So my current all season tires are very bad all worn out, and I have a couple questions which I hope could be answered.

I dont have alot of money, maybe around 500 dollars saved up, and Im wondering what im better off going with. I live in Ontario And drive around the GTA mostly, dont do any other travelling. Im wondering If theres really a difference between allseason tires and witner tires, .... for ontarios climate... I mean we dont get alot of snow and all, but ...Well im just really confused...

I want to buy 4 of the best all season tires, but people are telling me I should have a pair of winter and summer, and although they are most likely right, I only have enough money for one pair of tires, ... Should I go with really good all season tires, and just take care of them...

One more question...
My current car is a 1996 honda civic dx 2 dr. coupe... The tires I think are 175/70R13 Should I got for an inch bigger? To 14 inch, over 13...What are the benefits? Some people have told me that you get better traction and some say you waste more gas, ... Can someone give me some advice on this... Should I stay with 13 inch or should i go 14 inch? ... or maybe 15 ... ? (I dont have rims, just regular steeles...I really dont care about the look, im more worried about performance and safety.)

Thanks for any help.

 

175/70/r13

175 - tire width
70 - sidewall thickness
13 - rim diameter

you cant upgrade to a 14 or 15 with out different wheels.
you can however, upgrade to a 185/65/13 or even a 195/60/13

 

oh yea i mean upgrading to a 14 inch or 15 inch with bigger rims (wheels im guessing) of course...

would that be better?

 

with 14's or 15's, there may be more tires avialable for those sizes

 

First, your tire question. There is indeed a significant difference between winter/snow tires and all-season tires when it comes to winter performance. All-season tires, as their name implies, are designed as a compromise to work decently across a wide range of temperature and surface conditions. That being said, if you don't get very much snow, a quality all-season tire should be sufficient for your needs.

With regard to wheel sizes, upgrading to a 14" or 15" wheel will result in a shorter sidewall, which can offer improved handling and steering response/feel. These wheels will also likely be wider than your original 13" steel wheels, which will allow you to run a wider tire. The trade-off will be added cost for the tires (and the wheels), plus a less compliant ride.

 

Thinner tires are better in the snow.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by goldegg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thinner tires are better in the snow.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, they are. However, if you're shopping for an all-season tire, you generally don't want to get a narrower one solely for the benefits it may provide in snow. If you were shopping for a dedicated winter tire, that's a different story.

 

like you said, i think the best method is 2 sets of tires and rims for winter and summer, i have 14x6 rims with 185/65/14 winter tires...then switch for summer for 15x6.5 with 205/50/15 dunlop direzzas

i got my winter tires at walmart for about $45 per tire, i got my dunlops at discount tire for $170 shipped for the set, that comes out to $350 for all 8 tires, and leaves you money left over to get another set of rims for summer (steelies or cheap oem rims)

 

im running winterforce tires on my 13in steelies. for 39 bucks a pop you cant complain. but you cant push the tires, just drive normal.

 

Winterforce tires are great. None of that ultra-soft tread to wear off in a single season, available across a good array of sizes, and cheap to boot. I know some people run them year-round.

 

I bought blizzaks this season and have to say that yes, they do better in the snow, BUT in my opinion, dont do enough to spend extra money for them unless you're driving in fresh powder at least once a week or do winter mountain driving, or something that really warrants it. I'm scratching my head trying to figure out why people like these things so much. Realize that they are equal to worse than allseasons in the dry conditions.

Some people will tell you that the winter tires have better dry traction when it gets really cold but I cant notice it. I noticed more when it got warm and the blizzaks started chunking out and squirming on me.

I'm in northern Illinois and I'm selling my set this spring and sticking to allseasons. There is nothing wrong with a tire that "compromises" because the conditions vary.....especially this year. If I were you and had any sort of reason to save money, I'd stick to a decent set of allseasons.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Padawan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yes, they are. However, if you're shopping for an all-season tire, you generally don't want to get a narrower one solely for the benefits it may provide in snow. If you were shopping for a dedicated winter tire, that's a different story. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Lemme rephrase that a bit.

If you're shopping for all-season tires and live in an area where the temperature gets below 20 during winter - you're an idiot.

