Hello Everyone,

Winter isn't coming for another couple months, but I thought that I would get ready for it anyway. Based on your experiences with the past winter, can this car be driven fine with all seasons in the winter? Maybe with 1 or 2 inches of snow on the ground? Considering that this car has AWD, stability control, traction control, and a whole schpiel of other things, I figured that having a set of all seasons would be passable. Alternatively, if all-seasons aren't effective and Winter tires are a must, what would be the best reasonably-priced winter tires to get?

Thanks in advance!

 

I am sure most of the time it would be passable, since the roads are plowed and salted usually. It all depends on the area you drive to, how far, and what you need from a tire. Winter tires would be best choice, but with all the technology the EVO has a good set of just performance all season tires would do okay. Any thing like high, ultra, or max performance all seasons will not be very good in the snow, but will be good in dry and wet conditions. I'd choose a tire carefully.

 

OP - are you wondering if you can get all-seasons to work all year? Obviously you will have to sacrifice summer-time performance but a good set of all-seasons should be fine during the winter. Just make sure there is some decent siping on the tire and you should be fine.

Unfortunately I don't have a recommendation for you on a specific tire as I pretty much only drive summer rubber or winter rubber, and don't drive it when I don't have to during snow. Research some good all-seasons and you should be fine.

*edit - We got a good set of all-seasons from Costco for our SUV that had good siping. That thing drove to/from Montana and Reno in Blizzards without a problem and obviously summer performance wasn't an issue with that vehicle.

 

If you plan on switching over between seasons may as well get proper winter tires as they make a big difference in poor conditions. If you want to keep the same rubber all year long you can get by with all season tires. Just remember that even quality all-season tires are compromised for the seasons and do everything well but excel at nothing.

 

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There's another category tire that most people don't know about called All/Weather tires. Not the same as All/Season....these are more winter oriented and carry the mountain&snowflake emblem. The one I'm familiar with is the Nokian WR-G2. Looks much like a rally tire. Said to have good snow performance but better clear highway performance than full snows.

http://www.tirefactory.net/wrg2.htm

 

Get blizzaks if you want to be safe in the snow.

 

I prefer all-season tires for the NJ winters. It isn't often you have to drive on straight snow, unless it's actively snowing out. The roads are salted/sanded/plowed pretty quickly, and when there isn't any snow or ice on the road, winter tires can be overkill. The all-seasons aren't exceptionally great on the snow, but they are certainly do-able.

Not sure how different the CT winters might be though.

 

Thanks for the responses everyone. I was checking out tirerack last night, and apparently, they don't have blizzaks in the side of our stock wheels. For the few of you that have gotten winters, did you buy a new set of wheels in a different size as well, to accomodate for your winters?

I'm really only considering all-seasons because I can bypass the hassle of having to switch between tires every year, in addition to the thought of having to buy another set of wheels and tires to begin with.

 

I'm not sure about X's, but it looks like they at least have sizes that will fit stock IX's.

 

If you don't plan on tracking your car often and can live with poorer ultimate handling, quality allseason tires will be fine.

 

I would recommend that for winter, you go with a skinnier tire. While the stock size is a 245/45 18, a 225/50 18 on a 7 or 7.5" wheel with proper offset will work excellently. If it does get cold where you are, I would highly recommend going with the winter tire. In addition to what other people are saying with regards to safety, not only is a winter tire safer, but on this car will be EXCEPTIONALLY FUN TO DRIVE. On an all-season/all-weather you still will have significantly reduced grip and the car may get tricky to stop with often. On a serious and powerful AWD vehicle, do yourself a favor and enjoy winter as much as the summer. Spring for the Winter tires.

Above all else consider that a winter tire means you will have 2 sets of tires that will last twice as long. Financially speaking, you will still need to replace tires, while spending a bit more upfront, you will not believe the satisfaction in going this route.

Last note

If having winter tires saves you 1 accident, was it worth it?

Cheers

D