx

If you decide to go w/ a set of dedicated winter tires, get Vredesteins. My mechanic put some on his M5 after it snowed. We drove it before, changed the tires to the Vs and went out on the same road. I couldn't believe the difference. The Wintrac 4Xtremes would be good for your vehicle.
http://www.vredestein.com/car-tyres/winter/wintrac-4-xtreme/info/
 
runamok151 said:
I'd say any of the modern ATs would suit your needs. ... You're driving a car based Ute so you don't need an LT tire.
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Sedan:
2012-hyundai-sonata-4-door-sedan-2-4l-auto-limited-side-exterior-view_100358317_m.jpg
 
Blue85 said:
Sedan:
2012-hyundai-sonata-4-door-sedan-2-4l-auto-limited-side-exterior-view_100358317_m.jpg
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Doh! I was thinking the Sonata was the Santa Fe ute. At least the 2nd half of my response applies, Vredesteins for the winter tire. Just pic one for a car instead of the ute. All season car tire, Michelins and Coopers.
 
My wife's car has Blizzak's on it we run them year round. Best snow tire on the market. I get them a really good price so that why I just leave them on. I agree with the getting two sets of wheels if you go the snow tire route. TPMS sensors are around $70 each so I would just live with the light on.
 
NEK5 said:
Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted in here!

At any rate, I'm in need of some new shoes for my DD, which is a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. I can 'probably' get through another New England winter, but I'm getting ready to do a 2k + mile road trip in a month from, so I'd rather not take the chance.

What is everyone running these days? Keep in mind I do still live in New England, and its a FWD car.
Click to expand...

I'm running Goodyear UltraGrip snow tires. Huge, huge difference vs. typical A/T tires. My little Saturn will run rings around my 4x4 truck in snow, ice, or pavement (unless it runs out of clearance, but that doesn't typically happen unless I'm leaving the pavement).

Snow tires are made of soft rubber, they grip well and don't harden as quickly when the temperature drops. This means that at higher temperatures the rubber is softer than what you're used to. I lost a tire a few weeks ago and decided to mount my snow tires early this year instead of replacing my summer tire. At 70* the tires have a little road noise and suck about 2% more fuel (give or take), and they should be wearing out more quickly than all season tires. But when I slam on the brakes or try to take a hard curve, winter or summer, the car responds much more authoritatively.

Aside from the barely-measurable rise in fuel consumption and the cost of having 2 sets of tires/wheels, I have nothing bad to say about snow tires. Really, they're low-temperature tires, they're not bad on pavement unless you have studs in them. Studs are nice in ice but not a benefit on snow or pavement.
 
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NEK5 said:
That's my biggest concern. We can go from getting slammed one winter, to hardly seeing any snow (comparably speaking) like last winter. I'd be running them on dry pavement 85% of the time I'd say, depending on the snowfall.
Click to expand...

"Snow tires" are really winter tires, the designation has to do with temperature ratings, not ground conditions. A snow tire will not have any downsides when driving on the roads, its downsides come when the temperature starts climbing and the tread gets soft enough to burn quickly, suck fuel, and feel kinda squishy. Minor things, but they're the only bad side-effects that I can think of.
 
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