I live in West Chester, pa about 45 minutes west of Philadelphia. We don't get much snow here except for a few dustings and a maybe 2 or 3 big snows where nobody drives anyway, although there is blenty of black ice and spots.

I am debating between a full dedicated winter tire in the Bridgestone
Blizzak LM-25 or the AvonTech M550 A/S all season tires. There are some posts about both but i couldn't find any for the philadelphia area. It seems like people in NY go for the full winter tire and people in maryland and jersey go for a litte less of a full winter tire. From some people with other cars G35, 350Z, it seems more people get All season tires but one or 2 of rx8 owners get full winter tires. So i still haven't made up my mind.

I would like to get the all season tires to have a more all around performance and a little less expensive, but am i going to regret that decision as I loose control in january?

Can anyone give some advice from there experience with the RX8? I have the 6 speed with traction control.

 

I have the Avon's on my 8 right now but she's a base model. The tires so far are nice but get loud once I hit 80-90mph. I took my car to a local tire dealer after buying the car and asked them about the tires (someone told me the tires were bad), the tire rep looked at them and said they had a very aggressive tread pattern and would carry me through winter perfectly. Most usualy will tell you that if you have the 18" rims with the summer tires to just buy the full blown winter tires and I have to agree since it makes more sence. Sure its a bit more money but I keep on hearing about those Blizzaks and how they eat snow for breakfast/lunch/ and dinner lol..

 

I know that the Avons are loud and that they tend to get hard spots if they sit around a little bit i'm ok with that(the bose stereo gets loud enough).

The only other thing about the blizzaks is that when its not bad whether they will wear more then the all seasons. We all know that we can have warm winters around here where it can snow one day and be 70 degrees the next day.

Yeah i have the 18inch rims, which are worse for the winter, i would like to get 17's but my rims are covered under warrenty and i don't feel like spending a extra money on another set that aren't going to be covered if i hit a pot hole and what not.

 

rims are not covered buddy....you bend them on a pothole its the same as you hitting a pole with your car....its collision insurance and not factory warantee

 

I heard good things about the Dunlop WinterSport M3's. They're easy to find in 18" sizes

 

certain dealers have warranties that will cover this. i know mine. it covers the rims and tires, any tire or rim i have on my car for 5 years. it was only an extra $5/month on my payment so i took it.

-Brett

 

yeah i have a aftermarket warrenty package thats bumber to bumber that acually does cover the rims if they are bent or dented.

 

I live in the Monadnock Mtn region of SW NH and have run through one set of Blizaaks completely and will be mounting my second set for this coming winter. Rims are 18". While these tires are not equivalnt to the G-Force tires I run in the summer, they are certainly close. I actually wound up running the Blizzaks almost all summer this year. The plan was to burn them off before switching to a new set of g-Forces, but they just would not die. I wound up getting more miles on them before the tread got thin/choppy than I can get out of a set of G-Forces (both of which have been WAY better than the factory Bridgestones my 04 MT came with). I have run the Blizzaks up over the century mark on brief sprints a number of times with no issues. I can not say enough about how satisfied I have been with them.

 

…it's not that they can't handle a Philadelphia winter—I'm sure they can, unless you get hit with one of those rare monster snow storms.

No, the reason you shouldn't get all-seasons is because, as you know, all-seasons are always a compromise—not as good as summer tires in the summer, not as good as winter tires in the winter. So, logically… the only reason to have all-season tires is because you can get by having just one set of tires all year—no need to switch tires in spring and fall. But since you already own the summer tires that came with the car, there's no advantage to buying all-seasons for winter. You have to switch tires anyway, so you might as well switch to superior winter tires.

Logically, at least, the only reason to consider all-seasons would be if you sold your summer tires. Then you could have the advantage—the only advantage—of all-seasons: not having to bother switching tires twice a year.

 

thanks new yorker that might be the best advice i'd heard yet

 

philadelphia winters are also cold enough to warrant not having summer tires on even if it doesnt snow. The compound in summer tires is designed to be optimal with a certain ambient temperature. They wear really really fast in the winter...doesnt matter though coz you're switching tires.

I'm on blizak lm-22s in the winter and the 5 or 6 times i really really need them im glad i have them.

 

its been pretty cold the last few days < 40 when i start up in the morning. Has anyone put on there winters, i was hoping to wait more toward thanksgiving.

BTW i got the Blizzak LM 22's on ASA 17" rims. Damn nice looking for winter tires. Thank you for everyones input.

 

Here in NYC (similar to Philly), I usually wait 'til right around Thanksgiving. But there's no harm in putting your winter tires on now—3 weeks early isn't going to cost you much treadware, if that's what you're worried about. Your new Blizzaks will definitely take to 40º temps much better than the stock tires. And if we do get an unexpected snow in the next three weeks, you'll be all set. On the other hand, if we don't get any snow or ice, the stock summer tires will be okay for now. While i'ts true that they don't "bite" into the pavement very well at 40º, they're not super dangerous as long as their's absolutely no snow or ice.

 

I only used Blizzak on my car and they worked really well.. cuz i couldnt do my normal spins in a nice fresh coat of snow in a parking lot.. the tires stuck for most of the part and yes i was reving around 4K.. So i'm goin with a fresh pair of blizzaks this winter.. along with the stockers.. I never used the AvonTech tires nor heard of them.. well good luck on ya serarch..

 

Well I think you made the right choice going with 17 inch winter rims & tires. The narrower tires will "float" less in the snow and a true snow tire will have better traction in the white stuff. I did the same for several reasons but mostly because I can do the tire/wheel swap myself and there is less of the mounting on and off wear and tear on the OEM wheels.

I swapped the winter shoes on about a week ago for a different reason though, center punched a pothole on Montgomery Ave. near Rosemont. Cracked my front right rim and ruined a Kumho in the process. Bought a reconditioned rim from Wheel Collision services in Allentown (mine was unrepairable) and cashed in on the Tire Rack road hazard for the tire. I figured to leave the snows on since I usually put them on near the end of November.

 

Dunlop Winter Sport M3's man. They worked better on my 8 than Blizzak-LM25 and I live in NY. I wouldn't drive my 8 in winter with anything else. They are also outstanding when it doesn't snow too. They have a VERY NICE tread design too. ^_^

 

My dad has the avons and they are terrible. They dont last long, they are extremely noisy, and they drop grip well...not even in dry weather

 

i live like 3 miles from there

 

Feras, when I called the non-emergency number for Lower Merion PD to report it (I actually didn't lose tire pressure and was able to get home in Havertown), they said that they already knew about the pothole, had a lane blocked and that quite a few tires were blown. Guess that I just had really bad timing that day, twenty minutes later and the lane was closed.

 

FWIW, I live and work just around the way from the OP's area, and just decided on PZero M&S A/S. I didn't want to have to swap rubber twice a year, couldn't justify buying another whole set of rims and my OEM rears were shot anyway. I don't need max/max performance out of my tires during the summer, I will rarely have to drive on snow-covered roads and the PZeros have very good wet traction, which I will see in any given season.