Just asking for advice.

Heading to Florida in March via I75. Should I leave my snow tires (Blizzak WS-50) on the minivan or change them over to the all-season (Michelin LX4) which are brand new?

With such a broad range of driving conditions, I am thinking of changing it to the all seasons.

Thanks,

 

change it to all season.

 

Assuming that your minivan is FWD, you should be fine with the A/Ss. Afterall, most of the FWD vehicles on the road are just running A/S tires. Just drive accordingly.

Your WS/50s are pretty poor performers on dry roads, and wear out quickly when it gets warmer.

 

Yes A/S's for sure.
FWD mated with A/S's are sufficient enuff for most circumstances.

Also, common sense still applies. Drive according to conditions

Drive safe....

 

If you stick to the I75, you *should* be ok on the A/S.

This said, I will not take the snows off my car when I go south in March (heading to Myrtle). I normally do the trip every year, either to Myrtle, Hilton Head, Ft Lauderdale or Orlando. Each of the past 4 years I've gone, I've been caught in a blizzard on the way back. One year I was in the Maxima with SZ50's on and I thought I was going to be stranded in the Adirondacks. I will not suffer the same stress that I've gone through in the past "to save my snows". From now on, I'd rather err on the side of safety.

Last year was the only year that I had taken I75, however. Weather was awful on it, but you don't have to deal with the mountains so it's not nearly as bad.

My advice to you, keep the snows on - if the weather turns for the worst, you'll be thankful you did. Saving the tread ain't worth it...

 

Gordgee
How do u compare the Blizzack WS-50 to the Dunlop WinterSport M3 for the coupe?

I am seeing that the WS-50 seems to be more of a winter tire and as already mentioned, will wear out faster when you are mainly driving in non snowy times. In the GTA, there have not been much snow as yet.

The Dunlops, I see to be the preferred choice cause of its performance ratings etc as well as being a winter tire. I want this as well, however, when there is snow and ice on the ground, i still want it to perform like a winter tire.

I guess what i am looking for is a winter tire first and foremost.

Sorry for hijacking your thread.

 

FWIW, I'd keep my snows on. Mounting and remounting can be a hassle ( tires anyways), and if your paying you could acutally be loosing $ in the long run. Besides you'll still be driving in Can. and upper U.S. for a period of time. I agree with arkus, I'd rather wear out the winters and keep piece of mind.
Have a good trip.

 

I've had WS50's in the past, albeit on my 94 Z28. They are terrific snow and ice tires, but horrible in the dry. The M3s are great snow tires, not so good on ice, but amazing in the dry.

I would stick with the M3, or even look at the Goodyear Ultra Grip. Both the M3 and the WS50 seem to last about the same amount of time in my experience, admittedly however, I don't run my tires into the ground. I will replace them once they are at about 40% tread left (I'm a firm believer in tires for safety and strongly oppose running a tire "bald". Bald to me, includes anything less than 1/4" of tread depth.)

WS50 is mushy; M3 is really "the ultimate A/S tire" that happens to be great in snow.

 

Thanks akrus.
hmmmm....well in the GTA, what I've noticed is that in the past few years, we will get mainly snow and then ice here and there. But for the most part, there is more dry and wet roads (from the snow or rain).
Maybe this is the choice for me.

Are you from the GTA?

 

I'm in Kitchener. I based my choice on the following:

- most of my driving is done at 110+ km/h, on the 401;
- southern ontario has, what seems to be, a massive budget for snow removal/salting - roads get cleared quite quickly;
- the G is sporty and mushy tires would dimminish the pleasure I receive from driving it;

If I were in Barrie and didn't stray much from the city, I'd probably lean towards a softer tire like the Blizzaks. For Toronto, I would highly recommend the M3s.

They are excellent tires.

 

Thanks for all the input. Since I can change the tires myself, and they won't need balancing cause they are brand new, I think I'll go with All Seasons.

One thing that kind of worried me was that I wasn't sure if winter tires are great to drive for 16 to 24 hours on highway doing 75 to 80 mph. The Blizzaks are mushy but great snow and ice tires. If the weather gets really rough, better safe to take the next exit and wait it through anyways.

 

akrus as always, very good advice.

I think the M3's is what i will ultimately go with.

U made very valid points and reasonable suggestions.

lg777, sorry, did not mean to hijack your thread.

 

A couple points to counter with here:

- I wouldn't worry about running your Blizzaks for 24 hours on the highway, even in 70 degree weather. If anything, boost the tire pressure in them by about 5psi once you hit the warmer climate (trust me though, you could easily see 40-50 F weather well into March, even in Florida;

- Everyone will be looking to "take the next exit" and if you hit a blizzard, which is very possible in March, you will have difficulty trying to find a place to stay for more than a couple hours. This said, there's no guarantee that snows will eliminate the need to pull off the road, either.

I can only tell you from my experience, there is no way that I will be taking my snows off before Easter weekend from now on. That year I took the Maxima south on the SZ50's, I actually put the snows back on when I got home because we experienced a snow storm on Good Friday. The savings just ain't worth the potential "white-knuckle" driving (keep in mind, I've done my time in SOLO1/SOLO2 and would consider myself to be a fairly skilled driver - for me to have white-knuckle experiences, it's pretty bad...)

Good luck in your choice and enjoy your trip.

 

Thanks for the words. I've owned just about every conceivable major brand snow tire out there and the M3s easily rank at the top for me. Here's a quick list of what I've had on my most recent vehicles:

- 94 Camaro Z28 - Blizzak WS50;
- 93 GMC 2500 4x4 Turbo Diesel - Blizzak (forget the model);
- 00 Lincoln LS - Blizzak MZ01 - (absolutely horrible, IMHO);
- 02 Maxima - Toyo Garit HT - these were really nice, somewhat between WS50 mush and M3 firm - excellent compromise and I'd do them again;
- 05 G - Dunlop M3

As I've mentioned, though, I'd be interested in trying the Goodyear Ultra Grip on the G next, but wouldn't hesitate to order up a set of M3s again.

 

Stock:
225/40/19 Front
245/40/19 Rear

I am going with this setup:
225/55/17 Front and Rear

From what most people in here have done, the tire size above all around seems to keep VDC happy etc.

Dunlop WinterSport M3.
I was quoted about $1800 out the door. This also included some cheap rims like BSA264. I read last night about the CSA gladiator and therefore am going to inquire about those as well. I like the CSA's more than the BSA's

What you think? Sorry, I dont know much about this offset stuff and what else to look for when replacing OEM tires and rims with a winter setup of equivalence.

Thanks for your input