Notices
NE RX-8 Forum Serving ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, DE, PA, WV, MD, VA, OH

Who's made the switch? (winter tires)

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Rate Thread
 
Old 11-18-2007, 11:36 AM
  #26  
space for rent
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
CTrx8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 2,714
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
just made the switch to the stock wheels with blizzaks. and yes, the stockers look like poo.
Old 11-18-2007, 03:35 PM
  #27  
Registered
 
pussywillow1972's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Southern NH
Posts: 102
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Originally Posted by Huey52
Hmmmm.... now you've got me thinking pussywillow. But then, I only have 14k on my '05 Dunlops.
It's well worth it for daily driving. The tires are quite good for aggressive driving but are able to handle cold temps and bad weather. I wouldn't drive them in heavy snow, but they'll be fine for those times when there's only an inch or two on the ground. If it's really bad out, it's a good idea to have another car to drive until the roads clear. The all seasons are good for another reason: longer tread life. I don't use all the performance summer tires have in my daily driving, yet I get all the tread wear. Didn't make sense to me to keep using summer tires when I only use at most 75% of their capability. I probably won't even push the all seasons to the limit. (Keep in mind I got Ultra High Performance All Seasons so they're probably on par with High Performance summers.) The only other all seasons I considered were the Pirelli P-Zero nero M+S tires. I opted for the Goodyears based on there being a goodyear shop in my town. After rebates, they were cheaper than tire rack installed.
Old 11-18-2007, 03:40 PM
  #28  
Registered
 
pussywillow1972's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Southern NH
Posts: 102
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Originally Posted by HolyCross05
For those who are putting on new tires, how much are you paying to get the tires mounted and balanced?
I got mine for $790 installed with a $50 mail in rebate so overall it'll be $740. Tire rack would have run $775 with shipping and installation. $740 vs. $775 isn't much difference, and I would have gone with tire rack if I were getting anything other than the Goodyears. Originally Goodyear wanted $900+ but I gave them the tire rack price and they came down substantially.
Old 11-18-2007, 03:57 PM
  #29  
space for rent
Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
CTrx8's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 2,714
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by HolyCross05
For those who are putting on new tires, how much are you paying to get the tires mounted and balanced?
it's usually around $20-30/tire from what i've seen (also depends on if you plan to put TPMS). you can go to tirerack and click the installation link at the top (http://www.tirerack.com/installer/index.jsp) to find one in your area and prices are on there. the easiest thing to do is just get some crappy wheels, throw some winter tires on there, and call it a day. come spring and each winter it's just some elbow grease and a few minutes to put them on and off.
Old 11-19-2007, 10:12 AM
  #30  
Registered Zoom Zoomer
iTrader: (2)
 
Huey52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Posts: 4,089
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Thumbs up

Excellent logic which I think I'll follow next year. Thanks.

Originally Posted by pussywillow1972
It's well worth it for daily driving. The tires are quite good for aggressive driving but are able to handle cold temps and bad weather. I wouldn't drive them in heavy snow, but they'll be fine for those times when there's only an inch or two on the ground. If it's really bad out, it's a good idea to have another car to drive until the roads clear. The all seasons are good for another reason: longer tread life. I don't use all the performance summer tires have in my daily driving, yet I get all the tread wear. Didn't make sense to me to keep using summer tires when I only use at most 75% of their capability. I probably won't even push the all seasons to the limit. (Keep in mind I got Ultra High Performance All Seasons so they're probably on par with High Performance summers.) The only other all seasons I considered were the Pirelli P-Zero nero M+S tires. I opted for the Goodyears based on there being a goodyear shop in my town. After rebates, they were cheaper than tire rack installed.
Old 11-19-2007, 10:55 AM
  #31  
Registered
 
