Zaraki

Hey guys, the time has come to remove my Summer wheels/tires.
Looking for the right tires for fall/winter. I live in the Northwest so they will see a good amount of rain and cooler temps. No snow, the car doesn't get driven in that.

My current fall/winter tires are Yoko S.Drives, but they are to the point where they will need to be replaced before I switch. (These did pretty well over the last few years)
I'm wondering if I should just pick up another set, or switch to something new? I was told the Nitto Neo Gen would be a better tire. Anything else I should look at?

These will be going on an old set of Slipstreams 15x7
So I'm looking for 205/50/15 or 195/50/15

Thanks in advance!

B serious

iTrader: (1)

What type of tires do you have as a summer set that you need to get another summer tire to replace the summer tires you have on your summer tire set to use for winter as summer tires?

I'm as confused as you are.

Zaraki

lol

Right now I'm on Kumho Ecxta XS on my Koseis as my dedicated summer wheel/tire.

My Slipstreams have S.Drives on them, but need to be replaced. They've done very well in the past winters (which are very mild), just looking to see if there would be a better option.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Instead, you could buy 1 good set of tires to replace your XS?

Dunlop Z2's, RE11'S, AD08's, etc do well in rain.

The S drive is a summer tire. So basically, you don't need an all season or a snow tire at all. You just need a summer tire that does well in rain.

I never drive my S2000 in the snow. I've used Z1 starspecs, RS3's, and Z2's on that car and never had any troubles with rain...although, to be honest, that car isn't anywhere near "daily driver".

The AD08 on my ITR was insanely brilliant in the rain. Kind of like an evil villain from a Bond movie.

The down side to the above mentioned is tread life. Those are all in the "extreme" performance category like the XS.

If you're looking at max performance (lower performance, but more live-ability than extreme performance) tires that do well in rain.... I was very impressed with the Kumho SPT that we put on my GF's AP2. She truly used that car as a spring thru fall daily driver (never in snow). The tread life and cold rain traction were both awesome.

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport is another great tire. They're amazing! I have them on my TSX as a summer tire. We actually get a change in weather during winter here in IL. So I have a set of actual snow tires for it also. The Michelins are excellent in cold rain. They're also quiet, comfortable, and last forever. Definitely my #1 choice. You can use these as your only tires if you don't need a hardcore track tire. They're not as hard core/sticky on a race track as the extreme performance category tires (they're close, though). But they have a wide array of stuff that they do SO well.

UncleD

iTrader: (2)

I live in the NW and worked for Les Schwab for a little over 15 years.

My favorite tire we sold was the Toyo Eclipse. It's not their most expensive tire, but it was by far the most consistent tire in terms of satisfaction/tread life/wear pattern. I don't know if they still sell it, or if the Extensa A/S has replaced it, but they are both available in 205/50-15 and would be the tire I would go with for winter driving if you don't plan on driving in snow.

0AJ@tirerack.com

A key factor about summer tires that seems to be overlooked by many people is the temperature summer tires are designed for.

Summer tires (Yokohama S Drives) are designed for temps above 45deg. When you think about summer tire compounds, think of a chocolate candy bar. When its warm, the candy bar is very pliable. When you freeze it, it becomes hard and if you drop it, it will crack. The same logic applies to summer tire compounds and is the easiest way to make an analogy. If you hit a pot hole with a frozen summer tire, there is a good chance you will crack the tire. As soon as it turns cold, I will talk to several people per week who experience this simply because they were unaware that summer tires are designed for summer temperatures.

A performance all-season tire would be best for your cold and wet weather needs. A performance winter tire would also be a good consideration. You may have to deviate from the 195 and 205 tire size, however.

Snafu-Si

What AJ said is good info. Summer tires should not be used in cold weather below 45 degrees frequently. Since you don't see snow, I would second the recommendation for a good high performance all season. There should be plenty of sporty all season tires to choose from.

The idea of a winter tire shouldn't be ruled out. Just because you don't see snow, doesn't mean you won't benefit from using a dedicated snow tire. The rubber compounds in dedicated winter tires are design to perform optimally in cold weather and will perform much more consistently than all seasons in low temperatures.

I do not know what your climate is like where you live. You said Northwest, I don't know if that means something like Portland, or Seattle. If it doesn't drop TOO cold in temps, again below 45, then you probably don't need a winter tire. But if it does drop below 45 degrees frequently, regardless just because there's no snow, summer tires feel like crap in really cold weather.

I've been on Falken Azenis, Falken RT-615s, Kumho MX, Michelin Pilot Sports PS2, Michelin Pilot sport cups, in unlucky circumstances in Michigan when it was under 45 degrees and they drove like ****. Low grip dry or not.

Approaching a intersection on a cold day on summer tires, braking slightly harder than I normally brake because the light turned SUDDEN RED, then suddenly have the tires LOCK up with no ABS in my car was quite startling. Any warm day and I know I wasn't even near my braking threshold on those tires under normal circumstances. That was about when I would tell myself, time to switch over to the CR-V beater for the winter.

Should I have been driving my EM1 in 25-30 degree weather on summer tires?..... no...... I don't have a good explanation. It was sunny and cold and I couldn't resist.

Zaraki

I really appreciate all the advice! Thanks!

Very true about the temperature affecting the soft summer tire compound.
It does get below 45 degrees here often, many nights in the low 30's. We were even in the single digits for a while. The tires were rock hard and were terrible to drive on.

I'll probably order the Nitto Neo Gens this week, they're all season and they come in the size I want, plus they're prices right.

Snafu-Si

Single digits would be very cold. Ah I miss Michigan. I'm stuck in this shithole called Houston now. I've literally seen a woman scream at the top of her lungs because it was too cold because it was 60 degrees.

Good luck with your purchase.

I have used low profile sporty snow tires even when there was no snow when it was well under 45 degrees, various vehicles, boxster's, Cayman's, 911's, S2000, WRX's, Evo's 8-10, Quattroporte, XKR, V8 vantage, various BMW's, Camaro's, stangs, etc, blah blah blah etc. Versus all seasons, and I did feel substantially more consistent and confident in the snows as expected, but the low profile snows were expensive. Usually blizzack LM series, Michelin Alpins, Dunlop Wintersports M3's, etc. The least expensive were some Hankook Icebears W300 which can still be pricey on particularly sizes.


Just be mindful of how you drive and you hopefully won't run into any problems. Those tires won't do anything for you if there is ice or sleet out. Snow tires actually do damn well in ice and sleet.

If there's ice or sleet out, stay home.