All seasons suck in the snow WORSE than they suck on the road. Get road or snow tires, all seasons are bullshit cheap tires which never work right due to their....iono, heterogeneous nature...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
If you're shopping for all-season tires and live in an area where the temperature gets below 20 during winter - you're an idiot.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you're thinking winter tires are your saving grace you are so wrong. It's been 10 degrees outside for the past week here and I dont notice any difference on my new blizzaks from my set of allseasons. These things are so hyped up its not funny.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Burg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you're thinking winter tires are your saving grace you are so wrong. It's been 10 degrees outside for the past week here and I dont notice any difference on my new blizzaks from my set of allseasons. These things are so hyped up its not funny. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The Blizzaks ultra-soft tread sucks on dry pavement, no matter what the temperature is. The few times it's very icy or in heavy snow they can be great, but it depends on which Blizzak you have - some of the newer Blizzaks don't look "right" to my eye for a snow tire.

For northern IL you should get is a M+S rated snow tire that uses all-season rubber. It'll get you through the snowy parts, but when it's not snowing they wear like a normal all-season tire. Dunlop used to have tires like this but discontinued them so they could sell more ultra-soft snow tires. Winterforce is my current M+S favorite, though it's not as though I have much of a choice - at 185/65R14 there just aren't a lot of options.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">all seasons are bullsh_t cheap tires which never work right due to their....iono, heterogeneous nature...</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's an inaccurate, blanket statement.

 

I've always gone by this reasoning: All-season tires are made to be a compromise between an all out summer tire and an all out winter tire, meaning they can be ok at each end of the spectrum, but they can never be good at anything in particular. Two different sets of tires/wheels has always worked better for me than all-seasons in upstate ny where we can wake up to over 3 feet of snow overnight.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hondacivic90ed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've always gone by this reasoning: All-season tires are made to be a compromise between an all out summer tire and an all out winter tire, meaning they can be ok at each end of the spectrum, but they can never be good at anything in particular. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That's the general idea, yes. I wouldn't say that they can never be "good", just that they are generally not as good as a dedicated winter or summer tire.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hondacivic90ed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Two different sets of tires/wheels has always worked better for me than all-seasons in upstate ny where we can wake up to over 3 feet of snow overnight.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree. If you live in an area with snowy winters, a dedicated set of snow tires is definitely a good idea.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hondacivic90ed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've always gone by this reasoning: All-season tires are made to be a compromise between an all out summer tire and an all out winter tire, meaning they can be ok at each end of the spectrum, but they can never be good at anything in particular. Two different sets of tires/wheels has always worked better for me than all-seasons in upstate ny where we can wake up to over 3 feet of snow overnight.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea, but that reasoning breaks down in the two seasons called Fall and Spring. You're either driving summer tires in the snow or winter tires in the heat, which are by far worse than a good allseason. Yea, you're gonna be better off when it snows in the core of winter, but that's why it has to snow enough in your area to make it justafiable.

Just food for thought.

 

I run nothing but all seasons. No name brand, just a nice set of all seasons that cost me about 280 for all 4 including mounting and balancing. This is the first time on any of my cars I have this WIDE of a wheel though. They're 15x7 and it's a WIDE *** tire/wheel. We've had some heavy snow in the last couple of weeks and it goes like a damn tank. All-seasons FTW!

 

I have bridgestone pontenzza 009 all seasons, great in the dry, and fairly good in the snow.

 

Well, all I have to add to this conversation is I recently was met with the need to buy some winter capable tires on the cheap. I ended up buying some PA retreads and I got one word...BEASTS! The retreads use a softer compound in order to grip ice better and remain "sticky" in cold climates.

I now have one set of basic wet/dry tires and this set of snow retreaded monsters. The difference a snow tire makes is incredible. I truly didn't think it was possible to get traction at this level out of a front wheel drive heavy tank of an Acura Legend.

For the remainder of my life I will now own two sets of tires and enjoy the capability as a result. I actually went slightly narrower than the Legend comes with stock to get more pounds to a smaller surface area for snow traction. It will increase your dry braking distances and cost you a bit of handling (neither of which you'll probably even notice), but the Legend isn't a racecar. Keep it at normal daily driver speeds and it's all good.

195/65/15 PA retreads.....47.00/piece.