New Yorker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 3,319
Received 58 Likes on 51 Posts
Yes, all-seasons are a sensible replacement for the original summer performance tires if you're not taking advantage of the extra performance the OEM tires afford. (What some owners do—that is silly—is keep their OEM summer tires and buy a set of all-seasons—instead of winter tires—for the winter. All-seasons, with their compromise in performance, only make sense if they're your only tires, and you don't have to bother switching 'em twice a year.)
Old 11-19-2007, 11:31 AM
  #32  
Registered
 
pussywillow1972's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Southern NH
Posts: 102
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Originally Posted by New Yorker
Yes, all-seasons are a sensible replacement for the original summer performance tires if you're not taking advantage of the extra performance the OEM tires afford. (What some owners do—that is silly—is keep their OEM summer tires and buy a set of all-seasons—instead of winter tires—for the winter. All-seasons, with their compromise in performance, only make sense if they're your only tires, and you don't have to bother switching 'em twice a year.)
Agreed. I don't track or autocross my car. The all seasons I settled on still enable me to drive the car as hard as I did with summer tires and feel confident the car will stay on the road and go in the direction I want. I haven't noticed any decline in cornering or road handling on the very twisty road near my house that I've used as a benchmark. I can run it up to the same speeds as I could with the stock tires. Granted the absolute limit that I could run the car on that road has probably gone down a bit, but I wouldn't drive it that to that level anyway. 2.5 times the speed limit in hard turns is good enough for me.
Old 11-19-2007, 12:21 PM
  #33  
doin' the bull dance
 
dmc27's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Quahog, RI
Posts: 3,174
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Switched October 1 - but not by choice. Picked up a giant screw in Cape Cod in the OEM tires. They were almost toast anyway, so I opted to swap to winters instead of spending the $$$ for new rubber that would be pulled in a month anyway.

Why carry all that extra weight up and down the stairs for winter storage, right?
Old 11-19-2007, 12:33 PM
  #34  
Registered Zoom Zoomer
iTrader: (2)
 
Huey52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Posts: 4,089
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Hmmm... some sporadic very light flurries as I gaze out my office window. And me with Summer tires. Oh well, the roads aren't frozen. Two more days ....
Old 11-19-2007, 02:33 PM
  #35  
Rex8
 
mbrule6465's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 71
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Swap over cost

Town fair tire in New england charges $50.00 for the change-over.
Old 11-20-2007, 06:59 AM
  #36  
Eccentric Shafting
iTrader: (2)
 
altspace's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Cape Cod
Posts: 4,649
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I charge $0 for anyone who wants it.
Old 11-20-2007, 08:07 AM
  #37  
Registered User
 
RMZ290's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Western Mass.
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We have like two inches here right now, looks like I'm taking the s10 today.
Old 11-20-2007, 08:08 AM
  #38  
Registered User
 
RMZ290's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Western Mass.
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by mbrule6465
Town fair tire in New england charges $50.00 for the change-over.
except for the fact that they will destroy your rims because they just don't care. They are cheap, but after what they did to my s10 rims I'm never going back.
Old 11-20-2007, 09:27 AM
  #39  
Registered Zoom Zoomer
iTrader: (2)
 
Huey52's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: New England
Posts: 4,089
Likes: 0
Received 6 Likes on 6 Posts
Darn stupid of me to drive my Summer-tired '8 today, although I didn't know of the impeding inclemecy until I got to work. Should be an 'interesting' evening commute! Fortunately the roads are relatively warm in SE'n MA. Jeep from this point forward.
Old 11-20-2007, 10:34 AM
  #40  
doin' the bull dance
 
dmc27's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Quahog, RI
Posts: 3,174
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by mbrule6465
Town fair tire in New england charges $50.00 for the change-over.
If you have them purchase the tires (they price match any online price - though they don't advertise it) they do the swap & rotations for free.

But they are pretty sloppy with their work, and in general can't seem to get their **** staight. I get different answers from every employee, so I have no faith in them. One guy told me they wouldn't do an alignment on my car b/c I swapped them myself (well - my mechanic did them for me at n/c). ??? morons. The store manager wasn't too happy when I told him that one.
Old 11-20-2007, 10:41 AM
  #41  
Registered User
 
RMZ290's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Western Mass.
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
They did an alignment on my truck and didn't tighten half the stuff back up because its hard to get at. Then All the shims fell out on my ride home.

