I do alot of winter sports ( snow boarding, snow shoeing, hiking, etc.. ) and unfortunately between my girlfriend and I we don't have the right car to get to the mountains most of the time. MR2, 2 GSR's and a 240sx. So, I've been thinking about getting a set of snow tires and get them mounted on a set of extra OEM rims we have.

Any cons with getting "winter" tires? I'm guessing they suck in the dry weather. The Falken Ziex ZE-512's seem to be a great all-season tire but how well do they do in the snow? I've mainly looked at tire racks selection, which isn't that great and I'm not paying $155 a tire for blizzaks. lol :D

Dammit.. I'll need a truck or something one day.

 

A good set of "all season" tires that I recommend would be the Kumho ASX... Decent pricing and they last hella long, as well as pretty good traction. Check out http://www.tirerack.com. Hope this helps.

 

i just picked up a set of Blizzak WS50s. They're impressing me everyday. Handles good in the rain also.

 

Ya i work at Mercedes-Benz iam a tech and i have a GSR the best tires to buy are the SEARS brand tire call Winter face and Stud them Studed snow tires work the Best i Know that. there at a good price too and work even Better then The Milc. Alipin.

 

winter tires will suck in normal weather...that = no handling, no braking power.

 

the michelin pilot alpins do decently in the dry. we have those on our mercs. i have the artic alpins on my integra. keep in mind that the tires will last a long time because they are not used more than a 1/3 of the year.

an excellent choice for all-season tires is bfg touring t/a. i just put a new set on the HX. the last set lasted 50k miles and did well in the twisties. the HX also had an Si rear anti-roll bar. the tires did nicely in the snow too. the tires were 58 a pop at big o tires in salt lake.

 

I don't think we can stud tires any longer here. Would it be a bad idea to get just front winter tires? This is why I'm leaning towards "all-season" because I'll probably drive in actual snow this winter maybe 20 times at most. It hardly snows down here so it will be any snow we encounter in the mountains.

 

This is an old thread but I couldn't resist.

In my experience the best winter tire is a toss up between the Blizzak WS-50 and the Nokian Hakkapelliita RSi. As far as ice and snow is concerned they are both top notch.

These are commonly ran in winter rallys in Michigan, Maine, and all over Canada. They are the best performing commonly available snow tire there is, hands down.

Down sides are that they are fairly expensive, suck bad on asphalt, and ware fairly quickly.

Up side is that it is way more fun to drive in the snow with good traction and it will be much safer.

 

Why would you bump a 2+ year old thread? And winter is over.

The big question is how you even found the thread in the first place.

 

Probably because there's a link to it in the FAQ topic stickied at the top of this forum.

Which type of tire?

Regarding the choice between summer tires, all-season tires, and winter tires, keep in mind that they differ in terms of optimal temperature range as well as snow traction. Summer tires perform far better than the other kinds in moderate to warm temperatures (on dry pavement as well as in rain), but suck on snow and in frigid cold. Winter tires perform far better than the other kinds on snow and in frigid cold, but generally have a mushy ride when temperatures warm up. All-season tires are designed to handle a wider range of temperatures than either of those; they are a compromise, for people who want a better ride than winter tires in moderate to warm temperatures, but can handle an occasional snowstorm or cold spell. (Some people mistakenly think they need all-season tires to deal with rain, but in moderate to warm temperatures, good summer tires are better in rain than all-seasons.)

Depending on where you live, you may be able to live with the compromise of all-season tires, or to use summer tires all year round. If you live in an area with severe winters, you may be better off getting a spare set of wheels (even used wheels or steelies) so that you can enjoy the performance of winter tires (or all-seasons) in winter, and the performance of summer tires the rest of the year.

What size tire should I get?

The proper tire size depends on your car , not just the wheels you are using.

For an Integra, the following sizes are usually best:

14" - 185/65-14, 195/60-14
15" - 195/55/15, 205/50-15
16" - 205/45-16, 215/45-16
17" - 205/40/17

Selecting a winter tire

There are a lot of excellent winter tires on the market. They tend to break down into two groups:

a) tires that have the very best traction on snow and ice, but have so-so ride and handling on days when it's not so cold; examples include the Bridgestone Blizzak REVO1 and WS-50, Dunlop Graspic DS-2, and Michelin X-Ice. (The Tire Rack calls these tires "studless ice and snow tires".)

b) tires that have good traction on snow and ice and in cold, although not quite as good as the previous group, but they also have very good ride and handling characteristics on days when it's not so cold; examples include the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-22 and LM-25, Dunlop Winter Sport M3, and the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2. (The Tire Rack calls these tires "performance winter tires".)

The choice between these two categories depends on the climate in your area, how much highway driving you do in the winter, how much you care about ultimate snow/ice grip versus ride comfort, whether you have another vehicle to use in the worst of winter, etc. Oh, and the tires in category (a) are usually significantly less expensive than category (b), which may be important. For example, I want the best snow/ice traction and I don't mind sacrificing some ride comfort and handling for those three months a year (mid-December to mid-March around here), and winter weather here in Chicago can be fairly nasty, so I have category (a) tires. But your priorities may be different, and you might be better off getting the category (b) tires.

The best category (a) "studless" tires, IMHO, are the Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 and Blizzak REVO1 and the Michelin X-Ice. The Blizzak tires have a "multicell compound" in the outer half of the tread, which acts like a sponge to soak up the moisture which melts when you drive on snow and ice. They really grip much, much better than other tires on those surfaces. (The X-Ice achieves grip through a siped tread pattern.)

Keep in mind that one set of winter tires may last you 6-8 winter seasons, if you drive on them 2-3K miles per winter, so you won't need to buy another set for many years.

Selecting an all-season tire

There are a lot of all-season tires on the market. Price and performance vary widely. The very best all-season tires IMHO are the Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position, Avon Tech M550 AS, Michelin Pilot Sport AS, Kumho ASX, and Pirelli PZero Nero M+S. Of these, the Kumho ASX is usually significantly less expensive than the others, and the Avon and Pirelli are often fairly inexpensive as well. If you have 14" wheels on your Integra, the only one of these available in 195/60-14 is the RE960AS. Stick with any of these and you should be happy. (All of the tires listed here offer much, MUCH better performance than the crappy Falken Ziex ZE-512 previously mentioned.)

 

I got some blizzak ws-50's last year from tire rack and never got stuck once!