Stenobeth

Hey, all, I need suggestions, please, for wheels and tires. I've been switching between a winter and summer set for years, which is not workable in my current situation. Also, I live in The Land of the Worst Potholes EVER, so I need really durable wheels (and yes, I know, try to avoid the potholes. I do try.)

I also need ideas for all-season tires. I know I'm looking for a unicorn here, tires that I can use winter and summer in a hilly area that gets snow at least a few times each winter. But, hey, I live within walking distance of everything I need and, if necessary, the 8 can stay parked for days at a time. The exercise won't kill me.

TireRack.com suggested moving to 17" wheels, and either these https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...3PL&tab=Survey or these https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...S06&tab=Survey

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

TireRack's advice sounds good. Smaller wheel = more sidewall. Either of those tires will make you happy, especially if you always have the choice not to drive. Their home brand of wheels (Sport Edition or something) are very popular up here for winter wheels and inexpensive. I dare say your pothole situation has competition

I'm sure you could find a cheaper set of tires, if you don't need ultra high performance summer characteristics. That said, there is no magic bullet, if safety on snow is a priority, you need snow tires.

NotAPreppie

I don't think I've ever read a complaint about the Conti DWS.

Just remember the cardinal rule when selecting wheels...
Light, strong, cheap: pick two.

IamFodi

iTrader: (1)

The major saving grace here is that you can keep the car parked for days at a time if necessary. You'll be leaning on that for sure.

17" wheels are a good call. Easier to get the strength you need without a ton of weight or cost, plus more cushion from the sidewall. Their tire recommendations are dead-on in terms of make and model, too. Those tires are as good as all-seasons get.

The only point I'd argue on is the width. I'd think 215/55R17 would be better here. Better in bad conditions, while still providing good dry grip (likely comparable to the OE tire) given the tires you're looking at. Also cheaper, lighter, more feel, lower rolling resistance, better hydroplaning resistance, less NVH, etc. You'll need to buy the wheels somewhere other than Tire Rack because you need 17" x 7" or 17" x 7.5", and TR doesn't sell those widths. It'll be worth it though. Just make sure you get as close to the stock offset as possible. For tire choice, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 is available in that size, so that's a slam-dunk.

Next-best option would be the stock 18s (fairly strong and can be bought cheap) with the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ or Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 in the stock size (225/45R18).

Another option you might want to consider is all-weather tires, like the Nokian WR G3 or WR G4. Those skew the balance more toward winter performance, though they should still be okay the rest of the year. Your call.

I don't envy you for having to make this choice. Could be an interesting result though. Good luck.

UnknownJinX

I was also going to recommend all-weather.

If you want all-season, make sure they have the snowflake symbol. M+S doesn't mean squat nowadays, seeing how some summer performance tires have them.

NotAPreppie

I forgot about the Nokian WR-series. I had a set of WR G2 tires on my '8 for a while. Great in the winter. Sort of mushy and crappy in the summer, though. Think of them as a more cold-tolerant all-season compound with a snow tire tread pattern. I think the WR-series best use is as a winter tire that won't wear out if you wait an extra month or two before switching to summers.

Stenobeth

IamFodi really summed it up with the "I don't envy you." lol I know I should switch sets, believe me, but this is the route I'm going to have to try for now.

You guys have educated me -- I didn't know the difference between all-season and all-weather. I really like the sound of those Nokians. I'm also happy to hear confirmation of TireRack's idea to move down to 17".

Thanks for the guidance, guys!

200.mph

iTrader: (9)

beth are you looking for a spare set of wheels for winter? i have some 18s sitting in my garage i would like to get rid of cheap and im not too far from you

IamFodi

iTrader: (1)

No sweat -- most people in America don't. All-weather is an obscure category here.


Just make sure you heed NotAPreppie's warning: they are worse to drive on in non-winter conditions. I.e. the vast majority of the conditions you'll be driving in.

The all-season tires you were looking at are comparable to a lot of high performance summer tires. I have friends who have been running the **** out of UHP tires for many years, and they tell me the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ grips like the old Pilot Sport PS2 in summer conditions. The PS2 was arguably the best summer tire available when it was current. It's 2 generations old at this point, but still way better than the summer tires most RX-8s came with, as well as most of the cheaper options available today. The DWS 06 is right there with the A/S 3+ in testing, so it should be the same story.

All-weather tires like those Nokians will be better in winter, but there's no chance they'll be on that level in summer. Your call.

UnknownJinX

IMO for all-season/all-weather tires, you have to bias towards either summer tires or winter tires.

Both my Accord V6 and RX-8 came with all-season tires. In the Accord V6's case, I ultimately had to replace them with all-weather tires, as I was stuck in the carport one morning. The slope leading to the road was very steep and a thin layer of snow was able to cause the tires to spin no matter what I do.

Like the others said, the all-weather's performance is not that great in summer. I started to notice that when the weather warmed up just before I sold them with my Accord, but if your area is hilly, sees snow in winter and you are willing to sacrifice summer performance, they are great.

Most all-season tires are the opposite. They should do fine in summer but expect to have trouble on snowy hills.

Stenobeth

Thanks, but no -- my issue is I already have two sets of wheels and I'm trying to get down to one. Thanks for the offer though.

Stenobeth

Once again, you make a really good point. I'll be doing way more driving in the summer/non-winter, so I should look for performance there more so than for the random snows we get (which even with my Blizzaks I have to leave the car parked sometimes.)

gwilliams6

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surve...jsp?type=UHPAS

I have had great performance in all weather, including snow,with the Conti DWS and newer improved Conti DWS 06. They have always been at or near the top of Tire Rack's user ratings for Ultra High Performance All Weather Tires.

wannawankel

I second that Conti DWS 06 motion.