I had a friend of a friend go there and they messed up the rims on his z so he went in and complained. The manager went out and got the kid who did them and he kind of mouthed off to the guy for messing up. The kid just clocked him in the head. Town fair ended up settling the case before it went to court for over a $100 g's.
Old 11-20-2007, 11:11 AM
  #42  
Registered
 
New Yorker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 3,319
Received 58 Likes on 51 Posts
Riverside Tire (Belleville, NJ) charged me $20 to take off the OEM wheels/tires and put on the already-mounted winter wheels/tires.

By the way, never again will I do this if it's raining. Carrying the 4 mounted wheel/tires (there's no garage to park the car in while loading) and then carefully squeezing them into the back seat (without scratching up the interior) is bad enough, but then having to load 4 very wet, very dirty wheels/tires back into the car at the tire store after the changeover was really the pits. What a mess. I was not a happy man.
Old 11-20-2007, 03:15 PM
  #43  
Registered
iTrader: (1)
 
skrubol's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Southeast NH
Posts: 349
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wishing I'd gotten on the ball quicker with getting snow tires. Got about an inch probably around here in the late morning/early afternoon, and driving back roads was a bit scary. I guess I'm going to have to give up on getting a deal on used and just spend the $ on new rims/tires.
Old 11-20-2007, 03:56 PM
  #44  
doin' the bull dance
 
dmc27's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Quahog, RI
Posts: 3,174
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Just buy winters for the stock rims. Then in the spring it's time for a whole new set of rims & tires - b/c it's "easier to have a dedicated set for each application."
Old 11-20-2007, 07:08 PM
  #45  
Its all about Style...
 
Clavius's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2006
Location: South of Boston, MA
Posts: 3,337
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Close call today but I am starting to believe I'm pushing my luck. Snow fell but thankfully no accumilatoin bwahahah... but yeah I'm thinking this weekend i'm going to get my tires switched at Townfair since I bought my tires from them and they do the free swap since I bought all four tires there.
Old 11-20-2007, 07:56 PM
  #46  
Registered
 
j67345's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,085
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yeah, I'm finally giving in and making the switch to the ugly wheels this weekend. We got a couple inches of snoe while I was at work today, but the roads were cleared off for my drive home. Just dodged that bullet!!!
Old 11-20-2007, 09:24 PM
  #47  
Registered
 
pussywillow1972's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Southern NH
Posts: 102
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Originally Posted by skrubol
Wishing I'd gotten on the ball quicker with getting snow tires. Got about an inch probably around here in the late morning/early afternoon, and driving back roads was a bit scary. I guess I'm going to have to give up on getting a deal on used and just spend the $ on new rims/tires.

Where in southeast NH are you? I'm in Nashua.
Old 11-21-2007, 09:18 AM
  #48  
Registered
iTrader: (1)
 
skrubol's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Southeast NH
Posts: 349
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by dmc27
Just buy winters for the stock rims. Then in the spring it's time for a whole new set of rims & tires - b/c it's "easier to have a dedicated set for each application."
I'd rather be on narrow 17's for the winter. Cheaper rims, they'll work better, and be less prone to road rash.

Originally Posted by pussywillow1972
Where in southeast NH are you? I'm in Nashua.
I live in South Hampton, but the nasty snow was between Durham (school) and Salem (work.)
Old 11-25-2007, 04:28 PM
  #49  
Registered
 
Lil'RedShinka's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 154
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
My snow's went on last Saturday, the 17th. My summer's were BALD so we made the switch as soon as snow was in the forecast.

Tire Warehouse charges about $12 each tire for mounting/balancing.
Old 11-25-2007, 06:54 PM
  #50  
Registered
 
j67345's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Connecticut
Posts: 1,085
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Just put mine on....they look funny! My car got to see/feel snow for the first time last week.

Man, I didn't realize my summer tires were as bad as they are. Looks like when my good rims go back on in the spring, they'll be wrapped in new rubber!


You have already rated this thread Rating: Thread Rating: 0 votes,  average.

Quick Reply: Who's made the switch? (winter tires)



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:01 AM.